IVF/ICSI at Guys? Anyone else?

[Serena80]

there was one thing that I meant to write yesterday, the nurse said you take the sniffing drugs 12 hours apart (e.g. 10 in the morning and 10 at night). I was wondering what your plans would be for all of you? I took it at 8.30 this morning so am committed to that now which means getting up at 8.30 at the weekends too. is that similar to you all? or has there been times you think are better? The nurse said some people like to take it at 5 am and 5pm. who are these crazies?

x

 

[key24]

Hi all - Serena it sounds like your appt was very similar to mine, although i start the sniffers on Tuesday (17th) but am not going back for scan until the 13th Feb which means i am taking them for almost a month. I am a bit gutted about this becuase i thought i'd almost be on collection stage by then, but as it turns out now will only just be starting stimulation drugs.

Apparently they are trying to catch up from after Xmas and so that is why they are leaving a bit longer on the sniffer drugs. DH says a couple of weeks doesn't matter but in my head i had a little timeline set out and now it's completely wrong which has thrown me a bit!!

Oh well moan over - same as Serena will show me the injections on the 13th Feb and will also confirm what dosage of Gonal-F i'll be on then when they do another follicle count (hopefully there will be more than last time!).

So now just waiting for Tuesday and a full 3.5weeks of mini menapause, joy!!

Serena - sorry to hear the sniffer drugs made you feel sick - do you think it was just the first day or it and being something new and perhaps it will pass? hope so for your sake.

I think i'm going to take them around 9am and then 9pm - but i am sure half an hour either way probably won't make a difference, although not sure maybe Kazza you can ask this tomorrow.

I got there and didn't really ask many questions as had forgotten everything so was in and out in about 15mins.

Kazza - hope it all goes well tomorrow, think it will just be the same protocol as us but let me know when they book you in for your "injection meeting".

k xx

 

[Serena80]

Hi Key,

That is so frustrating. I would be really annoyed at being kept on the sniffer drugs for an extra week and a half because they are so busy. That doesn't sound fair at all. Especially if you are having side effects from taking the drugs. Hopefully you'll be fine on them and it will be no problem. If not maybe you could ring up and ask them to bump your next appt up? Maybe they are making the people who skipped the December start because of the lab cleaning a priority to start first?

I asked about taking the sniffing drugs and she said there's a 30 minute window for it to be most effective, so if i generally take them at 8.30, it wouldn't be too bad if I took them at 8 or 9. she also said if you forgot to take it completely you have a 4 hour window to take it, after the 4 hours you should just skip that dose and take the next one that day. She said skipping one dose wouldn't make too much difference, although best to take it as regularly as you can. Key - 9am & pm sounds like a good option. not too evil at the weekends.

I am not sure about the nausea I have, I'm hoping it'll just be me adapting to the drugs and will only last a day or 2. I have had it all day so far & was worse after lunch which was weird. You'll have to let me know if you guys have the same thing or not. I wish we were all starting the same day!

 

[kazzab25]

Hiya

Ooh serena sorry your feeling sick with the drugs, hopefully its your bodies way of adjusting and it will pass, but i am glad to hear you are feeling more positive today.

I think i will probably do the 9 am and the 9pm too but will ask the question tomorrow.

Key, deffo see if you can pull it forward if you say your feeling crappy they might bring you forward?

Im feeling a bit impatient!! I know my appt is tomorrow and thats great but i just wanna start sniffing now!!! and hurry the whole process up!! grrrrr

Im not sure what i want to ask really.

Need to confirm will we do ICSI or IVF, Think it will be ICSI though

discuss my high AMH levels

thats all i can think of really!

 

[Serena80]

Hi Kazza,

I completely understand the frustration, my husband and I were talking about it yesterday and saying one of the hardest parts of this is how slowly it seems to go.

I'll put up a copy of the questions we asked - they might make you think of similar ones you want to ask. If you want to know what she said to any of them then let me know, but I wont bother typing it all up as you probably know it already. The one thing you might want to ask is about taking vitamins as I asked question 4 below, and she said I shouldn't start taking anything else. I don't know if she meant 'don't start taking it at this point as you haven't been for months' or 'don't take vitamins at all'. maybe worth checking x.

Questions

1. The letter says I have an antral follicle count of 21 – is this normal/good?

2. In the letter we received it says 150 iu of gonal f is recommended. Will these doses be changed if OHSS becomes a risk?

3. Can we have a copy/breakdown of our recent test results?

4. In the past when doing ovulation tests at home I discovered that I had a short luteal phase (7 or 8 days). I started taking vitiman B complex which extended the luteal phase, but which I stopped taking in May. I forgot to mention this to the doctor in our last appt. Should I start taking this again?

5. If it isn’t successful this month, how long do you have to wait until you can try a transfer again?

6. In the months that we are transferring frozen embryo’s what is the procedure/timeline? Do I still need to take any medication?

7. If the egg retrieval is successful this month, but you are unable to transfer (due to OHSS or cycts), does that still count as one month, or will we still get 3 frozen embryo transfers from that round of ICSI if the eggs are viable?

 

[key24]

Agreed - the waiting and step by step process of everything is definately the hardest part.

I have been taking CQ10 (apparently helps with low follicles) which i forgot to ask the nurse about, maybe i should call and ask them about this?

Kazza - can you let me know what date they give you to come back in too - as you're right if i'm suffering on the sniffer drugs maybe they can bring it forward?

good luck for tomorrow Kazza and Serena good luck with sniffer tonight, hope sickness goes asap

x

 

[Serena80]

Hi Key,

yes, it's probably worth asking although if it was a real problem I would think they would ask you if you were taking vitamins as I bet most people are.

The nurse said to me that as they are taking control of my cycle and don't want my body to try to produce any hormones unless instructed by them, then there is no point me taking vitamins.

i've read loads of other forums though where people say they are taking them so who knows! probably worth ringing to check though.

Did they tell you to take the CQ10?

 

[kazzab25]

Thanks serena that really helps! What did they say to your last question?

Key I will deffinatly let you Know when my date is x

I'm taking Pregnacare conception but the dr said this is ok

 

[Serena80]

Hi Kazza,

for q7 she said that if that happened they would speak to the business dept to see if they could transfer the next month, but it may just count as one attempt as the eggs were harvested. She said at Guys they monitor very closely as they want to avoid any disappointments for couples who are expecting to have a transfer and then cant. she said it only happened once in 2011! so hopefully nothing to worry about really!

 

[kazzab25]

Oh thats really good to no!!

 

[Serena80]

Good luck today Kazza!

 

[kazzab25]

Hiya,

Ive had my appt today and all was very positive, im feeling much better! I had loads of questions ready and i was in there for about 40 mins!!!

So, i start sniffing on the 19th and im back in on the 3rd of feb for a scan and start stimming, when do you start stimming key?

Serena when did you say you started stimming?

I asked about whether having pcos makes the sucess less affective and she said no so i was very pleased about that and my age goes in my favour so im feeling positive!!

Not looking forward to the menopause and i have warned my oh to be patient!!

Im really looking forward to it all starting now!!!

 

[kazzab25]

i asked if the majority of women with pcos manage to go the full way or do they have to stop many of the treatments and she said most women go the full way as they monitor very closely so thats something else i was very pleased about!!

 

[key24]

Glad it all went well today Kazza.

I start sniffers on 17th I'm not meant to be back until the 13th Feb for scan -which means i'm taking the sniffer drugs for an extra 1.5weeks longer than you and Serena. Think i should maybe give Guys a call on Monday and see if they can bring it forward.

I'll let you know how i get on speaking to them next week!

have a great weekend all x

 

[kazzab25]

Hi key

That's really weird that you have to sniff for an extra week and a half, would def on all them and ask why and try and get moved!

Did the nurse say to you that you have to sniff for the duration of ivf? I thoug it was for two weeks but I'm sure she said you continue to sniff even when you are injecting.

 

[Tinkerbell3]

Glad today went well Kazza

AF arrived today so rang Guy's and have my Hycosy booked in for 3rd Feb, almost couldn't get booked again as you have to have it by CD21 which the appointment will be on and that was the earliest they had
Then I guess we'll find out where we go from here on 15th Feb when we have our next appointment to see the consultant.

 

[kazzab25]

Thanks tinker bell, I'm glad af finally arrived for you! I'm up there that day too!!

 

[Serena80]

Hi Kazza,

That's great news, glad you're feeling so positive, i didn't ask any q's about PCOS so it's really good to know.

I should start stimming on the 25th Feb if the scan's ok. so if all goes well egg retrieval around the 8th Feb and transfer a few days later.

Yes, you're right about the sniffing drugs, my nurse said keep taking them until they tell you to stop, I think you stop sniffing a couple of days before egg retrieval.

today's my 4th day on the drugs and I feel fine except I have chest pains and have had heart palpitations once too, but I had this at the beginning of the year when I was taking vitamin b complex pills, so I think i'm just weird & my hormones changing makes my chest hurt. not too worried about it and hopefully it'll just pass. but apart from that I feel fine, and don't have any of the symptoms the nurse mentioned so relieved about that. particularly the hormones!

Tinkerbell - that's great about getting booked in for you test - did you hear any more about your husband's test?

key - good luck with the sniffing on Tues - let me know how you get on x

 

[key24]

That's great news Tinkerbell - glad you have managed to get booked in this time. Hopefully things will start progressing for you now, or you never know maybe a natural BP is still not out of the question?


Kazza - was told you carry on sniffing during injections, but only once a day instead of twice.

Serena how you getting on - has the sickness passed now?

K x

 

[kazzab25]

Hi ladies, thanks for clearing that up, I thought maybe I'd misheard about sniffing while injecting. I'm glad to hear you have not had any of the symptoms! Hope I'm the same.

Key I wasnt told how often to sniff once I start injecting, I'll ask when I go back! Nor long till you start sniffing key!!

Can't wait to get started on Thursday but my oh is working away for a few nights from Thursday so I could be suffering on my own!! He planned it right!!