IF testing and treatment w/o Jan 2

wanderlustsoul · January 2023

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: Any goals or resolutions for the new year?

mambo5-2 · January 2023

Diagnosis (if you've been): RPL, MFI, possible Funky Blood

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

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): Natural cycle #1 post H's surgery

How are things going?: Good I'm anxious because I know I have to have my blood tested as soon as I get pregnant to see if my blood is clotting funny and with IVF we could know those things but now we don't know when we will know.

Any questions?: Nope

GTKY: Any goals or resolutions for the new year? Goal, eat more veggies. I go through waves of eating veggies really well and last year I was bad about it. I love vegetables but sometimes I just get away from them.

bearmomma1 · January 2023

@mambo5-2 fingers crossed your first cycle after H’s surgery is successful!

Diagnosis (if you've been): DOR, LPD

Status (TI/ICI/IUI/IVF/FET/benched): TI, though I think I need to have another conversation with my H about DE.

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): I’m not sure if we’ll be getting the ball rolling with a DE now that my new insurance option is available. Kinda nervous about it all.

How are things going?: they’re going well. We had a nice holiday and got to go up to the mountains last week and just got back yesterday. Saturday there was record snowfall of 3 feet in less than 24 hours. It was wild. Happy to be home and reset before back to work tomorrow.

Any questions?:

GTKY: Any goals or resolutions for the new year? We’re doing Dry January, and hoping that’ll help reset our relationship with alcohol. Other than that, just focus on being stronger, mentally and physically. Trying to be more positive and happy for other people instead of the bitter Betty I’ve become.

mambo5-2 · January 2023

@bearmomma1 Sounds like you've got lots of goals on the horizon!

anniemarie887 · January 2023

@mambo5-2 yay for being off the bench
@bearmomma1 oooooh all that snow sounds kind of fun tbh. Fingers crossed you get the clarity and answers to all the things.

Diagnosis (if you've been): uncooperative uterus/RPL

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

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): chiro this week, missed it last week with the stomach flu. all the usual vitamins, etc.

How are things going?: ugh stomach flu has now taken MH down

Any questions?: natm

GTKY: Any goals or resolutions for the new year - not really. I kind of hate resolutions. I plan to keep working out and doing my best to take care of this bag of bones. LOL

mokamonster · January 2023

@mambo5-2 I used to have the same resolution! Now I'm vegetarian, that did the trick haha

@bearmomma1 Wow! That's a lot of snow! The nerves of this whole journey are really terrible. Wishing the bests!

@anniemarie887 The stomach flu sounds terrible! My SO and I had covid a few weeks ago and had to put off our tests for two weeks. Waiting and being miserable!

Diagnosis (if you've been): Unclear still but I have Hashimoto's and DOR

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

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): non-medicated IUI but needed a trigger shot (yesterday morning) because my follicle was getting giant and I still wasn't even getting at-home LH tests over 0.5. IUI finally happening tomorrow!

How are things going?: I'm feeling pretty nervous and I'm not sure what to expect. They rarely let men back into the rooms in this hospital and I'm scared about doing the IUI alone (especially because they don't speak English and let's just say my Chinese medical terminology is lacking).

Any questions?: Anyone who's done an IUI: Does it hurt? The HSG was so painful, I was a second away from making them stop.

GTKY: Any goals or resolutions for the new year? I've made resolutions before but never stuck to them, so I've given up. Hope to just keep trying my best to stay physically and mentally healthy.

optimistgardener · January 2023

@mokamonster whether an IUI hurts is really specific to the individual, but I've had IUIs that I hardly noticed, and others that were quite uncomfortable. All they really need to do is slip a very narrow tube a short distance through the cervix and then inject a tiny amount of liquid. At its best, it twinges a bit like a pap smear. At other times, it can be crampy with a short sharp pain. But I would say an IUI is way easier than an HSG, which literally made me scream. Doing an IUI smoothly is all about angle, so I've found it can be helpful to put my hands under my hips to help lift the pelvis a bit (ask the doc/nurse if it improves access). if that doesn't work, you might try to hang your butt as faaaar off the edge as possible while still staying on the table. some doctors/nurses will reach for the tenaculum as soon as they struggle at all with accessing the cervix, but i hate it and negotiate hard to avoid it if i can because it's uncomfortable. Maybe useful to review your vocab in advance on some of these things?

@anniemarie887 saaame on the resolutions thing

@bearmomma1 wow you get insurance coverage for DE? that's fantastic! tell me more!

Diagnosis (if you've been): elderly ovary and such

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

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): prepping with all the shots.

How are things going?: The intramuscular estradiol (and eventually the progesterone when i get there) is so much more challenging than the belly shots. I did these last year for my failed FET, and they're more or less fine, but i still get kind of shaky as i prep everything.

Any questions?: nope

GTKY: Any goals or resolutions for the new year? I'm with @anniemarie887 on resolutions but I'll sign on to keeping on keeping on with trying to take decent care of myself.

bearmomma1 · January 2023

@anniemarie887 arg that stomach bug sounds horrible. I hope the end of the bug is near for the whole fam!
@mokamonster good luck with the IuI! I’ve done 4 and haven’t had an uncomfortable experience with any of them. The few times I was reading a “smut/dirty” book while waiting, the dr said they could tell I had some very good cervical fluid. Might help to get you in the mood! Lol as much as you can be for an insemination.

@optimistgardener I’m so impressed that you can do these shots on your own. I can handle a trigger/tummy shot, but I’m terrified of a butt/PiO shot. I think this is one of my big hesitations to go forward with IVF/DE. And no, I don’t have insurance specifically for DE, but I went from zero to now 50% iVF insurance. We’re not completely sure what that covers for DE IVF, but we think it will cover some costs. Which is why we’ve been waiting until the new year. I’m still not sure if this is really why we’ve been dragging with moving forward with this, or if we’re really just not super on board with the whole situation. Meh, so this is why another convo is due.

mokamonster · January 2023

@optimistgardener wow, thanks for all of that information! Usually a pap smear hurts pretty bad for me. I feel like the first time is just so scary but today I did see both partners go back to the rooms, not just the woman. So that's good! We forgot to ask our doctor while we were there what to expect. Those shots of yours sound really difficult! I don't think many people are able to do that, it takes a lot of strength.

@bearmomma1 haha that is really funny actually! I don't think I've ever read a dirty book lol I could see the doctor asking me what I was reading and me not knowing how to respond. Maybe I can prepare something to distract me, though! It would probably help to not be hyper-focused on everything I feel

mambo5-2 · January 2023

@optimistgardener I literally cannot imagine giving myself those shots like I think I could have done it but yes I would have been so shaky.

anniemarie887 · January 2023

Ladies who have done retrievals - did you get all your meds through your clinic? Or am I crazy that there are places online that can fill them for less? Have a friend who has no coverage for IVF, being quoted $4400 for meds.

Thank you so much!!!!

optimistgardener · January 2023

@anniemarie887 I got my meds through a variety of pharmacies in the US and abroad. Shopping around can be useful. if your friend (and her clinic) is open to purchasing internationally, the Israel-based IVF Pharmacy has great prices on Menopur and Gonal-F. My clinic recommended them. Otherwise I used NewEra, SMC, Credena, and Freedom Fertility, mostly because these were pharmacies that worked with my insurance and/or were convenient for other reasons but I know there are lots of others out there.

editing to reply to @mokamonster and @mambo5-2 re the IM shots. They're kind of awful but honestly they don't really hurt. It's more psychological than anything else. Ok that and it's about flexibility, because i think of myself as being pretty flexible but it's still not easy to jab my own butt.

Also, gather around for storytime and how Optimist made a very dumb mistake last night while doing her 2nd estradiol injection:

First, a couple of tricks when it comes to injecting: 1) when drawing oil-based medications you use a giant-gauged needle so that it's easier to pull from the bottle. once you've drawn up your med, you switch out to a smaller needle for a more comfortable shot, and 2) i always draw up a tiny bit more than what i should inject because by the time you expel the air from the top of the syringe and needle, it's often a little below where i should be on the syringe.
Last night i forgot to do the thing where i pulled up a little extra, and then also forgot to expel the air from the needle until I had already stuck the needle in myself. I realized this just before I injected, panicked, pulled the needle out, expelled the air, and realized i had only like .17ml of medicine instead of what i needed, which was .2. In a flush of idiocy, I was like "I'll just draw up a little bit more medicine and then reinject." So I put the used needle I'd already injected with back in the bottle and realized... that I had put a non-sterile, used needle into my sterile supply of estradiol instead of a fresh drawing needle. And that, my friends, is how I wound up frantically on the phone with my clinic and then the pharmacy this morning to send me a new, sterile supply of drugs in time for my next injection. Ugh.

anniemarie887 · January 2023

@optimistgardener thank you! So helpful. And ughhhh I’m sorry about your meds!!!

mambo5-2 · January 2023

@anniemarie887 we got ours through mdr for disabled veterans. H is a disabled vet.

optimistgardener · January 2023

@anniemarie887 dude the mistakes i have made through this process. just when i start to think i'm a total pro at everything i go and make a mistake like that.

anniemarie887 · January 2023

if anyone is just feeling agitated - warning prob don't want to listen on speaker at work on in public due to f bombs

F*ck That: An Honest Meditation - YouTube

mambo5-2 · January 2023

@optimistgardener oh no! Seriously the worst. Meds stress me out!

acleverusername · January 2023

*lurking*

Ouch... @optimistgardener at least estradiol isn't very expensive (relative to... you know... Omnitrope, which I had TWICE left out of the fridge and was told to discard thereafter). But yeah, I've had the experience of getting a little too overconfident and then making a dumba$$ mistake that one would only expect of a newb.

@anniemarie887 that vid is GOLD! I shared it at work. Lol. But just within my team.

mokamonster · January 2023

@anniemarie887 My cousin runs a nonprofit called the Stork Fund. I beloeve their main focus is helping find affordable medicine for those going through IVF. Not sure too much about it because I'm not close with her, but they're located on the US east coast. They might be able to give some helpful info

mokamonster · January 2023

Sorry for the multiple messages. My phone freaked out and the app closed

@optimistgardener omg what a crazy story! Sounds like something I would do tbh. I do know with bubbles that it needs to be like 3ml of a bubble to actually be bad? That's what a nurse told me when I was learning how to give IV antibiotics to my grandmother (which is terrifying in a different way lol)

We did the IUI on the morning of the 4th! I'll put the entire experience in a spoiler... it was wild

Also, anyone else have bad side effects from oral progesterone? I got a splitting headache, tiredness, nausea, and hunger too oddly.

So we arrived at the hospital before 8am for the sixth day in a row. They did a TVS again to confirm I ovulated (this was already 48 hours after a trigger shot, but I knew I ovulated the night before because I had ovulation pain). Then, we asked the doctor if my husband would be able to go back with me and she said absolutely not. Then proceeded to say that I can't even bring my phone back with me. So naturally, I started panicking and even thought of running out of the hospital when my husband was giving his contribution. I basically began telling him that I can't do it alone and crying. You could see back into a part of the hallway and it literally looked like a prison!

My husband asked the nurse again if he could go back and she proceeded to give extremely detailed information on what will happen back there, which just freaked me out more. She also said that it's a shared room and other people will be doing to same next to me. Anyway, my husband was trying his best to calm me down and then I remembered that I had a stress ball in my purse. Luckily they let me bring that back.

Anyway, I get back there, need to change my shoes into slippers, get into a room with 4 beds and sheet metal walls. It was like a horror film! I didn't even know who would be doing the IUI, but luckily our regular doctor walked in and that relaxed me a bit. Then they got me all ready and of course it hurt (probably partly because I was so nervous). I started crying because I was so overwhelmed and my doctor was like "does it hurt? It shouldn't hurt at all. So, do you have a Chinese name?" And she tried so hard to have a conversation with me to distract myself and I was just answering through my tears!

After it was done, they said I had to lay there for 30 minutes! I was so bored and just stared at the clock and played with my stress ball. During that time, another person came in to do an IUI (mind you, no curtains or any form of privacy, just another half naked person two feet away).

When it was all done and I went out, my husband was like "did you cry? The doctor came out just to tell me that you cried."

sunshine134 · January 2023

Hi Ladies, I guess I am officially joining you over here. After my blood tests, I had an appointment with my OBGYN yesterday, and it was not good news. We are still deciding our next steps.

Diagnosis (if you've been): High Estrogen, Low AMH, Anovulatory Cycles

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

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

How are things going?: Pretty awful. The appointment consisted of all the things that aren't working and we can't do. I can't even do Clomid because of my high estrogen and risks of blood clots and ovarian overstimulation. She did put in a referral for an RE, so that will likely be the next step.

Any questions?: NATM

GTKY: Any goals or resolutions for the new year? Nah, I don't really do resolutions.

mokamonster · January 2023

@sunshine134 welcome, there is a lot of support and kindness here ❤️ I'm new to this group and have recieved so much support already, it's incredible. I'm so sorry to hear about your testing. It's so hard to get this kind of news, especially because it's all out of our control. I'm wishing you the best for the future evaluations!

anniemarie887 · January 2023

@mokamonster i take 200mg of progesterone 2x a day vaginally... it makes me bloat like crazy and run HOT. other than that, i'm not sure i've noticed much more. maybe more headaches than normal?!
@sunshine134 i'm sorry you've found yourself here, it was march 2022 that i realized i needed to work with a RE and moved over to this group and the women here are nothing short of amazing in support and knowledge.

bearmomma1 · January 2023

@mokamonster holy crap, that does sound terrifying. Hopefully this IUI did the trick. But if it doesn't, would you go through that again knowing that's how it will go?

@sunshine134 sorry you're here, but this is a great place for support. Coming from someone with a VERY low AMH count, I know the feeling. Going to a RE definitely sounds like a great next step. As my RE said, there's always another step you can take to have a baby. Hopefully you'll be presented with some good choices.

mokamonster · January 2023

@anniemarie887 it's so odd that the vaginal ones arent available here. Luckily, the only side effect I had last night was extreme hunger. Hopefully my body is just adjusting

@bearmomma1 Sadly, yes. There is so much pressure in China to concieve a child in the first year of marraige (we've been married for over 3). We definitely won't do IVF at this hospital if we need to, but we plan to do three IUIs here if necessary

mambo5-2 · January 2023

@sunshine134 I'm so sorry that you have to join us here but this community is amazing. I hope you find a great RE to work with.

optimistgardener · January 2023

@mokamonster oh man that sounds nightmareish. i definitely have no experience of chinese medical culture but i have spent time in South Asia where even in the (fancy) private hospitals the kind of "bedside manner" stuff we are used to in the United States is... not a thing. the doctors and nurses are just like, we're the experts here, we don't need to explain anything to you, and you're making our jobs more difficult by bothering us with your worries and questions so please shut up and let us get on with our jobs. It can be very disconcerting.

@sunshine134 i'm so sorry to see you in this thread but nevertheless, welcome! i do not know very much about high estrogen, but i have low AMH and so do a lot of folks who come through here. make sure you're getting enough vitamin D (many of us are short on D in the winter) as it can have an effect, and ask your ob/gyn or maybe your RE about supplementing with DHEA. I saw some improvement in my AMH # after doing both of these things, although there's no real data to show that it effects conception rates. hopefully you'll learn a lot from meeting with an RE about your options for treatment with high estrogen. Was your e2 taken as part of your "day 3" blood draw?

acleverusername · January 2023

*lurky lurk*

@sunshine134 just came across this committee decision from ASRM. Might be a worthwhile read! TL;DR AMH / AFC alone are poor predictors of your ability to get pregnant.

https://www.asrm.org/globalassets/asrm/asrm-content/news-and-publications/practice-guidelines/for-non-members/testing_and_interpreting_measures_of_ovarian_reserve.pdf

mokamonster · January 2023

@optimistgardener that basically sums it up real well. We went through 4 doctors to find one we liked that took her time with me and the language barrier. But we can't make an appointment with a specific doctor, we just show up and hope that doctor is there that day

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