13 replies to this topic

[Peaches80]

Hello everyone! 

 

New here! I'm a 40yr old mother of 3 nearly grown children(17,18 and 20). I had a tubal ligation(other than that road block, literally! I do not have any infertility issues) in 2003 after my last child was born. I'm currently at the end stages of my 1st IVF cycle for a hopefully 1st Child(his only) with my new partner(43). 15 eggs retrieved 7 successfully fertilized with some ICSI and some not. We are at day 3 and still holding strong at 7 embryos. We have opted for the genetic testing at day 5.  Ok, now my issue. injections not so bad, side effects of injections just headaches, bloating and a little sluggish. Day 3 post retrieval still very bloated. My normally flat belly  looks roughly 3-4 month pregnant. Still very uncomfortable, very FULL feeling. Even painful at times. I also have heartburn/acidic belly. I have a history of Migraine with aura. Yesterday was my first one triggered by the hormones. It was bad, really bad. Presented differently and scared the crap out of me. Apparently throwing me into a panic attack which I have no experience with. Luckily I work along side doctors and nurses all day and they calmed me down. So long story short. Does anyone else have a history of Migraines with aura while on IVF that has increased your symptoms substantially?

 

Thanks so much! 

[Daisy.Eriksen]

Hi!

I don't have any experience with migraines but I hear they're awful. I'm sorry yours has been so bad. I think it could be aggravated by the hormones you've been on. I would probably call your clinic (if you haven't already) to tell them all the symptoms you mentioned, in case they want to monitor for OHSS or if they have any advice or reassurance about the migraine.

Good luck!

[mouse]

Yes - I have migraines with aura as well as the occasional hemiplegic migraine.  Mine were a little more frequent during IVF and the severity/duration was much more like they had been at puberty (puking for 3 days sort of migraines).  Once I got pregnant, however they pretty much disappeared - I literally had 7 months straight with out a migraine or ice pick headache.  After pregnancy, they did pick up again, but nowhere near the frequency as prior.  I think that migraines are fairly variable from person to person - they run on both sides of my family (yay!) but each of has a different mix, different triggers and different response to meds. Fingers crossed for you!

[Misskika007]

Hey mouse, I definitely have had migraines while taking estrogen and stims, and also looked pretty pregnant post-retrieval. Like Daisy said, you should definitely mention this to your doctor and see if they may want to check you for OHSS. Sometimes taking letrozole after an egg retrieval can help get the hormones out of your body quicker. Wishing you a lot of good vibes for your embryos!

[Peaches80]

Thanks so much Ladies! 

Update: New symptoms/side effects I believe to be from my vaginal progesterone(only on day4 of a 14 day course). Abdominal cramps(not pelvic) pain, some sharp. Yesterday(appx 1pm) pretty bad diarrhea with sweating and chills and vomiting(only once) diarrhea continued on and off until I went to bed. Also have lower back pain which a heating bad helped last night in bed. I haven't had anything to eat yet today because my stomach still hurts and i'm afraid to add fuel to the fire.

I suppose I will break down and contact the office. I work in the medical field so I know better but I'm the most stubborn patient. I don't want them to change my dose, if it's normal it's normal and i'll tough it out. 

[Daisy.Eriksen]

That could be side effects of your progesterone. But it kind of sounds like OHSS to me. I'm glad to hear you plan on calling your clinic. 

If you aren't doing a fresh transfer, it doesn't matter if they change your progesterone dose. And if you're planning on a fresh transfer, ruling out OHSS would be good, since pregnancy can make OHSS symptoms much worse.

[Peaches80]

We are doing the genetic testing at day5/6(tomorrow or friday) with a  frozen transfer. 

Thanks again for the quick responses! I'm kinda on my own other than my partner(who is amazing) because we are keeping this all under wraps for now. So I have no real female support system during all this.

[happyfrog]

Good luck with your genetic testing x

[ShadowGirl]

Hello everyone! 

 

New here! I'm a 40yr old mother of 3 nearly grown children(17,18 and 20). I had a tubal ligation(other than that road block, literally! I do not have any infertility issues) in 2003 after my last child was born. I'm currently at the end stages of my 1st IVF cycle for a hopefully 1st Child(his only) with my new partner(43). 15 eggs retrieved 7 successfully fertilized with some ICSI and some not. We are at day 3 and still holding strong at 7 embryos. We have opted for the genetic testing at day 5.  Ok, now my issue. injections not so bad, side effects of injections just headaches, bloating and a little sluggish. Day 3 post retrieval still very bloated. My normally flat belly  looks roughly 3-4 month pregnant. Still very uncomfortable, very FULL feeling. Even painful at times. I also have heartburn/acidic belly. I have a history of Migraine with aura. Yesterday was my first one triggered by the hormones. It was bad, really bad. Presented differently and scared the crap out of me. Apparently throwing me into a panic attack which I have no experience with. Luckily I work along side doctors and nurses all day and they calmed me down. So long story short. Does anyone else have a history of Migraines with aura while on IVF that has increased your symptoms substantially?

 

Thanks so much! 

I didn't have any Migraines with aura but I remember all my struggles, triggers, jabs, and almost all feelings and experiences  I've had during the previous cycles. I have a 6yo daughter from egg donation and now, after such a long period of time, decided to have another baby with my second husband. I have chosen the ICSI Clinic in Ukraine because of the doctor who gave me the hope to have our own baby with my eggs and my husband's sperm. I have doubts that it can work out for us due to PCOS but still, I have hope. I wish you all the best in your journey and will be keeping my fingers crossed for you. 

[Peaches80]

I broke down and went in to get checked out. Good News no OHSS. My ovaries just haven't went down at all yet and I might have a UTI(waiting on the urine culture) which would explain my extra discomfort.  

 

Just got a message from our embryologist(today is day 6). Out of our 7 embryos we are down to 3 that have been biopsied(sending out Monday for genetic testing). Graded fairly well I think: 5AB 6BB and 4BC .The scale they are using:The number is how expanded or mature the blastocyst is on a scale of 1-6 with 1 being the least. The first letter is the quality of the inner cell mass and the second letter is the quality of the trophectoderm A-C with A being the best. I'm pretty bummed that we are down to 3 with still a test to get through. I'm trying to stay positive and know 3 is much better than 1 or 0 and we're pretty lucky.

 

Please send all the good juju/vibes/mojo/prayers for our little 3

[Daisy.Eriksen]

This board is a great place for support during IVF - it can be a lonely time and support is so helpful.

 

I'm glad you went and got checked out, and glad to hear I was wrong and no OHSS.  

I'm sorry to hear you're sad about 3 - I can understand. We always want a lot of them to make it to blast. But those grades look pretty good, and hopefully a good number will be normal. Another wait now for those results. Good luck!

[returnable]

I think for your age having 3 really good looking embryos is absolutely amazing! Remember that it just takes one.

[happyfrog]

Stay positive, grading is only one of the factors, while the whole picture is much more complex. Myself I know ladies who managed to get pregnant with the weakest embryo, while others failed with the strongest ones.

[FuzzyDust]

3 embryos at your age is great!!! I had 3 embryos back when I was 34 one of them, "fair" BC-graded, is now a happy 2 year old toddler  

 

Good luck with the biopsy test results!! I know how nerve-wrecking this whole thing could be, but as long as you have >1 viable embryos - you're in the game!!!