Unexplained Infertility

Hi,
Just wondering if there is anyone in the same shoes as me. I am 39 years old with unexplained infertility. I am overweight but am ovulating and AF arrives every 22 days without fail. I have been on IVF for nearly 12 months. Because of my age I have been on constant ivf cycles for the last 9 months. The first stim cycle resulted in 6 eggs. 5 turned into embies and had 1 implanted at a time. The next stim cycle had 2 eggs and they both fertilized and I had both implanted. The third stim I had only egg and it fetilized but because I always get AF around 6 days after ET the doc gave me pregnyl injections to stop AF from coming so early. My question is,is it possible that because my ovaries have been overworked without a break, could they be tired?
Am starting to wonder if it will ever work and if that I will be childless forever.

Hi Cybert,

I'm 38 myself and had IVF last year to conceive my son. I had endometriosis though so our situations are a little different.

I know that in our age group it is harder and harder to conceive naturally, but not because the ovaries are tired. At our age, the oocytes themselves can sometimes let us down but that is not to say that pregnancy is an impossibility, just that it may take longer to achieve. This is why IVF is probably your best option at this point ... you are getting more than one egg from each cycle so there is an increased chance of getting one which has the capacity to make it all the way.

IVF can be a gruelling process so it is no wonder you are feeling tired and concerned about whether you will ever see a child out of it. Has your doctor ever suggested doing pre-implantation genetic diagnosis on your embryos? Is this something you would consider? I only ask as there are many options available to you to maximise your chances of success.

May I recommend a book to you? It is called "Getting Pregnant" by Robert Jansen. If you haven't read it yet, you might find it has some very helpful information about the processes of normal conception and assisted conception. It may help to reassure you that your situation is more normal than not. It might also raise other issues for you that you can discuss with your fertility specialist if you like.

Kind regards,

Mel

Thanks for the advice Mel. I will ask my doc about genetic testing. I will also read the book you recommended. It helps that there are other women out there who understand what I am going through

I have unexpalined infertility as well. I am starting my 4th full cycle now and have had one FET. My 3rd cycle worked and I got twins, and now hoping for number 3.

I too was worried about back to back cycling. It was after my 3rd back to back that I got my positive result, as they learnt to fine tune my cycle and meds after each attempt.

If you are worried about your ovaries getting tired, have you thought of trying a natropath in conjuction with IVF. They can really help give your inners a boost and may assist in getting a positive result. Also actupuncture has had great results as well and has be proven to help women achieve a better result.
HTH and good luck!!!

There have been some people on BB who have benefited from natural therapies.

The only thing with using naturopathy in conjunction with IVF is that you need to be wary of taking herbal preparations along with fertility drugs. Just make sure you tell your doctor about your naturopath and your naturopath about your doctor.

I did acupuncture during my cycle (it has been discussed a few times on other parts of BB) but don't know to what extent it contributed to a successful result. I do know that my fertility specialist has recommended it to some of his patients so perhaps that means he has seen some results over the years. I didn't take any herbal preparations during treatment though.

Best of luck.

I went for a scan on Friday and have 5 follicles around 20 mm,my follicles are usually under 20 mm. Not sure if it means I am going to get more eggs this time but I think it is a positive sign. Tomorrow I am booked in at MIVF to have OPU so we will see how it goes.
Before starting IVF I went to see Antonia Ruhl but the treatment didnt help me so I am not sure if it will help at this stage.

Hi Cybert,
i can relate to your experience, howeverf I also have PCOS and a history of Endometriosis. Truth is I always knew I was goign to need IVF and given the success rates I prepared mnyself very early for the fact that it may take a number of cycles to get some success. Although some are luck to fall in the first or second its usually not the most common outcome - even with no history of problems.

Just like Odette they fine tuned each of my cycles (which I have done nack to back 7 times) and each time there was a better result, mostly with the number of eggs being collected at EPU, also the quality. Last cycled I did get a BFP but sadly I lost him at the 10 week mark which has made me so determined.

Anyway my point is that if you feel like nothing is progressing with each cycle maybe your FS could tweek somethings for a different result. I had some changes to dosage and that made a big difference to the #of eggs, which was very exciting. Not suggesting that this is the answer for you, just that you should stay hopeful and excited and look for whatever it is that has improved from cycle to cycle.

Good luck and many positive vibes to you......

Hi cybert,


first of all, I want to make a little disclaimer. I'm not a doctor, nor do I have experience with long term TTC as we were very lucky that when we tried it just happened for us....and we don't just take that for granted as I was told a few years ago by my endocrinologist that I wouldn't be able to conceive naturally.

I read a great book twice through by Toni Wechsler called -Taking charge of your fertility- and learnt a lot from it. One thing that stands out to me is that with your very short cycles, if you're ovulating late in your cycle, you may not have enough time for a fertilised egg to implant and take hold well enough. From memory you need a minimum of 11 days from ovulation to AF and if it's too short, you can take a simple course of meds to rectify that.

I'm sure your docs are well versed on all the theory and I don't think I could enlighten them to anything new (!) but if you're ovulating say on day 13 and getting your period on day 22, you might actually be fertilising an egg every month but it just doesn't have time to implant properly before the hormone chages that bring on AF.

Just an idea.

Best of luck and ample sprinklings of baby dust from us!!!

Cybert, how did it go? Hope you got some good ones.

I tried a year of natural fertility management and it didn't work for me either although there were some small health benefits (and I was pretty healthy to start with). I believe that a lot of people who conceive using NFS would probably have done so anyway, with or without the therapy. Undoubtedly though some of the dietary modifications do help some women whose weight or other issues need managing if they are to conceive and carry a pg successfully.

This morning I went in for an ET and only two of the 5 eggs fertilized. The doc said, that they were excellent quality . We implanted them both in. We will see how it goes.
I have brought up the issue about LPD with my doc and she said that I definently do not have the defect, so all I can do is trust her judgement I suppose.
Thanks to everyone for replying to my post it means a lot to me.

Cybert 369

Cybert, two good ones is great. I had two put back and now have my son to show for it so I wish you good luck.

Good Luck Cybert - I wish you a great BFP in a few weeks time!