Intralipids without Steriods

[Maui2020]

After 1 Ivf pregnancy and 8 failed transfers since we decided to have some immune testing done at the Lister.

As I expected, it came back showing high NK cells. As I didn’t expect, the testing showed only very high dose steriods (over 25mg) would have a positive effect, which my Dr is very reluctant to prescribe.

So I am having an Intralipid infusion alone as the testing supports this is sufficient. The Lister charge double the price for this as it’s the only place that use an undiluted solution.

I wanted to know if there are any success stories using intralipids without steriods. It seems most people take them in conjunction but because of covid I figured there may be a few who did immune treatment without.

All of our remaining frozen embryos are untested so it’s an expensive gamble each time adding the intralipids to the equation.. I was therefore curious to know of experiences. Especially due to the questionable nature of the research and also having a successful pregnancy without it, albeit 4 years ago.

Always appreciate any advice.

[Hanj10]

I did intralipids only due to Covid then once we got bfp I persuaded clinic to give me steroids (20mg) as at that point case numbers of Covid had dropped so started steroids at 12dpt. I did intralipids 2x before transfer, 1x after bfp then 1x at 8 weeks. My background was 5 natural miscarriages before 7 weeks then one failed FET with PGTA normal embryo. I’m now 29 weeks and I think the immune protocol is the reason!

[Maui2020 in reply to Hanj10]

That’s good to know- and Intralipids got you to a bfp. It’s encouraging to know they do make a difference. Thanks for sharing xx

[Hanj10 in reply to Maui2020]

I also did endometrial scratch as I had uterine NK cells testing as well a couple of years ago which showed one month high and the next month normal so thought it was worth doing just in case also had an impact.

[Maui2020 in reply to Hanj10]

Glad you’ve made it to 29 weeks that’s amazing. It’s still such an unknown, it’s hard to know how much exactly to throw at these things. I’ve not understood the difference between uterine nK cell testing and blood testing as the former wasn’t offered to me. Are there different treatments for it? So pleased if worked x

[Hanj10 in reply to Maui2020]

I think the uterine nk cells aren’t offered as much but I self referred to the Tommy’s run clinic at university of Coventry and Warwick. When I had the test it came back as normal as they take an average over 2 biopsies but the treatment is endometrial scratch and steroids.

[joey81 in reply to Hanj10]

Hi Hanj, congrats on reaching 29 weeks. You have been through so so much. Ive had 4 natural pregnancies and miscarried all early like you (currently going through the 4th one). How did you pick yourself up and keep going each time? In this 4th pregnancy i did immune testing and my nk cells were only slightly raised but my clinic refused to give me any immune treatment and kept saying they wanted to wait and see. Anyway when the hcg slowed down they gave me intralipids as i had a stern word with them but they never gave me the steroids saying i dont need them. Anyway now im miscarrying. Next time (if there is one), i wont go to the same clinic and just try and find a doc that will prescribe me the steroids without testing. Right now i dont even know if i can carry on. How did you do it?

[Hanj10 in reply to joey81]

I’m sorry you’re going through this it is just awful and I didn’t cope really. I had a breakdown after my 5th and shut off for about 3 months but after counselling and finally dealing with the grief I managed to get through it. Focusing on the ivf helped as I felt that at least I was doing something different and we did chromosome testing on the embryos so that I felt more reassurance that at least miscarriage rate was reduced. My advice would be make sure you properly grieve before focusing on the next try as I just had a ‘right that’s over let’s just move on to the next go’ mentality which didn’t work in the long run! Good luck and be kind to yourself x

[Haf05]

Its a really tough decision. I had intralipids only for my last FET, but got a BFN (with a PGS tested embryo). My doctor has now agreed to steroids for the next transfer but on a low dosage (10mg). Is that an option? I appreciate your tests showed only a high dosage would make a difference, but perhaps a low dose is better than nothing?

[Maui2020 in reply to Haf05]

Thanks for your reply.. any reason why the Dr initially only used Intralipids? I don’t know much about it, I’m Learning as I go along. My drip is 5 hours long, did you have something similar? X