Second round, no embryos to transfer

[luthien]

Our embryo transfer was booked for yesterday (Wednesday). We had the call in the morning (8am) from the clinic to update us on the status of our embyros at day 5 (we already had our day 3 call). They confirmed that there was one slow one and one which could be ready but doesn't look to be doing anything anymore. They said they'd check it again in a few hours - no change. They said they'd give it one last chance and check at about 2pm - no change.

No embryo transfer yesterday, all meds stopped. We're re really upset, and lost.

Our clinic is sorting out details and will get back to us on follow up appointments.

We thought the second round would be better as the stims were changed to mature better quality eggs. Husbands sperm is fine, they had to use ICSI as it was a little low on that specific day - could be stress they said. It's been fine other times so it's passed off as a one off.

Looking for some hope. And stories from others.

We're going to take a few months out of the process, just relax, get back into exercise and be ourselves.

We're going to look into the following:

Supplements (clinic has leaflets for Impryl)

DNA Fragmentation

Endometriosis (I have had it excised a year ago, but worth looking at due to IVF meds)

A different clinic for a second opinion

NK Cells

Are there any other tests you think could be useful like hormones etc? Anything else you found useful?

I'm 37, coming up to 38, with AMH somewhere around 5.6 I think (tested March 2021).

When would I expect my period? And all the side effects / withdrawal from the meds to go away? I just feel so tired, bloated and puffy.

[Hidden]

Hi Luthien, I am so sorry for what you have been through. I am not best placed to advise you on much other that it was around a week after stopping the meds to get my period but I think this varies from person to person. Take care.xx

[JA-fnuk Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK]

As first post says it varies from person to person Just look after yourself - rest when you can - eat well - drink fluids - be kind to yourselfWishing you good luck for the future

Janet

[Littlepeax]

So sorry to read this ❤ this journey is so tough. But things can change so much. It doesn't mean next time will be the same. Each one you go through you learn what works and what doesn't, so it's not wasted. See how your appointment goes with the consultant and see if they can tweak anything for your next go. I have endometriosis too and it's horrible but I take many supplements. I haven't been successful yet though so may be worth speaking to someone who is 🥰

I bled around 10 days later. Drink loads of water it will make you feel so much better xxx

[luthien in reply to Littlepeax]

Thank you.

I shall try to stay positive.

Drinking about 3 litres a day.

[minnesota_girl]

I'm so sorry, this is so hard. I had two similar cycles. For my third cycle (and my amh is the same as yours), i took three months of DHEA and coq10...and it was the first time I got to transfer. I also had a week of a light progesterone from day 21 for a week which my nurse said stopped there from being a dominant egg in the next cycle. I ended up with my best ever cycle with two blastocysts to transfer.

The way I looked at it is, lower AMH means fewer eggs, so doing whatever you can to up the quality is very worth it.

If you're taking a few months out it could be ideal to take some supplements 💕💕💕

Best of luck to you xx

[luthien in reply to minnesota_girl]

Thanks,

That's interesting about the light progesterone as the dominant egg kinda stunted the rest. I shall make a note.

I am taking coq10, how do I find out where to get DHEA?

[minnesota_girl in reply to luthien]

My doc told me to order it online...it took a few weeks to come (although that was height of lockdown!) Think it comes from America! If you message me I'll let you know the place I bought it from. It may be advisable to get your testosterone tested first but I definitely think taking it helped me!

[AuroraXen]

I don't have much advice I'm afraid but just wanted to share how sorry I am to hear this. It's just so disappointing when you go through everything and don't have any embryos to transfer, espeically finding out on the day when you're all set to go for your transfer. I've been there too. I think taking a few months out is a good idea! If you decide you want to try DHEA, I use the Biovea 25 mg one (you order it online) xx

[luthien in reply to AuroraXen]

Aww, thank you so much.

It's good to hear from others whom have gone through the same / similar thing. It makes me realise I'm not alone and it is actually quite common.

Thanks for the info. I'll take a look. How often do you take it?

[AuroraXen in reply to luthien]

So, I am not taking it religiously at the moment, using it a bit sporadically to hopefully help me trying naturally. But I took it properly after my 3rd cycle wasn't great (this was in June last year). I'd had a real drop in terms of follicle development from my 2nd cycle which was 18 months before that, so was worried my (already fairly poor!) fertility had really dropped off a cliff. I wanted to see if I could get a better result for our 4th try, and asked the consultant about a few things. He dismissed some of them but did say DHEA was worth a try, if I wanted to give it a go, as although there is no good evidence it does anything, he's anecdotally seen women in early 40s have good results on it. So I decided why not. From what I read, the usual dose of 75mg per day seems to be too high for lots of women. So I started off on 25 a day for a couple of weeks, then went up to 50 a day, and every few days I'd take 75. Not v. scientific! I tested my DHEA level with medichecks home test, towards the end of August, and it came back at 10.5. That's actually what I was aiming for, not to have average levels for a 40 yar old but to RAISE your levels to what is normal for a woman in her 20s. So when I got that level I reduced down to 25 a day again, just to maintain it. DHEA is a bit of a tricky one, some women swear it was a game-changer for them, some take it and don't see a difference, some take it and don't get on with it at all. If you take it, I'd definitely get yourself a test to monitor how your levels are doing. I took it for about 10 weeks, which I think is about what they recommend (a month, for instance, isn't enough, they say). It isn't to be taken lightly, and I did a few other things for my cycle in Sept/Oct, but I do wonder if the DHEA was the main factor behind a better egg development and fertilisation result. I've still not had a BFP, 2 embryos frozen to transfer when I get the results of more tests, but we got 3 to freeze that cycle which is by far the best result I've had. xx

[Hoping20]

Hi there, I’m really sorry to read you had no embryos to transfer yesterday. I’ve been there myself - got the same dreaded call from the clinic as we were in the car on the morning of transfer day. It’s devastating. It’s the not knowing what went wrong that I struggled with, as no one could really give us an answer as to why all 5 of our embryos stopped growing. In relation to your questions, my period started 1 week later.

Getting hubby to do a DNA fragmentation test is advisable and also I would re-do your AMH as it may have changed since March 2021 - hopefully not though.

Please be kind to yourselves and look after each other at this time. You both have been through an awful lot and deserve some down time. Take care x

[IVFat40]

I would recommend the book 'it starts with the egg' for advice about improving egg quality (it's particularly helpful on supplements to take). I also saw a fertility Nutritionist and feel that helped my egg quality. If you're considering DHEA (I feel it helped me) I'd strongly recommend getting your DHEA-S and testosterone levels checked first (the book gives advice on this).

Wishing you so much luck on this difficult and painful journey.

[Seren0119]

I am so sorry.

I know exactly how it feels - on my first cycle, I didn’t have any embryos to transfer. I was broken and devastated.

I then changed protocol (totally different protocol with growth hormone) and I got three blastocysts- I couldn’t believe it.

It’s the protocol that will make the difference - ask for a new approach.

DNA fragmentation is a very useful test and I would recommend it, but normally it impacts embryos from Day 3 - Day 5 x

[Catwind]

I was there for round 1 and I had double the AMH at 38 (39 now) so makes me think AMH isn’t the issue. For second round I took supplements incl DHEA and ate healthier - gave up coffee mostly (really tough decision) and allowed myself one cheat day. Tbh I felt good, lost weight and round 2 I got three embryos to freeze which I’m looking to transfer this year sometime. I think just feeling you’re looking after yourself helps mindset and that can help with the retrieval.

[Klndmr]

Hey I'm really sorry you are going through this. It happened to me with my first round. They got 4 eggs, hubby's sample wasn't good at all, clinic used ICSI but we had nothing to transfer. Once you've stopped the meds period will probably arrive in 7-10 days, it might be a bit longer. Take it easy and just get some time off it really helps. With my 2nd round I've changed my diet for two months and ate lots if greens, salmon and other foods full of protein, I had acupuncture twice a week. I took vitamin D, Ubiquinol. Hubby got in a healthier diet, he took Fertilix low dose (which unfortunately I can't find anymore). His sample at our next EC was as the clinic said perfect. We did end up with 3 blastocysts. I had one fresh and two frozen transfers, all successful but ended in chemical pregnancies due to some problems on my side. So little changes can do a big difference. You might wanna have a look at the book It starts with the egg, there are lots if useful things in it.

But first things first. Take care if yourself, be kind to yourself and try to stay as positive as you can. Things can only get better! Sending lots of hugs and positive thoughts your way! 🤗🍀🍀🍀🍀❤️❤️❤️❤️