LA_Girl
April 25th, 2019, 06:09 AM
Hi,
So I'm back after a failed HT attempt. I had a BHCG test yesterday, which was two weeks after embryo collection, and it came back as 10 - which is super low. I have another test tomorrow to see if it's gone up, but it's highly unlikely.
Despite the disappointment at this not working, I always try to look forward. I hated the idea of HT because I always prefer a natural approach, and hate taking any sort of meds. I don't even take a tablet for a headache, and when I swayed previously (which ended in miscarriage at 11 weeks) I took Clomid 4 times (2 months on, 2 months break, 2 months on again), and then didn't stop bleeding for two months afterwards as I wasn't dispelling everything, and had two rounds of meds to try to (which didn't work either), so I thought, we may as well try HT after all the meds I've taken! Having said that, the meds I've taken - 4 different types of injections, 4 different types of oral drugs, plus suppositories, have far exceeded what I thought I would be taking, BUT - at least I can say I tried. I think I would have regretted swaying and getting an opposite, having not tried this route when I could have. I have to also admit that, I'd seen two perfect looking, long term sways, end up with opposites and that was my push to try HT. I can't deny that it would break my heart to get an opposite, but I feel I have to try.
One thing that is making me feel slightly more positive (possibly falsely) is that, out of the 11 fertilised embryos we had, only one was male and the rest were female. I had asked beforehand whether they sort the sperm, but they said they don't because they find that they get more abnormal embryos doing that so they just pick the liveliest ones.
Initially I was told that one embryo came back with an inconclusive result, and would be re-tested, but every other one had a chromosomal defect. I was gutted. The embryologist said that there were four female embryos which were grade 5AA (the best they could be), but they all had a chromosomal issue. I asked if those four could be retested, as I'd read up on PGS a lot, and read that they test cells from the placenta, and it's a known fact that, even in a full term, health baby, the placenta is 25-30% aneuploid (chromosomally abnormal). Initially my clinic said they wouldn't retest as they used to retest 5AA embryos as standard, but they found that less than 1% came back normal after retesting so they don't do it anymore. In the end, because they were testing one, the embryologist agreed to test the others. One of them retested as normal, so I had it transferred, but sadly hasn't taken.
So I'm thinking about what to do next. I'm 41 so time isn't on my side. I have both Clomid and Letrozole which I can take, although I'm not sure, once I start bleeding (I'm still taking the meds until tomorrow which is preventing that from starting yet) if I should take them, because I may bleed for a longer time. I have been exercising three times a week for an hour a day, so I can up this to five. I already have a long period between dinner and breakfast, but I usually have a protein smoothie with avocado, chia, coconut water, spinach and one piece of fruit for breakfast. I have green juice every day, and eat low carb because of my PCOS. One thing I struggled with recently is melasma - which is hormonal hyperpigmentation. I was eating porridge with stevia for breakfast and I wasn't sure if the carbs or the stevia was causing the melasma, so I stopped about a month ago. I didn't suffer with melasma when I was swaying before. I'm sure hormonal balance has an impact on swaying, although I don't know which way!
My questions are:
1. Should I take Clomid or Letrozole? I'm fine with the possibility of twins.
2. Should I try to take Clomid/Letrozole 2/3 days into my first period or wait until next month?
3. Should I have my smoothie as a late breakfast then dinner later, or have lunch (which was usually brown rice and green veg when I was swaying before) and dinner, as the smoothie is too nutrient rich?
4. I assume I should drop my green juice again as it's too nutrient rich. Do you agree?
5. I want to try one attempt at ovulation, with bd/release 3/4 days before as it was a 3.5 day gap between previous release and sperm collection for our HT which resulted in more females being selected - although this could just be luck.
6. I've been taking 1000mcg folate, a prenatal and CoQ10 for the last 6 months. I assume it's just the folate I should continue with?
Any other recommendations?
Thank you!
So I'm back after a failed HT attempt. I had a BHCG test yesterday, which was two weeks after embryo collection, and it came back as 10 - which is super low. I have another test tomorrow to see if it's gone up, but it's highly unlikely.
Despite the disappointment at this not working, I always try to look forward. I hated the idea of HT because I always prefer a natural approach, and hate taking any sort of meds. I don't even take a tablet for a headache, and when I swayed previously (which ended in miscarriage at 11 weeks) I took Clomid 4 times (2 months on, 2 months break, 2 months on again), and then didn't stop bleeding for two months afterwards as I wasn't dispelling everything, and had two rounds of meds to try to (which didn't work either), so I thought, we may as well try HT after all the meds I've taken! Having said that, the meds I've taken - 4 different types of injections, 4 different types of oral drugs, plus suppositories, have far exceeded what I thought I would be taking, BUT - at least I can say I tried. I think I would have regretted swaying and getting an opposite, having not tried this route when I could have. I have to also admit that, I'd seen two perfect looking, long term sways, end up with opposites and that was my push to try HT. I can't deny that it would break my heart to get an opposite, but I feel I have to try.
One thing that is making me feel slightly more positive (possibly falsely) is that, out of the 11 fertilised embryos we had, only one was male and the rest were female. I had asked beforehand whether they sort the sperm, but they said they don't because they find that they get more abnormal embryos doing that so they just pick the liveliest ones.
Initially I was told that one embryo came back with an inconclusive result, and would be re-tested, but every other one had a chromosomal defect. I was gutted. The embryologist said that there were four female embryos which were grade 5AA (the best they could be), but they all had a chromosomal issue. I asked if those four could be retested, as I'd read up on PGS a lot, and read that they test cells from the placenta, and it's a known fact that, even in a full term, health baby, the placenta is 25-30% aneuploid (chromosomally abnormal). Initially my clinic said they wouldn't retest as they used to retest 5AA embryos as standard, but they found that less than 1% came back normal after retesting so they don't do it anymore. In the end, because they were testing one, the embryologist agreed to test the others. One of them retested as normal, so I had it transferred, but sadly hasn't taken.
So I'm thinking about what to do next. I'm 41 so time isn't on my side. I have both Clomid and Letrozole which I can take, although I'm not sure, once I start bleeding (I'm still taking the meds until tomorrow which is preventing that from starting yet) if I should take them, because I may bleed for a longer time. I have been exercising three times a week for an hour a day, so I can up this to five. I already have a long period between dinner and breakfast, but I usually have a protein smoothie with avocado, chia, coconut water, spinach and one piece of fruit for breakfast. I have green juice every day, and eat low carb because of my PCOS. One thing I struggled with recently is melasma - which is hormonal hyperpigmentation. I was eating porridge with stevia for breakfast and I wasn't sure if the carbs or the stevia was causing the melasma, so I stopped about a month ago. I didn't suffer with melasma when I was swaying before. I'm sure hormonal balance has an impact on swaying, although I don't know which way!
My questions are:
1. Should I take Clomid or Letrozole? I'm fine with the possibility of twins.
2. Should I try to take Clomid/Letrozole 2/3 days into my first period or wait until next month?
3. Should I have my smoothie as a late breakfast then dinner later, or have lunch (which was usually brown rice and green veg when I was swaying before) and dinner, as the smoothie is too nutrient rich?
4. I assume I should drop my green juice again as it's too nutrient rich. Do you agree?
5. I want to try one attempt at ovulation, with bd/release 3/4 days before as it was a 3.5 day gap between previous release and sperm collection for our HT which resulted in more females being selected - although this could just be luck.
6. I've been taking 1000mcg folate, a prenatal and CoQ10 for the last 6 months. I assume it's just the folate I should continue with?
Any other recommendations?
Thank you!