just want to thank you all for your messages after our 8th failed transfer last week . It was another chemical .
Our clinic have sent us a letter asking us to book a review appointment to go through the next steps .
It was out last 2 embryos so I’m kind of guessing the next step is another collection ( this would be our 3rd ) they also want to discuss what happened .
I just feel is it ever going to happen after 8 transfers ? My clinic just always tweak our protocol , I’ve asked before for steroids but they won’t prescribe them .
We are midlands based and are private .
If we decide to try again ,I don’t want to move to another clinic that’s further away which will cause extra stress with travelling etc and work.
Xxx
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XxMrsBXx
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So sorry Mrs B.. have been thinking about you ❤️💫 you really are so strong after 8 transfers. Sending lots of love to you.
This is a hard one, as I would say get a second opinion and try a new clinic but I know you are not keen to. From what you've told me in the past, your clinic could do more for you. Maybe go elsewhere to see if you require steriods, they really could make all the difference and go from there. Also other tests like ERA etc and progesterone testing xxx
Thanks littlepea ❤️I just don’t get why my clinic wouldn’t have offered the tests like era and progesterone before especially after all my failed transfers ?
It’s just very frustrating .. I have my review booked for Tuesday but it’s with a doctor we have never seen at the clinic.
There aren’t many private clinics near us . There is nhs but I suppose for me to try and get nhs funding now would take time xx
Unfortunately not ever clinic is going to be good and consistent. You really don't seem happy with their service but sounds like you feel stuck because there's no where else local? There's other tests that may benefit you, if your clinic won't explore them I would def try my best to go elsewhere. You can do alot of appts online now ❤️💫
It's completely your decision. You need to feel comfortable and feel like they are doing everything they can for you. Your paying good money for treatment with them x
I’m sorry you recently had a chemical and hope you are taking care of yourself. We had 3 transfers with our local clinic, x2 BFN x1 miscarriage discovered at 12 week scan. After our third cycle (BFN) we decided to mix things up so moved clinics. We were lucky our first cycle with the new clinic worked and we have twins.
A lot of appointments are done remotely now, also you could potentially take A/L from work to reduce stress? This is just an opinion, but would hate for you to feel you have to stay with your clinic if you’re not getting the treatment you feel you require.
Was your protocol changed at your new clinic ? I can take annual leave but I work for a small company and if someone else already has time booked off in our office nobody else can book it so it’s really hard with work.
Our protocol didn’t change, but we just lost faith, I can’t put my finger on why but two out of three BFNs and never having anything to freeze wasn’t the results i was expecting so I wanted to try treatment with a new clinic and embryologist.
In our new clinic our first cycle produced 4 good embryos, 2 transferred (becoming our twins) 2 which are still frozen. This was a personal choice but I just felt if we stayed with our original clinic we would have the same results.
In regards to working in a small work place and managing leave, I didn’t have this issue as i work for a large organisation. I suppose I see treatment as medically necessary and so would hope your employer would be understanding and supportive of any request for treatment especially as it’s for a short finite period at a time. If someone was on holiday at the same time as someone becoming sick it would be inconvenient but surely managed..?
My clinic was not a million miles away from midlands so if you would like any information about it feel free to PM.
My employer doesn’t know I am going through ivf . We have decided not to tell anyone , even our family and friends so that’s why I book holidays for all my appointments and time off for transfer . I feel that’s all I use my holidays for at the moment xx
Sending you hugs.
I got really frustrated with my clinic not changing much so I did two things, I asked them to justify why not - I literally went in with a list and read it off and said why not try x, why not y etc and annoyingly they seemed to have a decent reason for all of them, so I then went to another clinic - but just for an initial consultation (approx £200) - gave them my history and asked them what they thought. Even more irritating despite being one of these fancy London clinics they said EXACTLY the same as my small not for profit clinic! Word. For. Word! It was maddening but I then kind of felt like I had exhausted all options and I knew whatever I chose I wasn’t leaving anything else on the table.
Thanks daisy .I just feel if they don’t really change anything I could have another 8 transfers and be in the same position …. My history is PCOS . They originally told me they couldn’t see any reason why I wouldn’t be able to get pregnant but here we are ..
my review is booked for Tuesday . It is with a doctor we have never met or spoken to before too which I think is frustrating too xx
I think its good to get a different doctors opinion, or a different clinic especially if you want to do few tests for autoimmune and they won't do them for u. maybe that's the issue?
yea im like u iv done 10 ivf and I just feel they should of definitely looked into why its failing and don't just asked me to redo the cycles and tell me its a number game. iv gotten very good recommendations from others on this platform to look into reproductive immunologist and maybe do an Era test, try to figure out why its not working especially if ur transferring good embryos. I finally convinced my doctor to put me on steroids for this new cycle to eliminate any NK cell issue.
So after my review today they said if we go ahead with another collection they wouldn’t change any meds . We could do testing on the embryos as an extra . I asked if there could be any other issues but they said I’ve had implantation tests done and all was ok xxx
Sorry to hear your journeys been so tough. May i ask why you feel you need steroids?
Ive just had a failed round of IVF and also have our consultation coming up next couple of weeks to discuss next round and was going to ask about steroids as I suffer with bouts of random autoimmune stuff. Is this why you requested steroids or was it for something different?
I am also worried my clinic won’t do the testing for NK cells or not deem it appropriate. I’ve seen some clinics just prescribe the steroids and some don’t, so just curious what the reason was they gave you?
Oh I see, I wonder how steroids helps then, thats interesting! We have another funded round on NHS but I highly doubt we can afford to go private so this will most likely be our last shot, so going to try and get our consultant to try everything lol!
I’m sure your the same in the sense that you just won’t want to complete rounds and feel as though theres something else you could have tried, plays on our minds to much! Wishing you lots of luck for your next consultation, let us know how you get on🤞X
We said that to our consultant on our last round . Was last 2 embryos so said we will try anything , increase meds , try extra etc . They increased one meds and that’s all .We are considering other options now like adoption as deep down I actually feel like it’s never going to work . We have had good graded embryos and they say each time all looks good and it’s still not happened … I know some people say it takes a few rounds but surely after 8 it would have worked by now …
So sorry to hear that. I had repeated chemical pregnancies and eventually they did all the coagulation checks and also tested my thyroid levels - I wasn’t medically hypothyroid but outside of the IVF “golden range” so I was started on levothyroxine. Final round - Same low egg yield, same number of embryos but this time it stuck and now I’m 17 weeks. The levothyroxine is the only thing different. Worth asking about. Good luck xx
I started IVF in Nov 2020 aged 41. I'm single & knew age would be a factor, plus I had an ovary removed about 6 years ago and they found endo, but I had no diagnosed fertility issues as such. Since then I've had 4 collections, responded well, with 10+ eggs a time. Fertilisation & blast rates have varied a lot. In hindsight, I should've banked and tested blasts given my age but financially I couldn't do that so transferred as I went.
Earlier this week I transferred my last embryo, which is my 9th transfer (all single transfers). It's my worst-graded as a 4BB/C (extra letter as the outer cells are on the cusp of B & C grade). My first two transfers were 5AAs, both BFN and so I did the clotting tests which were fine but had 20mg Clexane added to my protocol for future transfers anyway. Third transfer was a natural FET, 4AA and I had a BFP - but was a chemical. Since then, I've had no hint of a BFP, and I've tried both natural and medicated transfers. On transfer 6 I bled a little early so Lubion injections were added. My clinic has just kept saying it's my age to blame, which may well be the case but is hugely frustrating when you wish there's something you could do.
When transfer 8 failed, I had my follow-up with a different consultant to usual and her attitude was far more 'let's throw everything at it' than my usual consultant. So for this transfer I was given doxycycline (antibiotics) pre-transfer and I'm also on 20mg prednisolone (steroids) daily. I have no idea whether these things will help and am struggling to hope the outcome might be any different this time after so many failures. But I think it's important to feel in yourself that you have done what you can - though there will always be so so many unanswered questions.
I have been frustrated with my clinic at many points and now kick myself wondering should I have pushed them harder, or moved elsewhere. I'm in the TWW so I know it's not over yet, but the 'what ifs' are horrible. I know it's way easier said than done but if moving clinic will cause short-term stress with work/travel but longer-term peace of mind, it could be worth it. I read something recently about thinking of things in terms of will it matter in 10 minutes/10 months/10 years. On that scale, IVF is the thing you have to live with longest.
Sorry for such a long post - feel free to DM me to chat anytime x
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