Follicle counts and OHSS

[Katya22]

I was wondering if anyone has an idea on OHSS.

Is number of follicle counts can led to the OHSS.

How would we choose to go for freezing the embryo or take a risk of transfer if dr is giving option?

It's time sensitive so I appreciate your reply.

TIA

[PRAYINGFORTHISTOWORK]

Hi

Each clinic has a criteria, so on the day of transfer they will check you and if you are showing signs for OHSS, the would recommend not going for fresh, and opt for frozen once your body has recovered. Apparently if you have signs of OHSS, if you transfer it can cause it to get even worst, and potentially end up in hospital. x

[Katya22 in reply to PRAYINGFORTHISTOWORK]

Thanks for the reply; in my last cycle no one has asked any question, I will bring this to their attention!

[Eloquentia]

Hi! My clinic considers you as high risk if you have 17 follicles or more. I had 32 and did develop OHSS. They advised me strongly to do a freeze all. I insisted on seeing how I was 5 days after egg collection and sure enough, the pains came as we were waiting for the transfer and they could see the fluid in my abdomen during the pre-transfer examination. I took the consultant's advice not to go ahead with the transfer and we froze all embryos. I was very glad we did this because OHSS is horrible enough when it is mild to moderate. If you do go ahead with a transfer, that is when most cases of moderate to severe OHSS develop because your HCG doubles every 2 days and makes it worse. Having a break between stimulations and frozen transfer gave my body the chance to fully recover and be ready. Very best of luck, I hope you don't develop OHSS!

[Katya22 in reply to Eloquentia]

Thank you for sharing your exp, due to my age I thought it wouldn't happen and didn't want to wait. But now doctor has suggested to freeze all so I am hoping this time - it should work. In past embryos rested on day-3. Hope this time is going to be much more better.

[Pipidugacarapa]

They will check your estrogen levels too. I had 21 follicles but very high estrogen levels and I was risk for OHSS. I was already doing freeze all but they changed my trigger prior to egg retrieval to only Lupron (no bHCG trigger) to avoid OHSS. I didn’t have any problems at the end, got my bleeding 4-5 days after ER and all my bloating and cramps went away with it. Freeze all is not bad at all, statistics show that there’s slightly better chance for pregnancy after frozen transfer (and I wanted to test embryos so I decided to freeze them all before starting cycle) and your body has time to recover from all the stims. But I’m sure they will definitely check all that and give you right recommendations. My friend did freeze all but she also had severe OHSS and she spent 2 weeks in hospital. So it can happen even without embryo transfer but it’s very rare. Just talk all your doubts with your clinic.

[Katya22 in reply to Pipidugacarapa]

Thank you. Yes we are going to freeze all-Dr thinks, I won't have severe OHSS as I am not lean, PCOS or in that age group; she has not changed the trigger injection- still ovitrell. I do hope we good number of frozen embryos this time.

[McQueeny]

in my clinic you were considered high risk for OHSS if you had 16 or more eggs collected. But it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to do a freeze all automatically, even though they’d recommend it. They’ll check estrogen levels and other things, then see how you feel, and make a decision. We did have a freeze all in my first ever cycle, but I felt fine.

In one of my later cycles I did develop mild OHSS , but by day 4 after collection it had settled down so the doctor agreed to do a fresh transfer as long as there was no fluid in the abdomen - which there wasn’t, so we went ahead.

But the transfer didn’t work - I don’t know if it was because my body had been through a lot and it wasn’t ready. In retrospect maybe pushing for a fresh transfer wasn’t the best idea…. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[Katya22 in reply to McQueeny]

Yes they can see fluid even before egg retrieval and not taking the risk. I was just thinking to get on with it but our clinic is two hours journey from where we live and Dr said can't risk it. Scary bit is to wait for 5 days to know how many has made bloastocyst!

[McQueeny in reply to Katya22]

Sounds like you’re being sensible.

I know; the wait is so tough! Good luck 🤞💫

[BearPanda]

I had 16 oocytes and progesteron too high for a fresh transfer. academic research shows that FET have significantly better outcomes as they give your body time to recover from egg retrieval and stimulation, so I was glad to have my transfer postponed.

[Mk919]

Hey hun thought I could be helpful. I caught OHSS when pregnant with my twins both embryos were AA and AB . Since it’s very rare I didn’t think I would get it but I did. It’s very painful feels like your stomach is in your heart . I drank like 20 bottles of coconut water brand all day long for five days after my third day, all the swelling started to go down. Twins are 2 1/2 yrs old

[Katya22 in reply to Mk919]

Thank you for sharing the positive outcome in this least expected syndrome. You are blessed with twins. Much love to you and twins.

We are going to wait for FET. Waiting for my time to be blessed too desperately.

[Lucyhannah1]

I had 22 eggs collected and was high risk for ohss. A few days after egg collection they scanned my ovaries and said they looked swollen so decided to freeze all. I then had an fet 2 months later and had a bfp xx

[Twiglet2]

our clinic test your estrogen levels and go by that mostly rather than just follicles they may make a decision before trigger that it will be a freeze all and trigger with a non HCG version. They can also change to a freeze all at egg collection if the results of blood test and eggs collected warrant it but they mostly make the decision at trigger. Are you in this position? Do you ah e a lot of follicles or high estrogen count? If so the consultant should discuss options with you. If you are not then they will proceed as normal unless you specifically ask for a freeze all for some other treason xx

[Katya22 in reply to Twiglet2]

Yes, I am 42 age and follicles counts are high as compare to the other cycles in the past. Estrogen level has been checked this morning- waiting for result; Doctor can see some fluid and swollen ovaries- so postponed.

Thank you for your reply.

[Twiglet2 in reply to Katya22]

Fresh has never worked for us anyway it was a frozen transfer that led to our miracle so defo the right thing for your health and might just be the magic needed for your wee miracle too, take care xx

[KAllenx]

Hi,

I had 33 follicles and 19 eggs collected. My clinic advised that it would be likely that I would have a freeze all but I was determined to have my transfer. It got to transfer day and the scan showed fluid in my abdomen and very swollen ovaries so it was a definite freeze all. I almost wished I had just agreed to the freeze all in the first place instead of getting my hopes up to be disappointed on transfer day. I did have mild OHSS and even though was trying to convince myself I was ok at the time, I really wasn’t and I’m so glad I’ve given my body time to recover. Hoping to have my first FET in a couple of weeks!

Good luck x

[Katya22 in reply to KAllenx]

Wish you the very best for FET. Yes, I was like you till this morning, determined for transfer but my dr made me understand.

Magical baby dust on your way.

xx

[Sophiegeorgiaxx]

I was at risk of OHSS and did get OHSS during last few days of stims. My trigger injection was changed to one that didnt contain hcg and therefore didn’t increase my OHSS and I was given Cabergoline tablets before transfer to calm everything down. My bloods were checked prior to transfer and everything was ok for a fresh transfer xx

[Whatever098]

I got OHSS when I only had 10 ish follicles collected but I have PCOS and am high risk. In the lead up to egg collection my ovaries were so sore and heavy I literally could barely walk, driving in the car hurt as every little bump in the road was agony. Even with identified OHSS the clinic let me go through with a transfer and it ended it a BFN, and with hindsight I feel like that was always going to happen as my body was all over the place. Anyway, id avoid OHSS at all costs as it is probably the sickest I’ve never felt in my life - if you feel like you might be over stimulated or your clinic is thinking you are or might be…. 100% do a freeze all cycle!

[Emz1987]

I was not considered high risk as only 12 eggs collected, I went on to have a fresh transfer as no symptoms and developed moderate/severe OHSS as the embryo implanted. I had several litres of fluid in my abdomen and lungs and was in severe pain for several weeks. My ovaries also swelled to 10cm each and it meant I was high risk of clots and needed enoxaparin for 3 months. It took until I was 12 weeks pregnant before I was over the worst of it. But I now have a 5 month old little boy who is the light of my life xx

[Molliemoo85]

Hi, I had severe OHSS, the fluid went up around my chest and I genuinely couldn't breathe. I had 4 separate fluid drains which are done vaginally. They drained over 6 litres of ovarian fluid. Ended up in hospital for 2 weeks. It was horrendous. I had 15 follicles and 10 eggs retrieved and wasnt a candidate for OHSS. I would be following the medical advice given by your doctor, if they recommend a freeze all cycle, take it. Best of luck x

[AshleyJB]

Hi Katya. I recently had egg retrieval and suffered with OHSS. My clinic said if I got 20 or more eggs we would have to do freeze all with any embryos we might get.

I had 20 eggs collected and was told in recovery that fluid had been detected in my uterus, fresh embryo transfer was cancelled and our embryos are in the freezer.

OHSS was not fun and ended up going into hospital over night. It is short lived though and as soon as my period arrived after egg collection the symptoms disappeared.

I am very high risk for OHSS as my AMH levels are incredibly high!

So even if you get more that 20 eggs it doesn't mean you'll necessarily get OHSS.

I was disappointed we couldn't have a fresh embryo transfer but it was the best decision and we only have to wait one cycle and can hopefully have our frozen transfer with this next cycle.

I would say to see how many eggs are retrieved on the day and go with the advice of the Dr's. If you're having a day 5 blastocyst transferred you'll know if you have OHSS by then and if you are poorly maybe the embryo can go in the freezer and you can recover?

I hope this helps and fingers crossed for a fresh transfer and no OHSS. xxx

[Lau2911]

Hi lovely,So your clinic will have parameters of maximum follicles where they enforce a freeze all. Ours is 20 above 12mm in size, or if you have more than 20 eggs collected. Otherwise it depends on your symptoms. Someome who has had 19 collected can be absolutely fine no issues, yet others who have had maybe 15 collected can have awful symptoms.

Symptoms to look out for are breathlessness, chest pain, leg pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea. And sometimes if you're over stimulated you'll have fluid in your lining, which they will look for at collection. If you're concerned, ask for a scan before your transfer just to check everything is okay.

Hope this helps, good luck!!

[Katya22]

Yes, for PGT test embryo should survive for day 5 ! Unfortunately I have only one - so can’t risk that to loose too- pgt test is required thawing them taking few cells off and freezing again which sometimes affect embryo negatively !

If I have had more embryos then yes that would be ideal.

My mum was naturally got pregnant at 41 and delivered healthy baby boy at 42.I am just the unlucky one!

My doctor and embryologist suggests it’s only numbers game at my age.

I read few research paper which suggests most of women require six cycles to be clicked to give successful birth.

Emotions are quite high- so will sit on this for few weeks. At least for withdrawal bleed.

Thanks though for honest suggestion.

Xx