IF Testing & Treatment w/o 10/3

bearmomma1 · October 2022

This is a place for those of us who have already started TTC, but have started infertility testing and/or treatments. You can express your thoughts, feelings, and frustrations on infertility. TTC can be a long journey naturally, then add in the difficulties associated with infertility, and it becomes a whole new ballgame. The road to infertility can be lonely, frustrating, and complicated, so let's make this a place where we can vent, ask questions, and support one another. Feel free to resurrect this thread at any point in the week if you have something to say. Treat this as an ongoing conversation.

Diagnosis (if you've been):

Status (TI/ICI/IUI/IVF/FET/benched):

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?):

How are things going?:

Any questions?:

GTKY: Which would you rather do: wash dishes, mow the lawn, clean the bathroom, or vacuum the house?

annanbby · October 2022

Diagnosis (if you've been): Currently unexplained

Status (TI/ICI/IUI/IVF/FET/benched): Taking a break for the next few months, so NTNP

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): N/A

How are things going?: Meh. Had a weird start to this cycle. AF literally lasted two days and then that was it...no idea why. But yep, this is our first of three months taking a break from trying, however we have decided to schedule a consult for an IUI just to get some information and be able to prepare financially for that if we decide to go that route in January. The cool thing is that I found out my doctor's office actually has a NP that does IUI's there in the office! Not sure if that's the norm, but I was pretty excited to discover that.

Any questions?: Has clomid ever caused AF to be really short for anyone else? This is the first time this has happened, so I was trying to figure out what may have caused it to be only two days.

GTKY: Which would you rather do: wash dishes, mow the lawn, clean the bathroom, or vacuum the house? Wash dishes. I often do this while listening to an audiobook or watching a show so it's much less unpleasant lol

bearmomma1 · October 2022

@annanbby my period this cycle was only 2.5 days long too...I was on letrozole and not sure what was up. Was yours light too? Clomid has a tendency to thin out lining, so it was maybe that?

annanbby · October 2022

@bearmomma1 how strange! Yes, mine was lighter than usual, too. I was wondering about that, I wasn't sure if a thinner lining meant heavier or lighter AF, but I guess it makes sense if it was lighter. I wonder why letrozole would do the same thing?

bearmomma1 · October 2022

@annanbby it’s not supposed to. My lining was pretty average for me, so I’m not sure why my period was so short and light 🤷🏼‍♀️

optimistgardener · October 2022

@annanbby, i would not be surprised if clomid is thinning your lining! in your shoes i'd want a doctor to monitor your next round when you start doing iuis or else move you over to letrazole.

Diagnosis (if you've been): elderly

Status (TI/ICI/IUI/IVF/FET/benched): ivf

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): digesting some good news

How are things going?: YOU GUYS I GOT MY PGT-A RESULTS BACK AND I HAVE TWO NORMAL EMBRYOS!! i can't believe it. honestly i've been preparing myself to have to write a message saying my goodbyes to this board... BUT YOU HAVEN'T GOTTEN RID OF ME YET BWAH HAHAHAA.

Any questions?: ok, uh. folks with more transfer experience than me, i'd like a sense of what basic testing i should ask for, and what else you'd recommend in preparation.

GTKY: Which would you rather do: wash dishes, mow the lawn, clean the bathroom, or vacuum the house?
oh man, ugh, i guess i'd clean the bathroom, although in reality vacuuming the house usually wins, because it's the fastest way to make it look less insane.

anniemarie887 · October 2022

Diagnosis (if you've been): uncooperative uterus/RLP, chronic endometritis

Status (TI/ICI/IUI/IVF/FET/benched): benched

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): 500 mg of flagyl 2x a day, 100 mg of doxy 2x a day, and had an injection of ceftriaxone in my bum today. i'll finish up the RXs on 9/21 and will get another biopsy about a week later.

How are things going?: well, apparently this level of antibiotics also comes with a side of a colon cleanse. ahem. i talked to the pharmacist when i picked everything up last friday... turns out taking heartburn meds with the doxy is a big no no. they bind together and make the doxy less effective. she was like drink more water and don't lay down for an hour after taking it, thrilling. it also binds to dairy/calcium... so i'm pretty aggressively cutting that out of my diet so that i can get alllllll the effectiveness of these meds. ugh. i bought oat milk for my coffee, not realizing like all non dairy stuff is still calcium fortified. took me 30 min of googling/looking at labels online to determine that nutpods creamer does not have calcium in it. otherwise its wait 2 hours before and after meds to eat anything with dairy... which is not as easy as it seems!!!

Any questions?: natm

GTKY: Which would you rather do: wash dishes, mow the lawn, clean the bathroom, or vacuum the house? omg - none, sorry, can i pick that option?

@annanbby no experience with shorter periods, but i think it's def wise to get some info for IUI and know your options!

kiki047 · October 2022

I'm coming back later for an actual update but @optimistgardener OMG OMG OMG this is wonderful news!!!
As far as transfer testing goes, have you done anything in the past? ERA? EMMA/ALICE? I have mixed feelings about the ERA but I do think there is some value in the endometrial microbiome testing and the endometritis test. I would also want to have a thyroid panel done, as well as checking for some of the more common clotting disorders. And my RE recommends a sonohysterogram every 6 months to check the uterine cavity. Which reminds me, I need to book one for myself.

optimistgardener · October 2022

thank you so much, @kiki047! all i've done in the past is confirm general structural integrity, and long ago and far away i did sis and hsgs. so i'll start with asking about the stuff you've mentioned! i did read that the studies on the receptivity testing (i guess that's the ERA?) did not demonstrate higher pregnancy rates. but microbiome testing makes intrinsic sense.

anniemarie887 · October 2022

gah @optimistgardener i sat on this and didnt hit refresh before i posted! i am SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!! what absolutely great news that you deserve after all of this!

bearmomma1 · October 2022

I'll come back later for tags, but I'm absolutely devastated right now. My dr just called with my amh levels, and they're at .081...down from .4 1 year ago. I'm crushed. I know we made the decision to go with egg donor, but I just thought maybe there'd still be a slim chance I could get knocked up naturally....and now that slim chance is smaller than I thought....ughhhh

optimistgardener · October 2022

oh crap @bearmomma1, i'm so sorry to hear that. sending hugs. that's a pretty remarkable shift over the course of a year--does your doctor have any explanation for that?

maggiemadeit · October 2022

*lurking*

@optimistgardener So so so happy for you!!!

@bearmomma1 I’m so sorry it wasn’t better news. Thinking of you.

anniemarie887 · October 2022

@bearmomma1 i'm so sorry, sending you a big hug. i am by no means an expert in this area - but i follow a RE at RMA in NYC and she has a story series on low AMH, i hope i am linking this right -- if not you can look for her on IG Lucky.Sekhon and look for the AMH story series. i wonder if it would be worth getting another opinion?

Stories • Instagram

optimistgardener · October 2022

@bearmomma1 yesterday i was reading this on my phone rather than my laptop and misread .4 as 4. so less of an extreme drop than i thought. still, it's a disappointing tick downwards. speaking as a person whose AMH levels have hovered in the .3-.5 range for the past several years (and i haven't even bothered having mine tested for almost a year now), i'm not going to try to sugarcoat that our #s (yours and mine both) aren't great. still, for whatever little silver lining this offers, AMH moves around more than people think it does. i've had mine move upwards by as much as .2. it seemed to respond to my taking dhea supplements. basically what i'm saying is, AMH works within a range - you may have caught it as a higher-than-usual moment last year, and now you're catching at a lower-than-usual moment. i would go ahead and average those #s in your brain and just tell yourself you're in the neighborhood of .2.

since you're planning on taking the egg donor route anyway, it's ok to keep telling yourself that as long as your body is maintaining a regular menstrual cycle and you have signs of ovulating, you're still capable of producing a good egg, and the chances of getting ku naturally are not zero. so hold onto that possibility alongside the hoops you're about to jump through for an egg donation, if it helps.

bearmomma1 · October 2022

Thanks everyone! I was in a horrible funk yesterday, feeling like such a failure. Like me having almost no amh makes me less of a woman? I'm not sure. I kept apologizing to my H. I have many times over the years for similar reasons, but this just felt like the final knockout. (He of course tells me to stop apologizing) I'm still in a funk today but your words of support and advice definitely help soften the blow.

@optimistgardener yea you are right. It'll be interesting to see what my body does with this cycle, as it's the first cycle in a almost a year I haven't done any fertility/ovulation stimulating. btw, horray for your 2 little embabies!! When do you supposed you'll do a transfer?

@anniemarie887 thanks for the link! I'll have to check her out. and that seems to be a lot of no-no's to remember. How is your heart burn situation going so far?

Diagnosis (if you've been): dried up old retired ovaries.

Status (TI/ICI/IUI/IVF/FET/benched): unsure

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): no treatment for a few months while we really think about our next steps. seems like every day there's something else to consider. but hopefully moving forward with egg donor next year

How are things going?: crappy. feeling prematurely old and useless

Any questions?: not right now

GTKY: Which would you rather do: wash dishes, mow the lawn, clean the bathroom, or vacuum the house? definitely wash dishes. I hate having dishes in the sink, even though there seems to be a never ending supply of them. a clean empty sink and dishwasher make me happy

bearmomma1 · October 2022

woah, somehow my post posted twice, so here's a random fact instead:

It's illegal to own just one guinea pig in Switzerland. It's considered animal abuse because they're social beings and get lonely.

anniemarie887 · October 2022

@bearmomma1 no heartburn so far! it did take about a week to kick in last time... as for how are you are feeling, i'm a big feel the feelings person. you have every right to be upset about this and i'm glad YH is being really supportive.

anniemarie887 · October 2022

@bearmomma1 no heartburn so far! it did take about a week to kick in last time... as for how are you are feeling, i'm a big feel the feelings person. you have every right to be upset about this and i'm glad YH is being really supportive.

optimistgardener · October 2022

i went and looked at my paperwork from the genetics lab (so now i know my euploid embryos are XX and XY), and boy howdy the rest of my embryos are f**ked up. like i remember from my first couple of retrievals that i had a few plain vanilla 'abnormals' that were just one chromosome wrong, but i have always also had some complex abnormals (2 or more chromosomes with problems). well, this time around, all five of my other embryos are all like, wrong in about 6 different ways. maybe a genetics specialist would have a different take on this, but i think what i'm looking at there is my body getting less competent at organizing these chromosomes, even just over the course of a year. so i feel extra, extra lucky that it managed to pull its sh*t together twice to make normal embryos. maybe that's the omnitrope talking.

optimistgardener · October 2022

TB's code is a mess rn and my message posted 3x even though i only hit post 1x (hey @bumpadmin things are getting weird around here!). so i'll take this needed opportunity to send a big hug @bearmomma1's way. i know very intimately that feeling of , i guess it's something like shame that your own body is old and crapping out and not able to do that most "feminine" of things, make a baby. i used to feel that a lot, and this is going to sound weird but i felt it a lot both when it came to dealing with my sperm bank, and also when it came to asking my known donor (a friend of mine who was "donating" his sperm every month to me for a while, which required a kind of awkward exchange where he would come over to my house and jerk off in a bathroom and then hand me a jar with the results). like every time it didn't work, i had this intense wave of shame that i was so old and broken that my body couldn't do this basic thing, and having to tell my friend or call up the sperm bank again was laden with this self-hating feeling that was like "they're gonna wonder what's wrong with me, they're gonna think i'm disgusting." i know you know this, but you're not broken, and the function of your ovaries or lack thereof does not reflect who you are as a woman. listen to your husband when he tells you how attractive you are and necessary to his life.

optimistgardener · October 2022

ok and here's me fixing post #3. @bearmomma1 you asked me when i'll do a transfer, and i haven't completely figured that out yet. before i do, i want to make sure i do any tests and undertake any procedures that will make my chances better. so i'm guessing i might transfer early next year, like feb or march maybe? i'm not in a huge hurry. although implantation rates do decline over time even with euploid embryos into older women, they don't fall off a cliff the way our egg quality does.

annanbby · October 2022

@optimistgardener I definitely plan to ask to have my next medicated cycle monitored, whether it's just letrozole or letrozole and IUI. Either way, I want to make sure everything is doing what it should in there.
Also, soooo happy to hear such good news!!

@anniemarie887 ugh sorry about the miserable effects of the antibiotics. As long as it does what it needs to do, I guess it's worth it, but I'm sorry you have to deal with all that.

@bearmomma1 I'm sorry there wasn't better news. Glad to hear YH has been so supportive.

Fingers crossed this doesn't post multiple times lol

bearmomma1 · October 2022

Wow wow wow, @optimistgardener thank you so much for all your thoughts. They are very similar to mine. This loss or mourning of any future genetically mine child is also very triggering to my past loss and grief. The piles of all these feelings are just so hard to handle at times. My colleague yesterday said even though it all feels so sad right now, try to focus on the opportunity of the new path you've decided to take. Think of the end game that's still a possibility. And honestly, that really did make me feel a bit better. Similar to what my RE and another infertility friend of mine said, if you want to have a baby, there's a way to do it. It might not be how you imagined or wanted, but there's a way. So I think I'm going to let myself mourn and be sad a little while longer, then I'm going to start focusing on the future possibilities and really start taking the next steps to get into the donor process. I think once we really jump in, I'll have something to be excited about.

You group of ladies really are the best. I'm so glad I found this corner of the internet when I needed it the most. I'm sorry we're all on this crappy infertility struggle bus. It sucks so hard, but it's nice to have company for the ride.

anniemarie887 · October 2022

@bearmomma1 i hesitated to post this earlier because i know sometimes ppl finding the silver lining in things can just... well... grate on you. but i wanted to share that i am not 100% biologically linked to any of my siblings (one is half, and two are adopted). they're just my sisters, i don't differentiate when i think about them, nor do our parents. my parents get such a kick because personality wise #1 and #3 are the same, and then me (#2) and #4 are. and like the dna doesn't add up to cause that to have happened. so just know, whatever path you and YH choose to continue your family is the right one.

acleverusername · October 2022

*ALWAYS lurking*

@bearmomma1 my favorite mantra from TEW is “you’re going to be a mother, one way or another” tapered with “just because you’ve run out of biological capacity to have children, doesn’t mean you’ve run out of the desire.” This isn’t something you want to hear or can even begin to contemplate at the start of your TTC journey. BUT, as time goes by and trials and tribulations mount, those two ‘mantras’ take on a whole new meaning.

@optimistgardener I am so FRIGGING ECSTATIC for you! I would say TEST TEST TEST and then TEST SOME MORE as you prepare for your transfer. Look especially at inflammation markers (I.e. c reactive protein). The red flag in your case I think is many attempts at in-home insemination and IUIs. I don’t think that egg quality is the only thing at play here (although it likely played a large part but you’ve been at it FOR SO LONG… not that I need to remind you of this). If you are willing to go down that route, I’d look into Pregmune testing to see if there are any immune or blood clotting issues.

@annanbby Clomid / Letrazole definitely mess up lining and periods. But, like, I’ve had cycles where I had nice and plump lining followed by a ridiculously short period. One thing to keep in mind that Clomid has a longer half-life than Letrazole so it can have impact on cycle following it’s use. Finally, re: IUIs at and OB versus RE: it’s of course great that you bave that option but keep in mind that OB offices are only open Mon-Fri so if your follicles are ready to go on a Friday, which would call for an IUI on a Sunday, then you could be SOL. When I was just staring out on our treatment journey, I purchased / watched the Fertility IQ IUI course which was quite informative ($49). Some of those videos are available for free: https://www.fertilityiq.com/iui-or-artificial-insemination/the-biggest-decisions-in-an-iui-cycle#medication-choice

optimistgardener · October 2022

thank you @acleverusername that is all excellent advice. it's tough to confront the likelihood that there's more going on than just egg quality, but it's important that i do!

acleverusername · October 2022

@optimistgardener the way I thought about it when we were prepping for a transfer is: how much is each of my embryos worth to me? How much is it to get additional testing to help ensure the highest success rates? You have to look at the relative cost as opposed to absolute cost of the testing.

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