Community› The Bump Message Boards› Infertility
Infertility
New Discussion

Birth control and IVF

ah80ah80 member
in Infertility
We will likely be doing a January cycle. My period started yesterday and my clinic is recommending for me to get on the pill now. I was really not wanting to be on the pill any longer than I needed to. My first cycle resulted in one empty follicle at retrieval.  I have super low AMH (.03) and my cycle is not regular. I was on birth control for about 5 weeks before my last cycle. My clinic is concerned that there would not be enough time to induce a period if I don't have another one by mid-December and then be on birth control prior the January cycle for 7-10 days.

This article talks about this issue, which indicates it's not a problem as long as you overlap with a medication like lupron vs. going right into stimulation medications. My protocol last time and this time starts with lupron.

https://haveababy.com/fertility-information/ivf-authority/effects-of-birth-control-pill-before-ivf

Does anyone have any thoughts/experiences with this?
Report Reply to Post

Re: Birth control and IVF

  • saidebeasaidebea member
    I'm joining your thread because I'm experiencing a similar fear of being on the pill for too long. I was supposed to start my stim shots yesterday but our cycle was cancelled because a cyst formed on my ovary -- which I honestly think happened BECAUSE the pill stopped my natural ovulation, but that's a whole other story. My clinic is not doing a stim cycle in December but my RE wants to start me back on the pill right away in the hopes of shrinking the cyst (I'm finding conflicting info that the bcp's actually fix cysts, and that they really only might help prevent futures ones, so that's interesting in and of itself) and continue taking the pill until we try again in January. I can't help but feel by doing this I'll be over suppressing my ovaries! I turn 38 tomorrow. I had 8/9 follies naturally when we went in for our consultation ultrasound in October. With my age,  I'm super worried any extra time on bcp's will hinder me.

    @ah80 In my search for answers I came up with the same article you posted, too.

    Ugh, I want to trust that my doctor will do what's best for me but I just feel wrong about being on the damn pill for all this time. When all is said and done I'll be on it from 10/31 until 1/6 or so. 

    Seeking advice and input from anyone with experience!

    Thanks and good luck ❤️
    Report Reply
  • Loading the player...
  • anaredanared member
    In terms of BCPs, my clinic only has me on them for 2 weeks. I remember the nurse saying they can sometimes push it to one month depending on the patient's schedule but that they didn't go beyond that. During my first cycle, a cyst formed in those two weeks but they went ahead with stims and ER. As long as it is a simple cyst and not hormone producing they said it was ok. I did a lot of research and it seems to be very common to develop cysts during the BCP period. It just all depends what type of cyst it is. Although, it grew to 43 mm and the eggs in that ovary were not as big as the others. It shrunk a bit for my transfer two months later but that ended up in c/p so I don't know if that influenced it. Anyway, it is finally gone and I am back on BCPs for round 2. It seems that they just wait for it to shrink naturally. If you are not comfortable with the protocol it is worth brining up. Is there another doctor in the clinic that you can ask to look at your file? 
    Report Reply
  • ah80ah80 member
    @saidebea happy birthday! I'm 38 too. I ended up talking to my Dr directly. He said if my period is regular it would not be a problem to just wait until December to start the pill. Since it's not, it's better to get into a "holding pattern" now and that it won't hurt anything to be on it that long. I'm going to start it tomorrow and be on until about the beginning of January too. 
    Report Reply
  • saidebeasaidebea member
    I just talked to my doctor and he is staunchly standing behind his recommendation that I be on the pill from now until January. I was hoping he would let me wait until December to start back on I t. The total combined time I'll be on it since I started at the very end of October will be 10 weeks 😩  It just seems like it's too long! 
    Report Reply
  • teenad82teenad82 member
    My doctor didn’t have me do BCP as part of my protocol. I did lupron then started estrace then added PIO 5 days before transfer. 
    Report Reply
Sign In or Register to comment.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"