Gonal-F/Puregon & spotting/bleeding

I'm wondering has anyone has had the experience whilst on stimulation injections of starting to spot or more?
I have started light bleeding with moderate cramping this morning after a small amount of spotting yesterday. I've had two nights on Gonal-F (225 IU), with no AF between coming off the pill and starting stims in my down-regulation cycle.
I spoke to my clinic this morning and they have advised me to wait and contact them if it gets any heavier, but they wouldn't tell me much about what happens if it gets heavier other than probably having a scan.
I'm starting a thread here about it as I'm worried, and would really appreciate hearing from anyone who's had a similar experience or any knowledge about reactions to starting stims... even how they found the stims in the first few days. So far on this first IVF cycle my body doesn't seem to be very good at doing what it's meant to do, and it's upsetting me :cry:

Hang in there, Miss C.

I've had spotting/bleeding at all the wrong times while cycling, except for being on stims! I'm afraid I can't really help there, but keep in touch with your clinic, and if the nurses try to brush you off again, be a bit more assertive and demand they do blood tests/scans to try to find out what's going on. If it stops soon, everything should be ok. If it continues, then you might not have enough lining to support an embryo transfer (but that's just guessing, don't take my word for it!).

Try to relax. I know it's easier said than done. My guess is that it's just AF arriving a bit late, and it will stop as the stim injections start to have an effect.

BW

Thanks, BW. It helps a lot.
I rang my clinic again and was a bit more assertive that I was concerned and upset, and the nurse I got this time was a lot more open with information. She said the same as you - the stims should stop the bleeding in any case (i think she said by day 3 of stims), and hopefully that would happen today/overnight. She's ringing my FS to check it with her though to be sure, but I will have to call them and update them tomorrow now in any case.
It's getting a bit heavier now, and cramping is still there (very much like start of AF now), so I think I will just have to see, try not to worry or be too upset in the meantime.
Thanks heaps for the info - it's helping me to relax some :)

Update:

My FS rang back and confirmed that all is ok - she believes that AF has decided to show up, even after 11 days off the pill. FS says my lining was very thin on scan two days ago, so it won't be much, and then the stims should start kicking in and reversing the loss in a day or so, hence stopping the bleeding. FYI, in case anyone is going through a similar thing, apparently this situation isn't quite normal, should resolve itself without any hassle.


P.S. BW, I've left a note of thanks for you in the thread :)

No problems at all, Miss C. :) I'm glad you're less stressed about it all now.

I just so clearly remember where you are - starting out, scared, confused and completely freaked out by your body behaving strangely. The good news is that once your doctor gets used to the way you react, they can do things differently next time to avoid some of the problems. I'm just glad that my thoughts were on the right track and that I didn't completely lead you up the garden path there!

BW

All my puregon cycles I have had spotting when it starts to kick in (on IUIs not til dose was increased etc). It didn't stay or get TOO heavy, but I worried too! Hope all is well xxx

I know this is an old thread but I just did a google search and was directed here in BB. I should have come straight to BB.
I am having the same problem.
I had my period Last week, starting on Monday. I started puregon on Friday (4 injections) & started mild cramping and spotting :(.
I rang the clinic but because I'm due for a BT tomorrow, they told me to wait til then.
I'm so emotional I don't know what to do with my self. Can anyone tell me what it means? Will my puregon dose be increased? Any ideas?

Hi Sandy,

I understand how difficult and emotional it can be when you have no idea what your body is doing when you first start IVF treatment. :hug: Hang in there, and ask lots of questions if you need to here - the ladies on BB are so supportive and knowledgeable.

It's good that you're going to be able to have a BT tomorrow, even though it was due anyway. Make sure that you make the nurses aware that you are concerned and stressed about it and make sure they are able to offer you an explanation of what they think is going on, and what will be the next step of action if required after the BT. Ask to speak to your FS if you aren't happy with their explanation. You deserve to be reassured and to know what the possibilities are.

So you know, after I wrote this thread back when I had my first IVF cycle, I continued to have proper AF-type bleeding for a couple of days (less amount of time than normal AF though) and then it stopped very quickly and my stim cycle was able to continue normally. The only thing that was different was that I needed to be on the Gonal-F/Puregon for an extra couple of days to counteract the loss and build my lining a little more before EPU.

I think that as your oestrogen levels increase and build up whilst on the Puregon, this will stop any spotting/bleeding you are currently experiencing now. I don't know whether your FS will want to increase the dose, but they may do what my FS did, which was to monitor you again and extra after this BT to see your levels, perhaps do a scan to see your lining (I didn't have any BTs, just scans to see my lining and follicles), and if they can see that your oestrogen levels are rising nicely, despite the spotting and that your lining is building back up if they do a scan, hopefully everything will continue as per normal, perhaps just a little longer on the Puregon before you will be ready for trigger.

Good luck, I hope the BT shows everything is going along well, and if so, you can be pretty sure that the spotting should stop as your lining starts to thicken more and become more stable as time goes on during this cycle.

Try to keep breathing, hang in there even though I know you're scared and confused, and know that there's plenty of hope that everything will work out fine this cycle - my situation in this thread is proof!


Miss C

Thank you so much for your reply MissC. I am definitely feeling a lot better about it. Your words were very reassuring. I got my results back this afternoon. My levels are increasing and the FS said (via the nurse) that as my hormone increases the spotting should stop. I have another BT & U/S on Friday to see how things are going. Thanks again.

That's great, Sandy! Very glad to hear everything is on track and I'll have everything crossed for you for this cycle. I'm here if you need to ask anything - I remember having so many questions in my first cycle when I wanted to understand and know as much as possible so I was able to keep calm and focussed on getting my BFP.

Good luck - wishing you a big BFP at the end in a few weeks time :pray:

Thanks again MissC. Sometimes I find I don't like the answers to my questions, but I still rather know. I have just googles polycystic ovaries and IVF. I came up with poor quality eggs and OHSS. I can't win. I think I better attempt to trust the professionals who are caring for me.
It is so great to see your avatar with bub. Gives me hope that I may get my dream. :D

Sandygirl, try not to let the PCOS, OHSS and poor egg quality thing get you down. I don't have time for a long post at the moment, but I have ridden that rollercoaster and come out the other end. There's stuff you can do to help avoid OHSS if you are particularly prone to it (like me), when I tried it for my third stim cycle, I not only got my first fresh transfer, but I got my precious boy. Let me know if you need more info.

BW

BW, thanks. I would love some extra info when you get a chance. The scan this morning showed lots of follies, more than expected. She told me to start drinking 2L of water a day. I really want to do everything I can to avoid OHSS and not waste a cycle.

Yep, lots of water. In terms of diet, ditch the carbs, eat low-carb, low-GI and high protein. You are going to have to be VERY disciplined on that for a while... If you PM me your email address I can send you a word document that has the full instructions that my FS gave me. I was on daily monitoring during my third cycle, and the day I slipped up it was very obvious in the scary jump in my E2 levels, but we got there in the end.

BW

That would be great BW.I will PM you. I just read an old thread by belle where you posted on OHSS. Very helpful. I would really like to do as much as possible to avoid getting to that point.

Oops! I just had spaghetti for dinner and DH bought me some chocolate :doh:

Hello there,
I found this post while searching as well.
I will starting my down regulation with Buserelin next week, to be followed with Gonal F.
It's my very first treatment cycle so am a little anxious and have been trying to read up as much as possible !
One aspect I'm struggling with is finding an approach to ensure all embryos created are used, regardless of grading.
It might be a tall order but I would like to aim for a smaller quantity of quality eggs.
I guess I can start by ensuring my diet helps with egg quality !
Dear BW,
If you could send me the document from your FS as well I would really appreciate it !
I've been living in the UK for the past 8 years, and am having treatment here with the NHS (public health system).
Many Thanks !
Bluebead

Bluebead, are you referring to the diet/eating plan? I will need an email address to send it as an attachment, it is a word document.

BW

Hi BW,
Yes, I would greatly appreciate that.
My searches have found lots, proabably too many tips so far, including drinking lots of milk, taking baby asprin, eating pineapple etc.
It would be ideal to be able to start with a FS recommended plan.
My account permissions are currently not fully set up, but when they are I'll give you a PM with my email address details. Hope this is OK.
Many Thanks !
Bluebead