Questions for Bead

[LouiseB]

Hiya

I was just wondering what drugs you are on and how often you have to take them and things?

I'm sure i read something about having to take drug every few hours 24/7 or am i thinking of d.r.?

Can you feel loads of follicles in your gut? Apparently they are all about the size of grape and the number of follicles is like a bunch of grapes... so can you feel them under your skin? Is is sore?

Had any negative effects of d.r or stimulation?

 

[Bead]

Hi Louise!
Sorry for delayed reply - having loads of scans at the mo so have to get up at 6am... Zzzzz.... early nights for me in the week. But yay for Saturdays, it's PF day! :-D

I started Buserelin (Suprecur - the down regulation drug) just under 4 weeks ago. It's a nasal spray to be used 3 times a day. You can have daily injections instead, but whoa! A nasal spray sounded much less painful give the choice! I was told they are both equally efficient at doing the job.
As for side effects, I felt really anxious, but I had a really stressful couple of weeks at work, so can't be sure if my fragile mental state was due to work or the drugs! Also (TMI alert!)... there was a drastic and rather uncomfortable reduction in CM. But that stopped as soon as I started on the stim drugs.

Then 10 days ago I started the stimulation drugs - Gonal F injection, once a day. You keep taking the down reg drugs though. Latest scan today showed 3 big follicles (nearly 2cm each) and 2 small ones (about 0.5cm each). Not many... but my ovaries are getting on a bit now and I've read that too many follies isn't always a good thing - they may not contain mature eggs.
My lower tummy feels a bit tender... can't feel anything under the skin, but feel a bit bloated, and uncomortable if I hunch forwards and squash them It's in the same place as ovulation pain if you get that? But nowhere near as painful as Ov pain.
I've also felt a little bit sick on and off for the past 3 weeks, but nothing major. Worth the discomfort if it all works!

Wow a long post give me a shout if you want any more info!
Xx

 

[LouiseB]

Thanks Bead

Some questions just aren't the same being read from a factsheet - it's nice to hear it right from someone experiencing it

I had no idea that you had to go for regular scans and things, i thought it was a standard amount of time and they'd know when you was... umm.... ripe for the picking? lol

OMG 2cm is HUGE! I read people can get well over 10 of them!

I'm sure your right about you not needing to have loads, just need enough

I'd love to know all the gory details of your egg retrieval please

 

[Bead]

Yup internal scans every 2-3 days
I think people tend to stim for 10-14 days, but they have to keep a close eye on you in case you hyper-stimulate I think.
Gory details to follow soon!
Xxx

 

[BabyLover]

Sounds very interesting, but I am afraid I am lost in what you are going through lol Is it me or is it confusing?!

I do hope you are soon to have your BFP!

Donna x

 

[Bead]

It is soooo confusing Donna, it's not just you
Luckily the clinic gave us all the info in small chunks over several weeks so it's not been too overwhelming.

I've got everything crossed for you too Donna Xx

 

[LouiseB]

Donna - It depends how much you want to know really, i like to know everything that i can do.

When you go for IVF, there is about 2 month of hormone therapy you need to go through and then surgery and then hopefully they will create an embryo and then about week later you go and get the embryo implanted.

There are two stages to the hormone therapy:
Firstly down regulation (dr) which is using hormones to make your natural menstural cycle stop.
Secondly they kick start your cycle again and send it into overdrive (over stimulation) so that instead of producing one egg, you produce as many as possible, typically around 10-15.

When all of the eggs are mature (where Bead is upto) then you go and have surgery. They cut through your vaginal wall to access your ovaries to suck all the eggs out. You have a choice of local or general anesthetic.

At the same time, hubby goes and produces a sample and then they send them to the lab to fertilise the eggs

 

[LouiseB]

OMG - it just occurred to me that next week you'll have your BFP Bead

 

[kizzibea]

It's so cool to know that soon you'll be pregnant. Hope it all goes well for you Hun

 

[BabyLover]

Oh I get it now lol Thanks for telling me Louise, it makes sense now!

Yes like Louise said you could be having your BFP soon! Good Luck xxx

 

[Bead]

Thanks all for your support, I can't possible describe how much being able to let off steam here has helped to maintain my sanity! Ok I have gory details for you... I'll start a new post in a sec!!
Xx