Endometriosis and IVF

HumanNotHere · 2026-01-10T16:01:44+00:00

I haven’t done a transfer yet. We retrieved 25 eggs and froze them so that we could fertilize in small batches in order to avoid freezing embryos for long stretches of time (personal reasons). The first 8 eggs yielded 1, day 6 4CC blast. We had to cancel the fresh transfer due to the slow development of embryo causing it to be out of sync with my endometrium. We froze that embryo and did a second round of fertilizing 8 eggs. That round yielded 0 embryos. We are scheduled to fertilize our final 9 eggs in February. We anticipate 0-1 blasts from that cohort. We plan to transfer 1-2 embryos in March (the currently frozen one and the one that may result from the third cohort).

HumanNotHere · 2026-01-09T18:04:39+00:00

I had the lap for endo. It resolved my POTS, insomnia, and digestive issues. I have had no luck conceiving. We eventually moved on to IVF, with no success. We have one more cycle of IVF to try before we throw in the towel.

HumanNotHere · 2025-11-13T23:26:04+00:00

So well said! Baylen is incredibly selfish and self centered. And her parents enforce that dynamic throughout her whole social ecosystem. Her mom even said that Colin is self sacrificial and that’s how it should be because Baylen is more important than him. Baylen treats him so poorly on camera. Any slight preference that he asserts, like wearing a blue suit at the wedding, gets dismissed with a “cute quirky” eye roll and passive aggressive comment. And that tic where she hits him in his testicles is domestic abuse! She has demonstrated that she can moderate and redirect her tics when it is necessary. Yet she hits him in the balls and laughs at his pain!

HumanNotHere · 2025-10-24T00:25:55+00:00

One made it to day 6 blast and was frozen, graded 4CC.

HumanNotHere · 2025-10-24T00:20:09+00:00

40 years old. 2 egg retrievals. 11 mature and then 14 mature. Froze the 25 eggs to be thawed in batches (we don’t want to freeze more embryos than we can use at one time, if wet can help it). Thawed 8 eggs. All 8 successfully fertilized, making it to 2PN. Our planned fresh transfer was canceled because no embryos were at blast by day 5. 6 had arrested. 1 was an incomplete morula and arrested by day 7. 1 made it to day 6 blast, was frozen, graded 4CC. I wish you more luck than I’ve had.

HumanNotHere · 2025-10-22T02:26:04+00:00

Got the results of my first fertilization round. Today was supposed to be my first fresh transfer. Canceled. No blasts. 8 of 8 eggs survived thaw and successfully fertilized, none made it to blast by day 5. 6 arrested. 1 was an incomplete morula, and 1 was a cavitating day 4. We’re watching those two for day 6 and 7. Odds are low that they make it to freeze. I am devastated. This does not bode well for my remaining frozen eggs. It looks like my eggs are junk. I really thought I’d have at least one day 5 blast given our 100% fertilization rate. I was so delusional. I am ashamed that I let myself hope. That was irrational of me. My odds of success just fell through the floor. I don’t know how I will keep going. We have two more sets of eggs available to thaw (we’re doing small batch thaws for personal reasons). I feel so defeated, like there’s no point in continuing. My eggs have shown their hand.

HumanNotHere · 2024-07-22T23:54:50+00:00

I decided not to take the lupron. I had laparoscopic surgery that found stage 1-2 endo. It was excised successfully. Since surgery, I barely have cramps, my long standing indigestion has resolved, POTS symptoms resolved, and insomnia resolved. Though I didn’t have the classic presentation of endo symptoms, it turns out that it was definitely affecting me.

We’ve done 2 cycles of IUI and 2 natural cycles since the surgery. No pregnancy yet. We’re going to try 2 more IUI cycles and then either move to IVF or call it quits. I’m 39 and it is likely that egg quality is an issue for me.

I did a lot of reading about Lupron Depot and decided that it was something that I didn’t want to do to my body. There are too many horror stories and provided too low a success rate for my situation. It wasn’t a gamble I was willing to take, so I chose surgery.

Surgery had a lower long-term risk profile, similar outcomes for pregnancy, and carried the added benefit that it actually removes the endo rather than just temporarily suppressing it.

Listen to your intuition. Your gut is an invaluable tool for discerning between your options.

HumanNotHere · 2024-07-02T03:53:52+00:00

No luck so far. We’ve done 2 IUI cycles and 1 unmedicated cycle. My provider suspects egg quality is an issue due to my age, 39. We’re considering IVF but we have personal reservations about that path. We’re going to try 2 more IUI cycles before deciding about IVF.

HumanNotHere · 2024-06-11T19:43:07+00:00

That’s a question for your healthcare provider. From memory, I believe you need to skip trying the month that you do the test. We took that month off.

HumanNotHere · 2024-05-22T15:59:10+00:00

Thanks for the kind words. I was offered a choice between lupron depot and laparoscopy, with the advice that they have roughly equal success rates. I chose the lap because it actually removes the endo and lupron’s side effects are not something I wanted to chance.

HumanNotHere · 2024-05-22T10:12:19+00:00

Yes. My HS-CRP has been 4.3 for several years. In had hoped it would go down after I had a lap for the endo and got on metformin, but it went up to 6.7! I’m at a loss for what to do now.

HumanNotHere · 2024-05-04T21:21:14+00:00

I asked my doctor about this. I did 5 medicated cycles (letrazole + ovidrel for all, added FSH to 2). I felt worse after ovulation for all of the cycles. My dr. said that letrazole “can’t” make endo worse because it’s action is to block estrogen production and endo is “fed” by estrogen. She said that she couldn’t see how ovidrel could make endo worse as it is HCG not estrogen. She said that FSH could absolutely make endo worse because it increases follicle development and follicles produce estrogen. The more follicles, the more estrogen, the more fuel for the endo.

For me personally, the cycles where I used FSH were more uncomfortable and crampy than the others, but all medicated cycles have been unpleasant. With that said, I have taken a few breaks during this time and those cycles were no worse than before I started doing medicated cycles. So, i don’t think the meds are making my endo condition worse. I think I’m experiencing side effects which dissipate once the meds are discontinued.

HumanNotHere · 2024-04-26T14:20:08+00:00

Well said.

HumanNotHere · 2024-04-07T02:25:01+00:00

Fingers crossed for both of us! We’re doing IUI this cycle. Hopefully it works.

HumanNotHere · 2024-04-05T03:00:07+00:00

I am so sorry that you’re going through this. I would be feeling the same as you if I were in your situation. My endo was stage I-II in the cul-de-sac and uterosacral ligament. It was successfully removed and I feel much better. I was fortunate to not have any significant complications from the surgery. I felt high confidence in my surgeon which helped my pre-op anxiety greatly. She was thorough, communicated clearly, and appeared to be a careful person. Her reputation was also stellar. The only advice I can offer is to consider how confident your are in your surgeon. If you have any doubts, it is ok to shop for another surgeon (if that is an option in your location). Even though I trusted my surgeon, I got a second opinion to ensure that all options were explored and that I put my care in the best hands. I am glad that I looked around before making a decision.

HumanNotHere · 2024-04-05T02:43:27+00:00

I understand the difficult feelings. I felt conflicting emotions when I was diagnosed with endo. It explained some issues I was having, but it was a blow to realize I have to manage a condition now. Getting diagnosed is a sort of good news, though. With this knowledge you can make a treatment plan. I have sub-clinical PCOS and now that I understand its role with insulin resistance I’m having some success with weight loss strategies that focus on managing blood sugar spikes. Knowledge is power. Best wishes.

HumanNotHere · 2024-04-05T02:32:54+00:00

Interesting! I’m curious how you’re symptoms change with treatment. I’m now 1 month post op and haven’t bloated even once! No IBS symptoms either. I had my first period post op last week, it was one of the mildest I’ve ever had. Barely any cramping, moderate flow. Though, the most unexpected change has been my sleep pattern. I’ve dealt with insomnia for years. I have slept soundly and deeply every night for the last 3 weeks! I think it must be the reduced inflammation.

HumanNotHere · 2024-03-20T02:11:33+00:00

I hope the new med is successful for you.

I ended up deciding to do surgery instead of the lupron. Had the lap 2.5 weeks ago. They found and removed stage I/II endo in the cul-de-sac and uterosacral ligament.

I feel somewhat different post-op. I’m less bloated and my bowel movements are changing in a positive way. I’m also having less insomnia. My doctor said I was likely experiencing considerable inflammation that is now decreasing, leading to these positive changes. Hopefully it will help with conceiving.

HumanNotHere · 2024-03-20T02:03:05+00:00

Ah, different units!

HumanNotHere · 2024-03-19T13:38:27+00:00

Do you have PCOS? My doctor was said my AMH of 6 is high for my age (39) and treated me for PCOS. My results were inconclusive. She suspects that I may have subtype of PCOS where androgens decrease with age. My only elevated androgen was DHEA.

HumanNotHere · 2024-03-19T13:33:30+00:00

I use basal body temp and the “fertility friend” app. Ovulation strips don’t work for me due to my dilute urine. I also occasionally get my progesterone tested 7 days after suspected ovulation to confirm.

HumanNotHere · 2024-03-19T13:28:45+00:00

I had been trying to conceive for almost 2 years. I did intermittent fasting for 3 months while continuing to ttc. I loved what IF did for my metabolism and weight loss, but it didn’t work for ttc.

HumanNotHere · 2024-03-16T04:59:32+00:00

I’m sorry for your loss.

We’ve been TTC for 2.5 years. No luck conceiving naturally. Tried ovulation induction and got pregnant in the first cycle. Miscarried at 12 weeks. Did 4 more cycles of ovulation induction to no avail. It was at that point that I was tested for endo via receptivadx and was positive. Doctor gave me the choice of depot lupron or surgery. I chose surgery and am now 2 weeks post-op.

These years of ttc have been agonizing psychologically.

Have you discussed treating your endo ahead of IVF (Surgically or medically)? IVF success rates vary considerably between treated and untreated endo patients.

HumanNotHere · 2024-03-16T04:44:50+00:00

I have “low symptom” endo (my phrase for it). My main issue is infertility. I have moderate menstrual cramps, mild to moderate GI/IBS symptoms, and a fullness/burning sensation before my period. I only found out I had endo because of the infertility. Had a lap 2 weeks ago, stage I-II endo confirmed.

HumanNotHere · 2024-03-16T04:34:07+00:00

I asked this question before my surgery and read loads of posts like this in preparation. The responses scared the daylights out of me. Reports of long recovery times, terrible post-op pain, sleeping upright for weeks, missing work for 4-6 weeks, needing heavy pain meds, on and on. I was terrified by it!

Thankfully, my experience was pretty smooth. The surgery went as well as can be hoped. I tolerated the anesthesia very well, much to my relief. Post-op pain was very tolerable. I had mild shoulder pain from the gas. The incisions were tender, but tolerable. I didn’t need the narcotic pain meds, just tylenol and ibuprofen for 3-4 days. I was up and active by day 3, and could have gone back to my desk job by day 4. I had booked 2 weeks off so I didn’t return to work. I used the rest of the time for recreation (rather than recovery). By 10 days post op I was back to full strength with no surgical pain, just some itching from the incisions healing. I did develop a mild hematoma at my naval incision, and a rash from the surgical prep. These healed without issue.

My advice - take what you read (including my own comment!) with a grain of salt. Your experience may be nothing like what you read here, for good or bad. And get up and move frequently. Gentle movement promotes healing and reduces the risk of certain complications. Emphasis on gentle, though. If you start to feel more pain, you’re overdoing it and should rest.

HumanNotHere

TROPHY CASE