IVF ladies - when did you stop progesterone and estrogen?

[Skittles11]

Hi everyone.

For any IVF ladies, I wondered when you stopped progesterone and estrogen. Did you stop cold turkey or did you gradually wean off? I had a frozen transfer and am now 9 + 4. My clinic have supplied enough meds for me to continue until 12 weeks for my own peace of mind although their standard protocol is for people to stop at 9 weeks. I don't know whether I should wean off or just stop at 12 weeks. I am taking prontogest progesterone in oil daily, cyclogext twice a day and progynova 12 mg a day (6 tablets). Wondered what others' experiences were, both with progesterone and estrogen. Thank you xx

[Millbanks]

Hi lovely! Hope you’re doing well ❤️I stopped lubion and oestrogen cold turkey at 12 weeks but tapered off cyclogest as was on 3 a day. So week 12 I was on 2 a day, week 13 on 1 a day and stopped altogether at week 14.

So you could do something like that from week 10? Xx

[KiboXX]

Hey lovely,

Congrats on your pregnancy!

I’m currently 12+4 on my second FET pregnancy, I have a 1 year old daughter from my last one. Both times I’ve stopped all progesterone and estrogen at 12 weeks and had no problems at all.

My doctor said you can taper it off but it’s really just to make you feel better, you don’t actually need it anymore at that point. I know it’s scary, I was so worried with my daughter but you’ll be absolutely fine xxx

[Fruitandflowers]

I stopped oestrogen on a taper of about a week from about 9 weeks but I never got on well with it and clinic didn't seem bothered about my oestrogen at all (plus I was only on two tablets to start with). I tapered off the lubion from week 11 (one every other day over one week) and down to 2 Ultrogestans since then, and due to stop that too in a few days (end of week 12). Like others have said, I got the feeling that the clinic wasn't too bothered about when and how I stopped after about 9 weeks and maybe that the tapering was to make me feel better, possibly also to see if I had any side effects or problems. But I have felt quite anxious about the Ultrogestan even though I know the placenta should be doing all the work by now - it's been a bit of a crutch for me, just feeling I am doing something. X

[Artmum22]

Hi Skittles 11, I am taking the same medicines as yours except the oestrogens. I was asked to stop prontogest, the oily injection, at 12 weeks. But I was told to keep going with cyclogest till 24 weeks and then wean off with one a day till the 26 weeks. I' also taking blood thinners and aspirin till 34 weeks. I'm surprised that your clinic told you to wean off the medications very early. I was told by my IVF nurse that the body needs to be supplied with progesterone until the 24th week, since after that your placenta is strong enough to sustain the baby. Let us know your decision and how you feel about it!

[KiboXX in reply to Artmum22]

Congrats on your pregnancy 😊

Stopping meds at 12 weeks is normal for an IVF pregnancy as the placenta has taken over producing these by then. I’m sure your clinic have a good reason for keeping you on yours for 24 weeks but it’s definitely not too early for most people to stop at 12 weeks x

[Artmum22 in reply to KiboXX]

This is probably the standard in most of the clinics in the UK, I guess. But in my clinic ( which is UK based), most of the women, even younger than me, were given cyclogest (progesterone) until the 24 weeks. My IVF doctor told me clearly that the reason why the clinic has chosen to extend the medication for most of the women is that the placenta takes over at 20 ( not at 12 weeks) and the baby is considered viable and doubles its chances of survival after 24 weeks of pregnancy (though we all want a full term baby!). This is the explanation I was provided with, and for me it makes perfectly sense

[KiboXX in reply to Artmum22]

It’s interesting your doctor said that it’s about the placenta because everything I’ve ever read or been told says the placenta takes over by 10-12 weeks 🤷🏼‍♀️

I could understand if it was for a different reason but the placenta thing doesn’t make much sense to me! Just don’t want anyone reading this to freak out about stopping medication at 12 weeks because after going through IVF, these things can seem really scary and it’s completely safe to do xx

[Artmum22]

I think every woman is different and some women need to extend the medication till 24 weeks and others not. My clinic is very cautious and is a leading clinic in the UK. I would rather listen to my consultant on what she says about the baby at 12 weeks and the placenta from the 20th week ( which becomes stronger and takes over) rather than read information which is sometimes not totally accurate. I think each diagnostic of a person depends on its past medical history, age, ethnicity etc. xx

[Countrychic]

I stopped both cold turkey at 12 weeks. It was a terrifying thought but was absolutely fine (just like they said it would be). Like other people have said, the placenta takes over between 8-12 weeks so there is no need to continue with the medication. Best of luck with the rest of your pregnancy xxx

[brinepalace]

Definitely do whatever your doctor/consultant says. I have a friend who went through the same thing as me (IVF with donor egg, frozen embryo transfer), and she was on hormones until 36 weeks.

So when my doctor told me to start tapering off one of my hormones, and said I could stop the injections at 12 weeks, I was really surprised (and pleased, obviously!). I was on Lubion injections, Progynova, Cyclogest and a heparin blood thinner injection.

Everyone is different, so just listen to your doctor.