Tuesday, November 5, 2013

We've got another hiccup

My mock cycle has officially been called a big fat bust.

I guess it's time to lay out all the details of the past few weeks. Who knows, maybe one of you ladies can offer up some advise.

October 2 - still no period 8 weeks after my methotrexate shot. Lining was 2.5mm

October 5 - PIO shot to attempt to induce a period

October 11 - Started Vivelle patches

October 17 - e2 levels were 300, patches seem to be absorbing and I'm slowly increasing to 4 per day

October 25 - e2 levels were 1354, however, my lining was 3.48mm. Immediately added in 3 estrace (vaginally) per day

November 1 - e2 levels were 3400...lining was 2.1mm

Mock cycle cancelled and I was instructed to take another PIO shot. I was told that even spotting would be considered cycle day 1 due to my super thin lining. We'll then start the mock cycle over. At this point, I've not had a period since June 14th (my period prior to my ectopic pregnancy). I'm very skeptical that I'll have one since last time I took a PIO shot, I also did not get a period.

I think I've mentioned before that my biggest fear these past several months was that I would have these perfect embryos...and no where to put them. I'm terrified that this premonition is coming true. What would we do if my lining is just kaput? Surrogacy is a whole different ballgame that we can't afford. Should I even be thinking this yet? The last time my lining measured a decent thickness was November 2012. Granted this past year has been frocked with surgery, crazy hormones, a wonky IVF and an ectopic pregnancy, so I realize, there's not been a whole lot of opportunities to monitor my lining...but still.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned. I really, really am.

On a more fun note, I've been a little MIA with comments and replies lately and I apologize. I've been completely overwhelmed planning my husbands surprise 40th birthday party this past weekend. We had folks fly in from all over and house guests for the 4 days...all while keeping it secret!

(not to mention sneaking in ultrasounds and blood work and ramped up on hormones!!)

Well, I'm exhausted, but it was a success!! He loved it and was thrilled to have his family and closest friends to celebrate with him.


40 (almost) and still smiling!! 



Who ever heard of handing out nerdy glasses at a bar?? Regardless, I had fun with them! 

Thursday is his actual birthday and I plan on a really quiet night, just him and I on the couch as he enters a new decade!! 

28 comments:

  1. I am so sorry your mock cycle didn't work out the way it should have. You are one of the most resilient people I know. Your body will cooperate, eventually. The doctors will help you get there and you will make a cozy space for baby. It will happen. In the mean time sounds like you are staying super busy! Happy birthday T! Sounds like he had one amazing birthday!

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    1. Awe. Thank you! Some days I don't feel very resilient, but then I know that I want this so bad that I'll fight for it and do whatever it takes. What other choice do we have, right?

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  2. Ugh! I hate this for you Suzanne! I really wanted good news! But as I've said, I think a second mock is a good plan, even if it delays the transfer. Praying that the doctors will have a solution and words of encouragement! Love you friend!

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  3. Boo to the cancelled cycle. Hoping this one works out and puts you one step farther. Praying your lining gets better. Happy Birthday to your hubby!

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  4. I am sorry that it was a busy. Here is what I did to finally get my lining to an 8.6: Endo biopsy in previous cycle, estrogen injections every third day. Estrogen pills vaginally three times a day. Lining went from 6.2 (first cycle) to 7.2 (second cycle) when I added the injection and way up when I did all three things!

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  5. Sucks that this mock cycle didn't go well, but at least it was just a mock and not the real thing. Hopefully you can try again soon!

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  6. Damnit to hell! You know what? I don't feel like taking estrace vaginally does much for me either. I took that stuff 3 times per day vaginally for my last FET for 3 stinking weeks and although it did get up to 8 FINALLY, that is no better than I did on my own just from taking Femara this cycle. I think some people just don't respond to all forms of estrogen the same way. I'd rather just take Femara if it gets my lining where it needs to be than have hulk vag for weeks on end.

    The thing you could try is delestrogen shots. I've heard of women with stubborn linings who have fabulous linings on delestrogen shots. I believe the dosage would be 0.2-0.3 cc/day every third day beginning on CD2/CD3.

    And if all else fails, I have even heard of women using Gonal F or Follistim to produce an actual ovulation cycle (although this is an expensive route) just to get their lining optimal, with no intention of a retrieval. They would just transfer the embryos at 5dpo if you went that route.

    You are an amazing woman and an amazing wife. You will get through this, even if it seems like it's taking forever. Praying for a fresh start and for the next mock cycle to be better!

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    1. I hated those little teal pills!! Then to find out they didn't do a darn thing!? Ugh. CCRM did mention doing the delestrogen shots this next round. They also mentioned Viagra suppositories. I certainly wouldn't mind using Femara (or even Gonal-f) if it would help kick start things. It's almost like my body shut down after the ectopic and it hasn't started up again.

      Thank you also for the sweet words and for always knowing just what to say. :)

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    2. Those pesky ectopics can really screw things up. I bet you will respond like a champ to an alternative method. I'm glad CCRM is on it with the shots and Viagra. If we need to do another FET, I am definitely not using estrace alone next time. It's just not strong enough or something. As always, you are not alone!

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  7. I'm so glad to read a post from you- I've been thinking of you all weekend :). I know you must be so incredibly frustrated but I am SO glad that you are doing mock cycles before those babies are transferred to your uterus- I know CCRM will figure this out and you will be well on your way to mommyhood :)

    Happy Birthday to your hubby!!

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  8. Darn. :( I'm so sorry to read about your mock cycle ... Keep your spirits up, though! That uterus has been through a lot. You'll get there soon!

    What a fun weekend!

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  9. Hello - I am a thin lining victim but am currently (finally!) pregnant nearing the end of my first trimester. I had never before had thin lining until my last IVF #3 in summer 2012. My E2 was nearly 7000 and my lining barely topped at 8mm. Obviously with such a high E2 we cancelled our transfer and were going to do a FET later with our PGS embryos created. This was only followed by multiple cancelled FET cycles due to thin lining. It seemed that the more estrogen my RE threw at my body the worse my lining got. I literally had lining shrink during my FET cycle. I was taking estrogen in all forms - orally, vaginally, patches. My RE put me on Pentoxifylline for three months for blood flow as well as Vitamin E and I resumed e-stim acupuncture. After three months my RE gave us the go ahead to try another FET cycle but I ended up pregnant naturally on a 6.0 lining. That ended in m/c 7 weeks later. We tried FET in the spring but kept getting cancelled again because my lining was topping out at 5 mm range and then shrinking again. Oh, I was also doing vaginal Viagra which in most patients, helps with lining issues. Have you looked into the Viagra? Unfortunately I was one of those rare cases where Viagra also didn't help and it was expensive to boot. Each pill was about $8 and I took four a day which required me to lay down for an hour each time to get it absorbed. After my last FET cycle I broke down after having taken 400 pills in three weeks only to be cancelled again due to thin lining. The last attempt my RE added Terbulatline, again for blood flow and I had to deal with the jittery side effects and headaches. After that last attempt he told me I needed to be left alone for awhile and we interviewed with a surrogacy agency. We decided we wanted to do one last attempt with my uterus before moving on to surrogacy. During that time off I had heard from other thin lining sufferers that a few of them did what was being called a 'mini stim' to build lining rather than estrogen replacement FET cycle. For those women that reached out it turns out that multiple gals had success with this protocol and got pregnant with the best lining they had yet. I proposed this idea to my RE and he said, "Why not, nothing else worked?" So, in my 'hail mary' FET cycle I took the lowest dosage of Gonal F. It turned out that my lining looked the best it has ever looked in a LONG time and it made it to a lining of 8.3. Unintentionally during the FET cycle I grew one mature follicle but my lining grew to the 8.3 and started the PIO and did a eSET transfer of one PGS embryo. And well, now I'm almost 12 weeks pregnant. I'm sorry for the big backstory but maybe it helps you to see where I've been, what I've taken (everything under the sun) and what worked for me. Since then, my RE has named the protocol after me and another patient of his who suffers from thin lining has since gotten pregnant. I truly feel that the last year of thin lining hell I've been in finally made sense and I feel like perhaps I was meant to help other women with this problem find possible resolution when perhaps surrogacy is financially out of reach. Please pass this story onto other women who suffer from thin lining. I've read a few other blogs recently where the gals are facing cancelled FET cycles due to this issue and unfortunately I don't have any kind of ID to comment and yours is the only one that accepts anonymous comments. Best wishes on your dream!

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    1. Thank you so much for posting your story. You have no idea how grateful I am to hear a success story. With my past IUI's and IVF, my lining was mostly thin, like 5-9mm, but the 2-3mm is what's really scared me. I hope my body is just having issues resetting from the ectopic. I'm absolutely going to ask about the mini-stim approach and they've already said that they do use Viagra for some cases and may try that in addition to the delestrogen. Congrats on your pregnancy!!!

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  10. So sorry to hear about the canceled cycle :(

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  11. Cancelled cycles are no fair! But, it sounds like you had an awesome party, and your husband was surprised! :)

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  12. First, happy birthday to your husband, and kudos for organizing the whole surprise party!

    I'm so sorry the mock cycle is not working. I hope between the comments here and your doctors' experience you will find a way to make the lining form a wonderful plush nest for your embryo. And take home your baby 9 months later.

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  13. Boo, Sorry to hear this sweet girl!! Hope you are able to have a restful week and so glad you got to celebrate your husbands birthday (gorgeous pic and couple, btw). Hugs for you xoxo

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  14. SO sorry to hear that your mock cycle was cancelled. I don't have any recommendations for forcing AF to start BUT...I do have a few for "pumping up your lining".
    1) The thickest lining I ever achieved was the cycle AFTER an endometrial biopsy. Post injury the lining repairs itself and grows extra thick (there are academic articles to support this outcome as well).
    2) Viagra (as you and several have mentioned). I'm using it THIS month and will blog about the outcome (unfortunately I'm fighting some side effects right now). Firstly...ask that GENERIC viagra be used to create the suppositories because they are MUCH cheaper. I had to find a compounding pharmacy to complete this custom request...but I did and I live in a medium sized town.

    Still cheering you on!

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    1. Thank you!! Oddly enough, the plan was always to do an endometrial biopsy during this mock cycle (mainly for the beta-3 integrin test) but that had to be cancelled too because of the lining being so thin. I am hoping that my actual FET is able to follow directly after the biopsy if I ever get there!

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    2. I've used the Viagra from the big pharmacies and they were super expensive. Then, a fellow IF'er who also lives in California found them way cheaper in the San Diego area called La Jolla Discount Pharmacies. I know they shipped overnight to me in California and might be worth investigating if they ship out of state if you ever have a need. I think I went from paying about $9 a pill to $4/$5 with a $25 shipping charge. I don't know about you but it was emotionally taxing to do the suppositories. The constant pads I had to wear, the gross leaks and all the other meds took a toll on my emotional state. It would have been worth if it the Viagra actually had worked for me but I was one of the rare ones that it didn't.

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  15. I know this seems like the never ending WTF. I'm so sorry girl, but I still believe your body can carry the baby(ies), just maybe it needed more time to reset itself from the ectopic or it needs a different combo of meds to help it along. I know someone who's lining has been really awesome on Neupogen injections, so that's something to maybe look into as well. Lots of thoughts and prayers! I'm glad the bday party went off well. *hugs*

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  16. I am so so sorry to hear this! I don't know how to get AF to start, but I definitely hear you on how frustrating lining issues can be. I think it's so good that you are doing mock cycles though, because it seems you have more flexibility to wait and do the transfer under the best possible circumstances.

    I'm a big believer in natural remedies... even though I've never been able to get my lining above 7, I still believe that natural remedies can work. I'd probably look into what options you have there... And I would also try viagra because I've heard it can really work!

    The birthday sounds like a lot of fun, the photo of you in the glasses is so cute. You have perfect skin! :)

    I will be cheering you on and sending tons of good vibes (as always)

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  17. I am so sorry! I will be praying for you that your lining decides to do what it is suppose to! Stupid lining!

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  18. Oh crap! I'm really sorry the mock cycle is a bust. But like others have said here, I also don't think it's time to give up hope on your uterus housing and growing a fetus to live babyhood.
    My lining was never great. What improved it was delestrogen shots combined with esterace (orally and vaginally). I've also heard good things about viagra. Luckily, you are working with a world class clinic, and they'll have an array of other tricks up their sleeves to help coax your lining into a fluffy red fleece for embryos.
    And wow! how you managed to organize such an elaborate birthday party in the midst of all this is beyond me. What a lucky husband you have.

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  19. Sorry Suzanne! Damn frickin' mock cycle! I have faith that it is going to happen for you. You have jumped so many hurdles and I know this is another you will get over. I will be praying for you...

    ugh

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  20. Oh my gosh, Suzanne, you have literally been through it all. I am so, so sorry! I am praying so hard for you and hope that your next mock cycle yields a completely different result. I love your pics and it sounds like your hubby had a fantastic birthday :)

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  21. I'm so sorry to hear your lining isn't cooperating. Sometimes it just feels like it's one obstacle after another. Ugh. Happy birthday to T. I hope that it takes your mind off things and your body starts cooperating in this next cycle.

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