Petition to my hospital regarding the stoppage of progesterone - please sign!

[Sammy2009]

Hi everyone,

As you probably know by now I have just experienced the 4th failure from our hospital who failed to provide me with Progesterone directly after an FET and stopped my dose 12 days after Egg Collection. A test brought up BFP but i feel that without any Progesterone I lost the pregnancy as my period arrived today, 5 days late.

It seems strange that the rest of the world seems to be prescribed Progesterone either throughout the whole of the 1st Trimester or at least 10 weeks.

I was not even monitored during my IVF to see if the stimming medication was high enough leading to one cancelled IVF with only two follicles and the next IVF poor results. I was basically given a prescription to collect, meds for 10 days and then had one scan to check my lining before egg collection. Nothing inbetween to see if the doseage needed to be increased!

I am going to print this thread after two weeks and take it to my hospital so I would so very much appreciate if you could just take a minute to tell me how you were monitored, how long you were prescribed Progesterone after IUI, FET, IVF, ICSI and which country you live in.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to respond....

 

[Springflower]

Hey Sammy

I'm based at a London private clinic having IVF with ICSI

Once I got AF, I had a scan 5 days later and another one 2 days after that. I then triggered and had EC 3 days later (mine was very quick, as I hadn't responded well) Just before EC (30 mins) I started my 1st progestrone pessary. I take one now every morning and evening. If I am lucky enough to achieve a pregnancy I have to continue them for the first 3 months.

Let me know if you need anything else, I know my case wasn't textbook as I only stimmed for 7 days.

Hope it helps, am so sorry it didn't work out for you.

 

[Deeni]

Hi Sammy, I am doing my first ICSI and I had a day 5 single embryo transfer. We were told to start our progesterone shots the day after Egg Retrieval. We were then given a follow up appointment exactly one week after retrieval so they can check to be sure our progesterone levels are fine. We were told to continue the progesterone until our blood test. If no pregnancy, we can stop. If there is a pregnancy, we were told that we will need to continue the shots well into our pregnancy.

As far as stimming, we were monitored every 3 days, then every 2 days, and finally every day leading up to retrieval.

I live in USA.

I am so sorry you are going through this!!

 

[looknomore]

Hi Sammy. I am reposting on this thread. I am based in India. I have had 3 IUIs one of which was a chemical pregnancy. I was given progesterone support for atleast 14 days till the beta showed negative and in case of chemical I was given the support till the 5th week. I miscarried in my 6th week after the chemical was established and the support was withdrawn.

In India all the treatments are done privately so the monitoring for IUI is usually - First scan day 7, then everyday/ alternate scan from day 10 till ovulation. IUI is done once ovulation has been detected on the u/s.

Dont know if this info helps at all. But all the best

 

[MummyIwanabe]

With me on my first cycle (long protocol) I was checked/scanned every other day when on stims and then after EC I was on pessaries up until OTD. After that if it was a BFN I'd stop the pessaries (which I did) and if it were a BFP I would have had to continue taking them until they advised I could stop.

lots of love xx

 

[Mendy]

Hi Sammy. Sorry about your last cycle not working.

I live in the USA. I was given my meds and had bloodwork on day 3 of stimming, scan and bloodwork on days 5 and 8, and trigger shot on day 10. I was on progesterone until I went to the lab for bloodwork and results showed negative.

The second time around was the same way as far as monitoring/scans and bloodwork only I was on progesterone for 10 weeks because the results were positive.

 

[Oneday]

Hi Sammy
I'm really sorry for all you have been through if there is any justice in this world you really deserve to suceed on ur next try. Your truly a brave lady. I've had 3 early losses and a ruptured ectopic however I did manage to have my son naturally in the middle of all that. My moto with the ivf was who dares wins however I don't know if I could be as brave as you. Anyway I'm happy to help in any way I can. I used a private clinic based in Manchester , Manchester fertility services (mfs) I did the long protocol rang on cd1 had a baseline scan day 24 and startedc dr injections for 2 weeks had a blood test then stimmed for 9 days think I had 3 or 4 blood tests during stimms but only 1 scan. I started on the highest dose of stimms as my amh was low but this dose was reduced after each blood test. 11 eggs were collected and I was put on progesterone pessaries Cyclogest 400mg twice a day as my pregnancy test was positive I was told to stay on these until I was 12 weeks pregnant then reduce the dose and frequency to ween me of these for 10 days. Hope this helps x

 

[BizyBee]

Sorry you are going through this Sammy.

I'm in the US (private Dr.)

I had a baseline scan. Then, I started stims a few days later. Starting on day 4 of stims, I had a scan and blood work every other day (3 total in my case, but could've been more depending on response). They called after the scans and told me whether or not to continue with the same dose of stims. After my 3rd scan, I was told to take the trigger shot. I will start progesterone (after EC) and take a dose of Crinone (a suppository) every morning. I will have a pregnancy blood test 2 weeks from EC and, if positive, I will continue progesterone through 12 weeks of pregnancy. If negative, I will stop the suppositories and wait for AF.

*When I did IUI, I was also given progesterone suppositories from a few days past the IUI through a negative beta test. Had I been pregnant, I would've continued through 12 weeks. HTH!

 

[Sammy2009]

Thanks for all your posts so far.... please keep them coming!!!!

 

[wrightywales]

hi hun

im in the UK. i had 3 scans during my 12 days of stimming. had to take progesterone pessaries from the day of transfer. i was only prescribed 14 days worth but didnt make it to test day to know if i would of had it longer but i do know they were doing a trial at my hospital just before my treatment about what benefits if any of using progesterone longer after ivf has but i dont know what the results were.

hope it helps hun thinking of you xx

 

[Mrs G]

Hi hun

I am so sorry you are going through this again.

My protocol was as follows -

Had baseline scan after 4 wks of d'regging and then started stims next day. Had scan on day 7 of stims and then again on day 11. They didn't need to change my dose of stims but would have if there had been over or under stimuation at these scans. Did trigger shot the next day, with EC the day after that. Started progesterone the day after EC, 200mg twice a day and continued these until I was 14wks pg. They then gave me a blood test 14 days post ET and a scan at 7 weeks.

This is with a good NHS clinic in UK, we chose to go to a clinic about an hour away from home as the local hospital does not have such a good reputation.

Hope this helps hun, it is so bad that things vary so much.

Thinking of you.
xx

 

[Leilani]

Sammy - I've just done a quick Google about using Pregnyl for Luteal support instead of progesterone, and found a couple few pages which might be of interest to you:

2005 Forum
2006 Forum
2010 Forum
Explanation of difference between Porgesterone and HCG in the LP
Research paper on hcg Vs Progesterone

It seems like HCG is just as good (and in some cases better) for luteal support than progesterone, however, most clinics use progesterone! Maybe this is a cost issue?

It also seems like the doseage and frequency you took were as they should be for hcg use.

In any case, your hospital really should have been monitoring you better both before and after egg collection to check your hormone levels. Outside of IVF treatment do you have progesterone issues, and have you had you progesterone levels measured in a non-medicated cycle recently?

I hope you are able to find another/better/more communicative hospital for your FET.

 

[Starbright]

Hi Sammy

I am gutted for you.

I am under an NHS clinic in the UK doing IVF and I have been monitored the whole way through the process. I had 2 baseline scans during down reg to ensure the down reg drugs had worked. While stimming, I had 2 scans that were standard procedure to check on the number and size of follies. I also had a 3rd scan as I had to stimm for a few days longer as I didn't respond well to the drugs. If the 3rd scan had shown that I wasn't ready, I would have been given a 4th.

After the 3rd scan I was told to take trigger shot and scheduled for egg collection. I started progesterone pessaries the evening of the egg collection at 400mg (twice a day) for 16 days. If a pregnancy test is positive, we are prescribed another 6 weeks of progesterone at 200mg (twice a day).

Personally speaking, I have had a very weak positive test. So the progesterone support has been continued - and I have to keep taking them for the whole 6 weeks or AF arrives.

Good luck chick, let us know how this goes xx

 

[JaniceT]

Hi Sammy,

I hope that you get progress and some better care at your next IVF attempt.

I'm from Malaysia and had my ICSI done at a private hospital which has a fertility department.

I down regulated starting early June for 5 weeks. Went in for a scan at 3.5 weeks to check on progress.

Started Gonal-F to stimulate follicles for 9 days, was scanned every 4 days. My medication was carefully decreased the last 3 days to ensure optimum production and quality as I have mild PCOS.

Egg collection wand 3rd day Egg Transfer was done perfectly. I was prescribed Cyclogest progesterone suppositories (2 x 400mg per day) from Egg Collection day until Beta Blood Test at 15 dpo. Got my BFP and continued with progesterone suppositories.

I took 2 x 400mg per day until 9w2d, then 1 x 400mg per day until 10wk.

I do wish you all the best.

 

[MrsF]

heya sweetheart x x x

i was on the long protocol last oct time, and was monitored during down regs and (if i remember rightly) every other day during stimms (after about day 4/5). I was monitored right up until EC, and as soon as they did the ET, i was on progesterone. I was advised to continue using progesterone until they tested me (even if AF showed prior). We had a BFN, but the clinic would've kept me on progesterone for 12 weeks had we have had a positive result,

I;m at a private clinic with NHS funding in Nottingham, UK,

Hope this helps hun, thinking of you x x x

 

[tinybutterfly]

sammy, cross the border! Gent isn't that far away

i'm only on day 7, but so far i had
- the start of stimming (they make sure to start it up within the first 3days of your af starting)
for convenience it's called CD1 and they count from there.
- follow-up scan on CD7 + adjusting meds/dose
- follow-up scan on CD9 (and more if you need to)

i asked FS about the progesteron bc i noticed in my last pregnancy the levels were
on the low side, eventhough my gp then didn't seem worried about all that.
he (FS) told me that the progesteron level is one of those things they are very very strict with,
i think i'm going to get progesteron whether i need it or not, just to be safe

i can give you the info and website if you want to

 

[peartree]

Hi Sammy,

Sorry that you're going through this. Hopefully a change in clinic will bring better results.

I went to Salisbury Fertility Centre which is NHS.
I had a baseline scan before stims and during stims, had scans on Days 8 and 11.

I was on progesterone suppositories until 16 weeks.

All the best hun. x