This is my first cycle of IVF and all has gone swimmingly well until yesterday. I had 32 follicles drained last Friday (16th), 19 eggs retrieved, 17 fertilised and 9 beautiful high grade eggs now in the freezer which I am super thankful for and appreciate how lucky I am to have this many stored away.
Post egg collection on Friday I’ve felt absolutely fine, my clinic did warn me of OHSS but as I felt fine for the whole weekend and lead up to transfer day I presumed all would be ok and I could go ahead with the transfer yesterday (21st). Even my acupuncturist took a look at me and said I was looking well. However when I went for my baseline scan yesterday morning the nurse diagnosed me with moderate OHSS as I had 2 small pools of fluid in my abdomen which subsequently meant my transfer that morning was cancelled,.
As you can imagine I was absolutely devastated to get that far for it then to be ripped from under my feet and have to wait several more months to start the transfer procedure again even when I feel physically well. I know the clinic are doing the best by me but did anyone else get this far for their transfer to be cancelled 20 mins before it was meant to happen? Any tips on what to do now to help clear up the OHSS?
like I said, I’m extremely extremely grateful to even be in this position and to have 9 eggs is incredible but I can’t help feeling disappointed especially as this is the first real bump in the road I’ve had. Thanks in advance ❤️
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KAllenx
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Hi, i hope you're well, I'm sorry that you're experiencing this, I know it's disappointing but they are doing the right thing to try to allow your body to recover and be in optimal conditions for the transfer. I was told by a nurse I was potentially at risk of this happening to me but didn't get OHSS in the end, people told me they had been recommended to have protein shakes or protein yogurts to help the body reabsorb the extra fluids. I hope you recover smoothly and they give you the green light for transfer soon!!. all the best of luck in your journey xx
As you say just a wee bump on the road - just to say good luck when restarting treatment .Meantime eat & drink well and keep an eye to how much you pee[ if amount appears to be decreasing [- if worried call the clinic If in discomfort take paracetamol [ not anti -inflammatory drugs ] Take things easy but try to have little walk every hour or so
Firstly that’s absolutely great news that you have 9 frozen embryos!
I’m so sorry about what’s happened and that your transfer has been cancelled. I know you must be so disappointed but sometimes disappointment has a reason.
I went on to develop quite bad OHSS after my last fresh cycle and needed 5 nights in the hospital. It was honestly one of the worst things I’ve physically been through. My scans from the time look like stills from a horror movie as I had so much fluid. The reason my OHSS was so bad was because the implantation was successful and took, and so if you had your transfer and it all implanted it would be likely that your OHSS would get far worse. I ended up having a silent miscarriage at around 8 wks whilst still suffering from the OHSS. I was told that it was unlikely down to the OHSS but when it’s affecting your breathing you do wonder what the impact is on the embryo.
Anyway, pls take this time to rest and recover. Stay hydrated and try upping your protein. Keep on eye on your waist size as if it increases rapidly due to the fluid you may need to get yourself to a&e. My waist size went up by around 10 -12 inches within a few days. Hopefully everything will settle down for you soon and your body will have recovered well for your transfer.
Hi! I am very sorry you developed OHSS. I was in a very similar situation with 32 follicles, 22 mature eggs, 18 fertilised and 6 embies developed. I was warned about the risk of OHSS and advised to do a freeze all but I pushed to try for a fresh transfer.
Sure enough, on the day of the transfer as I was waiting to be called in the very painful cramps started and the scan showed the building up fluid, so we did a freeze all. Like you, I was very disappointed at the time to miss (possibly) my only chance for a fresh transfer but my consultant explained in no uncertain terms that if we did go ahead, the OHSS is likely to become severe due to the doubling of the HCG every couple of days. So I knew it was absolutely the right thing to do for me and for those little embies. My clinic told me to have a few protein shakes or protein yoghurts per day as apparently the protein helps absorb the liquid that is building up. Pain killers didn't help me with the cramps but a hot water bottle did. The OHSS thankfully resolved itself in a few days when I got my period.
I did two FETs afterwards and found them to be much easier on the body than the fresh cycle. Also, my lining was much thicker with the FETs than it was after the round of stimulations. The second FET worked and currently pregnant. In hindsight, I have no regrets and much prefer the FET protocol which gives your body the time to prepare for transfer. Very best of luck!
Just to echo what others have said, I had 20+ eggs collected resulting in 7 frozen embryos after my ET in December. I developed ‘mild’ OHSS and transfer was cancelled the day before. Even though my diagnosis was ‘mild’ it was still the worst I’ve ever felt, couldn’t stand upright for about a week and ended up in A&E due to pain, nausea and not being able to pee. As others have said it gets a lot worse if the transfer is successful and I would not want to know how that feels!
The waiting is frustrating but I just tried to remind myself that the time will pass and you will get to the next stage. I’m about to have my second FET next week (first was unsuccessful) and it is a lot easier, no injections just pills and pessaries (think it differs between clinics) and less appointments.
Take this as a chance to rest and recover, physically and mentally, as EC is a lot to go through. And you’ll be in a much better position to receive your embryos when your FET comes around x
aww I’m so sorry that happened to you 😢 devastating for you now but absolutely the best thing in the long run for your health and chances of success too but on the day must be so tough when you didn’t have any indication before 💜 thinking of you and hope you feel better soon and can get started on the frozen transfer (it was a frozen one that worked for us btw) xx
Thank you all for your kind words and advise, it has really picked me up after feeling so down! I had a good chat with my consultant yesterday and have another scan today to check things are healing well. I'm starting to feel back to my self again (minus all the hormones) so feeling good and ready to get back to my routine again so I can be as healthy as possible for our FET in August 🤞
OHSS is caused by the hCG trigger shot to bring your eggs to maturity. With 32 follicles (high), you did remarkably well to yield 9 good looking blastocysts. But the higher the follicle count, the higher the chance of developing OHSS, which can threaten a pregnancy, and can threaten the life of the mother.
It’s the hCG that creates the problem. The hCG trigger shot lingers for about 10 days and causes the ovaries to become leaky, and fill the pelvis/abdomen with fluid. If you were to transfer a blast and become pregnant, with the naturally occurring hCG the problem would become much worse. As I mentioned before, potentially lethal to the pregnancy and mom. Not something you want to go through.
You’re young (29), but sometimes there are blips in the process. You have a bunch of nice blastos and chances are you’re going to be successful on your journey.
Good luck going forward and I’m looking forward to happy news in the future!
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