The Hormone Rollercoaster....

[Acacia]

Hi

I've just started Synarel in my first ever down-reg stim cycle and I'm worried about side effects of all the drugs coming up through the stim cycle. I get pretty bad PMS in a normal cycle and in particular I'm worried about how the IVF drugs will effect my mood. How have other ladies found their mood when on the hormones? Is it worse or less than any PMS you would normally get?

Any help would be much appreciated - I kinda feel pretty isolated with the worries at the moment.

Miss C

[sushee]

Hi Miss_c

In my case, it would depend on who you asked. I thought I managed the drugs well. Yes, I was a little teary sometimes, and coming up to EPU, I was in some discomfort so I probably wasn't in the best mood. The two week wait to before your can go for your pregnancy blood test is the wait from hell, too, so naturally it was hard on me, but in general, all things considered, I thought I was very even-tempered throughout.

Though if you ask my DH he may give you a different story.

[Acacia]

Thanks Sushee

It's good to hear about how someone else has handled it. I know everyone's individual and how they respond is completely individual so I won't know until I start heading into it more, but just hearing from others is helping me to relax more, so thanks

Your Charlie is adorable! It's a beautiful photo

[sushee]

Thank you miss_c

Charlie was conceived on our 8th cycle, and is very special (and spoilt) indeed.

IVF is a very emotional and difficult journey, but you are not alone. BB is a great site to come to for support from those who are going through it too or have been through it already. Good luck, my sweet.

[Baby Bliss]

I also get shocking PMT, and have found my moods in general on the pill and synarel, to be worse than an average day, but not worse than my PMT moods. I am yet to start injecting and I forget what I was like on injectibles 2 years ago before we took a break. Hopefully, not too bad! Good luck

[Peta]

Miss_c I am normally a little moody (depending who you ask) & found I have been even more so when on the drugs. While on Synarel & Puregon I was very teary & any little thing would set me off. Hopefully you will be lucky & not have too many ups & downs & your journey will be short.

[dusty]

good question miss_c

to be honest i don't know if it is the drugs that affects my moods during IVF or just the stress of the whole thing. for me the rollercoaster of emotions is dictated by where i am in the cycle, what the results are showing, if something unexpected or unwanted comes up that we were hoping wouldn't. you can't help but have expectations for a cycle, otherwise why would we be trying.

all that said after several IVF cycles i feel i coped pretty well on the outside, ie at work, with friends and family, but inside i find it hard to think of much else. i have been chatting with some of the gals in our journals about trying not to feed emotions with negative thoughts which just increases the emotion and makes us feel worse. i am getting a bit off topic but i have found acupuncture is helping me at the moment, as well as yoga and meditation. it is when i sit down and just feel sorry for myself and feed my emotion with negative thoughts that i feel worse.

i don't know if any of this helps or will help.

[Mel1977]

Hi miss_c, I found the drugs affected me a little. DH and I had a couple of arguments but once he got around the fact that he just needed to allow me to have those moods we got along just fine I also think the added stress of what you are actually doing contributes to the moods... its a long, difficult and emotional process and you are bound to be affected by everything.

Good luck with your stim cycle

[Acacia]

Hi everyone

Thanks for all your input into how your moods were affected by all the drugs and how you coped. It's been really helpful and it's put my mind at ease so much just to hear how you are all going with it all. I don't fell so alone and unsure with it all now I hope every one is doing ok for now.

I've posted individual responses to Kell, Peta, dusty & Mel in the LTTTC & AC Nov Thread

Miss C

[{sarah}]

I was fine, no different to normal, I actually asked Aaron the other day if I was any different & he said no except for that one day The one day was just before our egg collection when I was sore & upset, I cried saying I couldn't possibly give myself another needle. I settled down in time for the needle & the next day found out I was ready to go for my trigger shot, so pretty well at the end.

[Pookiegirlba]

Hi Miss c

I'm on my 5th day of Synarel and apart from one inexplicable crying jag on Day 2 and a small amount of extra edginess (which may be due to the fact that I have a uni assignment due TOMORROW!) I haven't really noticed much difference. Perhaps my libido has been reduced slightly. But that's about it.

Vicki

[Acacia]

Hi Vicki

Hope you're uni assignment got handed in ok today!

Today's my 7th day on Synarel now, and I think it has been ok so far. I reckon most of my symptoms are coming more from the pill than anything. I've had a fair bit of teary-ness here and there - hard to know if it's the side effects or just the stress of the process overall. My BBs have been really sore and have gone up a cup size in 3 weeks - I'm pretty sure from the research I've done that this is the pill. Best thing is that I had my last day on the pill today - YAY!

When I started Synarel I did have a headache in the afternoon for the first 3-4 days.However, I ended up on a double dose of the Synarel today as I sneezed only a few minutes in and I rang the nurse and they said take a second dose so you don't worry about it - unfortunately that left me with a hot flush about 20 mins later and I've been pretty spaced out all day - too spacey even to have moodiness! Other than that, I'm excited about being off the pill and seeing if side effects settle a bit more before my u/s to check when I can start stims next week.

Do you know when you are due to start stims yet?

Miss C

[Pookiegirlba]

Hi Miss C

My assignment is still not handed in...grrrrr....but I have until midnight, so it will be going down to the wire tonight lol. Éven though I'm behind, I'm still fairly confident of handing it in today.

Not sure when my stims are starting. My next appointment is on 15 Nov when I have *another* blood test done to check my hormone levels, and then depending on what that says, 'hopefully I'll be starting the injections that day. Even though I'm not particularly fond of needles, I can't wait for the injections to start because all this waiting around is doing my head in LOL.' I'm getting pretty sick of the Synarel too...I hate the taste in the back of my throat. Plus, today I had another crying episode, at work, which was embarrassing.

When do you start the injections?

Vicki

[briggsy's girl]

miss_c - i found that i was probably more stressed than normal while on all the drugs, as the other ladies have said, so i was probably a bit more moody - although the only person to cop any flack from that was my DH. i made a conscious effort to step back when i was feeling antsy at work or with friends/family so as not to take things out on them - and i reckon i was more pleasant to them during the stim process than the rest of the time (i'm a fiery red head!!)

i asked DH whether i've been moody on a number of occassions, and i always get the same response "it's not you, it's the drugs" - how can i be angry at him when he says stuff like that??

i did warm my supervisor at work last week that we're about to start another stim cycle, so he'd best be getting any coaching done early cos i was likely to be "a hormonal biatch" after a few days! good thing he has a sense of humour...

[Pookiegirlba]

Hey BG - I'm a fiery redhead too (and a Taurus), so when my temper gets going, everyone runs for cover LOL. I noticed you're starting stims on Nov 16 - it looks like we will be doing it around the same time (fingers crossed!). I'd be really interested to hear your progress.

Vicki

[kenziesmum]

Hi everyone, I just stumbled upon this site and think it is great. We are on our 4th day of Puregon, and been on Synarel for a while now. I have been irritable and cranky, with a few minor headaches, but I think that's it for me. I am so glad to have finally started our first ivf cycle as it was a long time in the waiting game.

Is there anywhere to find out what your "normal" hormone levels should be during different stages of your ivf cycle?
Kel

[Acacia]

Hi Vicky,
Hope the assignment got done ok! I've got an U/S on the 13th Nov to see if I'm ready to start stims. Fingers crossed we'll be right for the 13th. I've been on Synarel for 8 days now, and last pill yesterday yay! I HATE the taste of the Synarel in my throat too! really hope you don't have to wait around for much longer - it's really hard to know what to expect at all in your first ever cycle - I know too!

Pookie, there's a few of us starting stims around the same time now! It'll be really nice to have support from each other as we go through it

LOL BG "hormonal biatch", that's great. Maybe I can tell my classes that at the school I work at next time I'm struggling at work!! LOL My DF has been coping all the stress and hormones - but he's so good at calming me down when needed too. Very lucky

Hi Kel - welcome to BB. I've been here myself for about a week or so - it's a really great support network. I've had similar symptoms to you as I've been on the synarel for over a week, and I'm getting ready (hopefully!) to start Gonal F (similar to Puregon) next week. I think for individuals it's difficult to know what their "normal" hormone levels would be at various times in the cycle if they've never had BTs done during a normal cycle. There are plenty of charts out there (can search the internet) that show you how your hormones vary throughout the month (progesterone, oestrogen, FSH etc.), without having actual figures and specific levels. Sorry I can't be more specific than that - I hope it helps. I hope your cycle goes well - big fingers crossed for you! - do you know when you are due to have EPU?

In case there's anyone here (definitely you, Kel) who has yet to find the LTTTC & AC forum, please come in a say hello and get to chat to lots of other people about their experiences and current cycles in IVF. The link to the forum is here: The Hormone Rollercoaster....

[kenziesmum]

Hi Miss-c,

Thanks for the reply. I don't know when our EPU is, I have been told from the 12-16 Nov, so we'll hopefully know more on Thursday, I have my first IVF ultrasound. It's all very exciting and new to me, and I am feeling things going on in my body that I would never have noticed before. we are coming up 2 years ttc, so if we can fall pg soon, I will be the happiest woman around. We wanted two more children, but with IVF now the only way to go, I'll be happy with just one more.

Thanks for the welcoming arms,
Kel