OHSS / SUGGESTION / DO'S N DONT / ADVICE PLZ

[divinagracia]

After all i've been through, I finally got a positive result . My test due date was on the 14th of Dec. but too scared to check so me n DH left it since were on holiday and we dun wana ruin it by getting a neg.result.We came back to the UK on the 15th and early morning the 16th we checked it and it's a good news for us, We finally got a positive result. The joy is unbelievable.Totally overwhelmed. After 5 non stop attempts and procedures. I think we deserved it. It's about time. This is our Best xmas pressie we could ever had. Me n DH went away to french alps just before my test just to take our mind away from it. The plan is we'll just leave it to faith.If i'll have my monthly then it means it didnt work again but i noticed my belly is getting really swelled up.I looked like im about to drop or 6 months gone. My belly is really big and difficulty of breathing is one of them. My back hurts and sometimes my reproductive area hurts a lot that it feels exactly when i had my dye test (dunno if anyone had those test). We called our fertility clinic and they said it's OHSS since i produced 18 eggs and they said its one of the good sign when ur pregnant. We still didnt put our hopes so high coz u never know.Also that day we found out that my killer cells are abnormals.Me n DH are again stress bout this.Anyhow, we got the positive result at the end but my belly is still swolen.Fertility clinic said it will go down but i am really suffering.The worry is that we cant even guarantee till 5 weeks time to check for heartbeat. I really dont know if its normal or not. I know its irrational but sometimes believing medical people doesnt really feel me at ease coz it happend once to my sis in law. She's on IVF as well. She was pregnant and she called the same IVF clinic I went to and she complain bout stomach pain. They said its normal and end up ectopic preg. Almost killed her. Hmmzz.. i really dont know. Also, Can anyone give me advice on what to do on my 1st pregnancy and this OHSS. The do's and Dont's .Thanks for ur time n looking forward!

[mandyb]

hi i read your symtoms and can report exactly the same. i am 9 stone and look 3-4 months pregnant as my stomach is so swollen. the lower abdominal pain almost feels like diariahoh aching in that area ( but its not). called the clinic at 1.00 this morning in extreme pain and the ivf doctor said to take 2 paracetamol and go in the morning if i feel no better. spent this morning in bed with a couple more paracetomal, out of interest i only had 5 eggs taken so he didnt think it was OHSS, however i have no idea what this really is to be honest. - i will given call in tmrw and go in on tues if i feel no better to get bloods and a scan done. if you feel no better you should phone in immediatley and get checked if you are worried, i am sure they are used to hearing from us! i hope this is of some comfort knowing your not on your own, i also wonder where i go from here , sure i will find out by phoning in tmrw.....

[sophie]

Hi,
I understand that you must be really worried at the moment. I had symptoms of OHSS after my egg collection (23 eggs taken), and felt quite poorly so had to go into hospital. On the day the transfer was due they asked me if I wanted to freeze the eggs and thus feel better in about 2 weeks or go on with the transfer guaranteeing that I would feel very ill till about the 12th week of pregnancy as the pregnancy make it worse. After much thought I decided to freeze the embryos. I was pleased as later that day I had a scan that revealed free fluid around my kidneys - a pregnancy would have made this alot worse. Within a week by stomach swelled so much that I looked about 7 months pregnant. i could barely walk and I had pain. Goodness knows how I would have been if I had the transfer and got pregnant. It went after about a week. i spoke to the head nurse at the clinic and she said that quite a few women don't get the OHSS symptoms until after the transfer so it's a case of living through it. She said she had a woman who she was looking after who was six weeks pregnant but looked like she was about to give birth, but after the 12 weeks she felt alot better.

So unfortunately your symptoms sound typical of OHSS (I'm not a doctor though - I may be completely wrong). I would certainly push to see a doctor/consultant to get all the necessary check ups.

I wish you the very best of luck and congratulations on acheiving your pregnancy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully this hurdle will soon be over.

Sophie xxx

[kate H]

hi
i'm now 15weks pregnant and because i ohss last time i new what to look out for and yes the first couple of weeks i was quite swollen my clinic said somtimes because the overies helps the baby in the fisrt 14 weeks they somtimes can stay quite large until the plasenta takes over.just make sure you drink loads of water can be painful i know but thats what keeps the ohss at bay. hope it helps abit.congratulations on your result.you've now got yourself a whole bag of other worries.

[maud66]

Hello ladies, just going through the same thing at the mo (seem to be quite a few of us cropping up!) and ended up in hospital with it ... de-hydrated, being sick, couldn't even keep water down, look 9 months pg. I've spoken to a lot of people about this since and, painful, scary and hideous as it is, it is self-limiting and will eventually start to ease up. Estimates seem to vary between 3-4 weeks for the severe cases, and then another couple of weeks for the fluid to start to go down.

Also, the good news is it doesn't seem to harm the embryo(s), in fact it's the rise in hcg levels which worsens the condition temporarily ... just take it very easy (not so difficult when you can't walk very far!).

The time to worry is if you're being very sick and can't keep anything down, have severe breathing problems (although a certain amount of breathlessness is to be expected with such a huge lump!), or get to the point where the pain is unbearable - at this point you should call your clinic or check into your local A&E. I was lucky as my clinic is at Bart's in London so they were able to check me into a ward there.

The fluid contains lots of protein so they're loathe to drain you unless it gets unbearable (in my case they drained 4.5 litres!) ... if it's just about bearable, hang on in there and it will start to go eventually. Drink 3-4 litres a day and eat plenty of protein seems to be the best advice, but definitely call your clinic again for advice if you're worried, particularly about an ectopic pregnancy, and push them to book you for an early scan at 5 weeks.

I've just been desperately looking for a maternity outfit on line as nothing's going to fit me over Christmas - seems ridiculous in these early days (only just over 5 weeks!)! Just hope they can deliver on time!

Good luck, hope you feel better soon ...

x

[divinagracia]

Thank you all for your support. What u've been telling me helps me a lot. Its actually going down slowly or maybe its just psychological. As long as it wont affect the embryo thats what concern me most. Also, Ectopic is far too risk for me since i've got both tubes taken out. Just really bloated n breathless is still a bit of a pain but im sure i can manage it. All for baby huh..hehe. Thnk you so much to every1.