Flying After ER?

erwahler

Hi all - we have our ER coming on Wednesday.  I am supposed to take a 4ish hour flight the following Tuesday to spend a week with family.  Today, my RE advised me to not fly that soon after retrieval if avoidable due to an increased risk of OHSS and blood clots from the retrieval until the start of the next cycle.  I have been on Lupron Down Regulation protocol.  Has anyone else received similar advice, and/or flown within the weeks following your ER after a similar protocol?  

kristimh80

I'd probably take your RE's advice. I was high risk for OHSS and didn't feel myself until 5 days post ER. Esp with bloating, etc I wouldn't have wanted to be on a plane anywhere. Some people bounce back right away, so it's really a gamble. I definetely wouldn't want to fly then get blood clot issues. You may feel fine, but I'd wait til the weekend to see how things are going 1st.

mayflower513

I agree with @kristimh80.

erwahler

Thanks to both of you!

mayflower513

I wanted to add, I got OHSS a week after retrieval, and it was awful.  You’d probably want to be home if that happened.

erwahler

Thank you for sharing that.  Would you mind sharing a little of what you experienced?  All went well with the ER but I'm definitely nervous - I didn't realize until recently that the risk went through the rest of the cycle, I had assumed that it was just in the next few days.

mayflower513

@erwahler no problem.  Did you trigger with lupron or hcg?

*TW*

I didn’t have a HUGE amount of eggs, but had 15 eggs retrieved from 18 follicles.  My estrogen on day of trigger was 2,600, so not high enough to worry but obviously high enough to linger. 

What I didn’t know is that if you get a BFP, the hcg can stimulate the ovaries again and cause OHSS.  I got my very very very faint BFP on 5dp5dt and by 7dp5dt I felt like I got punched in the stomach and started bloating.  Within a few days I was up 10 lbs and my waist was up 9 inches.  It hurt to lay, walk, or do anything but sit basically.  It was extremely uncomfortable for about a week before it started going down.  I had to drink a ton of Gatorade and vitamin water (~80-100 oz) and measure my urine output versus input.  I was classified as “moderate OHSS”, I didn’t have to be hospitalized because I could keep food (small portions because I got full very quickly) and liquid down. 

Good luck!   I’m sure you’ll be fine but I don’t wish it on anyone so if flying increases your risk, I’d stay put for a couple of weeks!