IVF Disaster

JC · Post by JC » Thu Aug 22, 2002 9:02 am

Well here's a first! Went for my scan on Monday morning before the EC on Tuesday. I had totally failed to respond to the drugs and only had 2 follies, one on the left and one on the right. My clinic will only proceed with a minimum of 3 follies so after 2 hours of waiting around for their decision they decided to abandon the cycle there and then! They don't know what went wrong but suggest altering the drugs for the next cycle. I think the follie on my right ovary stole all the drugs as it was a whopping 37 x 35mm (is this a record?). Felt gutted at the time but OK about it now as my consultant warned me this might happen at some point with my naturally high FSH levels. Has anyone else had their cycle abandoned because they didn't respond? Anyway decided to give IVF a rest for the remainder of this year and may be start again in the New Year. I can feel a consolation holiday coming on, I'll keep you posted. Thanks to everyone who was thinking of me. Love to all. Julie x

Lucy · Post by **Lucy** » Thu Aug 22, 2002 1:32 pm

Hi Julie Sorry to hear about your IVF nightmare. A break is a good idea and your body will need time to recover. I was a bit concerned that you only get a scan the day before egg collection. I have a scan after 7 days then every other day until egg collection which is normally day 12-14 of taking stims After 7 days they would have been able to alter your drugs or stop the cycle. I would check this out. I hope you get a good holiday somewhere nice Love Lucy

fi · Post by fi » Thu Aug 22, 2002 5:50 pm

Didn't your clinic realise what was happening before dragging you in on the monday, and you getting psyched up for EC Tues. My god I would be gutted. don't they know it only takes 1 surely that was a chance??? I guess they have their reasons, but how upsetting and frustrating is that? I have the opposite prob I was overstimulated last time and produced around 40 follicles (they got 17 eggs in the end) None of them worked!!! take care Fi

Dee · Post by **Dee** » Thu Aug 22, 2002 7:00 pm

Julie I am also surprised that your clinic did not scan you earlier. I was scanned every couple of days after about day 7. The timing of the ec then depended on the size of the follicles. Do you think the big follicle could be a cyst? I developed a cyst while taking the downreg drugs. This was picked up by the clinic when they scanned me before stims and I had to have it drained. Apparently a larger cyst produces hormones that can interfere with the IVF drugs. It is worth asking the clinic. Sorry you had this big disappointment so late in your cycle. Love Dee xxx.

JC · Post by JC » Fri Aug 23, 2002 8:23 am

Hi all Thanks for your replies. It too bothers me that my clinic don't scan until after you have taken the profasi injection ready for the EC 'cos by then it is too late to continue with the stims if you haven't responded very well. The last clinic I went too scanned after 5 days and then every other day to monitor progress, however, the clinic I'm with now is an NHS hospital and I suspect they don't scan before to cut down on costs. This was my 3rd cycle with them and as we're not paying for the treatment it's very hard to argue with the way that they do things. We offered to pay for the EC so as not to waste the 2 eggs I had but they didn't want to know. There's been no feedback from them since so I don't know where we go from here but I shall beg for earlier scans next time so at least I won't be so shocked if I don't respond again. Dee, thanks for the info on cysts, it's quite possible this was a cyst as I've had them before and I will certainly mention this the next time I speak with the consultant. Thanks for your support, it means a lot to me. Lotsa Luv Julie x

fiona_lk · Post by **fiona_lk** » Fri Aug 23, 2002 8:48 am

Hi Julie, I'm so sorry to hear your news - I had everything crossed for you. We had a similar disappointment with my first IUI with stimulation (only had one follicle which wasn't much bigger than without stims) only they do go ahead with IUI when there is only one - wasn't IUI offered to you as an alternative? I've read they sometimes do this so as not to completely waste the cycle, or were you down for ICSI? Possibly something to think about for next time, but I'm really hoping it won't come to that for you. It might also be worth considering arranging to have private scans elsewhere if you can afford to - the hospital in Bristol were more than willing to accomodate me on my hols, and although these charged £85 you can get them cheaper - MFS charge £45 for one-off scans during IUI. Not sure though what the 'NHS' would think of that though! Stay strong and know I'm thinking of you - and keep in touch. love Fiona xx

JC · Post by JC » Fri Aug 23, 2002 8:58 am

Hi Fiona Thanks for thinking of me. Unfortunately they couldn't offer IUI as I don't have any fallopian tubes (lost to 2 ectopics) so there was really nothing they could do. I've had 2 cycles in the past with the Clinic in Bristol which is probably the one you are referring to and I'm still registered with them so it is possible that I could book some scans with them in the future and it's tough whether the NHS hospital like it or not in my view! (oooh, see how tough I've become lately!) I'll wait and see what the NHS hospital say first, may be they'll let me pay for scans there, it certainly won't do any harm to ask. How far along with your cycle are you now? Hope everything is running smoothly and you're feeling OK. Good luck Luv Julie x

julie · Post by **julie** » Fri Aug 23, 2002 9:16 am

HI Julie from another Julie - lucky you are registered as JC or things could get confusing. I just wanted to say I agree with the others that your clinic seems to be at fault. I was scanned every other day and EC wasn't even talked about until I was stimulated enough. Initially I responded poorly to the drugs and only had one follicle that they could see growing. They doubled my dose and 6 days later 7 follicles on each. I also have cysts on both my ovaries that they have tried popping but they just keep growing back. Now they just pop through them to collect the eggs with no problem. I think you need to have serious chat with this clinic - NHS or not you should still be able to expect a decent level of care. Good luck next time and keep your chin up. Julie x

carols · Post by **carols** » Sun Sep 01, 2002 9:49 am

Hi Julie, I agree with everyone else, your clinic should have been monitering you throughout the treatment. Have you asked them why they didn't? And what they would do differently the next time? What clinic are you at? Both my cycles were abandoned as I produced no follicles at all (so your two up on me) I am now looking for an egg donor, which is a long wait... Don't give up. If you need to take time out then do but (depending on your age) don't leave it too long as I know to my cost age becomes a bar sometimes. GOOD LUCK Carol

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