We had a follow up appointment this morning after our failed IVF cycle. (Egg collection was last Fri : 4 eggs collected, 3 injected, none fertilised). Failure was very likely due to my age and low numbers of eggs, though they couldn't say why none fertilised as the 3 eggs looked good and were mature.
After trying naturally for close to 8 years (unexplained fertility, and me being 43 in a couple of months, our chances of getting pregnant naturally seem pretty slim if non-existent! But I thought it will do no harm to try some supplements for a few months to see if anything can change.. Does anyone have any recommendations for good supplements (coq10 etc) that helped them?
We are also considering the donor egg route, so any advice would be welcome!
Wishing you all well 👍
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Toni_79
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Hello, I've just turned 43 myself and just had egg collection. I have taken lots of expensive supplements from It Starts with the egg, including 400ug ubiquinol. To be honest, I'm not sure they make a difference. If they did then clinics would recommend them more and they were never mentioned to me. Also they don't feature highly in another book I've read (the fertility book by prof Balen).
I think the stim dose and trigger can make a big difference. On my first successful cycle I had 225 to 300 Merifert and 14 eggs fertilised. This time I had a max dose of 450 and only 3 fertilised. Presumably your stim dose and length has been varied?
Each cycle is different and there's no harm in trying with the supplements. Good luck🙂xx
Thanks for sharing this and I hope that you are doing ok. It's such a gruelling journey isn't it?
In 2016 my treatment was 225 IU bemfola, stims lasted 13 days (as my AMH was higher obviously)
This time round it was 375 IU/ L ovaleap, double doses the 1st 2 days, then 1 dose per day, again stims lasted 13 days. I questioned whether another day or 2 of stims might have made a difference to mature the eggs a bit more, as my follicles were smaller than 1st time round (2 were 17mm this time, but in1st fresh cycle had 3 over 20mm) but then again it probably wouldn't have made much difference! It's so hard to know!
Hi Toni_79, I am 42 and have just finished my 5th cycle, where I have finally got a euploid embryo. Prior to doing the 5th cycle I have been taking various antioxidants and supplements for 3 months targeting my mitochondria and cellular energy: Tru Niagen, MitoQ, PQQ and Acai Berries (freeze dried). These were also in addition to DHEA, Omega 3 and prenatal supplement I've already been taking for the first 4 cycles. In the 5th cycle I also had 16 eggs collected instead of the usual 11 and what I also found quite unusual was that most of the eggs that reached day 3 had more than the required 6-10 cells (3 eggs-14 cells and 1 egg-12 cells) with the euploid one having 14 cells. I know everyone is different, but for me personally it worked. Hope this helps and I am wishing you all the very best in your IVF journey!🙂
Thanks for sharing your story, and I'm so pleased about the improvement in this cycle for you! Sounds like what you have been taking has made a difference! This is really useful to know . 🙂 All the best for your IVF journey too, and that this cycle results in a healthy pregnancy x
Hi Toni, I’m 43… our first round led to one fresh transfer but it was touch and go whether it was worth it. I then read “it starts with the egg”, which I don’t necessarily recommend as it made me spiral a bit tbh and put unnecessary pressure on myself. What it did offer were lists of supplements, so I wrote them down and asked my consultant. I don’t think he thought it was necessary but I ended up taking the ‘naturello’ multi vit for preg, which had folate rather than ‘folic acid’, and coq10. My OH (reluctantly!)took coq10, multi vit and vit d. I got 3 medium blastocysts and 1 low grade. I transferred in 2s and am currently 8 weeks pregnant from the second transfer of Round 2. It felt good to be giving it all a go. Just to mention don’t take ubiquinol and c0q10 together, it’s either/or according to the website! Good luck with it all x
Thanks for sharing all this, and that's fantastic news about your pregnancy, congratulations!! Will look into those supplements.
Just thinking I actually did take coq10 about a year ago when trying naturally for a couple of months, and I actually did get a positive pregnancy test, though it ended in a chemical pregnancy..this is the only positive test we have ever had naturally....maybe there's something in it!
Thanks again, and all the best for your pregnancy xx
I have used donor eggs due to my diminished egg reserve and premature ovarian failure(POF). There’s a lot of great resources out there. I’d recommend the Donor Conception network, Paths to Parenthub and a blog and podcast called Defining mum. I’d also recommend a you tube blogger Amanda Dawn who talks through her experience of needing donor eggs (for POF) and her journey. It can be a difficult and confusing process because of the grieving of the loss of genetic connection to your children. But ultimately there’s lot of resources to help you explore that option. I would also look into what Epigenetics are, they are just one way the mother can have an important impact on the baby through pregnancy (other than growing and nourishing it😊).
I am currently pregnant with twins from deivf and have no regrets - once we found our donor everything slotted into place for me. I couldn’t be happier!! These babies are mine ❤️
I noticed that you had icsi to fertilise the eggs, have they tested the sperm?
Thanks for sharing your story, that's fantastic news about your pregnancy with twins, congratulations!!😀
I have heard so many positive stories of people that have went through the donor egg journey, including yours, and this has made me realise that this sounds right for us.
They said that my husband's sperm sample was fine...normal....so they didn't believe that was the issue. So very likely down to my age and genetics.
Thanks again for all the info, I'll definitely look into those resources. All the best Xx
My only piece of advice with donor eggs is embrace all the feelings you might have - positive and negative. It is an amazing gift to be given, but it does take time to process and I’m certain it’s a journey of acceptance that I will have to go through at various points on my parenting journey. Worries about my being a true parent, them wanting to find their donor, people knowing and not knowing… it’s all valid and normal concerns. But all those resources I’ve shared will help with that perspective and give you an opportunity to explore those thoughts and feelings.
Whatever you decide, I wish you all the sticky luck in the world! Xxx
Hey!So I’m 42, have done icsi twice now, 8 eggs the first time, 1 left by day 5 really poor grade 13 eggs the second time, 2 left by day 5 really poor grade. The last round we did a tandem cycle with donor eggs in north Cyprus, so we now have 3 donor egg embryos in the freezer, but decided just to have one more go with our own.. our clinic recommended these supplements;
Miyo Inositol 500 mg
Koenzim Q 10 200 mg
L-Arjinin 500 mg
Astaksantin 1 mg
They need translating but all available on Amazon, I also take dhea. Who knows if they make that much of a difference but I’m willing to try anything at this stage haha!
I have struggled with the donor egg issue, obviously the dream is to have our own, but also the dream is to grow our family, and my husband has never had any children, he was an amazing dad to my daughter and sees her as his own so it’s no different to that.. if our next round doesn’t work I’ll be keeping everything crossed for my donor embryos!
Thanks so much, I'll look into those! I really hope that it all works out for you this cycle, definitely worth trying something different with the supplements this time! And great that you have the donor embryos in the freezer.
Previously I struggled also with idea of not using my own eggs, but recently I thought if it's a way for us to expand our family, then I can now see it as a possibility for us. Xx
Hi, I have to be honest I tried most things and I didn't ever see an improvement in my egg quality. My consultant said afterwards that whilst supplements can sometimes improve what is already there its not going to fix an issue.. and we got to the point where our embryos weren't developing as they would normally do which was put down to egg quality and we were advised to give up or go donor.. which we are currently mid way through. For reference I tried melatonin, CoQ10, ubiquinol, vitamin D, magnesium, DHEA, fish oil with DHA, multi vitamins, pregnancy friendly diet etc
It did take me a while to get my head around DE, but when the clinic started saying there was very little chance with OE and if we did get pregnant the chances of MC were high (due to my history) it started to become a no brainer. Good luck x
Thanks for sharing your experience! Yes the jury definitely seems to be out whether these supplements make a difference! Thought it would be worth a try anyway as we have nothing to lose!
Yes only recently have I considered donor eggs, as I really wasn't sure about it before this. But I've really warmed to the idea, and so has my husband...just raising the cash may take a while! Our clinic has offered us a counselling session about donor eggs, so we will definitely look into it soon. Good luck with it all, hope it goes well for you. Xx
Hi, I'm 42, soon 43.I'm preparing for June when I will do another treatment with my OE.
Currently, I'm taking ubiquinol, prenatal vitamins, vitamin D, fish oil capsules with DHA. Walking back from work every day and exercising during the weekends. Trying to remove all sugar from my diet, except the one I get from fruit. Not sure it will work but I'm giving it a try.
On my last cycle they retrieved more eggs than in previous ones but the fertilisation rate went down. So quantity is not always better. On top of that my partner has fertility issues.
Anyway, we are trying to stay positive and if it doesn't work we will try the donor route.
A lady I know us currently pregnant at the age of 48 with donour eggs. Incredible.
Thank you for this. That's good about the exercise and cutting out sugar, though I think I would find the 2nd nearly impossible! 😀 But definitely worth trying and also good for your health!
I hope that it all works out for you this cycle, and if not that your donor egg journey is successful. Good luck, and thanks for sharing this xx
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