IVF & Endometriosis

[Savafrica]

Hey! I’m 31 and about to start my IVF journey soon. I’ve got stage 4 Endometriosis and also been told I have adenomyosis.

Has anyone had the same and had a successful first round of IVF?

Any tips you recommend i do these next up coming weeks?

Thanks in advance x

[Sezvic]

All the best.

[Mel77]

Hi there. I'm sorry to hear about your dx and that it led you to IVF. It's never easy to face or even think about infertility. I used to be judged so many times by people around. But the most painful was my in law's judgment..I remember her to say to my husband "Find a healthy girl.." I wasn't meant to hear this. Anyway she broke my heart. People around aren't too sympathetic, are they? My dh took my side. He's always been my rock of support. Together we decided to undergo treatments. We had to fly abroad for IVF. (Mainly for more affordable prices) Looking back I can say we did right. We achieved our goal. We're already on the other side and this cannot but amuses. Still I feel everybody's pain who're sailing in this infertility boat. If I could help anyone with anything, feel free to ask. All the best to all ×

[Marmo in reply to Mel77]

OMG..''Find a healthy girl..'' - It's awful!!! Like you're a vehicle which must be repaired or got rid of..I'm so sorry you had to go through this nightmare. Such a silly woman your mother-in-law is! God love you,poor thing. You told you flew abroad. Where did you go? And what do you mean by ''affordable prices''?

It pains to see how many people around the world got stuck with their treatment plans because of closed boards. This covid-19 nightmare seems never end!

Do you keep in touch with anyone from your clinic? How are the things going there right now? Do they sign contracts with IPs? Or are they keeping everything on hold? I read too different stories about people's journeys..Those are not always with the happy end..

[Karinyaa in reply to Mel77]

Glad to hear this, luv. My best wishes to you and your enlarged family.

You've mentioned ''affordable'' prices.. To what extent??

Could you, please, share services+ the whole cost you paid?

Are you satisfied with the services? What about minuses flying abroad for IVF? Were there any? What should one pay more attention for when being a fertility tourist?

Thank you in advance.

[Loraine7 in reply to Mel77]

Sorry to hear about your struggles. I don't believe anyone deserves this!! I hate thinking back on those months of not knowing what we were going to do! My husband and I sat down and weighed out all the pros and cons (When we were both relaxed and could really talk about it.) We came to the conclusion no matter what, IVF would be worth it. Though faced failures again. Multiple – with own and donor eggs. Finally got luck with our last DE IVF shot in Kiev. Could you drop a line on how the things are going for you now?

[Marmo]

Hello. luv. I know how you're feeling now. Thus my dx differs - it's unexplained. Our doc strongly advised us looking onto ivf. Moreover I was told my eggs are too weak for the procedure. That is I could use them, but my doc felt pessimistic over the outcomes. Those were hard times for me, for husband and all the family. We did our 1st round in Greek clinic. Got BFN. I felt sth wrong about the place, so insisted we'd better switch. My family didn't understand me at all, they pretended saying it's ok, and that I had to be more patient.. But my inner part kept on telling vice versa. Finally I 'won'. And we applied for ivf in Eastern Europe. Got success after shot#1.

I'm truly sorry you're facing endo. From what I read it's dreadful, such are its symptoms. Do you have it severe?

Looking forward to reading some news from you soon. Stay well and keep strong! xx

[Sezvic in reply to Marmo]

Stage 4 is should be severe endometriosis

[Karinyaa in reply to Marmo]

Hi hun. Did you use own eggs with ivf??

I'm reading more and more ladies with own egg issues turn to mitochondrial donation.. Have you ever consider trying it out?

I'm sorry you got dissapointed about your clinic in Greece. Things happen, you know. The same happened to us. Our previous doc advised us through unnecessary treatment shots. Like IUIs taking into consideration my severe endo.. Now it feels like she just wanted to loom money out from us. We didn't expect we'd spend years !! and huge money sums and finally get nothing but dissapointment and my sore from meds body..

Also as for your unexplained. I've always considered this diagnosis even more frustrating than any other. This way you aren't given a clear explanation on what might be going on wrong with you or your partner. And then you start looking for every other possible reason why it's not happening to you..This must be painful emotionally!

I'm so much happy for you being already on the other side of the fence xx

[Mel77 in reply to Marmo]

Also frustration can be very different to us. Today I thought of my first unsuccessful cycle. Ironically, 2 embryos made it to the blast phase. Both they were of good quality. I was so excited about those blasts and decided to ensure we only put those back in when the time was right and work was a bit quieter. I waited a whole 6 months to put them back in only to find out in a couple of weeks that it was likely a chemical pregnancy. It felt like a cruel joke. My hcg levels were at 18 5 days after the official testing date.And I just couldn't understand it all...And got frustrated so damn much.This is the note from the past now but it still aches. Like the reminder how fragile our dreams can be.I would love to hear from the former writer though and get to know she's ok and probably has got luck so far.

[Dee_101]

Hi hun, I have stage 3 endo and low amh. I did ivf 1st time and I got a bfp baby girl. Trust me it can happen don’t worry I been told same stuff. It is possible ivf is a miracle🙏🙏❤️

[Karinyaa]

Hi, @Dee, I'm happy to hear about your success from shot #1. This is awesome!

Unfortunately I wasn't as successful as you. I've been suffering from severe endo all my adult life. After 2 yrs ttc with no luck we turned to fertility experts. Tried IUIs, OE IVFs, 1 ICSI cycle - Nothing helped. Then switched the clinics and our new doctor told us the problem was in my eggs. Those turned aged dramatically.

We were considering even sth like mitochondrial donation, but at that time the procedure wasn't this popular as it is nowadays. So we got down to DE IVF route as less invasive.

I believe if our previous doc chose more adequate treatments for us - We could have succeeded with own eggs. But the way it is we just spent years and $$$ on unappropriate shots. I got my body drained from meds. We lost presious time..And this pains a lot.

Turning for help to the right professional /clinic and at the right time is vital anyway..

[Loraine7]

Dee_101 is right! No matter what stuff you've heard, everyone's scenario is different. And this doesn't mean your 1st shot isn't going to work. On the contrary! A close friend of mine has suffered endo all her mature life. Low egg quantity. Her first dr felt quite pessimistic about rushing into ivf. He wanted them months on some general stuff, like accupuncture, loosing extra lbs, vitamins, supplements etc. Even then he recommended more de for ivf.. Thus my friend and her partner changed the route/dr/clinic. Their new dr told she was good enough to try out oe ivf, so they did. Shot#1 brought them luck.

Don't loose hope, hun, and keep on moving.

[Marmo in reply to Loraine7]

Millions of the infertile struggle their condition daily. Though there still are lots of those who suppose any kind of treatment to be immoral. I truly doubt if they were this wise if being once in the infertile's shoes..Unfortunately world is not too compassionate nowadays. I once wrote on a board I was looking for the info on surrogacy for my MRKH friend. And someone replied it was like not my business..Yet another one asked why my friend wasn't doing research on her own..I dunno how to explain people it's OK to help and support each other! Well, I just wanted to say that in the course of my research I found out a lot about applyIng for surrogacy in Ukraine, BTC in particular. Affordable costs. One is able to use mitochondrial donation option within some of the packages. Lots of services included into the package price. A huge surrogate/donor database to choose from. Even if it's covid pandemic now the clinic does its best to help their patient to travel without problems. (You may have heard earlier about hundreds of who got stuck in Ukraine because of closed boarders). That's great to know everyone cares.

[Mel77 in reply to Marmo]

I'm sorry to hear about your MRKH friend's story..Must hurt..A few of my friends knew my husband and I were trying but, were blissfully unaware of how much pain I was in about it. 1 friend knew we were doing fertility treatments. She lived on the other side of the country. She was also my just 1 friend who didn't have kids either. I couldn't talk to my siblings much anymore. Everything was about their kids. I was at extreme jealousy and hurt.. Unless we started our DE IVF journey at BioTexcom. This way brought us our sweet adorable twins. I'm hoping so much this year brings everyone here a long awaited success.

[Mel77 in reply to Marmo]

Also at BTC they explain the ''Do'' and ''Don't'' lists to the surrogates throughout the journey. Like, the pregos shouldn't overdo it with coffeine. It’s a stimulant and a diuretic. Meaning drinking usual few cups of coffee every day will increase blood pressure, heart rate, and the number of trips to make to the restroom. Plus, caffeine crosses the placenta. While a woman may function just fine caffeinated, the growing baby doesn’t. That’s because the baby’s metabolism is still developing. Then some medications can be harmful to the growing baby. Before taking any over-the-counter or prescription medications and supplements, talking to the dr is vital!! The surrogates are also advised to stick to heels with a 3-inch heel or less. As the belly grows, the center of gravity will change. So the prego may find herself a little unsteady on her feet. The pregos must skip the hot tub. Because it is harmful for the future baby. Finally, exposure to secondhand smoke during pregnancy which can lead to: miscarriage, premature delivery, low birth weight, learning or behavioral issues as baby grows etc. And many others. That's great to know the clinic keeps things under control! Just thought you're looking for more info on surrogacy there, it may be useful. All the best.

[andylins]

Hi, hun. I can definitely relate. I'm already on the other side of the process. but it's still so vivid for me. I gave birth to our beautiful LO#2 last year via DE IVF in BTC. It did us take time to get there. But now looking back, we have nothing to regret about using this very option abroad.

My sweet doc Julia Kotlik told me much about how to prepare for the ET the best, and all the DOs and DON'Ts after it. So, here I'll say, be attentive to yourself! After the ET you can resume your normal daily activities. However, your ovaries may still be enlarged. Consider avoiding vigorous activity, which could cause discomfort. Typical side effects are: Passing a small amount of clear or bloody fluid shortly after the procedure. This is due to the swabbing of the cervix before the ET. Breast tenderness due to high estrogen levels. Mild bloating. Mild cramping. Constipation. If anything bothers you, contact your doctor! He or she will evaluate you for any sort of complications such twisting of an ovaryor hyperstimulation. Just keep an eye on those. Praying for your best.

[SerrineV]

My husband and I tried naturally over a year with no luck. Then met with my OB-GYN pap results were good and made the decision to see a doctor at a fertility clinic. Ultrasound and blood work was not bad and did the HSG too . On the basis of these results and due to the doctor's findings the best route was to do IVF. My husband and I called a couple of IVF centers in our area that our doctor gave us. But each IVF consultation was over $300!! And pricing started at $10k!! We honestly did not have any close family or friends that have gone through IVF and thought going on different fertility boards would be a great place to start to get some options from other people going through the same thing. We were also willing to do this outside since we figured it might be affordable. We passed multiple IVF shots, every time faced mc, our new dr told us tiny was the chance for me to conceive and carry the baby on my own..Banned in many parts of the world, commercial surrogacy is available in only few countries. Also roughly in 14 states in the US. But the cost is more than most parents can afford. So found ourselves in Ukraine, signing up for a surrogacy package with Biotexcom clinic. Got unlimited number of shots. Waiting time – up to 4 months. Pediatrician services 24/7. All meds, surro screening, everything concerning ivf – included into the package price. Came back home with a healthy LO.