6-8 mature follicles

[promise07]

So I've got 10 follicles brewing and they sprang up on us too fast. They are: 19, 19, 18, 18, 16, 15, 15, 14, 14, 11. My estradiol is 1807 and my RE is recommending we cancel the cycle.

I'm worried about them turning into cysts if we don't at least trigger, but I also don't want to risk all of them maturing with the trigger and releasing and me getting OHSS...

I wish I could just trigger at home and try, but are the risks too great? What would you do?

 

[chellesama]

Has your RE discussed dropping to a smaller dose of your meds to see if that slows the growth? Will they monitor you off meds to see what the follicles do? Because if you drop to just one or two big ones, then you could ask to trigger and try at home.

Is the issue that there are too many (I've seen women do collections with many more, though it was rough!) or that the RE fears they're going to get big and go without being mature?

It's unlikely they would turn to cysts if you stop meds entirely. Most will stop growing and even shrink as the dominant follicles will pull whatever is left of the meds and your FSH so they can to fuel their growth and the smaller contenders give up the fight.

I can't offer much help - my IVF cycle with Andrea got cancelled for no progress at all. Plus, I work nights, so I'm on at my version of midnight, so I'm probably making less sense than I hope.

Anyway. Ask the RE what happens if you go down to minimal dose vs stopping, about monitoring after stopping med if that's what he wants, and if you see just a couple big follicles after stopping, if triggering and home attempts would be okay.

I hope you don't have to cancel, it's really rough. Good luck.

 

[promise07]

Your reply is so thorough chellesama! I didn't even think about coasting to see if the bigger follicles potentially starved out the smaller ones, but I've been coasting for 2 days so far and haven't had any more ultrasounds as the RE just flat out canceled. At this point I wouldn't know if my e2 dropped or if anything shrunk. My next appointment with him is next week Thursday which I will either have ovulated some of them on my own or my e2 may crash and I get AF early...just so many variables.

I wish I could just trigger myself tonight and have intercourse and let the chips fall where they may, but that's so dangerous. I could end up maturing and ovulating 6 or 8 of them, then where would I be? Or I could abstain and miss what could be a very successful twin or singleton pregnancy. I just don't know what to do!

 

[chellesama]

Call the office in the morning and see if they will scan you - tell them you're afraid of cysts or something, and maybe they'll take a quick look to see what's happening. Or tell them you want to see if you can convert this into an IUI. I think they owe you that, at least.

If they say no, you could try an ob-gyn or an urgent access office and tell them what's been going on and you're afraid of cysts or that you'll ovulate all 8 and have OHSS and that the RE isn't following you on this yet. They might do an ultrasound in the office for you.

If you can get an ultrasound and see just a couple of dominant follicles, then, if it were me, I'd feel free to trigger and BD at home to see if you can salvage anything from the cycle. But here's hoping your RE sees reason, gives you a scan, and agrees to convert to IUI if things look suitable.

 

[amy8686]

I can't help regarding cysts or anything else on the medical front, but regarding the possibility of a high multiples pregnancy: I had an IUI where I had about that many follicles and my RE went through with it because he knew that my husband and I were ethically ok with doing a "reduction" if necessary. If you're not ok with that possibility, then definitely steer clear. But if you did end up pregnant with more than 2, your RE or another could definitely help you go through the (difficult and somewhat risky) process of reducing it to a twin pregnancy.

For me, it ended up being a BFN, which was diagnostically helpful because it was a pretty clear indication that IUI's weren't going to work for me, and we moved to IVF.

 

[promise07]

Chellesama - I took your advice and went in for a scan today. Showed 2 at 20 and 2 at 18. The smaller ones did shrink and were no longer in danger of maturing. The RE still felt extremely against doing the IUI and trigger, but I decided to trigger at home and BD. I feel much better with 4 follicles verses 6-8.

Any8686 - thank you for sharing that with me! I have seen a few examples of people with multiple follicles ending up with a BFN, though the cause is never really known. Last cycle I had one follicle triggered at 18mm and ended up with a chemical, and I wondered if some of my follicles just don't contain good eggs. Anyway, IVF is the only way to know for sure, and I'm glad you didn't waste time and money on IUIs knowing they wouldn't work. I'm praying for your sticky bean!

 

[chellesama]

I'm glad you got scanned! I'll keep my fingers crossed that you managed to catch just one or two of those eggs for a take home baby!

 

[promise07]

Thank you! It was a nightmare ovulating all of those follicles. Ovulation did start at exactly 36 hours after trigger and oh man was I in pain for about 4 hours straight. Couldn't stand up straight or sit down without pain. Walked more like a waddle for 3 days straight. Never want to go through that again!

Just got to 8dpo and although the pain and swelling from my ovaries is now gone...I've been dealing with constant AF like cramps for the past 2 days. A couple of times I've been doubled over, rocking in pain, but otherwise it feels like I should be bleeding the heaviest period of my life and nothing.

Still testing positive on the trigger shot which I've been testing out for about 4 days.
Today is just a hair lighter than yesterday so I feel like its sticking around to torture me, so nothing to do for now but wait. Hopefully 1-2 took!

 

[chellesama]

I had period-like cramps with three of the five, so fingers crossed that's what you're feeling!

 

[amy8686]

Ugh, sorry it was so painful. I'm glad you're past that. Fingers crossed for you! Keep us posted!