IVF Countdown... goodbye to alcohol?

[VMJ007]

We start IVF (1st time) in 10 weeks. I eat well. I don’t smoke. But guys, I love to party and drink.

When did you stop drinking?

How did you find it?

What helped you?

Please share.

Struggles welcome.

[MiniS5]

Hey, we’ve been trying to conceive for many years so had stopped drinking alcohol a couple of years prior to my IVF treatments (bar one or two on special occasions) personally I just didn’t want to take any chances as read that alcohol can affect egg quality but it’s whatever you feel comfortable with and IVF is such a hard process anyway that I know many people choose to have a few drinks here and there to help! I can highly recommend Heineken zero - makes you feel like you’re having something when you’re not! Good luck with your treatment xx

[VMJ007 in reply to MiniS5]

Thankyou for your genuine response! Appreciate it.

[Millbanks]

I feel your pain! I have definitely drank a lot less in the past year while doing ivf. I tend to cut out completely when doing stims/meds for transfer and of course after transfer, but I’ve had a few blow outs in between. For me it’s needed xx

[XOXO13]

I stopped drinking for over a year and a half, at first I think it was subconscious.. like I didn’t decide to stop, I just found I was drinking less and less and didn’t fancy it! I then fell pregnant, and after my miscarriage I couldn’t bring myself to have a drink for many months.. felt guilty for some reason and was so afraid alcohol would hinder me falling pregnant again. Anyway, I don’t think that’s the case, and my fertility doctor says a glass or wine here and there in between treatment will cause no harm and may be good for me (to help me relax!)

I also know many women who drink way more than I ever did and they’ve not had a problem conceiving, and I try to remember that. A drink isn’t going to harm me (or you).

I’m due to start meds any day now, and I’m having a glass of red this evening for a special occasion!

Best of luck to you 🤍💫 xxx

[strawberriesandcream]

I hear you! I love being social and having drinks. I cut down quite a lot in my infertile years leading up to ivf (mainly for my own mental health) but then in terms of during treatment I only stopped fully when I started my injections for IVF when I had fresh cycles. My recent cycle is a frozen one so I felt more relaxed as embryos were already created and we’d overcome a lot of issues so I had a few drinks whilst in the cycle and stopped a couple of weeks before transfer.

I think what you need to ask yourself is whether you will question your decision if the cycle fails - if you’re comfortable with your choices then that’s all that matters.

I think the only thing that helped me was the fact we have been in lockdown so I’ve missed no social occasions - I’m not sure I have much advice for the real world and if my cycle fails I’ll be coming back to you asking for help 🤣

[strawberriesandcream in reply to strawberriesandcream]

I also really recommend alcohol free beer too, it really does trick you into not feeling left out!

[Emlou87]

I used to love a glass of wine to de-stress after a hard days work and could easily drink a bottle (or 2!) on a Friday/ Saturday night. I massively reigned in the drinking in the month leading up to FET but still had the occasional glass of red right up to a few days before FET. My transfer was successful and I’m now currently 7 weeks pregnant. Obviously everyone is different but I felt a small glass of red wine to help me relax after a tough day helped me to reduce my stress levels which is obviously a positive thing!

[VMJ007 in reply to Emlou87]

Thankyou for your words of support. Congrats.

[London_Lady1]

Me and hubby basically stopped drinking when we realised that something was working with trying naturally.

We would still have drinks on special occasions but found thay us doing it together made it easier. Also the improvement in his sperm quality from first test to actual deposit for our IVF cycle was totally worth the sacrifice.

I'm gonna be honest that it can be tough though as infertility is a journey so you can end up not drinking for ages.

As another rule I would always commiserate my period arrival with quite a bit to drink. I'm not sure if I advise this as not really drinking for tbe right reasons but sometimes needs must.

Wishing you lots of luck with your cycle. Xx

[Beanybeanz]

Started injections (long protocol) mid august 2020, didn’t drink much in the run up, but wouldn’t deny the odd glass of wine once or twice a week if offered at a BBQ or something.

(The stress of people asking why I wasn’t drinking would’ve been worse than the stress of any possible guilt of drinking some alcohol at that point)

Shared a bottle of red wine with my other half end of august for a special occasion meal then started stimulation drugs so that was it. Haven’t drunk since as I’m now 28 weeks !

X