Diet and OHSS

BRaven985

So I just started stimming last night and I loaded up on protein bars/shakes and Gatorade this weekend from the store to try and prevent OHSS this time.  But it seems like there is a variety of thoughts when it comes to diet and OHSS.  I am curious what others may have heard or experienced with this.  High protein?  How much?  High salt vs low salt?  Gatorade vs coconut water?  When to start making any diet adjustments?  Any other insights???  Thanks!   

happygirl1013

Okay, so I was at high risk for OHSS so I did the following every day during my stims and didn't luckily get OHSS:  (1) Breakfast:  Ensure high protein shake & apple, (2) lunch: soup + salad, (3) dinner: sensible (protein, vegetable + reasonable dessert).  Good luck!

FishyMom

I drank a ton of Gatorade throughout stims. Lots of protein and high salt! I ate a lot of spicy Italian subs from subway due to the high sodium meats on there. Good luck!! Praying that OHSS stays away.

Sunny B

Unfortunately, I ate high protein for 2 weeks before stims and all throughout stims (I'm talking 90-100 grams of protein a day), tons of salty food (progresso soups, crackers and chips) drank Gatorade and coconut water like it was going out of style, and still got OHSS.

I have, however, heard that doing all of the things above have really helped a lot of ladies!

Good luck to you!

LSN8308

for IVF #1 i didnt know much about OHSS, nurse just said ya drink more water. not much else and i had horrible OHSS. the 2nd time was a little better, i still got moderate OHSS. this last time, i was so prepared. loaded up on protein and gatorade like you, and i basically started taking them when i started to feel "full" . for me it was around day 5-6 of stims. drank as much gatorade as i could handle and would try to drink the same amount of water as well. lots of salty foods. my current nurse said cheesy salty snacks were good to have and tons of protein as well. another thing to add though is FIBER. it will help a lot, because nothing is worse than being bloated from OHSS AND CONSTIPATION esp after the ER from the anesthesia  (tmi ..i know) but if that does happen then u can double check with your office, but my nurse said i could take dulcolax and it rly helped.

i cut down on the salt and gatorade about 4 days after my ET, when i started to feel normal again. Good Luck!

RosyGlow

Sig Warning

Hey! I had really high estrogen during my second IVF (over 6k) and was at high risk for OHSS with so many eggs retrieved. These are the things that helped: 

About five days prior to ER, I stopped drinking water almost entirely, and the only fluids I took in were electrolyte drinks. Particularly, I drank a lot of coconut water and REcharge by RW Knudsen. I continued only drinking these drinks for another week past ER. I think this made a huge difference. 

I also started drinking two whey protein shakes twice a day leading up to and following ER. My appetite shrunk after ER, so this was some of the only nutrition I wanted/could manage. My shakes were: 1/4cup bob's red mill whey protein + banana + 1.5 cups other frozen fruit + 1 chobani greek yogurt + 1 cup or more of coconut water to juice it up a little bit. DELISH, healthy, and plenty of protein. Whey protein supposedly helps your vascular system do a more efficient job of soaking in extra bodily fluids when needed. 

I took lots of deep breaths during the day. I could feel the fluid in my stomach and it was a little bit painful to take a big deep breath, but the big breaths helped push the fluid down. 

I ate salty soups, like Pho Vietnamese noodle soup, following ER. 

I was able to avoid OHSS for both ERs. Good luck to you! 

RosyGlow

Sig warning again...sorry. 

Oh, and on gatorade vs. coconut water: personally, I would stay away from Gatorade...but I tend to avoid those kinds of fluids. As I said above, I stopped drinking water as a fluid leading up to ER, so only gatorade for a week would have made me feel awful. I enjoyed RW Knudsen's Recharge and Coconut water is much healthier for you than Gatorade. I kept thinking positive like that the eggs they were getting should get good fluid nutrition...so it just felt better to me to avoid the junky stuff in Gatorade. There are even recipes online of natural electrolyte drinks you can make yourself at home with some honey, salt, and juice. I say, go for whatever makes you feel best!  

herecomesthesun

I started my high protein, all electrolyte drinks, high salt diet when I started stimming. I still got moderate OHSS and my estrogen wasn't that high. I was late-onset as it showed around the time the embryo implanted.

I just don't know if it can be helped. Maybe if I hadn't of started early, I would have been severe OHSS. It's hard to say. Once I had symptoms,  I do think that when I ate more high protein, I felt better. If I drank ANY water, I felt worse.

CameraBug131

My Dr. said HIGH salt and protein. They said I could drink vitamin water instead of gatorade for electrolytes bc I hate gatorade. My Dr. said to eat "five guys and chinese food." It was amazing! 

BRaven985

Thank you all so much!  Totally helps hearing everyone else's experiences. I have to say the protein shakes and protein bars I tried so far are NOT good.....Ugh!!!!  But I will plug my nose and swallow them down if it will help

@LSN8308 thanks for the fiber reminder....I normally am an Apple a day girl and love my veggies but I am so focused on protein right now that I kinda forgot about getting that in. 

@RosyGlow thanks for the recipe for the shake that is awesome!

@CameraBug131 you just made DH a happy man with the five guys comment....I've refused to eat it for a while now just trying to be healthier. 

@herecomesthesun did you have any early onset OHSS? I asked a little about whether or not you can get late onset without having early onset and I got the impression it wasn't likely to get late if you don't get early.  

herecomesthesun

BRaven985 said:

@herecomesthesun did you have any early onset OHSS? I asked a little about whether or not you can get late onset without having early onset and I got the impression it wasn't likely to get late if you don't get early.  

Nope. None. I felt 100% fine until what was probably implantation. (5 days after transfer) 

Try Core Power Protein shakes (it's with the gatorade and muscle milk in the grocery store) they do not have the awful taste a lot of them have. I like the chocolate and the vanilla best. The other flavors are too sweet.

kz's_girlygirl

Just adding in-a protein shake brand that I like is Designer Whey from Trader Joes. It's lots of protein but very little carbs. I get the chocolate and mix it with almond milk. GL!!

Sunny B

As far as late vs. early onset goes, I didn't get any OHSS symptoms until 4 days after ER.

BRaven985

Thanks for the insight on getting late onset without any signs of early.  I am supposed to do a freeze all...but wanted to be prepared in case things actually went well enough for them to consider suggesting a fresh transfer.  We'll see....