I'm currently 41 and am on my first 2 week wait on cycle 1 (test due next Monday). I was originally referred for IVF in April 19, so it's been a long wait - complicated by COVID & a polyp (tiny, but still there). All tests have shown good fertility so far and I get a decent number of follicles each month on the scans (~10 per side and last month even ovulated from both sides). Nevertheless, from 20 eggs collected, I ended up with 14 fertilized, one good for fresh transfer and 2 not so good ones to freeze.
I'm wondering if anyone else is trying post 40 and is having any luck? I've found two tools useful in calculating my odds (links below). The first is a calculator based on an individual's results from collection and the second gives the odds of pregnancy/ live birth, based on the grade of the embryos. Has anybody used these or anything similar?
Also, I've found that that caffeine should be avoided, as should baths and vigorous exercise. It's a bit hard to define vigorous, but my partner tells me I wouldn't meet the threshold! Thinking I should avoid doing a run now. Have people been avoiding these things when going through the process?
Been getting mild period type pains this week, and am thinking that this is a sign it's not worked in any case.
There are lots of us over 40...and lots of info on how to improve the health of our eggs and our partner's sperm - what to eat, what not to, lots of book suggestions. If you do a few searches, loads will come up for many lovely ladies, to help you on your journey. I've done a few posts that may be helpful.
Running produces Cortisol which increases inflammation, which is not good for implantation, so walking is recommended, and yes avoid hot baths or swimming during IVF.
Best of luck - and don't hesitate to ask loads of questions! Everyone's odds are different. I have a friend who's just given birth at age 48 (natural conception) Fingers crossed for you. xx
I am olso 41 next month I hade my transfer 7/14 I am still in the two week waiting period I also have that mild period type of pain since the transfer this is my 4th Ivf i always had that type of pain with my previous Ivf’s and they all resulted my 12,8,and 5 yeast old children so don’t be alarmed and stay positive best of luck.
Thank you! I also transferred on 14/7. It's really encouraging to know that you had similar symptoms & things worked out well for you Good luck - it seems things are on track for you
Hi 👋 I know the Lister Fertility clinic has a calculator on their website which you can put in parameters like age etc to get some odds. Good luck for your test day, you’ve done fabulously well so far getting so many eggs and some embryos for the freezer!! Xx
Hi fingers crossed for your success. I would say from experience of friends over 40, that no or mild stimulation is best. It’s about quality not quantity with eggs and lots of stims does seem to affect quality. 2 of my friends have used clinics where they stimulated them a lot with lots of eggs but no implantation. They then moved to my clinic Create who believe in mild IVF and both are pregnant. I’ve also had success but with donor egg due to low AMH. Really hope this one works for you but if not you should def look into mild Ivf. You only need 1 good quality embryo not 15 poor ones.
I think it’s massively down to the protocol and how it works for an individual. I had the reverse experience - 2 failed rounds with mild stimulation. Moved clinics and a BFP on my first round, sadly it ended in a MMC but it was a positive non the less. There’s so much that clinics learn about you and they can adjust the protocol accordingly. I totally agree it’s about quality not quantity but a good clinic should be watching how you respond and adjusting medication accordingly. Interestingly I got more eggs when I had mild stimulation than I did with my new clinic on a long protocol.
Than you - good advice. I wasn't aware of the mild stimulation approach until the other day. it makes sense, as any follicles which are called into action that wouldn't otherwise usually do so stand the change of carrying eggs with abnormal chromosomes (think just 20% are 'normal' past 40). I'm not sure how stimulated I was - i ended up only taking 1 rather than 2 boxes of the trigger injection as I already ad 20 follicles developing on the scan (which is usually the case naturally from my previous scans).
Hey, I’ll be 43 in November and now have a 3 month old. He was born from my one single egg that was collected so I really do see as my little miracle. I avoided running and swimming during 2ww but did walking up hill on treadmill or cross trainer to stay active. Don’t let your heart rate get too high or any impact exercise. Avoid caffeine and of course alcohol. And I listened to the Zita west ivf 2 week wait recording every day. Good for relaxing and Visualisation. Good luck! Xx
Nespresso decaf coffee was my saviour - and still is now! Feels like you’re still having coffee and I never had any caffeine withdrawals at all! ☕️ 😊 x
Hi Orangeflowers, I’m also 41, I did my first egg collection last week and due to me being at Create clinic, a mild ivf clinic, they collected 4 eggs, and I will get my day 6 update today but it looks like 3 out of 4 are good to freeze. I have two more rounds to go before transfer.
Personally I think those calculators can drive a woman crazy as they are a little disheartening for someone our age. So I try not to focus on those things.
In terms of exercise, currently I work out regularly + run, but when I get to the 2ww, I will be walking instead of running and just doing some light arm workouts at most. If I get a positive result I am most definitely going back to my regular workout routine, I know everyone has different views on this, but I am a big believer in the exercise being helpful for post birth recovery as well as it helping with feeling good mentally.
Thanks for this advice. I've not heard of having 3 rounds then transferring as I'm just on NHS first round so far. I guess it makes a lot of sense if you can get 3 cycle discounted packages at our age? It does give the opportunity to bank the eggs now for future and then use one transfer now. Also I'm guessing there is the prospect of selecting the embryo which grades best from the 3 cycles if you are freezing embryos rather than eggs (not really sure what clinics recommend here?)
Hey, I am 43 and did my First IVF at 41 and like Libby got pregnant but sadly MC, I am about to embark on round 5!
My biggest piece of advice I could give would be everyone is unique. This whole fertility thing is a nightmare and you could spend hours on calculators working out your chances (believe me I have), you can spend hours on this forum thinking that test worked for that person or that protocol worked for another.. etc etc. I think the main thing is to listen to your clinic and your consultants as they are the experts! Hopefully this will be your lucky round and you will get your BFP and you won't need to worry about another round, but don't necessarily think only a certain type of round will work because of your age, for example I am 43 but my AMH is 11.9 so I have a very different protocol to someone who is 43 with an AMH of 2... or 32 for that matter. I got a lot better quality eggs on short protocol rather than long.
in terms of exercise I have tried doing nothing/ a little bit/ a lot! I found exercise really helped me deal with the stresses of the 2ww so I did a lot of brisk walking (not running), I also cycled gently and I own a horse so I did horse riding although the nurses recommended that I didnt.. I think that was the risk of falling off and I was less worried about that. I think its all about what your 'normal' is. So like when I got pregnant I was panicking about heavy lifting and carrying my rucksack on my commute but the nurse said not to worry and again heavy lifting is relevant to what your body is used to, so do things you are comfortable with and what you feel doesnt over exert you.
Finally period pains are really really normal and can as much good news as bad news so focus no the positive and hope its your embryo bedding in!
Thanks - lots of great advice I guess this is trial and error and hoping that the clinic will be able to find something that works (fingers crossed). My embryos seemed to be slow growing - could be down to quality I guess, but I'm also wondering if it could be down to timings (I started the treatment drugs on the night when my period had only just started and only had one scan, so I'm not sure if the collection may have been too early; the 2 frozen embryos I have were allowed to grow for an extra day). Maybe there's stuff like induced hatching that can be tried if that's indicated to maybe be an issue.
My clinic will only let me start the drugs day 2 or 3, when day 1 is a full days red flow (so if period starts in the afternoon the next day is day 1).. could be worth looking into
Hopefully you won't need another round anyway!! Good luck! xx
I gave birth to a little boy 2mths before I was about to turn 43. It took 1 failed fresh transfer and 1 failed frozen transfer but 3rd time lucky!
I am now 8 weeks pregnant at almost 45.
The only exercise I did was walking. Before getting pregnant now I started doing to pilates, yoga and dance classes but stopped towards the end of stimulation as I hadn't been doing it for that long. They say if you normally exercise carry on but if you don't, don't start from the 2 wk wait. Also I have read really vigorous regular exercise is not good when you are trying for a baby.
I was told at 42 my chances of a successful pregnancy was 9-10%. This is the average but everyone is different. Be determined, persevere and visualise yourself holding your little bundle of joy.
Oh and I reduced my daily cup of coffee to about once a every 2wks or once a month when I started trying and once a month when pregnant which was hard! One doctors at Guys said she didn't know why the press was so down against coffee and it is fine to drink but I didn't want to take any chances
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Good point on the running & cortisol, I didn't think of that.
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