Hi lovelies,
After my 2nd FET failure I’m researching like mad to try and find a reason. And I’m wondering if anyone had had success following an ERA test? I’ve heard that timing is critical when transferring so I feel like without knowing the exact window it’s just a stab in the dark.
Any experience with this?
Thanks as always xxx
Hi, We had our transfer after a recommended era test which did show we needed shorter med time but it unfortunately hasn't worked. I'm happy we had the test, because we have elimintaed any biological reason now. I'm going to request a private progesterone test of day of transfer this time because I didnt have as many progesterone symptoms so don't think it was high enough. Good luck xx
That’s interesting. Maybe the timing was right but the embryo wasn’t chromosomally correct. It’s so hard to know but at least you know your window now. I think the progesterone test is also a good plan. I had one this time round and they upped my meds to 2x lubion the same day. It didn’t work and weirdly I didn’t have any progesterone symptoms either so maybe it was just a duff round! 🤯 xx
We had chromasome tests on my husbands sperm, I haven't had dna tests as there was no reason to. The embryos we had from our first round all 6 were top grade, we've used 3, 3 to go. Just goes to show anything can happen. I was on 2x lubion anyway, but having the test will put my mind at ease x
I know a couple of ladies that have had success after having this. Some first time and others second time around so I guess it's no guarantee and still need a good embryo. When I spoke to the Dr that did mine, she said in general it only helps if there is a discrepancy found with the progesterone timing which mine was....I need a full 24hrs of progesterone compared to "normal" people. Yet to see if will work for me of course!xxx
Also interesting! Does the progesterone test not tell you that though? Do you need an ERA test to know? Trying to get my head around it all xxx
It's more about how long as opposed to how much....that doesnt affect he test. However the amount you are on will affect pregnancy and sustaining pregnancy.xxx
So you need a certain number of days of progesterone support before your body is ready to receive, so to speak? Xx
Yes exactly! They take a biopsy at the normal time of progesterone which is 120 hours and they tell you if pre receptive, receptive or post receptive....here's the link to my results. It's not about days, more about hours.xxx
healthunlocked.com/fertilit......
Hi Cinderella, do they do the ERA testing before one starts a cycle or do they do it while getting one ready for transfer? Thanks x
It mostly used for frozen embryo transfers. So you would do this in a test frozen transfer environment.xx
Hi Cinderella! What does a test frozen transfer mean? If I go for DD I would just do the transfer part so would they test me just before starting me on estrogen and progesterone or have to leave some time after the ERA before transferring? X
So if you were doing DD it means you would prepare your body as if for transfer....get your lining nice and thick then give you progesterone and then have a biopsy instead of transfer. They send the biopsy away to the lab and they tell you from your biopsy how long you need to be on progesterone so when you prepare for transfer next time it's more exact with timings yo put the embryo back when your uterus is most receptive. Hope that makes sense.xx
Thanks Cinderella, it makes sense!! X
Ahhhh that makes sense! So I had my transfer on day 6 so maybe I’m pre receptive... I guess a test will tell me 👍🏼 thanks for all the info xxx
So for me, I started progesterone at 12 midday on Tuesday to transfer at 12 midday on Monday...144 hours of progesterone which is the 24hours more than "normal" people.....I'm just a weirdo!🤣🤣 Hope that makes sense.xxx
Yes that does make sense. I wonder then why all clinics don’t do that. Mine have never been so specific about the timing.... 🤷🏼♀️ xx
Hi Cinderella! So your current BFP was from your adjusted timing yes? Xx
Yes that's correct and the only other adjustment was that Im on shed loads of progesterone. To be honest after after a few negatives using really good embryos my consultant did suspect my window was out and instead of the usual 5 days we adjusted to being on progesterone for longer and we got out first BFP but there was no actual timings involved and we lost that one due to low progesterone and it was a later implanter which never bodes well. We got another BFP after that one but it was a chemical so we did the ERA and got the best timing for implantation.....I then worked out on both BFPs I was starting the progesterone just border line too late ot too early so this time it was precision timing. I obviously don't know if we have success yet but its the furthest we have gotten. Hope that all makes sense.xx
Thanks for your reply. I really feel like it’s probably a timing issue for us. we’ve had 3 failures now and I was on a lot of progesterone but just the 5 days. So planning an ERA ASAP. Yours looks good lovely! Have faith xxx
Good luck, give me a shout if you have any questions!!xx
Thank you lovely. I’m struggling with it all at the moment so you’re giving me hope! Good luck to you too xxx
Awww thanks! Its really hard pushing on but hopefully they can find something to adjust! We took a bit of heart that we needed to change something up and had a protocol to adhere to. The consultant that did ours said that she had seen good success if the timings are found to be out.xxx
Yes I think when there are still things you can change it gives you hope. Fingers crossed xxx
Hi Cinderella5,
Mine sample was taken after 101h of progesterone, so 4 full days and 5h and came back receptive ... I am now thinking that my doctor made some sort of an error (wrote a wrong date or something) given that the normal timing to do the era is after 120h ☹️ I did a PGS tested transfer and it didn’t work ...
You can only check with your Dr that the information he has is correct. It could well be ok, my biopsy was taken at 120hrs however the lab calculates when you will be receptive so for instance having the biopsy early doesn't matter, its the results that matter. Im sorry to hear that your PGS embryo didn't stick, sometimes its just bad luck unfortunately, as frustrating as it is. I got an actual copy of my results from my biopsy so perhaps you could ask for that too to settle your mind? Here is what min looks like, I posted mine up so others could see what it looks like.xx
healthunlocked.com/fertilit......
Thank you for your reply Cinderella5 x I have the results at home, I am only worried that the doctor mixed up the dates on her notes before she has given them to the lab.. I had so many hiccups with her, I have lost any confidence in her ... anyway, the test was performed 2 years ago now so I don’t remember much from it x If my second attempt with my PGS embryo doesn’t work I will consider redoing the test 😩 How is your pregnancy going? I was glad to see that you’re pregnant 🤰 😘
Ahhh I see, gosh its terrible when you doubt your Dr! All the best with your next transfer, my only other advice is to make sure your progesterone levels ae nice and high. Thank you, pregnancy is going ok I think.....bit in limbo land from our last scan until the next one but fingers crossed.xx
Hey there, I have toyed with the idea of doing an ERA too but I’m not sure. Basically the stats are in the favour of not making a difference having gone through the test ie the timing doesn’t affect the majority of people. HOWEVER you could be in the percentage of people where it would make a difference and therefore timing for you might be critical and might be a reason for getting a negative result. You will need to do a mock cycle (with all the drugs) and then on the day of poss transfer they take a sample from you. It’s quite expensive (although most things in IVF are) and you have the cost of the drugs too. I’m not trying to put you off (it may well be my next step if my current cycle is a negative and I want to explore all options as you do) but just trying to give you the facts as did quite a bit of research. Keep us posted with your decision xx
Thank you. I appreciate an honest opinion 😬 it’s hard to know what to do, I’m also considering PGS testing which I know you’re doing too. It’s kind of a process of elimination isn’t it!! Maybe PGS testing should come first for me, because if I’m still not getting a positive with normal embryos then there could be a timing issue. How are you feeling? Xxx
I know, all these decisions are so so hard to make!! You’re right, that’s exactly it!! It’s a process of elimination. This round I’ve done one fresh transfer (today) and having the rest PGS tested. I’ve been through 2 miscarriages and we want to try and limit any more by only transferring viable embryos which is why we test. People are often divided re PGS testing but the research we’ve done means it’s right for us. I also understand why people don’t though. Like you say, all the decisions are a nightmare! Xx
Oh brill! I’ve never had a positive pregnancy test so I think it’s probably an implantation issue for me (which could be viable embryos or timing) I think?? Or it could just be bad luck. So many avenues to explore... wishing you all the best for this one 💖💖
I’m with you, mine could well be timing too. My 2 pregnancies were natural conception. My one IVF PGS embryo transfer failed sadly. Thank you so much for the luck 🤞🤞xx
I did the combined ERA/EMMA/ALICE... ERA came back fine for me, but the EMMA for microbiome was abnormal. I had literally zero lactobacillus, and studies have shown that 95%+ is associated with better outcomes 😳 so think this explained my implantation failures as in the FET after I got my first BFP ever. I ended up having a MMC but this was most likely chromosomal so think that the test and treatment did help. It’s only a bit more cost to do the combined test and so if you do go ahead with the ERA I’d suggest consider doing it all at once just to rule any bacterial issues out. Xx
I’ve had 5 transfers and all have resulted in a bfn, including our last one which was a pgs tested normal embryo. So we’re now exploring implantation issues and am due to have an ERA as well as the EMMA/ALICE and NK cells test plus a hysterscopy. We’re also embryo banking in order to have a couple of blasts to send off for pgs testing again so the aim is to discount any possible known uterus issues (or address them if something is found) and transfer a genetically normal embryo. If it still doesn’t work after all that then I give up! It will be heartbreaking to know we’ve done everything medically possible but we feel like we have to try everything before we move on to who knows what. Just frustrated it’s taken 5 bfn’s for our clinic to propose going down this route...
I’m sorry you’ve had such a rubbish time of it. I am becoming more and more convinced that those tests are the way forward for me. I hope you have some luck with it too xx
Hello. Just saw your post from a few months ago. Just wondering how you are getting on? I feel I’m totally in the same boat. We have done everything for this cycle.
Hiya, we went ahead and had a 3rd FET after this post which also failed. So we’ve decided the ERA/ALICE/EMMA is our next step and am starting drugs tomorrow for it. I will also get my NKC tested even though at the moment they won’t give steroids if they are elevated. I don’t think there’s much point doing any more transfers until we have done a bit more investigation xx
Yep. Makes total sense. Good luck to you x
Thank you. Do you know what you might do next? Xx
No clue. I think I need to recover first. We only have two embryos left. We are planning to stop our fertility journey after these embryos. So it’s a hard one. I feel the clinic isn’t right for us, but I’m not sure if you are allowed to move frozen embryos to another clinic. But maybe trying to get a second opinion, to rule anything out. 🤷🏽♀️
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