Looking for hope!- avoiding OHSS

Quick Background

1st IVF Cycle- 8 eggs collected. I was quite uncomfortable after EPU, and on transfer day FS cancelled transfer due to OHSS risk. Dr was quite conservative and careful.

2nd IVF Cycle- EPU Yesterday. 16 eggs collected with new FS. New FS is a little more of a risk taker and no mention of ohss or cancelling.

I'm still a little concerned of developing ohss and am looking for positive stories. So, my question is:
has anyone got a positive story of collecting lots of eggs, getting transfer and pregnancy with no ohss?

thanks in advance

SB

I'm not entirely sure that my story is all that positive...

26 eggs and OHSS with no transfer, followed by 32 eggs and OHSS with no transfer and a week in hospital, and then finally 20 eggs with a fresh transfer and mild OHSS developing only with pregnancy.

Do you have any idea of what your estrogen levels were before pick up? That can often be an indicator of whether you are in trouble or not.

When it comes to avoiding OHSS - there's a strict diet that worked for me, but that was in the stim stage of the cycle. After EPU - it can be a bit hit and miss, but there are things you can do to help minimise things. Rest, lots of fluids, increase your protein intake... and I was checking my weight frequently - sudden increases are an indication that problems are developing. I do have to say that having been there before, OHSS is not to be messed with, and if the clinic is recommending that you do not transfer, then it's probably a damned good idea NOT to transfer!

Hope this can help in some way.

BW

Rest up and drink plenty, like BW says.
Make sure you keep your clinic informed of everything and if they don't seem interested or concerned enough get your partner to call and insist they check you out!
All the best~~

(oh, sorry, no don't have a positive story - 14 eggs and I did get OHSS, but did get pregnant)

Thanks BW- You sent me that diet last year with my first stim cycle. I was pretty good while stimming and careful with what I ate. I managed to lose a few kilos too. I don't know what my levels were, but I did ask my FS about over-stimming and he thought I was ok. The nurses didn't comment much about the 16 eggs. It is just me that's worried. I'm looking at your 20 egg and mild OHSS as as positive story.

marcellus- Thanks for the advice. Will follow things up.

A quick question for you both; What does mild ohss entail and what should I be watching for, other than weight gain.

Thanks girls.

About all I recall apart from the bloating and weight gain was pain, mostly in the lower abdomen. If you seem to be not passing enough urine in line with the amount of fluids you are drinking, it can also be a sign of things turning bad.

I wouldn't ordinarily be thinking that someone with 16 eggs collected would be at risk of OHSS, but with your previous FS cancelling after 8, it could mean that you are quite prone to OHSS, like me. How did you feel a couple of days after the 8 egg pick up? I found that the times I developed OHSS, I was in a bit of pain immediately after EPU (who wouldn't be with that many eggs?!), felt ok-ish the following day and then really, really bad over days 2 and 3 after EPU. I was a bit nervous going for a day three transfer with my 20 eggs, but my FS was pretty confident that I'd be ok. Mild OHSS after IVF is fairly normal, but I'm quite scared of it after my previous experiences.

BW

SB - I had 31 eggs collected on my 5th stim cycle Feb just gone. My eos levels were 9900 on day 5 of my stim so we went for collection 3 days later and my FS was seriously considering cancelling however I knew from past experience that all would be OK. He was also concerned about egg quality and was very surprised when we got 7 blasts.

I didn't get OHSS and never have had but drink loads of water and love protein rich food.

I consider my result a positive as for the first time EVER we got a positive HPT but miscarried two days later. The day I miscarried my HCG was 46 so I was stoked as we have never had anything over 19.

Good luck and hang in there.

Cheers Trea

I was going to describe my 'mild' case, but don't want to scare you. As BW says, any signs of slowing urine output are a worry. They recommended I drink gatorade or something like that as well for electrolyte balance.
Weight gain and ballooning stomach are the early signs I guess. As well as pain.

Hopefully you'll be ok!

Im still trying to stay positive. Transfer is booked for tomorrow, so I'm trying to drink water and rest as much as possible. I've even had some gatarade but don't want too much of that because of the sugar content. I'm really hoping all my discomfort is normal.

Trea- Thanks for sharing. That sounds positive.I'm sorry it didn't stick.

BW- I did mention my symptoms with the nurses at my clinic and they seem to think I should be ok. I think I might be as long as the symptoms don't get worse. At the moment it's just my fears.

MM- You've had a name change :) I have pain, but that's about all. I've been measuring my waist measurement and weight and there has been no increase. I would like to hear what a mild case is. I have heard about bad cases, so I'm hoping it's not as bad a hospitalization, massive weight gain and draining fluid.

eerrr. I gained 5-6 kg, had fluid in the lungs so needed draining and ended up in hospital for a couple of nights (but only for observation while they drained me).

No increase in weight and waist sounds promising! They don't have you on hcg booster shots for support, do they? I think that's what really got me into trouble. They ignored my symtpoms and told me to keep having the shots anyway. I doubt it would have been quite that bad if they'd switched me to pessaries at the start.

Good luck for your transfer

Thanks marcy for sharing. I hope your bundle of joy was worth it. I'm on pessaries. Just one more quick question if that is o.k. When did your symptoms worsen? Before transfer, after transfer or after pos preg test?

With my two bad cases - it was pretty quickly after EPU that things got bad. With one EPU I had the collection on Sunday and by Tuesday night was in hospital. I gained 5kg really quickly... I didn't need draining like marcellus, but I was in for a week for pain management and on a drip to keep me hydrated.

With the third one - I was fine before transfer. It was day three and I was still pretty tender, but ok. I was fine after transfer... But I recall the day before my blood test (so 13 days after EPU) I started to feel pain in my liver and have slight difficulty breathing. I also felt incredibly bloated and tired

The next morning I woke up having gained a kg or two over night. I got a positive blood test and went straight out and bought several pairs of pants a size larger than normal. The pain wasn't too bad, but I was very tired and got very uncomfortable standing up for long periods. We managed that with just rest... By the time the bloating went down, I had a nice little baby bump growing.

Chances are that if you are fine now, you'll remain fine unless a pregnancy occurs. Even then, you could just end up with a little pain and bloating and some fatigue - or you could end up hospitalised and needing to have fluid drained - it's hard to predict.

BW

Prior to teh transfer and second booster shot I was very bloated and had put on 3-4kg, but otherwise ok. I think the second booster (and probably impanting embryo also) did me in. As I said, i think if i hadn't had those shots I would have been ok.
It was worth it, but at the time I wasn't so sure.

Fingers crossed you get your bfp and no ohss

Thanks girls for your replies. I had transfer this morning and now am just praying everything will be o.k.

No need to worry about OHSS coming on. AF arrived today. :(

Hi,
Just thought i'd let you know that with 32 follicles developing my FS said there was a 75% chance that they wouldn't go ahead with transfer after EPU because of risk of OHSS.
I rested on the couch for 2 days after EPU with a slightly sore abdomen (but nowhere near as sore and painful as before my EPU) My urine output was fine, I lost a kilo instead of gaining weight and had no other symptoms so FS went ahead with day two transfer.
I was thrilled that transfer wasn't cancelled. So far so good and still no signs of OHSS.
What I'm trying to say is, don't stress, it doesn't always happen.
I tend to agree with the other girls- rest and drink plenty of fluids.
Good luck to everyone.
Maggie

Damn! Sorry this wasn't the one Star-bright :hug:

Star Bright - I am so very sorry to hear that. :( :hug:

BW