Anyone experienced in 'mixed protocol'?

[WHeatherW]

My consultant has suggested we try 'mixed' using a high dosage. Has anyone else tried this? What was your experience?

For context, this is our fifth round. EC varies from 3 to 7 but we only ever end up with 1 embryo.

Thanks x

[Endofitall]

interested to know what mixed protocol means?? I have similar results to you xx

[WHeatherW in reply to Endofitall]

I'm pretty sure he said that its a combination of two drugs for stims and that it helps 2 out of 3 couples in cases like mine. The meeting was a bit of a blur and you know when you walk out and think, 'why didn't I ask X' etc etc.

He always sends a letter to summarise the chat so I've been waiting for that to arrive, but it literally just says "mixed protocol with a high dosage".

I've done two rounds on a high dose of meriofert and two rounds of mild IVF (lower dosage of meriofert every other day) so far xx

[Endofitall in reply to WHeatherW]

Oh I see 🙏🏼. I hope you get some clarity. It sounds like I may have had a mixed protocol for one round but everyone responds differently and it may be a different mix to what I had xx

[MiniCeeCee]

hey there - this video from consultant Dr Tim Child who I follow on insta (he’s brilliant - only posts evidence based stuff) might help give clarity on your question … instagram.com/reel/DGtRr3EM...

[WHeatherW in reply to MiniCeeCee]

ohhh yes I follow him, didn’t think to look on his account!

Thanks so much xx

[HelzBelzUK]

Our clinic is in Athens and I always do mixed stims.. i’m currently on 300iu gonal f and 150iu meriofert. Consultant prefers two as he says it evens out the follicles. I’m high risk of ohss and i’ve always been better off two than just one high dose xx

[WHeatherW in reply to HelzBelzUK]

Ahh ok, that's interesting. Thank you xx

[Misscocktail]

yes I’ve done a mixed stim cycle, 300iu menupur and 150iu Ovaleap x

[WHeatherW in reply to Misscocktail]

How did you respond compared to other rounds (if you have done any) x

[Misscocktail in reply to WHeatherW]

I actually can’t remember what my first round on 1 medication was like but both times we collected around 10-12 eggs. X

[Twiglet2]

I’ve had a few mixed stims round (menopur and gonal F) highest dosage. Theory being one was synthetic and one natural version of the hormone and some people react better to one than the other so we did both. I’m not sure what difference it made to the end result as we still got only a couple of embryos for transfer in the end but I was always ready for trigger shot after only 7 days stimming on that protocol and it did bring me my son. It certainly didn’t do any harm I don’t think so might be worth trying 🤗 good luck! Xx

[WHeatherW in reply to Twiglet2]

Ohhh ok that's interesting about being ready for trigger earlier! I've just done two rounds of mild which went on and on (I was in every day for baseline scans too). Congrats on your son! I know I need to take risks at this stage (it will most likely be our last round) but it feels scary! Thank you xx

[Twiglet2 in reply to WHeatherW]

Defo scary I can understand that! Yeah knocked about 3-4 days off the stimming time for me and I was on highest dose menopur alone before that so that was defo a benefit and I felt okay on them too! Xx

[WHeatherW in reply to Twiglet2]

How amazing! Do you mind me asking if you have any egg quality issues? I have low AMH but definitely poor egg quality (which is why I moved to mild). I'm wondering if he thinks the mixed approach will just get more eggs or potentially improve quality too (praying!!!) xx

[Twiglet2 in reply to WHeatherW]

I had several miscarriages and I’m 42 so quality was defo the issue for us (put the miscarriages down to embryo abnormalities) but I dont think the type of stims make much difference to that, I think it was more about getting more eggs so we had a chance of a healthy embryo at the end. But defo one to ask your clinic about quality and whether this mixed affects quality in anyway (I worried it would make it worse actually as I stimmed so quickly! But they said it shouldn’t). I found upping my coq10 for 3 months to 600mg ubiquonol form did help with quality of embryos though in case that helps 🤗 xx

[WHeatherW in reply to Twiglet2]

Thanks so much for this! I'm turning 40 in May, but we first walked into the clinic nearly 4 years ago and I felt like an old lady in their eyes at that stage haha!

I've been on a lot of supplements for over a year now, but I've upped my coQ10 dosage and things I would normally do during the run up to stims, I've started 3 months ahead - so I'm keeping everything crossed for a little miracle! There's really not much else I can do without loosing the plot, so I think I just need to trust the clinic and embrace taking a risk xx

[Twiglet2 in reply to WHeatherW]

Aww that sounds like you are doing everything right and yeah defo it’s worth a try lovely 🥰 looking forward to hearing your results xx 🤗💜

[WHeatherW in reply to Twiglet2]

Thank you! Xxx

[Cassie_56]

Hi Heather, Im just starting a mixed cycle after having 2 cycles - one on one drug and one on the other. My consultant explained one drug helped quality of eggs and one helped quantity. Also been put on highest dose. Not had experience as only just starting but makes sense to me as have never had as many eggs as expected compared to follicles and only had 1 or 2 embryos for transfer

[WHeatherW in reply to Cassie_56]

Ohh this makes perfect sense and it’s reassuring to me that we’ve had a similar response and this has been suggested to us both.

Sending lots of good luck to you and I’d love to hear how you get on! Xx

[GranolaLoverBaby]

I am unsure of mine was a mixed protocol but I started with Gonal F for 6 days and was switched to Pergoveris for another 3 or 4 days. My baseline scan had about 25 follicles and by day 6, I had 14 measuring about the same and the rest were smaller so I was switched to Pergoveris. 9 eggs were finally collected, 6 mature, 4 fertilized and 2 made it to D6. I had a fresh transfer and BFN.

[WHeatherW in reply to GranolaLoverBaby]

Thanks for sharing this round with me x