Started stims, felt it from the get-go

kjk024

I'm 25 with no known fertility issues of my own, my husband has extreme male factor infertility. We are attempting IVF with ICSI after his TESE, but we have donor sperm as backup. This is our first, and hopefully only, cycle of IVF.

I started the stims last night (Menopur and Gonal-F), and I wouldn't say I've felt sick, but I've felt generally fatigued and sore ever since. It was almost immediate. I did the injections and within ten minutes I had an upset stomach and a headache. That passed fairly quickly, but has made way for a general soreness, weakness, and a tender stomach. I called my doctor this morning and he say that's all fairly normal. Some people respond more strongly and have more side effects to the stims than others...

I suppose I am half venting and half asking: Did anyone else have side-effects right away from the stims? Could you share your experiences?

It just feels so soon. I was hoping for a few normal days before I started to feel poorly. It's discouraging to know I have at least another 9 days or so of the discomfort only getting more intense.

It'll all be worth it if this works.

bakerstreetboys

Hi.  I'm on stim day 10, and I have an almost constant headache.  It takes a minute or two after the injections for it to ramp up every evening.  It does get easier though, and my stomach settled down after a couple of days.  I hope it gets better for you and works out!

anared

Hey! I am on day 10 of stims, it gets a bit easier as you go through the cycle. The most immediate side effect for me was the bloating and I still have not found a way around that. My doctor is increasing my doses for tonight so I am expecting a bit more of that. Some little tricks that helped me with the other side effects were taking the shots around dinner time, icing my stomach before the shot and drinking lots of water throughout the day and right after the injection. Hopefully it gets easier for you. The days go by fast. Good luck! 

ndz2018

I pretty Much felt like that the whole time. My stomach was upset, slight headache , DEF fatigued! Some people like my SIL felt fine the whole time, i did not! You just kinda gotta push past it ...on a good note it was def worth it for me... I had 29 retrieved, 25 mature, 21 fertilized with ICSI( we have MFI too) and I had 12 make it to PGS testing out of those 12 we have 5 normals. Point being , maybe it’s a good sign  Good luck and I hope it eases up a little!

kjk024

Thanks so much for this! That’s hopeful to hear! 

Now I’m entering day three and it seems to just be getting worse. My doctors said feeling sort of crappy was a good sign as well! I’m trying to remember that it means a lot of stuff is happening!