Community post

Not sure of the conversion of doses for Bravelle. But when I used Follistim and Gonal my starting dose was 225 but I am a super quick responder and have a very high antral follicle count. Many women start off with a dose of 300 which sounds like the same as what you are doing.

The intramuscular injections scared me at first but you get used to them. Some women do their own IM injections and they must be like the Chuck Norris' of IVF. No way could I do that! My husband didn't think he would be able to inject me either and I was really worried that I would have to call my MIL (who is a nurse) every day to do it. He got used to doing it though with some training from the nurses. I always have the nurse draw targets on my tush with permanent marker at the retrieval haha. That seems to help him. Also, you can ice the area before the injection for about 10 mins and you feel the injection less but I ended up bruising more that way and got really sore. I don't ice at all anymore and I feel the needle go in but I hardly bruise at all and am not as sore. Both methods have their pros.

As far as the beta, my RE likes to see an initial beta over 100 for a fresh cycle and over 50 for a frozen to be convinced it's probably a viable pregnancy. You will probably have 2-4 betas if it's positive about 2-3 days apart to make sure the number is doubling and if it is an u/s between 6 & 8 weeks. My RE transfers you to a regular OB, or high-risk OB with multiples, at 20 weeks pregnant. Every RE could be different though.

I think my RE was going to transfer me back to my OB at 15 weeks, but it worked out a little differently for me as I'm not in the same state as my IVF treatment. My RE has asked that my OB share all my data, and they still are calling to check up on me.

I agree with MNOR's explanation of the injections. I had to give myself one on the single occasion my hubby forgot and left the house. Let's just say it's not easy, more painful, and is full of logistical issues. My hubs got quite good at it. He learned stab it quick, and like a dart. It should be as perpendicular to your skin as possible, and the quicker (with gentle pressure) is best. My nurse aunt also recommends putting the long end of the tapered needle on the bottom, closest to the floor. She says for whatever reason it helps.

Trust us, by a few weeks in you'll be a pro.

Thanks again ladies.

Hi ladies, I hope it's ok if I join you. We are to starting our first ivf treatment next week, baseline us is on 2/12. A little about our situation, I'm 34 and was diagnosed with dor (fsh 6.9, amh .64, afc 4). Dh has some morphology issues but counts for iui were good. We tried 3 medicated iui's last year and had a chemical pregnancy on our first. Re recommended that ivf with micro flare protocol is our next best option, super aggressive on stims at 600iu a day. I'm in the process of getting all of the drugs this week and it's a juggle to get the best prices since we're paying out of pocket. My egg retrieval is scheduled for anything between the 25th through 28th. I've also been on dhea and coq10 this past month as recommended by my re.

Any advice for my first ivf? What to do before, after, etc? Any tips are greatly appreciated.

Wishing all the ladies on here baby dust and happy and healthy babies!

Welcome fellow ivf-er! By all means join in!

First of all...600iu!? I would have ovaries the size of basketballs! Lol. Are you starting that high due to the low amh/ egg count? With doses that high you are going to want to do what you can to avoid ohss. Start taking in extra protein and drink something with electrolytes such as gatorade. Watch your estradiol level, your RE should show concern if it goes over 5,000. Other than that it's just a bunch of waiting, ultrasounds and blood work until ER day.

I use freedom fertility pharmacy for my meds. Yes they are expensive and there really isn't any way around it. Your RE might have close to expired samples or an exchange program that connects you with other women who have leftover medication.

Are you going to be knocked out for the retrieval? If not, I reccommend it. You will be pretty sore after for probably 2-3 days, like really bad cramps. I made sure I had the whole week off from work for both retrievals I have done. I brought heat packs with me for the ride home and had a reheatable one at home. I also got a prescription for tylenol with codeine which was very helpful but you could probably get by with just regular tyelonol. Keep drinking fluid afterwards and make dh your servant when you get home :-) Park yourself on the couch with a book or netflix or something and just chill.

Thanks mnor for all of the advice :) yes 600 is actually going to be 300 of bravely/menopur mixed twice a day. I'm not at risk for ohss due to the DOR diagnosis, same reasoning for the high level of stims to begin with. I've already done iui's with Follistim 225 dose and responded with 2-4 follicles each time. Hoping that I get the desirable response with these new levels for ivf.

As for meds, I've shopped them everywhere, I have partial invariance coverage for the year (2500 limit) so I had to split my order up between several pharmacies, my re was also good and exchanged some of our old meds for the new Rx.

As for the procedure, I will be out for it, it's part of my clinics protocol. I'll start to stock up on Gatorade flavors I like :) thanks for the tip on the heat pack, will make sure to bring one with me to the procedure and take some time off. They are also offering me norco as a pain med for the procedure afterwards.

Did you any ladies take any time off for the egg transfer? Anyone do acupuncture ? Still on the fence on starting that or just holding off for now.

You can still get ohss with dor. It's more rare but still a possibility, especially if you aren't used to such high doses. I did 4 iui's and got 1-3 follicles on the first 3 but on the 4th I had 6 mature follicles and that's when it got painful and I put on a lot of bloat weight because my body wasn't used to it. You won't get severe ohss with dor but you can experience a mild version like I did at first until I got used to the overstimulation and learned how to avoid it. My first ivf cycle I only had 13 mature follicles and I looked 5 months pregnant afterwards and the recovery was longer because I didn't drink extra fluids, drink a full bottle of gatorade daily and eat extra protein like I did my second ivf cycle. That time I had 23 eggs but hardly bloated at all and the recovery was super quick.

I always try to do the embryo transfer on a Thursday or Friday if possible so I can relax all weekend too or on a vacation week. I haven't done acupuncture but I am thinking of adding it for my fet in march. If you do decide to add acupuncture let me know how it goes.

Hello and welcome!!!!

Each time I read this thread I'm just so grateful for it's existence and especially for MNOR's advice and knowledge.

Have you read this thread beginning to present? If not, I promise it is worth the time.

We want this to work for you so please keep us all updated with your progression!

Many hugs to all of you!!!

SOMEDAY MOM: how is your stimming going?

Hello all and welcome Awhitaker. I did my third lupron shot today and I stop my OCPs tomorrow. My next appointment is the 14th and I start the Bravelle then. So far so good on the injections except I think the lupron is causing headaches. Does anyone have any experience with this side effect?

Someday, what protocol are you on? You and I should be fairly close together. I stop my bcp tomorrow, have us on we'd and start Lupron that night if all goes well with us.

Wishing you all the best!

Mrs fridley- yes I've read this thread all the way through and so many others online... It's crazy how threads from years ago provide information and assurance just about any topic you can think of.

Thank you for the welcomes!