Natural FET or medicated short protocol?

[Mahriya]

Hi ladies. I had a chat with the clinic today and they’re not going to offer any immunity screening or any other tests after 3 failed cycles. They suggested to go through my GP for some extra tests and see if I can get them done.

They also explained I can go and do the exact same medicated cycle with cyclogest, progynove and claxene or choose a natural cycle for my frozen embryos.

I honestly don’t know what to do. They said I can add endo scratch and embryo glue this time if I want to. Do any of you have experience of a natural cycle vs medicated?

I’d appreciate it if you could share your experiences and thoughts with me.

I’m kinda feeling maybe I should just ditch those two last embryos and go abroad and start a fresh cycle after doing all the tests. But then that means starting from scratch and sorting long leave with my employer.

Just so confused now and nowhere to turn to 😞

[pink_lemon]

I am sorry about your bfns. I don’t really have experience with this but my understanding is that 3 bfns is considered recurrent implantation failure and further testing should take place. Depending on your individual circumstances of course. Can you get a 2nd opinion somewhere else and transfer your remaining embryos if you find a place that is willing to help with tests? We go through so much to get these embryos.

[Mahriya in reply to pink_lemon]

Hey there. Thanks for your message. They told me I can try to go through my GP for some tests and still waiting for their recommendation letter. they say every GP is different so I'll try my best and see what they offer. The clinic I'm with at the moment was the best in my area but it sounds like a good idea to get a second opinion. xx

[Hopecontinues]

Hi Mahriya,So sorry to hear you've had 3 failed cycles. It really is heartbreaking. There are so many tests you can have and so many reasons it didn't work, but just wanted to pick up on what you said about going abroad. My clinic in the UK told me it's a numbers game and I just had to keep trying. I reached out to a clinic abroad and they told me to have a hysteroscopy to check the uterus. I thought it was a bit extreme, but managed to get this on my health insurance through work, as I have fibroids, so it was covered. It turned out I had a subseptate uterus and a big one which probably prevented implantation. Ive now had it removed and went abroad for the procedure. It's pretty rare so you probably don't have that, but the hysteroscopy does pick up other things.

After my experience, I would say get every test they will give you on NHS. If all ok, try with your frozen embryos with scratch and glue and then take it from there, but I wouldn't ditch the 2 remaining. You never know.

I love my clinic abroad, they're fantastic, but it is difficult to book time off work when you don't know when and for how long.

Keep going and good luck.

[Mahriya in reply to Hopecontinues]

Heyy, thank you so much. I really wish I could just do all the tests and check ups and it wasn't so hard to look for some reasons behind 3 failures. I'll contact my GP and see what they offer first. It just drives me mad thinking how they just factor luck in and keep saying to try and try and put your body through the trauma and it's just a numbers game, clearly it's not for everyone. I think I might be better going for a natural FET this time due to horrible side effects I had from the medication. Did you do your hysteroscopy in the UK and did you need a referral letter for that? xx

[Hopecontinues in reply to Mahriya]

I did the first hysteroscopy in the UK, which was a referral because of fibroids. Then they wouldn't do the procedure, so I flew abroad on the Sunday, had the OP on the Monday and flew back Tuesday. I'm going for a supported natural cycle, as I react to meds, so that would be my preference too.

[Mahriya in reply to Hopecontinues]

Thanks you and I wish you all the luck in the world for your next cycle hun. We go through so much and people normally don't understand it so I'm very grateful to get the support from you all in here xx

[Positivechangeplease]

Yeah this is hard. I feel for you. The only advice personally that I can offer is a medicated with a top quality blastocyst didn’t work for me, but a naturally modified cycle with a very slightly lower still great blastocyst has. I also did acupuncture and cut out caffeine as well as alcohol. And I was carb low as trying to lose weight (although I’m bmi 26 so it is fine) at the time. I also felt a lot better for naturally modified but I also was ovulating every month and so I was confident my lining could grow on its own. I don’t know if this helps I hope you can work out what to do without too much stress

[Mahriya in reply to Positivechangeplease]

Hey, thank you so much. I did have my withdrawal bleed after my failed cycle 2 weeks ago and waiting for my next period to track ovulation and see how it goes. I've been constantly through rounds of IVFs since January that I stopped tracking all that. Did you ovulate after the first bleed when your medicated cycle failed or did you have to wait for your next period? I'm really leaning towards a natural cycle now to be honest. My periods were regular before I started IVF and I always managed to pick a LH surge when tested. They also only offer progesterone in a natural cycle and nothing else. xx

[Positivechangeplease in reply to Mahriya]

So my eggs had been frozen a while before I was able to use them due to polyps needing to be removed. I had an MC from natural pregnancy Dec last year and then still needed the polyps out which took until May. My periods returned as irregularly normal. I had to wait a period to do the medicated ivf cycle. I was offered to do the natural medicated on my next cycle but we were going away and I thought it best to leave it one cycle. Then it was just about tracking ovulation and the LH surge 2x a day until my lining reached a good level. I don’t know what because I went in for the scan and they just said it was good. And then I started the progesterone 2 days later - transferred 5 days later. Felt more in tune with my body and what was happening and only had side effects from progesterone which is a lot easier

[Mahriya in reply to Positivechangeplease]

Thank you lovely. I’m so glad it worked for you. I’m going to continue with acupuncture as well. I only drink occasionally as well so that’s east to cut off. Just need to get back on my feet and go on those daily walks. I just didn’t have the motivation since my BFN. The clinic said I can do that in January so next cycle will be the admin process for me and endo scratch if I decide to do it xx