Ask Allison

Sometimes the search terms that bring people to this blog just seem to demand a response of some sort. And since I have nothing else to write about these days….

Oh, and the usual disclaimer. I AM NOT A DOCTOR!!! I’m just someone who has been going through infertility treatment for four years now. I’ve been around the block a few times. Just keep in mind that each person is different and each treatment protocol is customized to you and you alone. My situation may be very different and you should only use my experiences for the most general of comparisons. ASK YOUR DOCTOR AND NURSE!!! That’s what you are paying them thousands of dollars for.

“Is it ok to bend over after IVF”

Yes. I’m assuming the asker just had her transfer done. Your uterus is not hollow like an inflated balloon. That endometrial lining that you had to keep getting checked until it was nice and thick? It’s “fluffy” and “sticky” and fills your uterus. Those embryos aren’t going to get shaken out. Sneeze, pee, poop, bend over, go up stairs, laugh. Those things aren’t going to prevent implantation.

Now, if you just had your egg retrieval it may be painful to bend over. My ovaries were huge after both of my retrievals and just standing up was a real effort. So you might not WANT to bend over. The way I see it, I go through weeks of shots and all that discomfort AND surgery…my husband can do the bending over for a few days. I even make him put my shoes on for me.

“How long to take pio after f”

That one got cut off, but I assume that last word was FET. Well, after the FET that resulted in the twins, I had to take PIO injections daily until my progesterone level reached 15 after a night without an injection. We started testing at 9 weeks and I finally reached that point at 11 weeks.

“How many days of gonal f before ganirelix”
I don’t know if I’m a good basis for comparison because I respond REALLY well to stims. I’ll give you my stats from my one follistim/ganirelix IVF cycle and maybe others will chime in in the comments. It really depends on your particular condition, dose, age, and possibly the phase of the moon and the time of year for all I know. I did 7 days of follistim before I started the ganirelix, then I did three days of follistim AND ganirelix, then one more day of just ganirelix. If you want to see the summary of that entire cycle, you can find it here.

“how do you feel day 2 taking stims for i”
Again, that one got cut off so it’s either IVF or IUI. Either way, I don’t think I felt much on day 2 of taking stims. I mean, according to Dr. N, I respond to stims like someone 10 years younger, but I don’t remember anything that fast! Now, lupron starts to give me headaches pretty early on, but two days of stims isn’t really enough to get those eggs poppin’. That said, if you ARE feeling bad, funny, or just different and you aren’t sure…call your nurse and just ask if what you are feeling is normal. Trust me, they’ve been asked stranger questions. Probably by me.

“Shake baby into position during NT scan”
Ok, I had to read that one a couple of times, then realized what you meant. That was awful! I’m pretty sure Zoe was playing hard to get at our NT scan and simply would not turn the right way for the peri to take the measurement. So, using the external ultrasound wand thingy, he bounced those babies around! HARD! I mean, I was afraid I was going to fall off the bed and if you watch the video you’d get seasick! Scared me half to death. But, those scans have a small window in which they can be done and so they try really hard to get them in the right position. Finally, I had to climb on and off the bed a few times to try to shift them.

“What is estradiol test”
It’s a blood test to check your E2 level. The way I’ve explained it to myself is that first your estrogen level has to be low enough to indicate that your ovaries have been fully suppressed so that the doctor can take control of them with the medications. Then, your estrogen level has to be increased to the level of just-before-ovulation (that’s when you trigger and have your retrieval). It’s used in conjuction with sonograms to monitor how you are responding to suppression meds and stims. They’ll draw a vial of blood from the veins on the inside of your elbow, it gets tested and, at least at my clinic, they usually have the results in 2-4 hours at which time they call and tell me how to adjust or alter my medications.

“how many doses in follistim 300iu cartridge”
Well, that depends on what dosage your doctor puts you on. Yes, they do overfill the cartridges, but there’s no guarantee of how much extra is in them. So, if your daily dose is 150iu, count on two injections from a 300iu cartridge and you’ll probably be able to get at least a partial dose from it as well, but don’t rely on that.

“what has more inertia prune juice carro”
Wow, I’d love to see the rest of that search! Um. I have no idea. The last physics class I took was in 1990 and it was “Physics of Sound and Music” so I have no idea about the inertia of prune juice or carrot juice. Good luck with that.

“low beta successful pregnancy fet”
First, I’m so very sorry. I know EXACTLY how much stress you’re feeling right now and I hope your subsequent betas show a significant increase. In the meantime, back away from the internet. Just stop googling right now. I promise you, nothing you find will make you feel any better and all of it will raise more questions, concerns and worries than it will answer or prevent. Good luck to you.

“pio shots and itching”
Ok, good. Someone else seems to be experiencing this. I actually have two different issues with PIO. PIO in oil, after a while makes me itch like a rashy, insect bite kind of itch. I found that using progesterone in ethyl oleate not only took care of that itch, it also seems to inject faster. The other issues I have, and it may be my fault, is that the areas where we inject the PIO, which I numb with ice packs prior to injection seem to have reduced skin sensation now. I’m wondering if literally freezing my ass has damaged the nerves a bit because I get this weird numb/itchy feeling from time to time. I’m just so damn scared of that needle that I can’t bring myself NOT to ice first. But, if you’re getting itching after each injection, ask your doctor if you can switch to the ethyl oleate. Can’t hurt, might help and as far as I know the cost is the same and every pharmacy I’ve used carries it.

Last one for the day…

“Metallic taste in mouth with methotrexate”
Yep. It’s like sucking on aluminum foil and nothing covers it up. I only had the one injection of it and the bad taste lasted just a day or two if I remember correctly (you’ll excuse me for trying to forget as much of THAT experience as possible) but when I googled it, I found multiple mentions of it in forum postings of cancer patients. I think I got past it with a tin of chocolate covered cinnamon altoids.