Large follicles on day 1 of period

[Gentleblue]

Good morning all,

It has been some time since my last update. I could not start IVF in August because my TSH was over 3, still waiting for it to go below 2.5.

I did go to check follicles today, day 1 of my period and the doctor found 4 , 3 out of those are around 13, 15, and 17mm. She said they looked healthy and probably would ovulate earlier than usual.

I never had such a situation before. I have not had any stimulation hormones since August, but did change my diet and have been taking planning for pregnancy vitamins, increasing l thyroxine to 100 mg a day.

I wonder if anyone had a similar situation or heard if this is normal.

Last period I got 19mm on day 10 and another cycle - 15mm on day 11.

[DianeArnold Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK]

Hi. Hopefully once your thyroxine is below 2.5 your follicles will follow a regular pattern. Hope that is soon. Diane

[Gentleblue in reply to DianeArnold]

Hi DianeArnold, thank you so much, hope so. I will do another check in October.

[Rubylou01]

Hey Gentleblue - I've also had enlarged follicles on day 1 (July) following on from taking stims for what was ultimately an abandoned cycle (June). It was accompanied by an elevated FSH and TSH. I normally have a couple of days spotting before my period starts but in this case it seemed like the stims had just put my hormones further out of whack. I was on a short course of 25mg/day Levothyroxine and have been taking Maca to try and get everything back down (awaiting my next cycle to test to see if all back to normal) but my clinic/Dr decided to put me on a long protocol when I had an egg collection in August to make sure my ovaries were quiet before starting so this might be an option for you as well. Hopefully it will all settle down for you however xx

[Gentleblue in reply to Rubylou01]

Hi Rubylou, thank you so much for sharing your experience, good to know I am not alone and this can happen. I take that those early large follicles are not viable to conceive. Doctor said to get back tomorrow to check these again. Xx

[Rubylou01 in reply to Gentleblue]

Hi Gentleblue - I think they might be viable in a natural pregnancy but I was told anything over 10mm at day 1 meant they would race ahead and you wouldnt get other follicles coming up when you started to stim for IVF (so in your case youd only get 3 eggs). But might very much depend on the type of treatment you are undertaking? My June cycle I had an FSH of 12.6 and two follicles at 9mm and was told was okay to start. Three days before egg collection I still only had two 18mm follicles growing and a 10mm coming up but not possible to catch up so we ceased the treatment (they measured my AMH at that point and it had dropped to 2 from 12 two months earlier so something not right). On reflection I'd have asked to cancel that cycle before stimming if I'd understood the science!! Tried again in July and had a 12mm on day 1 with a high(ish) FSH so that was abandoned too. Went on long protocol in August to suppress everything but still struggled to produce consistent follicle growth - 7 eggs collected at the end but kind of wish I'd left it for another month and tried to get my hormones back to normal naturally. Hopefully your Dr will advise further? I'd just ask them tons of questions about why it's happening, how to reset and options for treatment going forward if your body continues the pattern. I'm still hoping the Maca will get mine back on track but have yet to test to see if the case xx

[Gentleblue in reply to Rubylou01]

hi Rubylou,

I really hope they won’t disappear/become absorbed and will see on scan tomorrow.

Maca I have not yet tried, but did try the sage tea for a few days after period before ovulation.

I will update in this post on the latest.

We do try naturally while waiting for IVF consultation in October.

7 eggs is great, I think ! Xx