Keeping the weight off during IVF. Is it possible?!

anared · June 2018

Good morning Ladies,

Yesterday I went in for my water sonogram and trial transfer. As it looks I will be starting injections by next weekend if all goes well with my blood work and sonogram. From what I read it seems that weight gain is an inevitable side effect of IVF. I am waiting to see if the birth control affected my TSH, but as of January my levels were normal with Synthroid. Having hypothyroidism I can gain 4lbs from one slice of pizza, it is really frustrating and since I can gain weight 2x more than the average woman I want to go into this as healthy as possible. With the exception of dairy and fish, I eat a plant based diet which was recommended by my endocrinologist but even still my weight can yo-yo.

Being that you can't exercise while doing IVF (except walking) I was wondering if anyone had any advice or tips that worked for them? Diet plans or caloric intake? If anyone has worked with a nutritionist, was it helpful?

Thanks!!!

mo777 · July 2018

@anared I found following weight watchers to be helpful, both in losing some weight before I started ivf and then maintaining it for the most part. I did yo-yo quite a bit while on stims (up as much as 20 lbs due to water weight gain from ohss complications, but that easily dropped down to normal once I recovered from it. I have PCOS and am on metformin for that and taking synthroid for my thyroid as well. it was frustrating, the yo-yo ups and downs, but I knew what it was (just part of this process) and my bigger priority was just eating healthy and taking care of myself. Good luck!

funkykey · July 2018

@anared - You know, for me, to be honest - I think any weight I've gained (which isn't a lot, and I've gained and lost a few of those pounds repeatedly), is probably more from the overall stress of infertility than from IVF specifically. Think: comfort eating after a failed transfer or failed IUI. IVF itself, at least for me, wasn't so bad.

Definitely though, the interruptions to my exercise routine have not helped. For me, I think if I'd just had one or two interruptions alone, it wouldn't have been a big deal. It's more the repeated interruptions from ongoing treatment.

I definitely watch what I eat, and I make a point to exercise regularly (even with the interruptions), but beyond that, I try to just be really gentle with myself and not beat myself up too much about carrying an extra couple of pounds during this time.

anared · July 2018

@mo777 thank you! Glad to hear you recovered from the complications! My mom has some of the weight watchers books I will definitely take a look- it sounds like it could be really beneficial. When I got my TSH back it actually increased from 1.4 to 2.6 and we think it may be from the BCP. My endocrinologist just increased my Synthroid. As you said eating healthy and taking care of yourself is the best we can do during this process.

anared · July 2018

@funkykey thanks! I totally get what you mean and definitely had moments of comfort food eating during all my IUIs which failed. Now that I started IVF injections, I am way more limited in what I can do physically so I am definitely watching what I eat. I don't mind a few extra pounds and I expect it, but the BCP threw off my thyroid levels which makes it so easy to gain and challenging to lose. Simple foods and lots of water until my ER.

kjk024 · July 2018

This is my first round of ivf, so I can only speak from what my doctor has recommended.

I was told that weight gain from ivf stims are from water weigh alone. Any actual weight gain that occurs is from over eating.

She recommended eating a very low carb diet while on stims to help with the bloating and I intend to follow that advice! Anything to make it more comfortable.

alexandrabarros · August 2018

I've had my ER back in March, and two FET's so far. I gained about 17lb and it was definitely from over eating. The water weight from medication definitely happened, but it would go away once I stopped them. The weight that stayed was because of my own fault. I tried not to stress too much about it though. I think there is already so many things you have to deal with during your IVF journey, I would rather not worry about some weight gain. It's easier said than done though

Sorry... this wasn't very helpful!

anared · August 2018

@kjk024 thanks, that is actually what I did- low carbs, no raw salads and mostly soup. I was so uncomfortable from the bloating I really couldn't eat that much and by the time it was over and got my period I actually weighed less than when I started stims.

@alexandrabarros thanks, that is so true! I was so concerned just because my endocrinologist was nervous about my thyroid levels since weight gain can alter them. I didn't want it to affect egg production or anything. Although I am not sure if it was affected by all the hormones, they didn't test my TSH during stims.

rmarble23 · August 2018

i embraced the weight gain for what it was....i know with PCOS things are quite different but this was my take. I decided to try and lose as much weight as possible before and was basically in survival mode during the process. sleep was more necessary to me than keeping up with a diet. meds wear you out and I had to do early morning testing in order to get to work for 7am. i also figured that after all is said and done the goal is to get pregnant where you will gain weight anyways. I found that I probably lost weight with my first few months of my first pregnancy and all the weight fell right off for me and i am actually back to exactly where i started weight wise for this new round

megmac2010 · August 2018

I was on what I call the “ice cream protocol” where I ate ice cream after every single injection, phone call, and appointment. So yeah, I gained about 10lbs. But I think if you can have some self control and NOT eat ice cream multiple times per day (sorry, not sorry), you can probably keep the weight gain down.

Goos luck!!

sungirl39 · August 2018

My RE lets me exercise (work up a serious sweat on the elliptical, about 40mins...no running on treadmill though) all the way up until my trigger shot. It really helped relieve the stress of IVF for me...no need to stop all exercise! He does make me stick to just walking during the TWW though.

mayflower513 · August 2018

I didn't work out since I hadn't been for a while before but I didn't gain any weight while on stims. I did gain 10 lbs when I got OHSS after, but I actually ended up down a couple of pounds once that subsided. Probably because I couldn't eat a whole lot the couple of weeks it was bad!

bpietronicco · August 2018

My RE recommended a particular program to me that was essentially dairy and gluten free and I was able to lose 30 lbs before my last egg retrieval. Although I still sometimes need that ice cream as @megmac2010 mentioned!

babydust2507 · August 2018

@anared how did the low carbs diet turn out for you? I was managing my weight pretty good until D6 or stims where my RE told me to stop exercising and eat salty food and drink Gatorade because I was high risk of OHSS, found myself getting 10 lbs already and today is only 1 day after ER. I don't really know how much of it is water weight and how much is from the salty food (pizza, burgers, ice cream)

anared · August 2018

@babydust2507 the low carb worked out pretty well for me. I couldn't exercise or lift anything from the BCPs bc it caused me to have a cyst, so I had an extra two weeks of being stationary. It drove me crazy. However, I think it is mostly water weight, especially if you were at risk for OHSS, that is a lot of fluid build up. Post ER is when I saw the most weight gain, because the follicles fill back up (from what I was told). Once I got my period the lbs. came off pretty quickly. I read that eating easily digestible food is the best thing, so a lot of soup, no raw vegetables (harder to digest) and broke up my meals into smaller portions. Powdered miralax in my gatorade also helped, some of the weight can be from constipation as well, especially if you are on antibiotics post ER like I was.

babydust2507 · August 2018

@anared, I see... but it's hard to eat low carbs when they ask me to eat salty food! like where am I gonna get the excess of sodium in food if it's not from junk food? and I was doing keto diet but because of the Gatorade that has a lot of carbs too that ruined my diet! so i'm really don't know which way to go and I guess will try again when I pass this phase. I feel really bloated too

anared · August 2018

@babydust2507 Canned soup has a lot of sodium, pickles, pretzels, popcorn, cottage cheese, soy sauce, tomato sauce, salted nuts and seeds. Tomatoes and cucumbers with sea salt are healthy snacks- they are water based vegetables so they digest easy. You can even put salt on some fruits and it won't taste too bad. I personally don't like coconut water, but I heard people drink that instead of gatorade to get their electrolytes in a healthier way. I don't eat meat, but deli meats have a lot of sodium as does canned tuna or salmon.

babydust2507 · August 2018

that's good information thank you @anared! I guess I don't have any more reasons to eat junk food now! lol

babydust2507 · August 2018

@anared you're right about some of the weights are from constipation. I lost 3lbs today after a bowel movement (sorry if I give too much details) I am so constipated that I don't wanna eat anymore, and starting feeling the cramps again today, ugh! I'm back to vegetables and added soluble high fiber foods to help with my digestion. Hope it will work! But thank you @anared for your good advice!

wishiwaspreggo · August 2018

BCPs turn my already hearty appetite into an insatiable, voracious appetite. I want to inhale a plate of fried mozzarella sticks and drink a gallon of melted fudge. I ate lunch 2 hours ago. I take my last BCP on the 20th and I can't. fricking. wait. 11 more days and probably 5 more pounds the way things are going. Holy hell.

anared · August 2018

@babydust2507 you're welcome! I'm glad you are getting a little relief! That is exactly how I felt, it will get better. Keep up with the laxatives/stool softener and you will see a difference.

anared · August 2018

@wishiwaspreggo ugh BCPs were the worst. I had more side effects from that than the stims. Hang in there you are almost done!

babydust2507 · August 2018

what BCP did they prescribe you @wishiwaspreggo? i don't recall having any side effect being on BCP compare to my last day of stims
@anared i guess the cramping I was experiencing today was from constipation too

starting feeling better after bowel movement again which was softener than yesterday but still a lil hard. talked to the nurse about it so she recommended to take colace, so I hope i will feel much better tomorrow and drop some more weight!

wishiwaspreggo · August 2018

@babydust2507 I'm on something called Apri. This happens to me when I'm on any type of birth control pill though. That's the reason I stopped taking them years ago. I took them initially because I have really painful periods and I heard BCPs can make them better. I used them for a couple months and gained 20 pounds. I decided I'd rather deal with a few days of pain a month rather than get progressively fatter through the year. I already feel so gross from taking the BCPs for the past couple weeks. 10 more days...

Now FSH doesn't do anything to me. I can inject myself with tons of it and not notice a thing. But overall, I'm very much looking forward to finishing up with fertility drugs in general. Shots in the tummy aren't exactly fun either.

babydust2507 · August 2018

@wishiwaspreggo, sorry you have to thru this, ya infertility med is not fun at all but you only have 10 days left, you can do it! my BCP was called Nortrel
@anared, I didn't lose any weight today but it's better than gaining. Started the Colace yesterday and still on low cards High Fiber diet to help with digestion. Will switch with pedialyte today. How long after retrieval did it take you to feel better again?

babydust2507 · August 2018

So I lost 1 more lb, yeah! And I'm having more frequent bowel movements and feel wayyyyyy better! Thank you thank you thank you!

anared · August 2018

@babydust2507 yay! glad to hear you are feeling better and that the weight is dropping! I started feeling better about a week after and once I got my period I was able to get back to my normal routine without feeling cramping or twinges.

babydust2507 · August 2018

Gotcha @anared, dropped another lb! And cramps are really minor as well as bloating! That was terrible tho, glad it's almost over!

babydust2507 · August 2018

How long did you use Miralax?

anared · August 2018

I took miralax once a day for a week. The only thing I didn't like was that it took a few days to start working. I know there are better ones out there, but I couldn't find them at the pharmacy in my neighborhood.

babydust2507 · August 2018

oh ok. Colace took me couple days before started working too but I also think it' s because I was so constipated maybe that was your case too and Miralax is pretty good too.I'm feeling good but I'm afraid to stop as well as the Powerade. I switched to Powerade Zero because it was cheaper than pedyalite and Gatorade and also the zero has 0 calorie and 0 sugar and 0 fat (so it's healthier than the Gatorade I was drinking), and I'm still getting a good amount of sodium. How long did you use pedyalite?

anared · August 2018

I didn't know about pedyalite? Just gatorade and some coconut water, even though I am not a fan- I mixed it with cranberry juice. I sent DH out after my ER to get some stuff, since he had to go to work until late in the evening and I was going to be alone, but he said he couldn't find colace, so we settled on miralax. My sister is a nurse and she said heating up some prunes in a pan also works well. I tried it, but I can't tell if it was the prunes or the miralax that did the trick since I took them at the same time. Maybe a combination of both?

babydust2507 · August 2018

oh ok, but how long did you use the coconut water and miralax for?

anared · August 2018

I used it for a week- the instructions on the miralax box said not to exceed that.

babydust2507 · August 2018

oh ok thank you!

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