Post Egg Retrieval compilications (bloating/abdominalpain)?

zach · Post by **zach** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 4:24 pm

Howdy folks,

We found this message board a few days ago and I am drawn back here time and again to learn from the wealth of information posted here. Thank you to all the incredibly supportive members.

To share some background, we have been ttc for 1.5 yrs (unexplained) and decided to undergo IVF after 2 failed IUIs. Last week my wife underwent the Egg Retrieval procedure (18 eggs) and the ET is scheduled for tomorrow.

Two days ago, she had excrutiating pain in the lower abdomen and we immediately visited our RE. The doctor checked up and said that there is no sign of infection and it is possibly due to the large number of follicle cysts that remain after the retrieval and they will clear up in due course. Anyways, since yesterday, she is experiencing extreme bloating. She feels that her abdomen is "distended" and there is very little urination.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? If it happened to you, what were the corrective steps taken and for how long did it last? Please advise.

We'd be visiting the doctor later this afternoon, but I thought I'd get some opinions. I'm planning to request the doctor for a full sonogram to ensure that everything is ok.

dancola · Post by **dancola** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 4:42 pm

These are the symptoms of OHSS. Your clinic should have warned you about this and given you a list of symptoms to watch out for and instructions on what to do. I always suffer from mild OHSS. It’s often linked to the number of follicles/eggs you have. On my last cycle I had 25 eggs collected so suffered what I’d term as mild to medium OHSS. I know the symptoms and how to manage them, so for me it was controllable. The pains were bad, my stomach was very heavily distended but I did manage to go to the loo. Eventually the pains went away. I also had acupuncture, which helped. Basically you should drink as much water as you can (up to 2-3 litres per day). However – failure to urinate is a symptom of more severe OHSS. You should call your doctor/clinic and ask for advice. Severe OHSS can mean hospitalisation and sadly also a total freeze of the embryos as it can be deemed dangerous to go ahead and transfer (pregnancy exacerbates OHSS).

Not sure that a sonogram will help here, OHSS happens to most of us at some point. It's important your partner drinks the water and as long as she can go to the loo OK, then the pains will subside. If she's not managing to go to the loo, she may need treatment.

zach · Post by **zach** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 8:45 pm

Thank you for your response.

We visited the doctor this afternoon. He performed a sonogram: the bladder and the ovaries looked good. We've been told that the Progestorone suppositories (Prometrium in this case) cause "slowness"

of the system.
My wife is also feeling a little better as well.

http://www.ivf.com/ohss.html

For people facing a similar predicament, I found this link about OHSS that explains the symptoms, causes and actions.

I have learnt from this episode that "distended abdomen" is going to last throughout the pregnancy and it in itself should not cause undue anxiety. Please do evaluate your discomfort and touchbase with your nurse/doctor.

hlloyd · Post by **hlloyd** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 8:48 pm

Glad to hear that everything is OK. Wishing you and DW the best of luck with the transfer and I hope this is the beginning of your new family!

Cheers
Heather

slcannon · Post by **slcannon** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 10:29 pm

Zach,

Glad to hear your wife is feeling better. Hope all goes well with ET.

Dancola - So what symptoms did you experience and how did you control them? I am very curious since me ER will most likely be Friday or Saturday and I have 20ish follicles of good size. This is my 1st IVF and I am like everyone else, nervous and very scared of the unknown.

Thanks,
Stephanie

dancola · Post by **dancola** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 8:49 am

Maybe ‘controlled’ was the wrong world to use – ‘endured’ is probably more accurate! Basically the symptoms that Zachs’s DH has suffered. Stomach pains – bloating to the extent that my stomach was pretty heavily distended – all in the lower abdomen area. Pain going to the loo BUT importantly I WAS able to go to the loo. The large amount of eggs I had retrieved meant that I was bound to suffer more this time and my clinic warned me of this. I think as long as you are forewarned and know what to do (ie drink your water) then you can deal with it better. It’s always more scary if you don’t know about OHSS and what can occur, but my clinic are always very good at explaining what OHSS it, what symptoms you could suffer and at what point you need to become concerned. I was just able to tell myself I had OHSS, but I would be OK and the pains would subside (as they did). The egg quantity issue is relevant because even if they remove the eggs from the follicles, the follicles remain and this is what can cause the pain. Slowly they will revert to their normal size and the pain subsides. I had a session of acu after EC and another just before ET and everything was fine (previous cycle I had the OHSS pains right up until ET).

zach · Post by **zach** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 2:29 pm

Dancola,

How long did your OHSS symptoms last especially distended abdomen: a few days/weeks?

dancola · Post by **dancola** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 4:40 pm

I had EC on the Weds and was still in pain on the Friday (when I had an acu session). The pains got better by Saturday and by the Monday (ET) I was perfectly OK.

Post Egg Retrieval compilications (bloating/abdominalpain)?

Post Egg Retrieval compilications (bloating/abdominalpain)?

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