5 cycles of IVF in 6 months. I’m 39 yrs old. When to give up?

[VMJ007]

Hi Ladies. How many is too many cycles? It’s so disheartening. But I keep trying. Any success stories I’d love. Thankyou. x

[Millbanks]

Hello lovely, it's so hard to know when to call it quits isn't it.

I started IVF when I was 36 (then things got delayed due to covid) and last year in June we did back to back cycles and FETs. I did 4 egg collections and 5 transfers - all negative.

During this we did some other tests, the ERA which showed I needed 24 hours extra progesterone, PGT testing on our frozen embryos to find ones that were chromosomally normal, and immunology tests which showed I have a high level of NK cells in my blood.

This year in July we did our 6th transfer of a PGT normal embryo, 24 hours extra progesterone, low dose steroids and an intralipid drip before transfer and got our first ever BFP! I'm 38 now but will be 39 in 3 weeks time.

Deep down I always felt that I would keep going until it worked, as I did believe it would work eventually - and every time we did a new test or found out something else, it gave me renewed hope. I knew that there was a possibility of course that it wouldn't work, but I wasn't ready to give up. We had 6 embryos come back normal from PGT testing, and I think I would have transferred them all (one by one) if this one hadn't worked.

It's different for everyone, but I think your gut will tell you when it's time.

Do you have frosties? Have you done extra testing? Where are you at? xxx

[Beclp]

Hi VMJ007. Sorry to hear this.I’m 41 and will soon be starting my 4 th cycle.

My first egg retrieval was about a year ago so I’ve not done quite as many as you in a short amount of time.

Has your specialist tried different protocols for you with your cycles ? Or is it the same each time?

Have they given you any indication of what may be the issue ?

My first cycle was the best for me in terms of the quality of the embryos we got but then we changed specialist and I did two rounds with him

On max dosage which does not agree with my body at all.

This cycle he is trying me in next is more of a mini style ivf with a much lower dosage of meds.

I’m also giving it my all with lifestyle changes etc.

I’ve not had a drink in weeks and I won’t touch any until after my egg pick up.

I know I will try a couple more times before we rethink things.

There is so many factors when I comes to persevering ie money, time, mental health and stress on your life but I don’t want to give up until I know in my heart I’ve done everything I can.

It’s so hard 😓

[Seren0119]

I agree with Millbanks - I would also ask your doctor about steroids, they reduce inflammation (which endo causes) and help with implantation xx

[Adryem]

I’m 42 and am 6w4d pregnant after my first Frozen Embryo Transfer. We did three rounds to try to get more eggs as I don’t produce many follicles and in the end the sole embryo from the first round is the one that stuck. I have made massive lifestyle changes which include drinking a huge glasses of water with lemon juice every morning first thing and evening before bed, doing folic acid smoothies every single day with fresh squeezed OJ, organic kale, organic spinach and organic asparagus and a banana for taste. I also drink fresh celery juice which is very alkalizing. I basically follow the medical medium diet and have done some of his detox programs, cut coffee and alcohol and am pretty confident this is all what helped me get pregnant on my first FET. Good luck to you!!!

[Hidden]

So sorry you haven’t had success yet. In my head it depends a little bit what happens in each round. For example were they all fresh rounds? Did you make it to day 5? Etc.

My sister had her two children on transfers 7 and 8. My friend had her baby on transfer 9! They didn’t change anything and actually those were their worst embryos!

Whereas I had six fresh rounds (never enough to freeze) and when my embryos were struggling to make it to day 5 it was suggested to me to look at donor eggs.

I have a good AMH for my age and always got a good number of eggs but turns out the quality clearly wasn’t great

What have your rounds been like so far?

Hugs xxx

[HollyLI]

Started at 41, 43, 8 months pregnant after 9 /10 (one ovulated before surgery ) rounds egg retrieval (only one transfer) had them all tested and got a good one in last round

[Purple276]

Hi VMJ007

It's so hard and such a difficult decision to know when to head to another round and keeping trying or to call it quits.

I think we each have such specific issues it's very hard to compare, plus have our own emotional levels.

I did 3 fresh rounds and got 4 blastocysts which each failed when transferred. I did all the tests and found a couple of issues so added immune bits into my protocol. Still didn't work.

However shock of shock I've just found out I'm pregnant! After years of trying, giving up on my eggs, seeing everyone else's happy news and accepting it would never happen to me it actually happened! I spent the last 2 months just living my life, few beers, none of the immune stuff. I have no idea if this will last but think it shows sometimes there is no reason to this stuff and we need to do what we can to help ourselves stay sane and feel as in control as we can.

Kind of a positive story! Honestly the next round could be the one.

Wishing you all the luck xx