I'm new here! I never thought I'd post but I'm feeling a bit blue so thought perhaps you ladies might be able to reassure me!
I am based in Israel (although British). I am here undergoing fertility preservation for medical reasons (Low AMH, Endometriosis). It is state subsidised so I am very lucky but yesterday hit a real low point!
I've already done 3 cycles of egg freezing. First cycle was a Goal F, Menopur, Cetrotide cycle and we got 5 eggs, 4 mature (May 2020). Not the best start as I was hoping for more but OK, it's something. Second cycle in July 2020 used exactly the same protocol but I ended up collecting 11 eggs, 8 of which were mature. Amazing!
After a few months off I went again in December for a third cycle (now aged 40) and once again got 9 eggs, all mature. This time I made embryos with donor sperm so went through the real IVF experience. We froze 2 eggs, then of the 7 we had left 4 fertilised and we banked 2 x 3 day embryos. I was going to leave it there, but my doctor encouraged me to keep going and do a 4th round. To try to bank a few more embryos. Now my follicles are always a bit slow to grow. The first 7 days are a bit painful while I wait and see what will happen.. in December, we went from 5 follicles to 9 good sized follicles between days 8-10. So I asked my doctor if there was anything we could change to try to encourage earlier growth and therefore less stress for me. He agreed. He switched me from Menopur to Pergoveris. I was a bit worried about this because what I had really been hoping for was to switch Gonal F to something else because I always feel like the Gonal doesn't make much happen! but instead we got rid of the Menopur. While Pergoveris is SO MUCH EASIER to administer, something can't have worked. Because on my 8 day scan yesterday there were only 2 follicles of 11MM showing. And this is from an AFC count of 14. I was devastated and cried all day. The nurses were great and they even found me a counsellor to talk to. But I was worried my doctor would make me carry on as he's very much one of the "it's your age and your AMH, and not my fault" brigade.
Thankfully though, he called last night and agreed with me that 2 is not very many for a preservation cycle (perhaps if I was doing straight IVF now I may have carried on). So we cancelled the cycle. Today I feel a mix of emotions. Glad to not be injecting in vain, but also worried. Even though I'm 99% certain that my body just missed the Menipur and didn't love the PV, of course the little voice in my head is telling me I'm too old now and this is my lot!
Also there was a cyst on my left ovary which troubles every ultrasound technician and that's the ovary where no follicles grew. So of course this could be a reason too. I just wondered if anyone else has had a similar experience and gone on to have a better cycle next month? Or tried Pergorveris compared to other FSH drugs and found it not to be so good?
THANK YOU and good luck to everyone,
Kate.
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ZalmanGal
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Sorry just seeing this this and had to reach out. I made a post and no one responded yet either. I joined the forum recently. I think that happens sometimes with the number of posts and responses, some posts can go down the pecking order or perhaps no one has a similar experience.
I cannot give any specific advice about what you are going through but I can see you have been disappointed with a failed round. That can happen in IVF snd some people say that sometimes it is all about trial and error in IVF. It is also such an emotional rollercoaster!
I am 43 and still doing IVF. There is an American fertility doctor that says if you are still able to produce eggs, then she is willing to give it a try! That is how I see my journey. Good luck with it all! I would advice not to give up if you have the means - financially and emotionally to try another round. Your previous rounds showed promise!
Hi JoyfulStar, thank you so much. Yeah I guess I took the silence personally but that's my issue and not anyone else's. I've always seen such supportive posts from other women here so I guess I felt a but hurt that no one engaged with mine. But you did, so thank you. Good for you for still going at 43. I hate how age defines so much in this sphere. As a social worker just told me, she sees women of all ages from 25-45 going through the same thing so in some ways age is just a number and not a definer of outcome. Best of luck to you too.
Thank you ZalmanGal. So glad you responded! How are you feeling now?
With regards to cycles and outcomes I have just learned the hard way that outcome of cycles can vary even with the exact same protocol! I was so hopeful to bank 2 embryos my first cycle and now although we did the exact same thing on paper for cycle 2, today is day 5 and none have reached blastocyst so not able to freeze😢I get an update tomorrow about the final outcome
The only difference this protocol and the last one was I had more eggs recruited and grow because the doctors decided to leave me on stims for longer. Despite the 13 eggs collected, ( I’ve had 6 and 7 eggs in past IVF cycles, I have no blastocysts on day 5. 2 days ago 4 embryos were doing so well!
My husband wonders whether the outcome is a result of too much medication. I told him they are likely to blame my age and egg quality. Trying to stay strong and keep things in perspective. I may be down but I am not out! Will also keep my faith in God 🙏🏾
Glad to see you back! We all need a little support. Take care xxx
Hello! I AM SO SORRY I only just saw this - I don't get notifications from any websites/apps and as I am not currently undergoing any treatment I didn't check the board. But now I see your reply. How are you doing?
Ugh, I'm so sorry to hear that you didn't get any to day 5. I am in Israel and what they did here was freeze 2 of mine on day 3, so they are only 6 cells and B grade, but they thought they were good enough quality to be banked at that stage. But the ones they left to day 5 didn't make it. So who knows what would have happened if all 4 had been left to go to day 5? We will never know. I feel like your husband's perspective is so logical because he will have seen how much medicine you had to pump into your body! But my doctor ALWAYS blames my age and AMH. It's always "my fault" even though I am so diligent with the injections, and the self-care, and the vitamin D and Zinc and meditation etc.
Anyway I guess what I've learned from ladies on here is that every cycle can be different.. are you able to try another cycle? or perhaps try and implant one of the two frozen last time? Keep me updated. Lots of luck and positivity to you. I am due to start another cycle in two weeks and this time with Gonal F and Menopur. Let's see what happens. I am using donor sperm which is supposed to be high quality so hoping that the "man factor" works in my favour, LOL. xxx
No need to apologise and glad to hear from you. I am enjoying having a brief respite from IVF. What about you?
Regarding my failed cycle, interestingly, my consultant blamed the sperm which threw me. I was still suspicious about the length of stims so we have a plan to potentially tackle both the sperm and medication issue.
I have my final cycle (paid for 3) planned for next month. My next appointment is a baseline scan to check all is good to go.
Likely to do a fresh transfer.
In the UK it is regular practice to only freeze day 5 embryos. Some clinics even only transfer day 5 fresh embryos. I know it works for some people but for others like me it feels too risky. I plan to be more vocal and preempt potential pitfalls now that I know what could go wrong. However, I also know nothing is guaranteed in IVF so taking each day as it comes as well.
Glad to hear you are trying again and yes will let you know how it all goes. Also will like to hear how your treatment is going. Xxx
Hi! That’s so interesting that he blamed the sperm. Ugh, well, fantastic you have a cycle paid for and can go again. Wishing you all the success for it.
Yes I was surprised when they froze my day 3 embryos but my doctor said that there’s a school of thought that says it can work this way as the womb is a good environment for them to be in between days 3-5. But I would have liked to get a day 5, but then again I am not an expert!
Let’s see what happens.
I am enjoying my little break and thankfully we are out of lockdown so I’m hoping that might have a positive effect on my stress levels etc.
I hope you get to go out for a meal outdoors or something lovely before starting stims.
Thank you so much my dear. Despite easing in restrictions, we are choosing to be cautious as IVF cycles can be cancelled if you catch Covid or asked to self-isolate. I learned the hard way when my first cycle was postponed for 2 months when my track and trace app told me to self isolate just as I was about to start stims! All I did was get on a train and probably came into Bluetooth range of some random person that tested positive for Covid.
We do have a lovely night out planned going to a drive in cinema on the 22nd this month so looking forward to that!
There are so many variations on IVF with different schools of thought. It is so confusing! There is the 2, 3 day vs 5 day embryo debate
Quality vs quantity for egg collection
PGS testing or not?
Early triggering when lead follicle is a certain size or waiting to get several to a certain size
Single trigger vs double trigger
The list goes on..... It feels like such a minefield and a gamble. Like you said we are not experts and we are at the mercy of the professionals and their preferred methods.
All we can do is pray and hope that the recommendations from doctors pay off!
Hi Kate, sorry that no one replied. I think messaged get swallowed up sometimes.
I’ve battled a cyst recently (in the run up to FET) and we had to cancel the transfer as it was producing hormones and therefore throwing my levels out of whack. I wonder if this could have anything to do with your reduction in numbers?
I’ve never used Pergorveris but always found menopur to be the most successful stim for me. I guess everyone is different though and a lot of it is trial and error. Also our bodies behave differently each cycle so there’s no guarantee that what works one month with be the same the next.
I’m sorry that you’re feeling isolated. It’s a horrible thing to go through at the best of times and I’m sure the lack of responses didn’t help. Have you spoken to your doctor since your first post? Xx
Hi Millbanks, thanks so much for getting back to me. Sorry about your cancelled transfer. Hopefully you can get started again next month? I hear what you're saying about every month being different. Absolutely right. My first month got only 5 eggs /4 mature, and then almost a year later I got 9 mature. So it can go up as well as down. I just felt my "down" was a big shock. I plan to try again in May with Menopur and see if it works its magic. I haven't spoken to my doctor but I might call tomorrow to see if he can shed insight as to why my breasts are SO painful this week (most likely a PMT symptom?). Thank you for your support and good luck to you xx
Hi lovely, hope you’re feeling positive heading in to your May cycle. Will it be FET? I’ve just started a fresh cycle with the aim to bank some embryos then have them and our current Frosties PGT-A tested. Fingers crossed we get at least one but you never know! Xx
Hi hun - Just read your post. I don’t have any advice but wanted to say good luck Xx
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