Thanks Tam, I don't think Menevit will make any difference to DH's test as he only starts taking it this Monday and test is on Friday. But its good to know that 4 weeks' in-take will make a difference because we will be having EPU in around Mid November, which means DH will be taking it for about 5-6 weeks then (if he doesn't forget that is ) so at least then his sperm will have better quality. Thanks for the heads-up.
I have done 21 IVF four of which were PGD. Of the PGD cycles there was only ever one "normal" embryo for transfer. PGD is tuff going because the stats on actually getting to ET are less than the alternatives. But at least with PGD you know are forgoing the TWW - IYKWIM.
We ended up doing the PGD because of suspected dodgey older eggs and the high number of failures - plus I've had two early losses.
On a good note, my DD is our IVF miracle and my DS is our natural miracle. Obviously having had such bad results with PGD my DS pregnancy was filled with angst and we were preparing to do an amnio.
All is great now.....so you are so right....where there's hope there is a definitely a way..
Best of luck on your IVF journey - may the rollercoaster ride be kind to you....
Meredith - I will keep you posted on this IVF cycle with PGD. Feel free to send me any questions you may have.
Magic - thanks for your post. 21 cycles is intense - is that including FET? When you did PGD did you get one normal embryo per cycle, or was that out of four (resulting in DD)? How does PGD forgo the 2ww Sorry, I'm a little confused But so happy you are now finally exhaling!!
AFM - IVF nurse rang following BT this morning to let me know to expect AF around Sunday (Day 32 - normally 28/29 day cycle). She believes the Provera has not delayed my AF. MC Investigation Program. DH's SCSA came out at 12, which our OB was very happy with. The only thing that came up in the tests is I have a double-gene mutation for MTHFR, which means I am at double the normal population risk for MC. Iam already taking Megafol which is about the only thing they can do about it. Might explain our March loss (which was chromosonally normal). We bipassed the NK cell biopsy, which I am now regretting a little. Our extended karotyping was normal, so this means IVF with PGD really is the best way to go as the other two losses were probably due to my declining egg quality.
WTH - glad your DH SCASA result was good but sorry about the gene mutation for you. Hopefully any embie that can survive through PGD will be tough enought to stick it out anyway!
Wanted to make general comment re SCASA but DS is awake and cranky so BBL!
WTH, I recall that there is more that can be done with MTHFR apart from the massive doses of folate. I only have a single gene, so I'm apparently ok there. I think it was also B vitamins and aspirin - at work at the moment so I can't dig out the information I came up with as it's at home. Do you know if your homocysteine levels were normal? That's supposed to be an indication of how bad the MTHFR problem actually is.
HI BW - my homo levels were excellent. I have been taking Megafol since the first loss so my folate levels, which have been checked, are fine. Amongst the ****tail of vitamins I take, I also take B12 as I am a vegetarian. I would love to learn more from you about anything else I should do as my OB only mentioned megafol.
Finally managed to get back on.
Just interested in all the talk on here re SCSA test. i asked my FS about getting DH to do it and she said that the MOnash IVF andrologists don't believe it has much validity so don't reccomend it at all. Apparently there is some new and better test coming up soon. She did also make the logical point that even if test came up not so good then the only treatment is antioxidants... so just take them anyway. I put DH on menevit a few weeks ago so will push him to keep on it but bottom line is not doing the SCSA test.
Wondering what other's FS's have said about the test and the point in doing it?
WTH - Sorry about the gene mutation, good that you know that PGD is the right way to go really hope it will solve this for you. The SCSA result for DH sounds great.
Why do you regret bypassing the cell biopsy and is there not the possibility to do it now?
Thanks for the tip with the pineapple juice, will definitely try this.
Tam - thanks for the info about diet, my DP is not very good with his diet but at least he usually eat anything you put in front of him. So took your advice and made fruit smoothies yesterday - and will make some fruit salad today
Also good to know that 4 weeks of Menevit made such a difference if my DH result is not any better will get him some Menevit, at the moment he takes Blackmores men's performance multi.
Meredith - actually very relieved to hear that your FS thinks the test is not so important as the result for my DH was quite bad, he has taken antioxidants and done another test of which we'll get the result next Wednesday. MY FS said that she'll use PICSI instead of ICSi if the result is bad which sounds to me as if there is something that can be done but will ask her about it in detail when I talk to her.
Magic - Great to hear that you were successful after so many IVF cycles - was it a PGD cycle when you got pregnant?
AFM rang the clinic yesterday to talk about starting the Lucrin, since I am already pill popping it seems I can start anytime, have now tentatively made Oct 29 as the start date. Also made appointment for Acupuncture at the Rozelle clinic. Had a big meltdown afterwards. Wanted to do this for the past five years and now it actually starts finally realising how nervous I am about it, hopefully the acupuncture may help with this.
Redlady, the acupuncture certainly will help with the nerves and anxiety and you will leave feeling much more relaxed and calmer. Who are you seeing at Rozelle?
WTH, what I've been able to dig up about the treatment for the MTHFR problem is vitamin B6, B12, large doses of folate (which you know about - I think it 5g rather than 500mg) and possibly aspirin or some other anti-clotting agent. Afraid I don't have the suggested B vitamin dosages - it's been over 12 months since I was looking into this!
BW - thanks for the info. I researched it a bit after your post. It looks like I maybe should up my B6 (was 75mg, but did not want to lengthen my luteal phase, so switched back to just the 50mg that is in my multi). I am enquiring with my FS about heparin/aspirin which seems to help clotting. As my homocystine levels are ok he probably won't think it necessary.
Redlady - the PGD will not help with the double MTHFR gene, however it may rule out a few chromosonal abnormalities. I regret not doing the NK biopsy (which is part of the MC investigation program) because I did a blood test after the last MC and one of my results came back borderline. Problem is, my period was late, so it was not performed at the right time of the cycle, so I do not know if the result would have been worse. My FS is going to try and look into this. Meanwhile, I cannot perform the test as I am have started an IVF cycle and the test cannot be done when you have taken Provera (it affects the results IYKWIM).
Meredith - the SCSA test was very important for my testing, The DNA fragmentation may in some way (and I don't know how it all works) contribute to my chromosonal losses. But DH has been taking BioAce Excel (massive antioxident ****tail) amongst his other vitamins, so it may have helped the results. It was automatically a part of the MC investigation program I did, so Sydney IVF (who run the program) must think it is worth investigating.
WTH Thats great news about your DH SCSA results but Sorry about the gene mutation and that AF didn't arrive before Friday. I hope this week flys by for you and Friday is quickly knocking on your doorstep.
I am saying lots of prayers for you and hoping that you get heaps of A+++++ quality eggs and your BFP next month sending your a truck load of
Redlady Goodluck with your acupuncture. Let me know how it goes at Rozelle as I am currently seeing an acupuncturist in Chatswood and find him overly expensive a ($135 a session not including TCM which $450 for 3 weeks) and was going to change to Rozelle clinic.
Also I know you mentioned your DH is taking mens multi vitamins just from my DH experience he has always taken mens mutli vitamins without fail since I have known him so when he got the test results back the first time I was shocked. When FS mentioned vitamins and antioxidants. I said but DH takes multi vitamins every day so thats not going to make a difference. However the FS was quick to respond and said multi vitamins are not good enough and does not have the correct dosage of the specific vitamins and antioxidants needed and pushed us in the direction of menevit. So DH continued to take his multi vitamins and menevit at the same time.
Meredith Hi I have heard different ppl say different things about SCSA testing. The acupuncturist I am seeing says its a load of crap and is just an excuse for IVF not working. But FS was adamant that it was a huge contributing factor to our m/c as FS said that sperm DNA carries the information required to make the egg grow during the 1st few weeks. With DNA fragmentation the sperm does not carry the whole information required as it is damaged so when the sperm and egg meet the egg gets fertilized however fails to continue to grow as it did not receive all the information needs and sadly results in a miscarriage or infertility. Which is my case sounds like it was exactly what was happening as mine were at 5 1/2 weeks both times. That is my personal experience anyway.
Cuddlepie :goodluck2:Goodluck with your DH test results I hope there is a great improvement lets me know how it goes.
Magic Thanks for posting on our forum and giving us hope. It is always great to hear success stories. You must be an amazing women to go through 21 IVF cycles and not give up. I'm glad you got your miracle baby in the end and all your and DH hard work paid off
Last edited by Tam83; September 27th, 2008 at 09:33 AM.
WTH - That makes sense with the test, in any case it sounds like SIVF covers this all very well. Very much hoping the IVF will work for you. Are you now close to starting the FSH?
Tam - Thanks for the advice. Actually went out today and bought the Menevit - I checked it against what he is taking and the Menevit has Lycopene and garlic while the Blackmores stuff doesn't, everything else is the same with the Blackmores including a range of other vitamins as well. It's a very small outlay and may maximise our chances. The Rozelle acupuncture costs $120 for the first visit (1.5 hours) and $60 for subsequent visits (1 hour), it's not easy to get an appointment outside of business hours, my first one is only End of October.
BW - I'll be seeing Bernice - she currently works in Annandale and will be taking over from Jann who'll go on long service leave in October, have looked at Bernice's profile at the Annandale place and she seems very experienced. Have you seen someone in Rozelle?
Getting an initial appointment at Rozelle is hard. After that, they keep you booked up well in advance so it's not too bad. I go fortnightly now and have bookings up until the end of the year, which seems crazy, but is kinda necessary! They have waitlists, and I have to say that I've never not got an appointment when I've been waitlisted and when things like EPUs and embryo transfers pop up they slot me in on the required day without much trouble. I've even had a practicioner come in for me on her day off just so I could have a session after transfer.
I've normally see Leah, but I've also seen Mel, and I know Sally quite well from when she used to be the receptionist there. They are all lovely. I've never seen Jann, and didn't know about Bernice, but I can't imagine them employing anyone who doesn't know their stuff!
Tam, I'd highly recommend switching to Rozelle - they are much cheaper than your current place (as red lady pointed out). They don't always use herbs, but when they do it's usually $30 - how long they last depends on dosage, but they tended to avoid them with me because I don't tolerate liquid medicines well and would have trouble getting them down.
Hi Redlady - AF came on Sunday and I start the FSH injections tomorrow. This second week on Lucrin has been less fun. Horrid headaches, ringing in ears, hot flushes and night sweats than planned and wonder if stalling my hormones until tomorrow could affect egg quality/development (the eggs are just sitting there waiting to fire-up). I am feeling a bit negative about all this. I wish I had done this, as I had intended to, after my first loss last September. My OBs and FS urged me to ttc naturally for the next two, which I also lost. So now I have less eggs, at lesser quality and have lost another year . I wonder if I am just feeling so horrible because of the lack of hormones. My OB suggested the raised estrogen levels in the coming week could make me feel quite perky... I see you are starting this month so I will keep you updated
Tam83 - thanks for your Babydust. Sending it right back at ya
BW - Hiya . Seeing as you seem to be such a research buff like your's truly, I was wondering if you were taking CoQ10 for egg quality in the lead-up to your PG? I get 60mg in my pregnancy multi and take and extra 50. So that makes 110. Wondering if I should up it, or not. What do you think?
I didn't look into Q10 at all. The only issues they talked about with regards to the quality of my eggs was what they hyperstimulation was doing to them! In one cycle, we had 32 eggs collected (you do NOT want this! It put me in hospital for a week!), 20 were usable, 7 made it to blast and were frozen... only two of those ever actually thawed out - one chemical pregnancy and one BFN. The worse the hyperstimulation, the worse my eggs and my defrosting rates were. In avoiding hyperstim, we fixed my egg problems - but it wasn't easy to do!
As for the lucrin... if you ever have to do another cycle, the side effects may not be that bad. I had worse side effects on 10IU of lucrin my second time around compared to my first cycle on 20IU. The third was a fairly easy go apart from mild headaches and hot flushes. You do start to feel more normal when the FSH injections start. Give it a few days for everything to start working, but you do feel remarkably better. However, if my E2 levels got too high, severe fatigue and anxiety would set in, but that's just a weird BW thing. Few people seem to get the fatigue and I've never met another person that gets the anxiety problems I do.
I will be watching with interest on how you go. Sorry I can't help with the Q10 issue, hopefully someone else has more experience in that area.
Sorry that your second week on Lucrin was tough, hope everything will improve with the FSH start. I can understand that you wish to have done this earlier, thinking the same but I don't think one year makes the difference, keeping fingers crossed for you.
I am also taking CoQ10, we're probably taking the same multivitamin (Blackmores Conceive Well Gold) as mine also has 60mg, goggled this this morning and found it was more known for lowering blood pressure so would be careful about overdosing.
Tam & Meredith
Got the results yesterday unfortunately the SCSA was still pretty bad (28 down from 31). My FS said we're now definitely going with PICSI - she said they don't have enough experience with it to say it definitely helps but it would be worth using, it apparently helps to select the more mature sperm for ICSI. DH is now also on Menevit and takes additionally 500mg Vitamin C and 500mg Folate on advice from FS.
I now found that my FS is on away between Nov 5-24 which would be exactly the time of my cycle, I checked out her replacement who sounds pretty inexperienced in comparison. So instead starting in October will now start early November so that my FS can do the egg retrieval, thinking of maybe even waiting until Mid- Nov so that my FS can already regulate the FSH dosage. Not feeling good about working with her replacement and feeling a bit like left out in the cold. I was expecting that she would have someone with the same level of experience as her replacement not a masters student.
Red lady, I can understand your hesitation in going with your doctor's replacement. Just remember that you need to do whatever you can to increase your confidence. If in the end it doesn't work, you don't want to have any regrets as sitting there thinking "if only I hadn't..." or something along those lines is absolute hell! Delays are frustrating, but if delays make you feel more comfortable and confident, then do it.
However, not all clinics work in such a way that your FS will definitely be doing the egg collection. I had mine for every single transfer, but only for one of my three egg collections.
) so at least then his sperm will have better quality. Thanks for the heads-up. 
But so happy you are now finally exhaling!!
but Sorry about the gene mutation and that AF didn't arrive before Friday. I hope this week flys by for you and Friday is quickly knocking on your doorstep. 
prayers for you and hoping that you get heaps of A+++++ quality eggs and your BFP next month sending your a truck load of 
. I wonder if I am just feeling so horrible because of the lack of hormones. My OB suggested the raised estrogen levels in the coming week could make me feel quite perky... I see you are starting this month so I will keep you updated 
. Seeing as you seem to be such a research buff like your's truly, I was wondering if you were taking CoQ10 for egg quality in the lead-up to your PG? I get 60mg in my pregnancy multi and take and extra 50. So that makes 110. Wondering if I should up it, or not. What do you think?
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