Booze and Stims

[VMJ007]

Hi Ladies. I hope you’re all well! Gosh, another Saturday night and I’m 100 days sober. I was a massive binge drinker before before I started IVF. And now I’m 4 cycles in, and sober. I am so happy to put booze behind me. But gee, I miss a few wines on a Saturday night.

How did you go??? So much conflicting information out there. I feel it’s best to stay sober for me, but gee I miss partying!!

[Llizzie]

I did 100 days sober before my cycle this year, mainly in support of my husband who has poor sperm quality. He carried on sober right up until embryo transfer but I had a few wines in the month before I started right up until the day before downreg. But it was nothing on the level I was drinking at in 2020, just a couple of glasses of red wine on a Friday. I’m glad I did as we are miraculously pregnant after our round so hopefully it’ll be a long wait for another! I found sobriety also helped me manage my anxiety around the cycle and I avoided any of that booze guilt. Wishing you all the best and congrats for coming this far without alcohol whatever you choose to do next xx

[VMJ007 in reply to Llizzie]

Amazing! And congrats to you. Thanks for the inspiring story! I often feel so very alone during my IVF journey, but then I read stories like yours and I know I’m not alone.

[Llizzie in reply to VMJ007]

You’re never alone. I did find it a lonely and isolating experience - no one quite knows the pain if they haven’t been through it. But we have been very lucky so far.

If you’re used to going out and on holiday and having fun with drinking, it feels hard knowing you’ve put all that on hold to stick yourself with needles in hope for a baby. It’s so much uncertainty and you can’t indulge your normal coping mechanisms. I’ve found it even harder during Covid when I couldn’t just go out or get on a plane and run away for a bit. Sticking with infertility treatment particularly round after round makes you hard as nails - you’re more resilient than you think. x

[XOXO13]

I was never a big party girl but I did love my wine and could easily go through a couple of bottles with my husband and girlfriends over a weekend. I stopped drinking after my wedding in July 2019, I’m not really sure why but I think it was a conscious effort to try help me conceive naturally and I’d had a huge year with 9 weddings plus my own and all the hen parties so I was probably not feeling it by the !

I then didn’t really start drinking again until Christmas just gone when I had a couple of glasses over the festive holidays. I then stopped again for my third ivf transfer, but relaxed a bit for my fourth (which was my successful round). It wasn’t excessive drinking by any means, but if I fancied a glass of red wine then I’d have one (before I started stims). It’s funny though because since I stopped drinking, I now can’t stomach white wine or prosecco! Literally only a glass or two of red! Xx

[Sunshine809]

I was really strict with not drinking for my first 2 cycles, stopping months in advance. Both failed. I found it hard to stop drinking because I missed it and after each failed cycle I started drinking again for a month. Coming into my 3rd cycle, I'm more relaxed this time and I'm having one or two drinks a week if I go out for a meal or just really fancy a glass of something. I'll stop when I start the stims.

Since reading 'It Starts With the Egg' I've realised that alcohol is the least of my worries! I'm more focused on trying to cut out plastics and other toxins this time around.

Similarly to XOXO, since starting ivf and cutting right back on alcohol, I really can't drink much anymore anyway. If I have more than a couple of glasses in one go it's too much and I no longer like the feeling of being drunk/too tipsy! Good news for my liver!

Congratulations on your 100 days sober! 🎉 I know some people are unable to stop drinking after one drink, so choose to have none and stay completely sober. Since you're doing so well maybe it's best to stick with it?

Also I've found all the non-alcoholic alternatives that are available now really brilliant. I have a 0% alcohol bottle of wine on the weekends. It doesn't taste the same as alcoholic wine but it's similar and I have that feeling of drinking something different. The 0% gins are also good! They were a life saver when I first stopped drinking because I always get a Friday night craving for wine, and they really helped.

Best of luck with your treatment! 🍀