Had my blood test and ultrasound this morning, which showed my lead follicles at 12mm, with over 20 follicles on each ovary - ouch! The new clinic don't measure each follicle so I don't know any more than that unfortunately. What I am most worried about though is my estrogen level - currently at 5000 on day 9! I went back through my old IVF records and the cycle where I had severe OHSS and ended up in hospital, my E2 levels were 5470 on day 14...
A comparison of the two cycles
May 08 -
CD 6 -210, CD 9 - 530, CD 12 - 1800, CD 14 - 3000, CD 16 - 5470, CD 18 - Trigger, CD 20 - EPU
Ended up in hospital for three nights with OHSS, vomiting, severe pain etc and of 20 eggs retrieved, froze all four blastocyst embryos.
June 10 -
CD 6 - 900, CD 7 - 1600, CD 9 - 5000.
I'm really starting to get nervous about the whole thing. I am informed, I know that I run the risk of hyperstimulation each cycle, especially as I have had it in the past. But I so badly don't want to get it. I get incredibly depressed when I get sick and it messes me up in my head. I don't want to be dealing with that right now.
I rang back the clinic to say that I wanted a note made on my file that I was concerned about OHSS, that I didn't want to cancel this cycle and be over-cautious but that I wanted to do whatever I could to avoid it. I know some people do protein-rich diets which can help, and maybe it might be worth me coasting a bit to see if my levels will drop back. I don't even know if that is possible, all though Dr Google seems to think it can happen.. All I remember about my last OHSS stint was that I was in agony and I don't want to do that again.
Does anyone know what their estrogen levels were like before their egg collection? And if you had a high number, did you end up hyperstimulating? How did you manage it? I need reassurance that I can still go ahead without ended up a complete ohss mess.
I have my E2 levels down for my first cycle on my page. By day 8 of stims I was over 3000. By day 11 I was close to 7000! I too am scared to do another fresh cycle because I never want to go through that again. They did have me coast after day 9. And I'm sure that helped me not go even higher. I was never hospitalized, although I could have been. I was out of work for 2 weeks. I opted to freeze all embies as well. I was doing the high protein diet along with TONS of water, the water helps a lot! I think that the water is what kept me out of the hospital. Also I did not use the HCG trigger. (Not sure what you trigger with over there.) Good luck girl. I hope it works out better this time than it did last time.
ReplyDeleteThat's what Im concerned about - I can't afford the time off work as I have used most of my sick leave on my wisdom teeth and previous ivf attempts. Plus we are going overseas in early July and I definitely want to be better for that!
ReplyDeleteIn saying all of that, I have come up with a list of ways to hopefully prevent ohss and am going to take them with me to the clinic tomorrow, fingers crossed they are willing to talk about it all.
I had really really high levels (cant remember what they were though) and I did have OHSS.. but only when i got pregnant
ReplyDeleteI was in hospital and thought the transfer didnt work! Apparently the babies cause the OHSS.
I was told to drink a lot of water (like 3 ltrs a day!!) eat lots of protein, sleep with 2 pillows and just take it easy.
Hope that helps. its not a pleasant thing to go through. I hope and pray you level out very fast.
I hope everything works out for you.. sending love and prayers your way
Aimee
I think we measure it differently here in SA but my understanding is that your E2 should be at around 1000 per mature egg you retrieve. So for my last GIFT my E2 levels were 9000 odd and I got 9 eggs - according to my FS a spot on stim and retrieval.
ReplyDeleteI had overstim with my 3rd IVF and it was not pleasant at all... I would discuss "coasting" you with your FS to help avoid it and also drink plenty of water - like 4 litres a day - it helps keep it at bay.
All the best!
xxx
PS here from LFCA
My E2 measured 11,000 before my retrieval. They got 32 eggs from me. I insisted on going through with the transfer which was the biggest mistake I ever made. In hindsight I wish I would have frozen them. I would say go through with retrieval, but freeze all of your embryos, let your body recover, and do a frozen transfer!
ReplyDeleteI ended up in the emergency room with a suspected pulmonary embolism. It was one of the scariest things ever. I don't recommend doing what I did!
My estrogen was in the low 2000s before retrieval. They got 42 eggs, 27 mature. I ended up with severe OHSS and the transfer was cancelled. It was a pretty horrific experience, probably the worst thing I have dealt with ever.
ReplyDeleteIf you are dead set on transferring, I would consider triggering with Lupron. For my 2nd IVF they were planning to do that but my response was so low that it wasn't necessary that time. There is a small risk of the follicles not maturing but using the Lupron trigger is like a 99% guarantee of not hyperstimulating. Something to ask your RE about!
LFCA