Just seems to be one thing after another

[Janop79]

Had my scan this morning to see if there were any follicles to start treatment. The doctor could only find one tiny follicle on the right and a larger one and another tiny one on the left. She said that my lining was super thin. They made me take a blood test and she said she’ll call me to let me know if I can start with the stims. If not, I have to come back on Weds to see if they’ve grown or not. As you can imagine, I was devastated. Inconsolable to be honest. It’s bad enough that there were so few follicles and tiny ones at that! I’ve been trying so hard to keep positive so feeling pretty low. I’m also terrified about the impact of Corona - as the doctor said earlier because of my age, I shouldn’t delay treatment unless necessary but it all feels like it’s out of my control. I haven’t felt this low in months. Terrified of going back to the dark place I was in 2017

Sorry for the negative post. Just really hating everything right now

[WinnieM]

Hey Janop79,

Hoping to offer some comradery and hope!

I’m 39 and also have low ovarian reserve. After trying for 6 years we started IVF in May 2018.

It took me 5 rounds over 14months to get 6 embryos. 3 of which are PGS normal.

I know you see on message boards ppl getting 14-22 eggs each time, and being upset only 10 fertilized ....that’s just not the norm for us, so don’t compare!

Here’s my story:

IVF #1 May ‘18: 2 eggs both immature, all over before it began 😥

IVF #2 Jan ‘19: 8 eggs, 7 mature, 5 fertilized, 3 made it to ‘day 5’ for PGS testing. = 1 PGS normal and 1 mosaic.

IVF #3 March ‘19, abandoned during stims, uneven growth

IVF # 4 April ‘19 (back 2 back), abandoned during stims, uneven growth

IVF # 5 July ‘19, just 3 eggs. I couldn’t face not going through to the end for the third time in a row. 3 eggs were mature, all three fertilized and made it to ‘day 5’, 2 were PGS normal! A miracle!

The two cancelled rounds #3 & #4 and were so tough, I was so low during this time so understand how you feel. But it was right to cancel those.

I believe I was able to improve my egg quality by doing some big lifestyle changes like a fertility diet and supplements etc, have you and your partner tried this? I was able to reduce my FSH and increase my AMH.

Are you going privately or NHS?

For me personally, my Dr specializes in low ovarian reserve and he knew that my body doesn’t respond did ‘max doses’ of stims, so we had very low dose ‘light’ IVF and that was better for me.

Have you also tried acupuncture to help with your lining and tart cherry juice mixed with pomegranate?

What supplements are you taking?

I can share the lifestyle/fertility diet too if helpful.

[Janop79 in reply to WinnieM]

Thank you so much. I really appreciate your kindness and the time it took you to respond. You’re right, it makes no sense to compare but it’s so hard not to get a bit upset acuity it sometimes.

Such amazing news about your 5th cycle. Wow! So happy for you.

I’ve been taking supplements for a few years (although introduced Ubiquinol, DHA and Folate around 8 months ago) and I changed to a more premium prenatal multivitamin around 9 months ago. I had acupuncture for a couple of years but no luck. Stopped in October due to money (currently on a career break due to stressful/ horrible time at work)

I’m doing private with a clinic which specialises in low AMH and also mild and light IVF.

I’m thinking I should start acupuncture again ASAP. I start a new job soon so should be able to afford it again.

If you could send any info on your lifestyle/fertility diet, that would be amazing!

Thanks again. Means a lot xxx

[WinnieM in reply to Janop79]

It’s basically cutting out toxins and inflammatory foods, and eating lots of anti-inflammatory foods.

...as best you can, without stressing too much 🙂

Disclaimer: am not a doctor or nutritionist, but I have been under the care of a fertility nutritionist and naturopathic doctor for the past 2 years and this is a summary of their advice.

So cutting the big 5: alcohol, caffeine, sugar, gluten & dairy (& fun...joking!)

And eating lots of...

Vegetables (5-10 a day), eat the rainbow but especially greens like broccoli, peas, spinach, kale, chard 🥦

Onions & garlic good too.

Fruits (mainly berries)

Nuts & seeds

Oily fish at least twice a week

Protein

Lentils & beans...I find this hard so eat hummus and occasionally daal!

2 eggs a day egg 🍳

Avocado 🥑

Loads of Water 💦 (non caffeine herbal tea like mint & camomile ok too plus I have hot water with lemon and sometimes fresh ginger each morning )

Sweet potato, rice, potato, quinoa = fine

Bread, cake, pastries, sweets, pasta, fried food etc = not good

Buy organic where poss, wash well if not.

Supplements:

-Pre natal with folate (not folic acid)

-Omega 3/EPA/DHA (all same thing really)

-Ubiquinol

-Vit D (the d-lux spray is good)

-Acai capsule or liquid (the leading fertility clinic in US CCRM recommend this 8-12 weeks prior to their patients, study showed improved qty, quality, fertilization & chromosomally normal blastocysts)

-DHEA (do your own research on this and speak to your doctor but shown to improve egg qty & quality in older women 3 x 25ml capsules per day, research Center for Human Reproduction, New York, who recommend for all women over 40 for 16-29 weeks prior...or if no time, at least 6 weeks prior)

Try and replace all plastics with glass ( replace plastic water bottle, Tupperware etc)

Always decanter into ceramic or glass before microwaving (don’t microwave plastic)

Basically plastic is an endocrine disrupter and can affect your hormones.

Use non toxic cleaning products, toiletries & make up

Excercise gently, yoga, walks etc. No HIIT, F45 and suchlike!

Turn phone to airplane mode at night, or better still have in another room (I haven’t quite managed that!)

Don’t mean to overwhelm!! Just brainspill!

How I make this work...

For bfast I have ...

-Hot water with lemon when i wake up (sometimes add ginger)

-GF oats with oat/coconut/almond milk and top with berries, nuts and seeds

-Green juice (blend spinach/kale with cucumber, celery, ginger, lemon, water (or coconut water( and handful of frozen fruit of your choice (mango, pineapple, berries etc works ...keeps juice cold and adds sweetness, though you can just use ice if you want) You can also add maca powder (good for fertility), flax seed and whatever else you want. Also 1/2 avocado of you like it creamy it want to be more full if you don’t have time for porridge. I make it every few days so I have 3-4 glasses for the days ahead.

For lunch I have protein pots or salad from pret or warm food from Leon.

For dinner I have healthy meal delivery box.

For snacks I have almonds or cashews or fruit or popcorn. Or pecan and sea salt kind bar.

You can pick a choose from all of this, don’t let it dictate your life, you can have a day off for social occasions!

[WinnieM in reply to WinnieM]

I also have 1/2 tart cherry juice and 1/2 pommegrare juice in a wine glass as pretend wine, and lots of kombucha which I pretend is Moscow mule or cider, depending on the flavour!

[Pebbles345]

Hi Janop79,

I just wanted to let you know that you're not alone. I'm really sorry to hear that you feel so down and I think it's completely understandable, you've been through a lot!

I don't have any direct experience similar to yours and it sounds like the lady above has much more advice on this particular issue but I just wanted to say hang on in there! It's really anxious times when you're going through IVF and now we've got stupid Coronavirus to think about it feels like it will never end but I promise you it will. This will not be your life forever, one way or another you will get through.

Sending you lots of luck xxx

[Janop79 in reply to Pebbles345]

Thank you so much. I really needed to hear that.

Wishing you all the best! I hope you’re lining continues to behave

Thanks again xxx

[LouCollier]

just to let you know at my base line scan I had 1 cyst and 2 small ones (they can't access one of my ovaries)

the next scan I had jumped up to 1 cyst and 5 follicles. the next one was 1 cyst and 6 follicles and yesterday 1 cyst and 8 follicles and we pulled the trigger last night for collection tomorrow morning.

After that first scan I was gutted but each time with Stims it has improved (also with fertility acupuncture) and even though our collection was put back (what a roller-coaster ride this is!) it is still going ahead.

keep your head up. we are IVF warriors......we can do this xx

[Janop79]

Wow! That’s great. Thank you so much for sharing. I woke up still feeling a bit deflated particularly with this whole COVID-19 chaos so reading your message has mad me feel so much better.

Thanks for your words of encouragement too! Yes, we can do this.

Good luck with your collection. Really hope it’s a good one. You deserve it xxx