hey lovely people 👋🏼 quick question does anyone have any experience of switching from menopur to gonal F and it making any difference?
Going for my 5th (and defo final) egg collection in august in hope for a sibling and consultant has given protocol for gonal F stims this time with a small amount of menopur. I’ve been only on menopur for the other egg collections and when I asked why they had suggested this this time they said since my last few egg collections hadn’t worked ((1 or 2 viable embryos from 8-9 eggs age 40-41 only) the definition of madness was trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results! but I am wondering if the definition of madness os switching stim types from what we know I respond okay to and worked for conceiving my son 😂 so any stories or insights welcome on Gonal F please 🤗
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Twiglet2
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For the menopur i was "downregulated" with the contraceptive pill
For the gonal f I was primed with estrogen.
With the menopur cycles I had low doses of meds that resulted in more eggs and embryos (a lot less embryos that the eggs) of not great quality
With the Gonal F I had low to average doses of meds that resulted in fewer eggs and even less embryos graded slightly better that the menopurcycles.
The Gonal F made me feel worse, loads more side effects.
It was two different clinics with one using the menopur protocol and the other the gonal f, so the small difference in quality of the embryos could be explained on different standards of the clinic.
thanks very much for the reply and sharing your story 💜 goggle had also said more for effects with Gonal f as it’s the synthetic version and menopur is the natural version of the stims 😬 so interesting to hear that was your experience (they will have me on a high dose short protocol no down reg) as it’s my last shot I don’t know whether to try something different or ask to change the meds back to menopur only🫣 xx
Hmm obviously your doctors know better. I am thinking that if I was to continue with my eggs after 5 conventional protocols that I already had i would want to try a natural or minimal stimulation. I only got one or two transfers per cycle anyway ,with normal stimulation so why bother with more meds and money if the result is the same? Anyway that's my thinking for my case. I suppose doctors know better. Good luck!
thank you I did enquire about lower dosage or natural and try for quality over quantity as I had the lowest dose of stims in my very first cycle 4 years ago that brought us our son and created 6 embryos but the consultant warned against it as it would be a ‘riskier’ approach as I might not respond well at all these days and due to my age they want to get as many eggs as possible to try for a viable embryo. We both agreed to go with her recommendation but that will probs be an itch I wish I had scratched one day if this doesn’t work! Xx
Hi Twiglet I feel like one or two viable embryos from 8 or 9 eggs at age 40 is a good result.
That said I personally always like to push for trying something different but that is a personal thing as to your preferences and what you are most comfortable / confident doing.
I did it the other way round and switched from Gonal F to Menopur after a disasterous first round on Gonal F. I had a better result with the Menopur, but despite all of that still no live birth.
I think it depends on so many factors that even the doctors don't completely understand.
Yeah it is a good result and the consultant did say that too that’s what they would expect at my age which was why I was shocked they wanted to change stims completely but I do think you are right and trying something different is maybe worth it for the ‘no regrets’ approach 🤪 for the last one, thanks as always for your wise words 🤗 xx
I’ve not tried menopur but my first cycle I used gonal f. I was 40.5 and I got 9 eggs, 6 of which made it to blastocyst. I’ve transferred 5 of them and had one live birth and two miscarriages (told most likely due to chromosomal abnormalities). So quality wise, it worked for me. I didn’t have that many side effects either
I was a bit disappointed as I had 18 follicles at my final scan and only 9 eggs, but they did well. I’m 43 this month and they’re going with the same protocol for my second cycle.
ah lovely to hear a Gonal f success story and the 6 embryos is what I needed to get my son from our first round so I would be delighted to get anywhere near that again at my age as we haven’t on menopur. Thanks so much and good luck with your next cycle 🤗💜 xx
I did my first cycle in April with gonal F, I am turning 40 in a couple of weeks. No many side effects other than bloating. I had 12 follicles and they managed to collect 10 eggs, 2 of them made it to day 5 and had a double transfer that ended on a chemical.
This month I have been doing my second cycle also in Gonal F, less bloating than last time and yesterday was my first scan. 16 follicles of good size, let's see how the rest goes
thanks for sharing, especially around the symptoms I am a bit worried about that! Oh wow 16 follicles that’s amazing! Fingers and toes crossed for you xx
I’d give it a go. With my daughter I used just menopur and had a great egg collection. Lots of eggs, all was perfect. Got pregnant first time around and donated half my eggs and had embryos in the freezer. Couldn’t have asked for better.
So 2 years later I want to try for a sibling. My frozen embryos left over failed so go for a fresh egg collection and I insist on the same protocol even though the clinic wanted to try gonal f (diff clinic than the first). So they they agree and I used just menopur and had a rubbish egg collection. Few eggs collected and most not mature. I couldn’t understand why. I was tempted to move back to my first clinic but thankfully I stuck around with this clinic and tried their recommended protocol of menopur and gonal f.
It was fab, 24 eggs, 21 mature, 15 fertilised. And now I have my son. I was 41 when I had my son and 37 when I had my daughter. I think mixing it up can work when you get a bit older.
oh wow!!! This is so similar to my experience and age comparisons really gives me some hope of trying something new might just work! thanks so much for sharing 🤗💜 and congratulations on your little ones xx
I was moved from Meriofert to Ovaleap (I think Meriofert is pretty much equivalent to menopur, and ovaleap is pretty much equivalent to gonal-f), and I was a bit concerned about the switch as the more natural one seemed like a better idea and so many people love Meriofert.
On Meriofert I had 12 mature eggs, 11 fertilised normally and I ended up with two ropey blasts on day 5. I thought it was just bad luck or that I wasn’t capable of making decent blasts, so like you I was worried about changing protocol, but they wanted to change it straight away. On ovaleap, I had 9 eggs, only 6 fertilised but I still had 3 good quality blasts on day 5. I was 40 for both of those cycles, and I’d say the switch worked for me.
I read somewhere that there might be too much FH in Meriofert and menopur for some people, particularly as we get a bit older. However, one of my consultants said a little bit of LH can be really helpful too, so throwing a little bit of menopur in with gonal-f might be the best of both worlds.
ah thank you! Especially for the suggestion on why a little menopur might be in there too! I forgot to even ask about that part 🤪 so helpful thanks 😊 xx
I’ve done Menopur only, gonal F only, and a mix. My two disastrous cycles that resulted in nothing to transfer were my Menopur cycles so I think I am one of those people who just doesn’t get on with it. My successful cycle was a long cycle (prior to that all were short antagonist), gonal F only, and with HGH. That cycle led to my daughter after a fresh transfer and son from a FET 2 years later - which I know is extremely lucky and I still can’t believe it worked after all of our failed cycles.
The thing I remember reading with Menopur is that because of how it’s derived (post menopausal urine), sometimes they’re too potent and that can disagree with eggs of a different age / stage (sorry for the poor description, this is my recollection from reading 3 years ago and I can’t find the article again…) and that leads to detrimental quality in some women. Most women do absolutely fine with it but for whatever reason there is a small group - myself included - who doesn’t. One reason for using it is the LH which Gonal F doesn’t have but this never was an issue for me getting mature eggs. And my successful cycle was Gonal F only so it can work. I do think long protocol and HGH made a big difference in it as well though.
Good luck and happy to answer any questions you have xx
Thanks so much for sharing your experience and research that’s really helpful to understand the differences and why it can work better for different people and at different ages I really appreciate it 🤗💜
So I’ve had 3 cycles first one Menopur and Bemfola @42yrs) and that was the only best cycle I had but PGTA made no embryos viable. 2nd cycle was menopur and Ovaleap (with a very long down regulation) it was disastrous -cancelled cycle with 1 follicle and I ovulated early. The third cycle (in a different clinic) they wanted to stick with maximum dosage which on reflection was quite crazy! But they went with Meriofert and Gonal F. I’ve had the worst outcome from this pairing (age 43 now) as had 5 follicles but some just didn’t grow, left with 2 follicles and then on EC found both were empty. All that money and energy wasted. I’ve read alot about protocols and did a few consultations and my biggest regret is going with stubborn rigid conventional consultants in clinics where there is very little experience in treating older ladies with poor AMH. I’ve spoken to a clinic in Europe now and they’ve said it’s crazy to do standard Stims on an older age group and that mild or natural stimulation is the better strategy as the quality is more important than quantity.
Quantity is really a factor for younger woman when doing conventional protocols.
It’s a regret I now have to live with as I’ve not decided if I now try mild Stims or not as am totally exhausted! And the damage may have already been done to my ovaries 😞
This is based on my experience only, but my advice is go for a mild stimulation cycle no matter which meds they suggest. Good luck!
thank you it’s a real gamble but when I enquired about mild stims again they have said it’s a riskier strategy for me personally and I only have one shot at my own eggs as this is defo the last one! my last 3 cycles I have collected between 7-9 mature eggs in maximum stim (my amh is 40 so we’ll above average) but I’ve only made 2-3 embryos and any that have stuck have been chemicals so I did think that it was the quality that I could work on but to get a chromosomal h normal one at my age I do also need some quantity apparently they have said 🤪 we’ve already decided to do short protocol again as that’s always been fine for me (I hate down reg too!) and the high dose stims just not sure on the Gonal F though. After this round though it will be donated eggs for sure! Xx
I hear you..it’s a minefield out there and so many consultants have a polarised perspective on mild vs max Stims. My amh is so low so it’s probably totally different consideration for me than you but I’m quite convinced from my experience that mild stimulation is much better for older eggs. Fingers crossed it goes well for you with Gonal-F. Xx
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Gonal F protocol 
From menopur only to combo stims (menopur & gonal-f) - aged 42
4th IVF cycle after previous 3 abandoned- Gonal F AND menopur
