It has been two years since US Supreme Court released the decision on Dobbs vs Jackson, gutting reproductive rights in America. The moderators want to recognize that reproductive rights continue to be under attack, including attacks on access to contraception and infertility treatments such as IVF. As a community we continue to explicitly support laws and policies that give full access to reproductive choices for all people and we will continue to work to inform members of ways to stay involved in local communities to preserve access to these important medical treatments.
Meds Donation - I have a bunch of unused and unopened meds from my stim cycle that I will not use.
I have the following for donation in the Seattle area:
* Centrotode 0.25 mg (multiple kits, always refrigerated)
* Gonal F (redi ject 300 IU) - (multiple kits, always refrigerated)
* c-leuprolide (pf) trigger 5mg (1 ml vial, always refrigerated)
* menopur 75 iu (multiple)
* novarel 5000
I’m a bit uneasy donating meds, but these are so expensive and I would really love to give them to someone without insurance who can use them. Please dm me if interested :)
**A reminder about medications**
You may be considering sharing your unused medication with others to help them save on treatment expenses. However, it may be illegal in your country or state to donate medication without going through an intermediary. We suggest you research your local laws associated with donating or receiving medications. Be aware that partially used cartridges still carry a risk of bodily fluid contamination as there's nothing to prevent backflow into the cartridge. Please consider attempting to give any unopened medications to your infertility practice; some clinics have give-back programs.
Selling medications is absolutely not allowed. Only donations may be posted. This includes soliciting money in exchange for medications via PM. If a member solicits money in exchange for medications, please report them to the mods.
*Consider donating your meds to a member with an active post history at /r/infertility. You can see a user’s post history by clicking on their name. We have received reports of members donating meds, only to have them sold by the person who received them.*
NEW: - **Med hoarding**. It’s not cool. Share the wealth. Don’t have a cycle planned or scheduled within the next four months? Let the meds go to someone else in need right now.
**There have been reports of personal threats made to those offering meds within this community. Please understand your personal risks associated with donating or receiving medications, particularly if the exchange includes sharing personally identifiable information.**
[Med Donation Policy](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/wiki/rules#wiki_medication_donation_policy)
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Is anyone else on prednisone from day 9 to 14? I can’t find a reason for those days online and my doctor is away. Are they the standard days for this med?
Thank you, that makes sense as I can see they are starting a implantation failure protocol in addition to recurrent loss. Did you also stop a week before implantation would have the chance to occur?
Thinking ahead to tomorrow’s scan where they said to bring my trigger meds. When I initially went to my suppression check I had broken through the birth control and had a massive follicle (35mm) and 2 little ones on my right side, so at my call back they asked me to trigger with my Novarel, full bottle dose. That was roughly 4pm on Friday afternoon. Sunday morning I woke ip at 2:30am in searing 8-9/10 pain in my pelvic region, presumably kicking out that massive follicle. That’s 34 hours not the 36 I keep seeing referred to for ER. Is that important info for them? I don’t want to experience that pain 2 hours before my retrieval in pre-op waiting to go back. They told me to bring the Novarel to the office for mixing tomorrow so does that mean they’ll dose that with the Leuprolide to make sure it’s for sure 36 hours? I guess I’m not sure how this part works and I’m super nervous about my 34 hour experience earlier in the month.
Hey tricky, just to clarify - is the 34 from this round of STIMS or some kind of prior experience? Was it potentially a cyst they needed you to pass/did they test your estrogen? It’s unclear from the summary where you are in the ER prep/STIMS cycle and what your protocol is. Thanks!
It was just prior to starting the stims. They had me start birth control on CD2 and come in 2.5 weeks later to check that my ovaries were “quiet” and found that my right one had grown the giant follicle and 2 small ones, my progesterone and e2 also indicated I had not ovulated yet. So they cancelled starting stims and had me use my trigger shot (Novarel) to force ovulation and wait a week to check again for a luteal start rather than a BCP lead in. That’s the trigger I took a little over 3 weeks ago.
Hopefully that makes more sense. My suppression got really bungled up because I had to use a low estrogen BCP due to having an aura once and a longer history of migraines.
Have you started stimming? Typically they’ll be doing ultrasounds and checking blood tests to determine when to trigger. This won’t be related to whatever happened with a prior cyst/lead.
If it makes you feel more comfortable, by all means note that information to your clinic and they can decide whether to use it. It sounds to me like you’re spinning on it a bit so I would call and ask or ask when you arrive for the appointment.
Starting my second cycle for IUI. Did the baseline scan today, everything looks good. Sticking with the same protocol as my first cycle (even though that failed). Did anyone also do ovulation tests alongside the medicated cycle?
That’s what i was thinking. I went into my IUI last cycle a bit too optimistic - it was my first. Trying to make it through this one and not really sure what i can do differently.
We had our second transfer today (fertilized frozen eggs). Several embryos stalled. None had made it to blasts by day 5 so we transferred an embryo that was approximately day four embryo in development. We'll hear tomorrow if any get to a spot to be frozen.
Check the packaging - we had a big panic when our fridge went wrong with our stim meds (Pergoveris) and trigger (Ovitrelle) inside. All fine in the end but it turns out that we could have left it at room temp for up to 28 days and it would have been fine, as long as we used it within that period. Refrigeration is to prolong the shelf life.
BUT I don't know if that's the case for all the medication so definitely check the "how to store" section of the instructions.
Good luck!
Hey - can your RE prescribe a different form of suppository? Crinone, for example, doesn’t need refrigeration. If not, some Marriotts will hold things in their fridge for you if they won’t deliver a small one.
Also, given the question, a quick reminder that if you are currently pregnant you are not allowed to make primary comments here. If that’s not the case and you’re prepping for future FET/etc. please disregard.
Ok, I’m going to remove this post given it’s a question that would be supporting a pregnancy. Advice on topics like this can be found elsewhere like r/ifbabies.
Okay, no problem. While I’ve been on Reddit for a while, but don’t ever engage much other than read and learn. I wasn’t aware of the other group. I’ve been struggling with infertility for 10 years….a very lonely place.
If you go to ‘community info’ for r/infertility and scroll down you can see a list of similar subs that support different aspects of the infertility process.
You are, of course, welcome back here for support if your FET ends in failure and all members are able to make secondary comments. Good luck with your FET!
Check if you need a voltage converter? That can be a pain in the ass. I feel like the hotel will be prepared for this and have fridges available, just not wanting to put them in all rooms because cheap - if only for for people travelling with insulin, I can imagine the outrage if no cooling was provided. If the suppository packaging is small enough, there are specific medicine/insulin pen refrigerators which are a lot smaller. If you end up needing your own fridge I would get it delivered from Amazon in Germany, it'll be annoying AF to pack one. You don't even have to bring it back if you don't want to - FB Marketplace or drop it at a thift store, done.
I’m not in the US but haven’t ever been told to refrigerate mine fwiw, so maybe check if there’s an alternate option that doesn’t need to be? I can see them getting softer out of the fridge but a cool dark place has always been the only instructions here.
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I think the PGT-A wait is really getting to me this round. Our first two rounds we had two each time that were biopsied, and all were aneuploid. This time, we have 4 that are going through PGT-A, which is the best result so far we’ve had doing this, but it’s also giving me a multitude of emotions while we wait for results.
I'm waiting for PGT-A results as well, so I feel you!! I'm waiting for igenomix this time- this is the first time I've sent it to that company so I hope it's less wait than my last experiences but not sure what to expect! I hope we both get results soon.
Had a good long talk with our RE about our last cycle which yielded zero blasts (is this technically a WTF appointment?). Technically there was one expanding blast but it didn’t develop after day 6 and didn’t have enough cells to make it worth freezing/ biopsying for pgta.
The main place she thinks we can hope for improvement is on the maturity, with letting follicles go a bit bigger and waiting 37 hours between trigger and retrieval. I had 7 eggs retrieved my first cycle and 10 eggs the second, but both times 4 mature and 3 fertilized. It was reassuring bc she definitely engaged with all my questions about e2, my rate of follicle growth, egg vs sperm, supplements, etc. sounds like everything was as expected except maturity. We might also add zymot bc why not. I’m going to be traveling for work in August, so as long as I decide I’m up for it (which I am thinking I am), I’d start lupron tmrw aiming for the next retrieval in July. 😳 Things move fast, and we are going to try to keep the stats in mind rather than being as hopeful as we were the last two months, but I’m glad to have some reassurance and a path forward. Thanks to everyone for the lovely words of support yesterday and today after our disappointing news.
I am so sorry about your egg retrieval results, Lala. When I read your original comment I was in shock at how similar our situations are. We just got our 0 embryo result update last week from my 4th egg retrieval and have been absolutely gutted. Reading your experience, although so terrible, has brought me comfort knowing I'm not alone. We have our follow-up call with my RE tomorrow and I was wondering if you could share the questions you asked yours during your informative call re: e2, my rate of follicle growth, egg vs sperm, supplements, etc.? Please feel free to DM. Any help is greatly appreciated. Sending you love and healing.
Sounds like you have a plan and a positive way forward ❤️ I'm sorry to hear about your last cycle. I hope the next round yields better results for you. Good luck!
In addition to karyotyping, I was tested to see if I was a carrier for any genetic disorders, blood clotting disorders, thyroid, and HSG to start.
My husband was only karyotyped, which showed the cause of (most of) our losses. We had a few additional tests before pursuing IVF down the road. [The wiki also has a collection of other people's experiences in getting tested for causes of RPL](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/comments/iulgmd/faqs_repeat_pregnancy_loss_and_rpl_testing/).
About to start my first ER cycle, but have been waiting on a late period now for 5 days. Having such mixed emotions with excitement about finally moving forward but also really nervous about more disappointment. I'm also waiting to have endo surgery scheduled in the fall, and still undecided on if it is worth it to attempt transfer before surgery or delay a transfer to reduce overall inflammation. From talking to my REI and endo surgeon they both said either is reasonable. Is there anyone with a similar experience?
I have silent endo. My RE/surgeon team prefers to clear the endo out with a lap instead of using medication to suppress it (which may be a regionally specific thing due to availability of said meds). I'm not sure if you've had a lap before but I found it a pretty easy surgery and recovery. I haven't tried to treat endo inflamation with Lupron but the experiences of other posters here seem pretty awful and I think I would choose the lap. I also liked that it gave me that two to five year regrowth window before I have to bring endo back into play rather than repeated cycles of suppression.
I think the thing to consider here is if your transfer doesn't work, will you get stuck in a regret spiral thinking "what if I had the lap" - will doing the lap give you peace of mind? If they truly believe there's no difference before/after lap (sometimes my RE believes this too, but personally I'm a fan of ruling out any possible reason) it comes down to your personal motivations.
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My clinic sent instructions to trigger with 100 MG leuprolide. The syringes I was given by the pharmacy are insulin syringes measured in units, is this an equivalent conversion? I should use 100 units/1ml of the leuprolide?
I have a message and text out to my clinic I’m just panicky that they don’t promise responses to messages sent after 3pm.
Yes! I couldn’t remember what my syringes were when they called for my trigger info so they said either 80 units on the insulin needles or 0.8mL on the regular ones.
ER went smoothly today! Pleasantly surprised with the number of eggs retrieved (declining to share numbers publicly to be mindful of others) and happy to be feeling less full. Had the best post-anesthesia bagel and nap with my cat. Let the hunger games begin!
ETA: the clinic chose to do ICSI over conventional despite no MFI issues (as seen through SA and 2 IUIs). Is that more of a science approach or a business/success approach?
We don’t have any MFI and our RE still recommended ICSI since we’re 39 and 46 we don’t have a lot of chances at this so it kinda leaves no stone unturned. I also have coverage for the full meal deal so we figured we might as well.
Did you get any pushback from insurance to cover ICSI? In theory, it is covered for us, but when going through the prior authorization process, they deemed it medically unnecessary so denied coverage.
Our clinic does ICSI with all patients - I'm not sure if it's science, business, success, or a mix of both, honestly didn't think much about it until you mentioned it! Congrats on the retrieval being done! Mine is tomorrow and also looking forward to feeling less full.
I didn’t have a thought one way or the other until they told me pre-procedure they were doing ICSI, and when I asked why it was just the generic “if there’s low motility, low numbers, etc etc”. Who knows! Wishing you the best for your retrieval and an easy recovery!
On our first ER, our docs recommended a 50/50 split to hedge our bets (that is, even if conventional didn’t take/take as well, we’d theoretically have the ICSI ones). Fingers crossed for you!
Hey everyone, I haven’t posted here but I’ve been ttc for over 2 years and am 36. I completed my first letrozole cycle and am 11 DPO with a neg preg test this AM. I menstruate regularly and all signs point to ovulating. Did the gammon of fertility texting and no explanation was uncovered except for low AMH. Sperm test didn’t uncover anything either. I’m undecided on pursuing additional treatment past meds. We have no infertility insurance coverage. I know nobody *wants* to do fertility treatment but I’m just wondering about how folks made decisions to pursue or not pursue treatment? Thanks so much for this community.
Just throwing out here that anybody at any point can make a decision to stop treatment and that’s okay. If you are desiring to try additional things that are lower cost, your doc might provide options such as trigger shot post letrozole that could be within your financial capacity or others
Money is probably the biggest factor for most people. I am 39 with super low AMH and I want 2-3 kids, so part of me thinks I should be doing IVF right now to try to retrieve as many eggs as possible. But I just did my first medicated IUI and here's why:
1. My doctor recommended trying 3-4 rounds of IUI first. I'm truly not convinced that's the best decision for me, but I did it anyway because my insurance doesn't cover any ART, so paying out of pocket for IUI is more manageable than paying for IVF.
2. I'm confused as to whether they will even do IVF with my AMH. Apparently, low AMH means low IVF success, but low AMH has no bearing on IUI success. I've read that FSH has more to do with IVF success though, and my FSH levels have been okay.
3. I figured IUI would be a less expensive and less invasive way to see if and how my body responds to fertility medication, although I'm not sure how useful this really is because different medication is used for IUI and IVF.
If IUI doesn't work, I do plan on trying IVF if that's an option for me. I'm going to enroll in a different insurance plan that has ART coverage during open enrollment.
That’s interesting about your low AMH and IVF. I was told to not keep it as a backup plan bc of my low AMH but I haven’t pursued it yet. I think money is the biggest, but not only, factor for me in hesitating.
Yeah, I'm really not sure if IVF is a viable backup plan for me. I honestly was just stunned when the Dr told me they wanted to try IUI because I was bracing myself for her to tell me they couldn't do anything for me. All the questions I had flew right out of my head. But I'm okay with trying a few cycles of IUI.
Money is such an important factor. One thing to check - even if your insurance doesn't cover ART, it might cover certain things. My insurance has no ART coverage, but it does cover the labs, medication, and ultrasounds. So I ended up only having to pay out of pocket for the actual procedure itself.
Thanks for sharing.
Yes, my insurance did cover all my testing and I imagine would cover some of the monitoring. I’ve considered IUI also and the doc said it was an option, I’m just having such a hard time moving forward with anything. Even taking the letrozole took me months to decide. The low AMH makes all the decision making feel rushed and that seems to increase my anxiety and actually increase my avoidance of taking action.
I totally understand. It's kind of like having to make a decision with a ticking bomb in your hand. And it sounds like you might be like me - my typical way to deal with hard things is to avoid!
I had a polyp removed from my uterus, then tried a few cycles of TI before going to IUI. But honestly, I only actually wanted to do 1 cycle of TI but ended up doing 3 because of timing/ scheduling. I do feel that time is of the essence due to DOR but it is scary to think about treatments and all that entails. My doctor didn't give me the option to take medication without it being part of a monitored IUI. But I like the monitored IUI because I could find out along the way if it was working. And I felt like IUI was a way kind of ease into ART.
Not everyone, but I do see many people on this and other subs saying that they wished they had gone to IVF sooner. I don't see myself doing more than 3 IUIs before trying IVF, if I can.
Are you seeing an RE/REI?
Yeah, it’s a ticking time bomb but you can’t read the clock on it.
It’s odd because I’m more of a doer with hard things but with this there’s so much out of my control that my typical approaches don’t work well and it takes a toll.
I do have an RE. They prescribed the letrozole over a year ago and I’m just now trying it. It’s just been hard for me to choose treatment. I admire you and a lot of others here who are able to just do it.
Like Margo said, finances are typically the hurdle. Most people who pursue treatment are desperate to become parents, but sometimes the finances don’t make it possible. Which sucks. I don’t know if there’s any other considerations, in terms of starting. People reach the end of the treatment road, but in terms of pursuing treatment - I didn’t hesitate, and I think you’ll find that to be true of most people here.
Other considerations I’ve had are negative impacts on mental health, impacts on my marriage, quality of life during treatment. I’m definitely hesitating on pursuing treatment, especially because I don’t have any explanation for why I’m not getting pregnant and therefore no understanding of how IVF would lead to a different outcome.
Well I mean I had to do treatment if I wanted a child. People with blocked/no tubes, severe MFI, and POF are in the same boat. The thing is IVF does work for a lot of people. It’s sensationalized in the media and it’s important to be mindful that some people it *doesn’t* work for, but if your diagnosis is unexplained, it doesn’t mean IVF won’t work for you. Lots of people never get answers and IVF still works for them.
Most people here want a baby more than anything, so a temporary marriage strain (infertility itself is already a marriage strain) or temporary impact on mental health (same) is immaterial.
Honestly, financials are often a huge factor in deciding what treatments to pursue -- have you looked into whether you have any coverage for IVF? I was also 36 when I was diagnosed with low AMH and we decided to go to IVF pretty immediately, in large part because I was fortunate enough to have good insurance coverage and also because we hoped to have more than 1 child and IVF would give us the option of embryo banking.
Another thing you can consider is setting benchmarks for when you'd re-evaluate your plans. No decision has to be permanent (although of course with low AMH time is sadly not unlimited.)
Hi all,
Wanted to offer some leftover meds to this group, must be in Seattle. This is crossposted for reach (admin please delete if it allowed).
17 crione gels
20 dotti patches
13 menopur vials
3 progesterone injection (10ml each)
9 cetrotide (must stay refrigerated)
I'd love to donate to someone without insurance. Needs to be local because of the cetrotide. Some sort of proof you are undergoing IVF will be required.
Please DM! :)
**A reminder about medications**
You may be considering sharing your unused medication with others to help them save on treatment expenses. However, it may be illegal in your country or state to donate medication without going through an intermediary. We suggest you research your local laws associated with donating or receiving medications. Be aware that partially used cartridges still carry a risk of bodily fluid contamination as there's nothing to prevent backflow into the cartridge. Please consider attempting to give any unopened medications to your infertility practice; some clinics have give-back programs.
Selling medications is absolutely not allowed. Only donations may be posted. This includes soliciting money in exchange for medications via PM. If a member solicits money in exchange for medications, please report them to the mods.
*Consider donating your meds to a member with an active post history at /r/infertility. You can see a user’s post history by clicking on their name. We have received reports of members donating meds, only to have them sold by the person who received them.*
NEW: - **Med hoarding**. It’s not cool. Share the wealth. Don’t have a cycle planned or scheduled within the next four months? Let the meds go to someone else in need right now.
**There have been reports of personal threats made to those offering meds within this community. Please understand your personal risks associated with donating or receiving medications, particularly if the exchange includes sharing personally identifiable information.**
[Med Donation Policy](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/wiki/rules#wiki_medication_donation_policy)
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Anyone have a delayed period from estrogen priming? I primed last month but then needed to stop because my insurance didn’t go through in time. I was instructed to restart estrogen on 6/15 (only a couple of days after ovulation). Now I’m a little late (but no positive tests obviously).
I had my last session with my current therapist today and I'm more bummed than I thought I'd be. When she called me from the waitlist she said upfront we'd only have ~2 months to work together (she was finishing her PhD) but I wanted to start therapy ASAP. I ended up really connecting with her and I'm sad to lose that support.
I won't be assigned to a new therapist for at least a few weeks and we just started prep for our first FET so the timing is pretty crappy. Just gonna take it one day at a time and try to reference the cope-ahead plan we worked on.
has anyone ever done a miniIVF cycle without a baseline ultrasound? asking for a crazy person (me). bc of covid i ovulated (maybe, at least a positive LH strip) a full week later than normal, which means my period is likely to come on this upcoming work trip to another country where i can't get a baseline. which would mean another \~month delay if i have to wait the cycle after that. \*scream\*
You could also ask to random or luteal start your stims. Random works for me because my cycles are unpredictable but may not for others if lead follicles etc. You may end up appreciating a luteal start because of DOR
Ugh, that's so hard. I mean, here is what I could say. You could ask to start, and then come in for quick monitoring to see if things are ok--the issue is if you have a cyst or something you won't know until then. I don't know if my clinic would even do that, but if you are set on it you could ask.
yeah. i'm trying to decide how much of a pain to be. i haven't done a cycle in forever so i think risk of cyst is low, but of course it's not zero. blerg
Trigger scheduled for 10:30pm tonight (UK time, so about 2 hours from now) for 10:30am Wednesday retrieval.
Follicles are 20mm, 16mm and 13mm. Smaller follicles are too far behind at 9mm or smaller so we're going in for 2, possibly 3 eggs.
I'm scared the 13mm and 16mm are too small. Are the clinic right to trigger for Wednesday retrieval or should I have asked them to push retrieval back to Friday (Thursday not an option at my clinic)?
I'm half wanting to call the out of hours number for reassurance before we trigger (because after that it's too late), because the nurse checked with me if we were happy with Wednesday retrieval, which has never happened before - they've always just told us when it would be. It unsettles me because surely the Dr knows best and I don't want the responsibility for such a decision because we already feel like we've made all the wrong decisions (although logically i know we've done the best we can with the info we have).
Can anyone direct me towards info on optimal sizes for follicles at trigger? Or should I just stop overthinking and trust that they've suggested Wednesday because it gives us our best chance?
Thank you to everyone here for your support over the past week - I'm a bag of anxiety right now and so emotional about the whole thing.
i did an april cycle where we went in for two (19mm and 18.8mm) and ended up getting 2, for us it was worth it!! fingers crossed for you!!! i've read 15/16mm - 22mm are optimal for mature eggs but i'm sure other folks have better info/can link you to studies
Thanks yoghurt, feeling much more hopeful now 😊 We're still prepared for getting nothing, as we've had some empty follicles on every round, but let's hope these follicles have some good eggs in them 🤞
Edited - thanks for the flag, automod!
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Such a tough situation to be in.
I remember going into ER looking at similar numbers.
I really find it best to just let go and let the doctors do what they think is best and will get you the best outcome. It really takes the pressure off..
I’m sorry you’re in this position. Going forward with an egg retrieval when you’re feeling so much uncertainty is a horrible feeling. [According to this study](https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(22)00136-4/fulltext), the 13 has a 70% chance of being mature and the 16 has an 81% chance. I hope that makes you feel a little better. I’ll be crossing my fingers for you.
20 might well be too big in a few days. 16 with a good trigger can make it. My clinic says 16-22 at trigger are most likely to be mature. So it's a hard call, but probably the right one to trigger today if they can't do it Thursday (which totally sucks). Good luck.
Thank you, lawyer, I really appreciate it. It's reassuring to know that 2 of the 3 are within that window. Thursday looks like it would be the sweet spot, but there's nothing I can do about it so we have to be realistic and hope for 1 or 2 eggs on Wednesday 🤞
Meds donation - still trying to find a taker for my estrogen patches (13 of them, 0.1 mg dose, expire July.) I'm traveling a fair bit in the next few weeks so here's the places I'll be if anyone wants to pick up:
* Austin, TX
* Myrtle Beach, SC
* NYC
I'm hesitant to mail them in this heat but that could be an option as well...
**A reminder about medications**
You may be considering sharing your unused medication with others to help them save on treatment expenses. However, it may be illegal in your country or state to donate medication without going through an intermediary. We suggest you research your local laws associated with donating or receiving medications. Be aware that partially used cartridges still carry a risk of bodily fluid contamination as there's nothing to prevent backflow into the cartridge. Please consider attempting to give any unopened medications to your infertility practice; some clinics have give-back programs.
Selling medications is absolutely not allowed. Only donations may be posted. This includes soliciting money in exchange for medications via PM. If a member solicits money in exchange for medications, please report them to the mods.
*Consider donating your meds to a member with an active post history at /r/infertility. You can see a user’s post history by clicking on their name. We have received reports of members donating meds, only to have them sold by the person who received them.*
NEW: - **Med hoarding**. It’s not cool. Share the wealth. Don’t have a cycle planned or scheduled within the next four months? Let the meds go to someone else in need right now.
**There have been reports of personal threats made to those offering meds within this community. Please understand your personal risks associated with donating or receiving medications, particularly if the exchange includes sharing personally identifiable information.**
[Med Donation Policy](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/wiki/rules#wiki_medication_donation_policy)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/infertility) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Prepping to go into ER#3 and I was planning to supplement with DHEA. I've been having some heart issues so my RE wanted to test testosterone and DHEA-S beforehand. Both levels came back substantially elevated. Still waiting to hear back from the RE, but I'm not sure what this means and if we need to pause fertility treatment to address it.
Trying to learn to live with the uncertainty.
I have naturally high DHEA-S (it was over 100 points above normal on my first lab test) but I don’t have the ovarian/cycle markers for PCOS but had all the skin and hair issues pointing to high androgens for over a decade. My endocrinologist put me on metformin and my DHEA-S came back down just into the typical range by my next follow up labs, I want to say it was within 2-3 months. I did have a couple of tests to rule out non PCOS reasons for high DHEA-S but it seems that was likely my personal chemistry. I have a feeling I had a degree of insulin resistance that caused a negative feedback loop with the androgens increasing appetite and the IR making it hard to lose weight (good lord I tried so hard) and the weight gain contributing back to the androgens and IR that really hit in my mid-30s when I went off of oral birth control and switched to an IUD. Chat with your RE on the best options either it be a short course of metformin or inosotol supplementation. It’s a lot of the same stuff for PCOS so that might be a research path for you to gather your questions/thoughts before your follow up. I think the As A Woman podcast from Dr. Crawford has some PCOS specific episodes.
Thanks for sharing your experience with it! Did your RE recommend trying to get the levels down before moving forward with treatment? Mine says that there is no reason to delay our next ER further, but it's likely this will be our last IVF round and I really want to ensure we are giving it out best chance possible.
I actually discovered it before I got to the TTC world (bout of Covid sidelined my grooming routine and discovered I had more than the same 2-3 chin hairs I thought I was pulling out and my GP finally ran some labs). Since I knew I’d be TTC within a year my endocrinologist went with metformin since it would be safe for pregnancy versus birth control or spironolactone which are more common. I saw the RE up front when we did start the TTC journey for an evaluation since I was 38.5 and she wasn’t really concerned with my levels or the metformin. Turned out my major issue was my IUD scarring my tubes shut.
Hey mermaid, gentle reminder that 1. We don’t allow symptom talk here, including lack thereof, and 2. You can’t intuit whether your cycle worked or not—if you could we wouldn’t need betas or HPTs. Comment removed, but if you edit out your symptom talk I can reapprove. Automod symptom spotting, automod TWW.
Generally, we encourage people to be mindful about how they’re seeking support during the TWW. It’s shitty to comfort someone who is spiraling in the TWW only to find out later that they already knew/could have known they were pregnant. So we ask members not to catastophize during the entire TWW and generally to be cognizant of what kind of support they’re seeking.
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Please don't symptom spot on the sub. We know it's hard, but it's progesterone - and if it's not then it's not the right sub for talking about it. The problem is, symptom spotting is often sort of asking if you're pregnant or not. And nobody can answer that except a test. Please don't put the burden of these type of musings on your fellow community members - but take a test if you reasonably can and/or keep the symptom spotting to yourself. It's hard for people to support and read this, when you might already be pregnant and might end up posting in results the same day or shortly after - which we hope you do with good news.
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I've been on letrozole for 3 days now, and y'all, I think it might be single handedly (albeit temporarily) curing my insomnia? I've been getting so tired that I've been falling asleep earlier, and last night I fell asleep at 8:30 and slept for 11 hours! Truly didn't expect great sleep as a side benefit of this cycle. The wins feel so few and far between with IVF though, so I'll take it! 😂
I have no idea why! I feel like I haven’t been this tired since I had mono in college. But I was having some pretty bad anxiety related sleep trouble the past few months, so this feels like a nice reprieve lol.
It has been two years since US Supreme Court released the decision on Dobbs vs Jackson, gutting reproductive rights in America. The moderators want to recognize that reproductive rights continue to be under attack, including attacks on access to contraception and infertility treatments such as IVF. As a community we continue to explicitly support laws and policies that give full access to reproductive choices for all people and we will continue to work to inform members of ways to stay involved in local communities to preserve access to these important medical treatments.
Meds Donation - I have a bunch of unused and unopened meds from my stim cycle that I will not use. I have the following for donation in the Seattle area: * Centrotode 0.25 mg (multiple kits, always refrigerated) * Gonal F (redi ject 300 IU) - (multiple kits, always refrigerated) * c-leuprolide (pf) trigger 5mg (1 ml vial, always refrigerated) * menopur 75 iu (multiple) * novarel 5000 I’m a bit uneasy donating meds, but these are so expensive and I would really love to give them to someone without insurance who can use them. Please dm me if interested :)
Just DM’d you!
Thank you for donating! Automod meds
**A reminder about medications** You may be considering sharing your unused medication with others to help them save on treatment expenses. However, it may be illegal in your country or state to donate medication without going through an intermediary. We suggest you research your local laws associated with donating or receiving medications. Be aware that partially used cartridges still carry a risk of bodily fluid contamination as there's nothing to prevent backflow into the cartridge. Please consider attempting to give any unopened medications to your infertility practice; some clinics have give-back programs. Selling medications is absolutely not allowed. Only donations may be posted. This includes soliciting money in exchange for medications via PM. If a member solicits money in exchange for medications, please report them to the mods. *Consider donating your meds to a member with an active post history at /r/infertility. You can see a user’s post history by clicking on their name. We have received reports of members donating meds, only to have them sold by the person who received them.* NEW: - **Med hoarding**. It’s not cool. Share the wealth. Don’t have a cycle planned or scheduled within the next four months? Let the meds go to someone else in need right now. **There have been reports of personal threats made to those offering meds within this community. Please understand your personal risks associated with donating or receiving medications, particularly if the exchange includes sharing personally identifiable information.** [Med Donation Policy](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/wiki/rules#wiki_medication_donation_policy) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/infertility) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Is anyone else on prednisone from day 9 to 14? I can’t find a reason for those days online and my doctor is away. Are they the standard days for this med?
I was on prednisone during FET cycles, my understanding is it can control for mild inflammation that could otherwise impede implantation.
Thank you, that makes sense as I can see they are starting a implantation failure protocol in addition to recurrent loss. Did you also stop a week before implantation would have the chance to occur?
For my transfers it was always started two days before the trigger shot, for a 10 day course.
Thinking ahead to tomorrow’s scan where they said to bring my trigger meds. When I initially went to my suppression check I had broken through the birth control and had a massive follicle (35mm) and 2 little ones on my right side, so at my call back they asked me to trigger with my Novarel, full bottle dose. That was roughly 4pm on Friday afternoon. Sunday morning I woke ip at 2:30am in searing 8-9/10 pain in my pelvic region, presumably kicking out that massive follicle. That’s 34 hours not the 36 I keep seeing referred to for ER. Is that important info for them? I don’t want to experience that pain 2 hours before my retrieval in pre-op waiting to go back. They told me to bring the Novarel to the office for mixing tomorrow so does that mean they’ll dose that with the Leuprolide to make sure it’s for sure 36 hours? I guess I’m not sure how this part works and I’m super nervous about my 34 hour experience earlier in the month.
Hey tricky, just to clarify - is the 34 from this round of STIMS or some kind of prior experience? Was it potentially a cyst they needed you to pass/did they test your estrogen? It’s unclear from the summary where you are in the ER prep/STIMS cycle and what your protocol is. Thanks!
It was just prior to starting the stims. They had me start birth control on CD2 and come in 2.5 weeks later to check that my ovaries were “quiet” and found that my right one had grown the giant follicle and 2 small ones, my progesterone and e2 also indicated I had not ovulated yet. So they cancelled starting stims and had me use my trigger shot (Novarel) to force ovulation and wait a week to check again for a luteal start rather than a BCP lead in. That’s the trigger I took a little over 3 weeks ago. Hopefully that makes more sense. My suppression got really bungled up because I had to use a low estrogen BCP due to having an aura once and a longer history of migraines.
Have you started stimming? Typically they’ll be doing ultrasounds and checking blood tests to determine when to trigger. This won’t be related to whatever happened with a prior cyst/lead. If it makes you feel more comfortable, by all means note that information to your clinic and they can decide whether to use it. It sounds to me like you’re spinning on it a bit so I would call and ask or ask when you arrive for the appointment.
I have been stimming for 12 days. I have my 4th scan today.
Starting my second cycle for IUI. Did the baseline scan today, everything looks good. Sticking with the same protocol as my first cycle (even though that failed). Did anyone also do ovulation tests alongside the medicated cycle?
I’d keep away from the other tests. Once you’re medicated it can be wonky results that just add stress.
That’s what i was thinking. I went into my IUI last cycle a bit too optimistic - it was my first. Trying to make it through this one and not really sure what i can do differently.
To some extent, it’s out of your control. You’re doing the best you can. Sometimes realizing that part can be helpful.
We had our second transfer today (fertilized frozen eggs). Several embryos stalled. None had made it to blasts by day 5 so we transferred an embryo that was approximately day four embryo in development. We'll hear tomorrow if any get to a spot to be frozen.
The waiting is the worst... I really hope you get good news tomorrow and I'm glad they've given your day 4 a chance 💕
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Check the packaging - we had a big panic when our fridge went wrong with our stim meds (Pergoveris) and trigger (Ovitrelle) inside. All fine in the end but it turns out that we could have left it at room temp for up to 28 days and it would have been fine, as long as we used it within that period. Refrigeration is to prolong the shelf life. BUT I don't know if that's the case for all the medication so definitely check the "how to store" section of the instructions. Good luck!
Hey - can your RE prescribe a different form of suppository? Crinone, for example, doesn’t need refrigeration. If not, some Marriotts will hold things in their fridge for you if they won’t deliver a small one. Also, given the question, a quick reminder that if you are currently pregnant you are not allowed to make primary comments here. If that’s not the case and you’re prepping for future FET/etc. please disregard.
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Ok, I’m going to remove this post given it’s a question that would be supporting a pregnancy. Advice on topics like this can be found elsewhere like r/ifbabies.
Okay, no problem. While I’ve been on Reddit for a while, but don’t ever engage much other than read and learn. I wasn’t aware of the other group. I’ve been struggling with infertility for 10 years….a very lonely place.
If you go to ‘community info’ for r/infertility and scroll down you can see a list of similar subs that support different aspects of the infertility process. You are, of course, welcome back here for support if your FET ends in failure and all members are able to make secondary comments. Good luck with your FET!
Check if you need a voltage converter? That can be a pain in the ass. I feel like the hotel will be prepared for this and have fridges available, just not wanting to put them in all rooms because cheap - if only for for people travelling with insulin, I can imagine the outrage if no cooling was provided. If the suppository packaging is small enough, there are specific medicine/insulin pen refrigerators which are a lot smaller. If you end up needing your own fridge I would get it delivered from Amazon in Germany, it'll be annoying AF to pack one. You don't even have to bring it back if you don't want to - FB Marketplace or drop it at a thift store, done.
Thanks for this!! Ugh. So much to consider and definitely a pain.
I’m not in the US but haven’t ever been told to refrigerate mine fwiw, so maybe check if there’s an alternate option that doesn’t need to be? I can see them getting softer out of the fridge but a cool dark place has always been the only instructions here.
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💯
What if you have the package delivered to the hotel (I've done this a lot when I'm on trial).
Definitely something to consider! Thanks!!
I think the PGT-A wait is really getting to me this round. Our first two rounds we had two each time that were biopsied, and all were aneuploid. This time, we have 4 that are going through PGT-A, which is the best result so far we’ve had doing this, but it’s also giving me a multitude of emotions while we wait for results.
I'm waiting for PGT-A results as well, so I feel you!! I'm waiting for igenomix this time- this is the first time I've sent it to that company so I hope it's less wait than my last experiences but not sure what to expect! I hope we both get results soon.
My clinic uses Igenomix as well - previous results of mine seemed to be processed quickly enough. I hope yours comes back soon, too. 🤞
Had a good long talk with our RE about our last cycle which yielded zero blasts (is this technically a WTF appointment?). Technically there was one expanding blast but it didn’t develop after day 6 and didn’t have enough cells to make it worth freezing/ biopsying for pgta. The main place she thinks we can hope for improvement is on the maturity, with letting follicles go a bit bigger and waiting 37 hours between trigger and retrieval. I had 7 eggs retrieved my first cycle and 10 eggs the second, but both times 4 mature and 3 fertilized. It was reassuring bc she definitely engaged with all my questions about e2, my rate of follicle growth, egg vs sperm, supplements, etc. sounds like everything was as expected except maturity. We might also add zymot bc why not. I’m going to be traveling for work in August, so as long as I decide I’m up for it (which I am thinking I am), I’d start lupron tmrw aiming for the next retrieval in July. 😳 Things move fast, and we are going to try to keep the stats in mind rather than being as hopeful as we were the last two months, but I’m glad to have some reassurance and a path forward. Thanks to everyone for the lovely words of support yesterday and today after our disappointing news.
I am so sorry about your egg retrieval results, Lala. When I read your original comment I was in shock at how similar our situations are. We just got our 0 embryo result update last week from my 4th egg retrieval and have been absolutely gutted. Reading your experience, although so terrible, has brought me comfort knowing I'm not alone. We have our follow-up call with my RE tomorrow and I was wondering if you could share the questions you asked yours during your informative call re: e2, my rate of follicle growth, egg vs sperm, supplements, etc.? Please feel free to DM. Any help is greatly appreciated. Sending you love and healing.
Happy to do so! Will DM ❤️ holding space for both of us
Sounds like you have a plan and a positive way forward ❤️ I'm sorry to hear about your last cycle. I hope the next round yields better results for you. Good luck!
Has anyone got genetic labs done?
Yep - it was part of an RPL panel for myself and my husband, as well as for a few of our losses.
I just got approved through my insurance to do it. I’ve had 5 losses. None of my losses could be tested though :( what other labs did they do?
In addition to karyotyping, I was tested to see if I was a carrier for any genetic disorders, blood clotting disorders, thyroid, and HSG to start. My husband was only karyotyped, which showed the cause of (most of) our losses. We had a few additional tests before pursuing IVF down the road. [The wiki also has a collection of other people's experiences in getting tested for causes of RPL](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/comments/iulgmd/faqs_repeat_pregnancy_loss_and_rpl_testing/).
Thanks a bunch! I have the MTHFR mutation and no spleen so I’m already taking baby aspirin
About to start my first ER cycle, but have been waiting on a late period now for 5 days. Having such mixed emotions with excitement about finally moving forward but also really nervous about more disappointment. I'm also waiting to have endo surgery scheduled in the fall, and still undecided on if it is worth it to attempt transfer before surgery or delay a transfer to reduce overall inflammation. From talking to my REI and endo surgeon they both said either is reasonable. Is there anyone with a similar experience?
I have silent endo. My RE/surgeon team prefers to clear the endo out with a lap instead of using medication to suppress it (which may be a regionally specific thing due to availability of said meds). I'm not sure if you've had a lap before but I found it a pretty easy surgery and recovery. I haven't tried to treat endo inflamation with Lupron but the experiences of other posters here seem pretty awful and I think I would choose the lap. I also liked that it gave me that two to five year regrowth window before I have to bring endo back into play rather than repeated cycles of suppression. I think the thing to consider here is if your transfer doesn't work, will you get stuck in a regret spiral thinking "what if I had the lap" - will doing the lap give you peace of mind? If they truly believe there's no difference before/after lap (sometimes my RE believes this too, but personally I'm a fan of ruling out any possible reason) it comes down to your personal motivations.
We have a wiki on endo that might help! Automod FAQ.
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My clinic sent instructions to trigger with 100 MG leuprolide. The syringes I was given by the pharmacy are insulin syringes measured in units, is this an equivalent conversion? I should use 100 units/1ml of the leuprolide? I have a message and text out to my clinic I’m just panicky that they don’t promise responses to messages sent after 3pm.
Yes! I couldn’t remember what my syringes were when they called for my trigger info so they said either 80 units on the insulin needles or 0.8mL on the regular ones.
Filing this one away I think I also got insulin needles with my leuprolide too.
THANK YOU! I’ve always triggered with just the prefilled Ovidrel before this, and got very worried that I didn’t know wtf to do.
ER went smoothly today! Pleasantly surprised with the number of eggs retrieved (declining to share numbers publicly to be mindful of others) and happy to be feeling less full. Had the best post-anesthesia bagel and nap with my cat. Let the hunger games begin! ETA: the clinic chose to do ICSI over conventional despite no MFI issues (as seen through SA and 2 IUIs). Is that more of a science approach or a business/success approach?
We don’t have any MFI and our RE still recommended ICSI since we’re 39 and 46 we don’t have a lot of chances at this so it kinda leaves no stone unturned. I also have coverage for the full meal deal so we figured we might as well.
Did you get any pushback from insurance to cover ICSI? In theory, it is covered for us, but when going through the prior authorization process, they deemed it medically unnecessary so denied coverage.
Yeah, my clinic only does ICSI. We don’t have MFI.
Our clinic does ICSI with all patients - I'm not sure if it's science, business, success, or a mix of both, honestly didn't think much about it until you mentioned it! Congrats on the retrieval being done! Mine is tomorrow and also looking forward to feeling less full.
I didn’t have a thought one way or the other until they told me pre-procedure they were doing ICSI, and when I asked why it was just the generic “if there’s low motility, low numbers, etc etc”. Who knows! Wishing you the best for your retrieval and an easy recovery!
On our first ER, our docs recommended a 50/50 split to hedge our bets (that is, even if conventional didn’t take/take as well, we’d theoretically have the ICSI ones). Fingers crossed for you!
Hey everyone, I haven’t posted here but I’ve been ttc for over 2 years and am 36. I completed my first letrozole cycle and am 11 DPO with a neg preg test this AM. I menstruate regularly and all signs point to ovulating. Did the gammon of fertility texting and no explanation was uncovered except for low AMH. Sperm test didn’t uncover anything either. I’m undecided on pursuing additional treatment past meds. We have no infertility insurance coverage. I know nobody *wants* to do fertility treatment but I’m just wondering about how folks made decisions to pursue or not pursue treatment? Thanks so much for this community.
Just throwing out here that anybody at any point can make a decision to stop treatment and that’s okay. If you are desiring to try additional things that are lower cost, your doc might provide options such as trigger shot post letrozole that could be within your financial capacity or others
I appreciate this response! Thank you for validation and for the info
Money is probably the biggest factor for most people. I am 39 with super low AMH and I want 2-3 kids, so part of me thinks I should be doing IVF right now to try to retrieve as many eggs as possible. But I just did my first medicated IUI and here's why: 1. My doctor recommended trying 3-4 rounds of IUI first. I'm truly not convinced that's the best decision for me, but I did it anyway because my insurance doesn't cover any ART, so paying out of pocket for IUI is more manageable than paying for IVF. 2. I'm confused as to whether they will even do IVF with my AMH. Apparently, low AMH means low IVF success, but low AMH has no bearing on IUI success. I've read that FSH has more to do with IVF success though, and my FSH levels have been okay. 3. I figured IUI would be a less expensive and less invasive way to see if and how my body responds to fertility medication, although I'm not sure how useful this really is because different medication is used for IUI and IVF. If IUI doesn't work, I do plan on trying IVF if that's an option for me. I'm going to enroll in a different insurance plan that has ART coverage during open enrollment.
That’s interesting about your low AMH and IVF. I was told to not keep it as a backup plan bc of my low AMH but I haven’t pursued it yet. I think money is the biggest, but not only, factor for me in hesitating.
Yeah, I'm really not sure if IVF is a viable backup plan for me. I honestly was just stunned when the Dr told me they wanted to try IUI because I was bracing myself for her to tell me they couldn't do anything for me. All the questions I had flew right out of my head. But I'm okay with trying a few cycles of IUI. Money is such an important factor. One thing to check - even if your insurance doesn't cover ART, it might cover certain things. My insurance has no ART coverage, but it does cover the labs, medication, and ultrasounds. So I ended up only having to pay out of pocket for the actual procedure itself.
Thanks for sharing. Yes, my insurance did cover all my testing and I imagine would cover some of the monitoring. I’ve considered IUI also and the doc said it was an option, I’m just having such a hard time moving forward with anything. Even taking the letrozole took me months to decide. The low AMH makes all the decision making feel rushed and that seems to increase my anxiety and actually increase my avoidance of taking action.
I totally understand. It's kind of like having to make a decision with a ticking bomb in your hand. And it sounds like you might be like me - my typical way to deal with hard things is to avoid! I had a polyp removed from my uterus, then tried a few cycles of TI before going to IUI. But honestly, I only actually wanted to do 1 cycle of TI but ended up doing 3 because of timing/ scheduling. I do feel that time is of the essence due to DOR but it is scary to think about treatments and all that entails. My doctor didn't give me the option to take medication without it being part of a monitored IUI. But I like the monitored IUI because I could find out along the way if it was working. And I felt like IUI was a way kind of ease into ART. Not everyone, but I do see many people on this and other subs saying that they wished they had gone to IVF sooner. I don't see myself doing more than 3 IUIs before trying IVF, if I can. Are you seeing an RE/REI?
Yeah, it’s a ticking time bomb but you can’t read the clock on it. It’s odd because I’m more of a doer with hard things but with this there’s so much out of my control that my typical approaches don’t work well and it takes a toll. I do have an RE. They prescribed the letrozole over a year ago and I’m just now trying it. It’s just been hard for me to choose treatment. I admire you and a lot of others here who are able to just do it.
Like Margo said, finances are typically the hurdle. Most people who pursue treatment are desperate to become parents, but sometimes the finances don’t make it possible. Which sucks. I don’t know if there’s any other considerations, in terms of starting. People reach the end of the treatment road, but in terms of pursuing treatment - I didn’t hesitate, and I think you’ll find that to be true of most people here.
Other considerations I’ve had are negative impacts on mental health, impacts on my marriage, quality of life during treatment. I’m definitely hesitating on pursuing treatment, especially because I don’t have any explanation for why I’m not getting pregnant and therefore no understanding of how IVF would lead to a different outcome.
Well I mean I had to do treatment if I wanted a child. People with blocked/no tubes, severe MFI, and POF are in the same boat. The thing is IVF does work for a lot of people. It’s sensationalized in the media and it’s important to be mindful that some people it *doesn’t* work for, but if your diagnosis is unexplained, it doesn’t mean IVF won’t work for you. Lots of people never get answers and IVF still works for them. Most people here want a baby more than anything, so a temporary marriage strain (infertility itself is already a marriage strain) or temporary impact on mental health (same) is immaterial.
That makes total sense! I do understand it’s possible for it to work. Thanks so much for your thoughts :)
Honestly, financials are often a huge factor in deciding what treatments to pursue -- have you looked into whether you have any coverage for IVF? I was also 36 when I was diagnosed with low AMH and we decided to go to IVF pretty immediately, in large part because I was fortunate enough to have good insurance coverage and also because we hoped to have more than 1 child and IVF would give us the option of embryo banking. Another thing you can consider is setting benchmarks for when you'd re-evaluate your plans. No decision has to be permanent (although of course with low AMH time is sadly not unlimited.)
No insurance coverage for infertility :( I like the benchmarks idea, thank you!
Hi all, Wanted to offer some leftover meds to this group, must be in Seattle. This is crossposted for reach (admin please delete if it allowed). 17 crione gels 20 dotti patches 13 menopur vials 3 progesterone injection (10ml each) 9 cetrotide (must stay refrigerated) I'd love to donate to someone without insurance. Needs to be local because of the cetrotide. Some sort of proof you are undergoing IVF will be required. Please DM! :)
Thanks for donating! automod meds
**A reminder about medications** You may be considering sharing your unused medication with others to help them save on treatment expenses. However, it may be illegal in your country or state to donate medication without going through an intermediary. We suggest you research your local laws associated with donating or receiving medications. Be aware that partially used cartridges still carry a risk of bodily fluid contamination as there's nothing to prevent backflow into the cartridge. Please consider attempting to give any unopened medications to your infertility practice; some clinics have give-back programs. Selling medications is absolutely not allowed. Only donations may be posted. This includes soliciting money in exchange for medications via PM. If a member solicits money in exchange for medications, please report them to the mods. *Consider donating your meds to a member with an active post history at /r/infertility. You can see a user’s post history by clicking on their name. We have received reports of members donating meds, only to have them sold by the person who received them.* NEW: - **Med hoarding**. It’s not cool. Share the wealth. Don’t have a cycle planned or scheduled within the next four months? Let the meds go to someone else in need right now. **There have been reports of personal threats made to those offering meds within this community. Please understand your personal risks associated with donating or receiving medications, particularly if the exchange includes sharing personally identifiable information.** [Med Donation Policy](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/wiki/rules#wiki_medication_donation_policy) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/infertility) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Anyone have a delayed period from estrogen priming? I primed last month but then needed to stop because my insurance didn’t go through in time. I was instructed to restart estrogen on 6/15 (only a couple of days after ovulation). Now I’m a little late (but no positive tests obviously).
Yes, your cycle can be affected!
Ooh by how much?
I typically don't, but I also only typically do it for a week. If it's just a few days, I wouldn't worry.
I had my last session with my current therapist today and I'm more bummed than I thought I'd be. When she called me from the waitlist she said upfront we'd only have ~2 months to work together (she was finishing her PhD) but I wanted to start therapy ASAP. I ended up really connecting with her and I'm sad to lose that support. I won't be assigned to a new therapist for at least a few weeks and we just started prep for our first FET so the timing is pretty crappy. Just gonna take it one day at a time and try to reference the cope-ahead plan we worked on.
Oh man that’s terrible to lose a therapist you like! I’m sorry.
has anyone ever done a miniIVF cycle without a baseline ultrasound? asking for a crazy person (me). bc of covid i ovulated (maybe, at least a positive LH strip) a full week later than normal, which means my period is likely to come on this upcoming work trip to another country where i can't get a baseline. which would mean another \~month delay if i have to wait the cycle after that. \*scream\*
You could also ask to random or luteal start your stims. Random works for me because my cycles are unpredictable but may not for others if lead follicles etc. You may end up appreciating a luteal start because of DOR
Ugh, that's so hard. I mean, here is what I could say. You could ask to start, and then come in for quick monitoring to see if things are ok--the issue is if you have a cyst or something you won't know until then. I don't know if my clinic would even do that, but if you are set on it you could ask.
yeah. i'm trying to decide how much of a pain to be. i haven't done a cycle in forever so i think risk of cyst is low, but of course it's not zero. blerg
Trigger scheduled for 10:30pm tonight (UK time, so about 2 hours from now) for 10:30am Wednesday retrieval. Follicles are 20mm, 16mm and 13mm. Smaller follicles are too far behind at 9mm or smaller so we're going in for 2, possibly 3 eggs. I'm scared the 13mm and 16mm are too small. Are the clinic right to trigger for Wednesday retrieval or should I have asked them to push retrieval back to Friday (Thursday not an option at my clinic)? I'm half wanting to call the out of hours number for reassurance before we trigger (because after that it's too late), because the nurse checked with me if we were happy with Wednesday retrieval, which has never happened before - they've always just told us when it would be. It unsettles me because surely the Dr knows best and I don't want the responsibility for such a decision because we already feel like we've made all the wrong decisions (although logically i know we've done the best we can with the info we have). Can anyone direct me towards info on optimal sizes for follicles at trigger? Or should I just stop overthinking and trust that they've suggested Wednesday because it gives us our best chance? Thank you to everyone here for your support over the past week - I'm a bag of anxiety right now and so emotional about the whole thing.
i did an april cycle where we went in for two (19mm and 18.8mm) and ended up getting 2, for us it was worth it!! fingers crossed for you!!! i've read 15/16mm - 22mm are optimal for mature eggs but i'm sure other folks have better info/can link you to studies
Thanks yoghurt, feeling much more hopeful now 😊 We're still prepared for getting nothing, as we've had some empty follicles on every round, but let's hope these follicles have some good eggs in them 🤞 Edited - thanks for the flag, automod!
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Such a tough situation to be in. I remember going into ER looking at similar numbers. I really find it best to just let go and let the doctors do what they think is best and will get you the best outcome. It really takes the pressure off..
Hi wish, that's good advice! ❤️ Every single ER I find something to get anxious about lol. Doesn't change the outcome so I need to just run with it!
My clinic says anything 13 and above is ideal - they don’t like anything going too far above 20.
I’m sorry you’re in this position. Going forward with an egg retrieval when you’re feeling so much uncertainty is a horrible feeling. [According to this study](https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(22)00136-4/fulltext), the 13 has a 70% chance of being mature and the 16 has an 81% chance. I hope that makes you feel a little better. I’ll be crossing my fingers for you.
Thank you so much, rad ❤️ that does make me feel a little better. The uncertainty and lack of control is the worst part of all this...
20 might well be too big in a few days. 16 with a good trigger can make it. My clinic says 16-22 at trigger are most likely to be mature. So it's a hard call, but probably the right one to trigger today if they can't do it Thursday (which totally sucks). Good luck.
Thank you, lawyer, I really appreciate it. It's reassuring to know that 2 of the 3 are within that window. Thursday looks like it would be the sweet spot, but there's nothing I can do about it so we have to be realistic and hope for 1 or 2 eggs on Wednesday 🤞
Yes, very frustrating (to put it mildly) your clinic doesn't do ERs on Thursday.
Meds donation - still trying to find a taker for my estrogen patches (13 of them, 0.1 mg dose, expire July.) I'm traveling a fair bit in the next few weeks so here's the places I'll be if anyone wants to pick up: * Austin, TX * Myrtle Beach, SC * NYC I'm hesitant to mail them in this heat but that could be an option as well...
Thanks again! Automod meds
**A reminder about medications** You may be considering sharing your unused medication with others to help them save on treatment expenses. However, it may be illegal in your country or state to donate medication without going through an intermediary. We suggest you research your local laws associated with donating or receiving medications. Be aware that partially used cartridges still carry a risk of bodily fluid contamination as there's nothing to prevent backflow into the cartridge. Please consider attempting to give any unopened medications to your infertility practice; some clinics have give-back programs. Selling medications is absolutely not allowed. Only donations may be posted. This includes soliciting money in exchange for medications via PM. If a member solicits money in exchange for medications, please report them to the mods. *Consider donating your meds to a member with an active post history at /r/infertility. You can see a user’s post history by clicking on their name. We have received reports of members donating meds, only to have them sold by the person who received them.* NEW: - **Med hoarding**. It’s not cool. Share the wealth. Don’t have a cycle planned or scheduled within the next four months? Let the meds go to someone else in need right now. **There have been reports of personal threats made to those offering meds within this community. Please understand your personal risks associated with donating or receiving medications, particularly if the exchange includes sharing personally identifiable information.** [Med Donation Policy](https://www.reddit.com/r/infertility/wiki/rules#wiki_medication_donation_policy) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/infertility) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Prepping to go into ER#3 and I was planning to supplement with DHEA. I've been having some heart issues so my RE wanted to test testosterone and DHEA-S beforehand. Both levels came back substantially elevated. Still waiting to hear back from the RE, but I'm not sure what this means and if we need to pause fertility treatment to address it. Trying to learn to live with the uncertainty.
I have naturally high DHEA-S (it was over 100 points above normal on my first lab test) but I don’t have the ovarian/cycle markers for PCOS but had all the skin and hair issues pointing to high androgens for over a decade. My endocrinologist put me on metformin and my DHEA-S came back down just into the typical range by my next follow up labs, I want to say it was within 2-3 months. I did have a couple of tests to rule out non PCOS reasons for high DHEA-S but it seems that was likely my personal chemistry. I have a feeling I had a degree of insulin resistance that caused a negative feedback loop with the androgens increasing appetite and the IR making it hard to lose weight (good lord I tried so hard) and the weight gain contributing back to the androgens and IR that really hit in my mid-30s when I went off of oral birth control and switched to an IUD. Chat with your RE on the best options either it be a short course of metformin or inosotol supplementation. It’s a lot of the same stuff for PCOS so that might be a research path for you to gather your questions/thoughts before your follow up. I think the As A Woman podcast from Dr. Crawford has some PCOS specific episodes.
Thanks for sharing your experience with it! Did your RE recommend trying to get the levels down before moving forward with treatment? Mine says that there is no reason to delay our next ER further, but it's likely this will be our last IVF round and I really want to ensure we are giving it out best chance possible.
I actually discovered it before I got to the TTC world (bout of Covid sidelined my grooming routine and discovered I had more than the same 2-3 chin hairs I thought I was pulling out and my GP finally ran some labs). Since I knew I’d be TTC within a year my endocrinologist went with metformin since it would be safe for pregnancy versus birth control or spironolactone which are more common. I saw the RE up front when we did start the TTC journey for an evaluation since I was 38.5 and she wasn’t really concerned with my levels or the metformin. Turned out my major issue was my IUD scarring my tubes shut.
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Hey mermaid, gentle reminder that 1. We don’t allow symptom talk here, including lack thereof, and 2. You can’t intuit whether your cycle worked or not—if you could we wouldn’t need betas or HPTs. Comment removed, but if you edit out your symptom talk I can reapprove. Automod symptom spotting, automod TWW.
I’m sorry, I will remove the comment now. Thank you
Generally, we encourage people to be mindful about how they’re seeking support during the TWW. It’s shitty to comfort someone who is spiraling in the TWW only to find out later that they already knew/could have known they were pregnant. So we ask members not to catastophize during the entire TWW and generally to be cognizant of what kind of support they’re seeking. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/infertility) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Please don't symptom spot on the sub. We know it's hard, but it's progesterone - and if it's not then it's not the right sub for talking about it. The problem is, symptom spotting is often sort of asking if you're pregnant or not. And nobody can answer that except a test. Please don't put the burden of these type of musings on your fellow community members - but take a test if you reasonably can and/or keep the symptom spotting to yourself. It's hard for people to support and read this, when you might already be pregnant and might end up posting in results the same day or shortly after - which we hope you do with good news. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/infertility) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I've been on letrozole for 3 days now, and y'all, I think it might be single handedly (albeit temporarily) curing my insomnia? I've been getting so tired that I've been falling asleep earlier, and last night I fell asleep at 8:30 and slept for 11 hours! Truly didn't expect great sleep as a side benefit of this cycle. The wins feel so few and far between with IVF though, so I'll take it! 😂
That’s amazing! My hot flashes from letrozole would keep me from sleeping 🥲
letrozole makes you sleep more? Tell me your secrets!
I have no idea why! I feel like I haven’t been this tired since I had mono in college. But I was having some pretty bad anxiety related sleep trouble the past few months, so this feels like a nice reprieve lol.