New here (Warning: losses mentioned, living child mentioned) and question about FET/lining

MSU_Girl1202 · April 2018

Hi ladies,
I wanted to introduce, well, actually, re-introduce myself. I was here probably 3-4 years ago while we were going through this before.
DH and I have been married for almost 12 years, we tried for DS for 7 years and were finally successful after countless IUIs, 1 fresh IVF, 4 FETs and 4 angel babies with the help of PGS and numerous other meds. Diagnosis is unexplained infertility and recurrent pregnancy loss.
We did a fresh IVF cycle about a year ago, and I had severe OHSS from which I nearly died, so any further fresh IVFs are pretty much out of the question for us.
What that fresh cycle did give us though, was 5 perfect PGS-tested embryos, which we started using this year (DS is 2 now).
Our first FET we did this year seemed okay, but the lining was borderline (on an outside clinic u/s which proved unreliable since they said it was fine last time around too) and the embryo didn't implant.
The second FET we attempted last month, my lining couldn't get past 4mm on 2mg estrace 3x / day + estrace suppositories, despite my estrogen level being sky-high, so we ended up cancelling the cycle on day of transfer. In addition to this, that cycle resulted in a massive infection in my hip from the progesterone in oil for which I was hospitalized, had and abscess surgically drained and was on IV antibiotics for (still healing from that).
Anyways, basically, anything that can go wrong did. So now, I'm kind of at a juncture because my Dr, who I've been with for 4 years, said he's not really sure what else they can do for me and I should maybe find another clinic closer to home.
I have an appointment with a new REI on 4/27 and want to get an idea of what ladies who have had cancelled cycles have done to augment their lining and what your protocols were. I already did the CoQ10, L-arginine, Vitamin B, Vitamin E, Vitamin D, aspirin, tons of pomegranate juice and acupuncture with the last cycle, none of which helped the lining.
I'd love to hear any insight you ladies may have and what your protocols are for lining. I'm really hoping to do a transfer in June since I'm assuming my hip will be healed by then.
Glad to be back here ladies!

tosh24 · April 2018

Welcome. You've had quite the tough journey. I'm so sorry for your losses. Congratulations on your DS

I generally don't have lining issues, but my acupuncturist had me on Red Raspberry leaf tea and holy cow, did my lining go nuts. My lining is usually around 9-10 mm on its own, but on RRL tea I was getting up to 14 mm! I stopped it because it made my periods hell since my lining was so thick. My instructions were ~ 3-4 cups per day. I'd make sure it is fine to take with anything else you may be on. I've also had really good results with just acupuncture itself - I get a way better results to drugs and my lining is always nice and fluffy.

Hope your hip heals up quickly and you can move on to your next FET.

ETA: Do you mind me asking what your successful FET protocol was? I'm also unexplained (possible endo) and I have had 2 losses, a number of IUIs, an IVF cycle, and 2 FETs resulting in BFNs. I'm just heading in to my 3rd FET and I want to push my RE to be a bit more creative. I'm on the waitlist to see an REI just in case.

MSU_Girl1202 · April 2018

Hi @tosh24 thanks for your insight! I actually did try Red Raspberry Leaf tea but definitely not that much of it...might try that next time. Honestly, the only thing acupuncture did for me was give me a huge bruise on my stomach...apparently they hit a small vein

My successful cycle we did a lot...I actually thawed my frozen embryos and did PGS on them despite my RE saying that I might lose all of them doing that, but I'm glad I did because while we did lose one in the thaw, we found 2 with trisomy 16 (most common cause of 1st trimester miscarriage) so we knew not to transfer them. Also I was on metformin (I was never diagnosed w pcos but I hyperstim as if I had it so that's why the metformin), baby aspirin, the vitamins that I listed in my intro post, medrol and azithromycin just before transfer, and it was the first time I did pio instead of crinoline. Hope that helps!

roisis · April 2018

Hi and welcome @MSU_Girl1202 I'm sorry you've had to go through so much

I don't have much insight as I have never had too much of a problem with my lining - although they've never told me details. Like yourself I have unexplained IF and suffered from OHSS when I attempted a fresh transfer in my first IVF cycle. I'm now in my second ivf cycle and waiting for an FET in May. Regarding lining - I almost had a problem in that it wouldn't shed and because of that they almost didn't start my ivf cycle (it went ahead in the end - but only because I wasn't considering a fresh transfer). I have done quite a bit of acupuncture too- I'm really lucky in that regards as my friend is an acupuncturist - and a highly experienced nurse so she's good with the needles! - and she insists on giving it to me for free. I can't tell if that is what has helped my lining along or not, I know a lot of women swear by acupuncture.
Sorry I can't offer more advice - but wishing you a speedy recovery and good luck in your next transfer cycle

mcgeeva · April 2018

Welcome! I'm sorry you have had such a rough go round. I hope your new RE has a better plan of action. OHSS sucks! I have PCOS and always seem to get this shitty overstimulating so no fresh transfer here. Glad you were able to test your embryos. I think that is a better approach to avoid if possible MC. Good luck lady! I will also say it can still be possible to get pregnant with a think lining. My first I didn't get past 7 which is why they changed my protocol with my second. But he stuck in there. No clue what the "good" level is suppose to be above.

mtpbadger · April 2018

I have had lining issues and canceled transfers in the past so I understand your frustration! Are you taking the estrace orally or vaginally? My lining always seemed to do better when taking it vaginally. I also tried estradiol injections (those didn’t do much for me). You can also ask your dr about low dose stims to prep for an FET to see if that helps.

TW***** in my successful cycle, I was put on metformin and a supplement called ovasitol for several months to help my body process the hormones better (I was on estrace vaginally three times a day and then PIO). While my lining only got to 5.5 at the last check, we gave it a few more days before starting the PIO so it was likely around a 6ish day of transfer and had the triple layer stripe which my RE says is more important than the thickness, and It was successful and am now 28 weeks pregnant. So implantation can still happen even with a less than ideal thickness!! My RE said sometimes some women just don’t get very thick linings naturally, But that lining issues are the most frustrating and difficult to figure out.

Let me know if you have any other questions and wish you the best of luck!!

MSU_Girl1202 · April 2018

@roisis, that's amazing that your friend does it for free! I'd probably keep doing it if it wasn't so expensive, despite it not seeming to work for me.

@mcgeeva , I think "Good" , at least according to my clinic is 7 or higher. The more the better obviously. Unfortunately, mine never got past 4 last cycle

No clue what happened...

@mtpbadger Thanks for your response! I was taking estrace 3x / day orally and 1x / day vaginally. Interesting thought about low dose stims! I wonder if they'd let me do it since I can never again do a "real fresh cycle" since I hyperstimmed so bad...but maybe they'd let me do just super low dose... Congratulations on the pregnancy! That's wonderful!

New here (Warning: losses mentioned, living child mentioned) and question about FET/lining

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