Couple of Qs, bloating and exercising

caz · Post by **caz** » Sat Nov 16, 2002 2:42 pm

POsted this on the end of another chat - think has been lost in time. I am totlaly new to all of this - heres one of my many daft questions!..... I realise that in teh grand scheme of things this is a very irrelevant question but, I have read about all the side affects of IVF and I think the one I'm probably most concerned about is the bloating! I think My main concern is that everyone will suddenly notice that I look different?! IS this the case? How long does it go on for (assuming you dont get pg) - does anything help to reduce it Also I was wondering, and I think Nina was too, did people exercise normally during their treatment. If so - did it help with the bloating at all - did it make you feel better or worse? I was thinking it might help relax me/ take my mind of things a bit esp. during the 2ww. I'm totally new to all this and dont want to do anything to jeopardise my chances but on the other hand I can see myself going a bit nuts if I just have to sit and wait! Any advice? What advice have people had on this from their doctors etc?? Thanks all! Caz

Alison · Post by **Alison** » Sat Nov 16, 2002 4:56 pm

Hi Caz - no question's irrelevant, but you may get different answers as people respond differently, and also because it seems as if different clinics recommend different things. On the bloating, it happens because your follicles fill with fluid as they grow. You may have 10 or more of them (someone posted with 32!) and I think the ideal size is about 20mm - so that's quite a lot of volume! Having said that, on my first two goes I didn't notice anything at all, but this time in the course of one day my stomach decided to suddenly expand so I could hardly do up my trousers, which was a tad disconcerting! It generally goes down after e/c, and drinking lots of fluid is one of the things that helps. I had egg collection 5 days ago and am now back to normal size (plus a couple of pounds from all the chocolate I've been eating!) On the exercise front, I play squash and played through to the point of egg collection, which certainly helped with the stress levels, but am not planning on doing any more exercise until the 2ww's over. The general advice was not to do strenuous exercise or "anything you might regret afterwards and think if only..." Hope this helps - when do you start? Alison

caz · Post by **caz** » Sat Nov 16, 2002 5:42 pm

thanks Alison - thats so helpful. Its all the unknowns - however small they seem - that are so disconcerting! After meeting with dh and my own doctors in teh last couple of months we are going to see the fertility clinic for initial consultation on Dec 5th. Hopefully we'll start beginning of next year. Did you go back to work during your 2ww ?- how did you pass the time ?- it sounds agonising!

julie mins · Post by **julie mins** » Sun Nov 17, 2002 2:21 pm

Hi Caz I am now on day 2 of 2ww and my bloating is going down quite a lot. My stomach started to bloat about a week before ec so it hasn't been too bad. I have been wearing baggy trousers mainly because it just feels more comfortable at this stage - don't want to squash those little embies! This is my 2nd attempt at icsi and last time I bloated really badly and stayed that way for quite a while. Not too sure why there is a difference this time but I am a lot fitter this time and have lost about a stone and a half. Nobody has actually noticed this time that I have a bloated stomach you just have to be a little careful about what you wear! With exercise, like Alison I exercised up until ec - swimming and aerobics a couple of times a week but to be honest now I am on the 2ww really just want to relax and look after those embies. Don't feel like running around just yet as I am still feeling a little bit sore. However they do say just do whatever feels right for you, but nothing strenuous. The 2ww is hard but its worth relaxing for that time, just think what the outcome could be.