Any IVF/ICSI Veterans that can help me?

[Deeni]

I am scheduled to start IVF/ICSI at the end of July. I have a few questions for anyone that has gone through it before.

-What time of the day do you have to take the shots? Are they all done at night before bed?
-How did the drugs make you feel? Do they make you gain tons of weight? Should I prepare my DH for PMS from h*ll? LOL
-How many embryos did you have put back? DH and I are debating one or two. We really don't want multiples but we want the best chance of this working out.
-Are frozen embryos as effective as fresh ones?
-I am petrified of egg collection. How many days off should I take? I am thinking the day of and the day after. Would that be enough time?

Sorry for all of the questions. I am nervous but excited. I really want to be prepared! Thanks for any help.

 

[maz]

Hi Deeni

- I took all of my down regging and stimming injections straight after my morning shower. The HCG shot is to be taken 36 hours before EC, so the timing of this will most likely be mid to late evening.

- I felt tired after a couple of weeks of down regging, but once I started stimming, my energy levels increased. I didn't really have any side effects such as weight gain or mood swings, but everyone is different.

- I have had two embryos put back each time, and so far have no experience of FET. It is a personal choice, although in the UK we now have a SET policy for the majority of 1st cycles in an attempt to reduce twin pregnancies. Have a chat at the time, with your FS and embryologist and ask their advice based on your embie quality.

- As for EC, I have always booked the whole week off work. Not because you can't work, but more because I wanted to rest up as much as possible. You definitely need the day of EC off work, as you will spend quite a long time in the hospital / clinic. The day after, you will receive your fertilisation report, and the best place to be is at home for this, just in case it's not great. Don't be worried about EC. Depending on your clinic's protocol, you may be sedated and know nothing about what is happening, or you may be given a fast acting pain relief. I've had both as I've been to two different clinics. I'd much prefer the sedation, but the pain isn't excruciating with the pain relief option. I'll put it this way - I'm going back to the clinic that doesn't do sedation so it can't be that bad.

Good luck - I hope this is your only cycle.

xx

 

[Deeni]

Thank you, Maz. Your post is really helpful.

Can you please tell me what down regging and stimming is? My dr said he does not give birth control in the beginning. Is that down regging?

How long did it take you to get used to giving yourself the shots? I'm not very good at that sort of thing but don't think I could let hubby do it to me either. Do you do your own?

I really hope this cycle is your lucky one! Thanks for replying.

 

[Blue12]

Down regging can be done with injections or sniffing. It shuts down your ovaries so that they cannot ovulate.

Stimming is the process of "activating" your ovaries and growing as many eggs as possible at an equal rate.

I did the injections myself and they weren't bad at all. Just pinch the skin and gently put the needle against the skin and let it glide in. My analogy is putting a sewing needle in room temperature butter - you wouldn't need to apply pressure it would just glide it. You also don't feel the skin being broken or punctured - it just glides in. Slow and steady. BEST WISHES.

 

[Clussy]

HI Deeni,

A lot of this is different from person to person, in regards to the effect of the stimming (Ovarian Stimulation shots). I personally was mostly fine on them, albeit a bit moodier then normal. I was the *most* hormonally unbalanced (feeling) while on the BC Pills prior to stimming but if your Dr. does not go that route, then you don't have to worry about it.

My Dr. (here in DC area) has their patients do the injections from 6-8pm in the evenings. The first night of giving myself the injection was tough and stressful but once I got a hang of it, it become much easier and I'm used to it by now. A bit of stinging w/a couple of them but mostly easy and uneventful as long as you don't over think it.

They actually reccomend only being on bed rest for one day and going about your normal activities (sans much exercise and the sort) after egg retrieval. They mostly just don't want you stressing out about it and getting all anxiety ridden because that really lowers your chances. So, key is, going about your normal life once you've let your body recoup for a day.

We're on our first IVF cycle and are doing a 'shared risk' program. Basically, we either have a baby in our arms when all's said and done or we get our money back. That helps put some faith in them really doing all they can to give us a viable pregnancy. I go in for retrieval on Wednesday morning and then the transfer 5 days later (when the embys are at a blastocyst stage) and we've already talked about putting 2 high grade ones back in (as long as there are 2 strong ones to put back in).

Good luck in your beginning stages and think as positively as possible. A lot of this can be helped along by your state of being (from all the research and Podcasts on IVF I've listened to). I'd recommend acupuncture to help your odds (look up studies on IVF w/supported acupuncture for some interesting findings) and meditation to put your mind at ease, if possible.

Cheers!

 

[Oneday]

Hi Deeni
The ivf process is quite daunting but I think the best thing to do is approach it bit by bit and take it as little hurdles you need to get over. I did the long protocol starting with a scan on day 21 to check I had no cysts etc. Then did down regging injections from 4pm everyday I gradually made these a bit later to about 7pm to fit in with work, major sides effect was thirst and some headaches. I had a period as normal about 9 days later once you have had this you can start stimming about day 14 plus I carried on with a lower dose of the dr one so 2 injections in the evenings blood test every few days and then a scan to check your follies I think I only stimmed for 9 days then the trigger shot and ec. Before ec I felt like a battery hen very heavy womb with me wodfling round fit to burst. Best rest after ec as a bit bruised and battered I was sedated for ec and completely out of it some pain after but I think my eggs were harder to get because of my adhesions. I had 2 transfered at day 3 and was fine after that. Good luck feel free to pm me if you have any questions at all x

 

[Deeni]

Blue, I feel so much better about the injections now. You make it sound easy

Clussy, I have heard about the different plans that some clinics offer but I have been to two different clinics and neither offered anything like that. I wonder if they just don't have that in my area?! My RE is supposed to have the best success rates. I hope that is good enough! Also, I tried acupuncture but it got to be too much in addition to my regular appointments and work. I still might go for the next few months but it will be hard to fit it in. I also keep meaning to exercise a bit more. I've been slacking on that lately and think that would help.

Oneday, congrats on your pregnancy! Did you do acupuncture or anything else in conjunction with your IVF? How many cycles of IVF did you have to go through?

 

[MissAma]

Hey there, you got a bunch of great answers so far but let me throw my 2 cents in as well.


-What time of the day do you have to take the shots? Are they all done at night before bed? - In the evening is best, there is no specific hour in as far as I know so you can pick what's most convenient for you from say 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. but they DO want you to do it at the same hour every day once you've started. The ovulation trigger is particularly important to be administered at the exact time your clinic indicates as the pick up is scheduled so that it coincides with the 36 hour period being over.
-How did the drugs make you feel? Do they make you gain tons of weight? Should I prepare my DH for PMS from h*ll? LOL - In very short "YES!" Please do. Prepare him that is. And yourself for the weight gain. I know some people went through treatment without many added pounds but most gained a bunch and a few of the very unlucky ones like me piled on as much as 40 pounds in a few weeks!
-How many embryos did you have put back? DH and I are debating one or two. We really don't want multiples but we want the best chance of this working out. - Two. And we were ecstatic we were allowed to after our clinic said it was the law to only transfer one unless there were very special mitigating circumstances. I personally don't believe in SET. I read about -and saw first hand proof- of many clinics manipulating the data to ensure most people only want one put back while they happily transfer two in reality. Personal preference of course, but I could never live with the "what if?"
-Are frozen embryos as effective as fresh ones? - No. Neither is frozen sperm. Same goes for the implantation rate in FET, that is because anything frozen needs to survive the thawing process and that can be very damaging at a molecular level.
-I am petrified of egg collection. How many days off should I take? I am thinking the day of and the day after. Would that be enough time? - What type of anesthesia will you have? If you are allowed general and are going under then you may need both days off but on the plus side you will likely have far less pain. I had GA on the first IVF try and local on this second one and boy did it hurt... you forget about it, some of the drugs in the local are designed to ensure you will forget how bad it was but I remember the screaming like mad in pain and them having to tie my legs in the stir-ups while I scram I want them to stop quite vividly Don't get me wrong, I'd do it again to get this result of course but it would have been nice if I didn't have to.

Last but not least, lots and lots of good luck and may it all go by the book!

 

[Aphrodite]

Hey Deeni, I had the same sorts of questions, Im a worrier lol. Blue is right, the injections are so simple, the forst one my hubby had to do but once I knew how it felt it I was fine with doing them myself. It only stung slightly once the liquid was going in, not the actual needle.

When I was sniffing 'down regging' I had some headaches and hot flushes, but it wasnt bad. I was off for a week after EC as I was quite sore and tender plus had a bit of OHSS. Id take about 3 days to be on the safe side, but thats just me.

I didnt really have any mood swings or put on any weight, if I did, it was so minor i didnt notice either. We had 1 embryo back as that was our clinics policy. Frozen is known to be slightly less sucessful.

Wanna wish you all the best! Its not that bad honestly, more fear of the unknown. Good luckk!!!!!

 

[Deeni]

What type of anesthesia will you have? If you are allowed general and are going under then you may need both days off but on the plus side you will likely have far less pain. I had GA on the first IVF try and local on this second one and boy did it hurt... you forget about it, some of the drugs in the local are designed to ensure you will forget how bad it was but I remember the screaming like mad in pain and them having to tie my legs in the stir-ups while I scram I want them to stop quite vividly Don't get me wrong, I'd do it again to get this result of course but it would have been nice if I didn't have to.[/I]

Ok, now I am freaking out a little bit. They definitely do not do General. I will be under a sleepy type of sedation where I will still be able to hear everything going on around me. I would much rather have no clue what is going on. Also, I am in shock about the 40 lb weight gain. That is over a third of my body weight!

Aphrodite, I am a worried too (obviously!). I am so glad to see you had success with single embryo transfer as I think that is what we are leaning towards. How bad was your OHSS? How many eggs were collected? My ovaries tend to over react to fertility meds and I had a bit of OHSS after just a routine dose of clomid so I am very worried about OHSS.

Thanks so much for all of these replies. If anyone else didn't have general, I would love to hear how your EC experience was. Please reassure me it is not too bad.

 

[MissAma]

Ok well l didn't mean to freak you out and certainly it's not as bad for everyone! If you read above maz already said it's tolerable. Just like her many women find it ok, the ones going through an ordeal are the minority, l only know two others on this forum in that situation. Still à minority are those putting on that much weight so you can relax

But let me ask you this, if these were given side effects and it really were that bad -and it isn't!- would it not be worth it for that BFP?

 

[Deeni]

MissAma, I definitely want to hear about everyone's honest experiences, good and not so good. I really appreciate knowing what you went through because now I am going to ask my Dr. about this. This was something I didn't even think about so I feel better prepared!!! And yes even with the side effects, it would be worth it. Screaming and being tied down in the surgery room just sounds just a bit scary and something I want to avoid!

Either way, I think fear is a normal emotion no matter what the possible outcome. At least I hope I am normal...haha!

Anyway, thanks to everyone for sharing.

 

[Oneday]

Hi Deeni
I had sedation and was really out of it same as a GA for me. I remember my feet going in the stirrups and the next i was in recovery. Everyone is different i think. Anyway in answer to your questions i was lucky and it worked first time for me. I decided not to bother with acupuncture in the end as it was £40 a session and my clinic said it made no difference to results. As for side effects personally i found clomid worse.

 

[Aphrodite]

What type of anesthesia will you have? If you are allowed general and are going under then you may need both days off but on the plus side you will likely have far less pain. I had GA on the first IVF try and local on this second one and boy did it hurt... you forget about it, some of the drugs in the local are designed to ensure you will forget how bad it was but I remember the screaming like mad in pain and them having to tie my legs in the stir-ups while I scram I want them to stop quite vividly Don't get me wrong, I'd do it again to get this result of course but it would have been nice if I didn't have to.[/I]

Ok, now I am freaking out a little bit. They definitely do not do General. I will be under a sleepy type of sedation where I will still be able to hear everything going on around me. I would much rather have no clue what is going on. Also, I am in shock about the 40 lb weight gain. That is over a third of my body weight!

Aphrodite, I am a worried too (obviously!). I am so glad to see you had success with single embryo transfer as I think that is what we are leaning towards. How bad was your OHSS? How many eggs were collected? My ovaries tend to over react to fertility meds and I had a bit of OHSS after just a routine dose of clomid so I am very worried about OHSS.

Thanks so much for all of these replies. If anyone else didn't have general, I would love to hear how your EC experience was. Please reassure me it is not too bad.

Its not that bad! Ive had sedation LOADS of times. One minute ur there next thing u no,its done. U feel ur head go swimmy and thats as much as u know about it. i wasnt aware of and didnt remember a THING! It may as well have been a general.

I didnt gain anywhere near 40lbs, I didnt gain anything just got bloated. I weigh less now than I did BEFORE the treatment!

I had 32 eggs collected I had a good response. However, we only got 5 embryos out of that. They will assess you and gove u the right dose of meds dont worry. They told me I was likely to be a good responder so put me onless drugs. Believe me they know what they are doing!

The OHSS wasnt that bad. My birthday was the worst day, I was in a lot of pain. Had a scan and they said u have it very mildly. The next day at transfer they said no sign. So all was well, and nothing afterwards. Myovaries still pull a bit if I sneeze or stretch cause of whats been done to them, but its really easing off now, its like i never even had the IVF