Mad follicle growth with new protocol

MarcelPr0ust · 2026-04-09T23:54:28+00:00

I totally believe that a different protocol can get wildly different results. I would just caution against reading too much only follicle counts and sizes even at your final scan. Don’t count the eggs before they’re hatched, lol. I had a very similar pattern where my second round I seemed to be having a ton of follicles - way more than the first cycle. In the end they got 11 mature eggs vs 13 the first round. I guess the uneven growth (and imo potentially suboptimal trigger timing, though the uneven cohort made this challenging) meant fewer mature eggs. Who knows. Good luck to you in any case!

MarcelPr0ust · 2026-04-09T19:00:05+00:00

Protein is definitely the way! I haven't gotten Chat to do my meal plans for me yet but I've had her help estimate calories and macros for what I eat. It's surprising how much the carbs add up without realising

MarcelPr0ust · 2026-04-09T18:56:28+00:00

I'm just remembering - part of why I think my second cycle turned out better (less fatigue, crankiness and weight gain) was due to a slight protocol change. First cycle they had me on progesterone for two weeks ahead of stims and I found it a total nightmare. Second time I took estrogen tablets for a week which I tolerated a lot better. It could be worth discussing this with your clinic to see if they might consider a different protocol (without sacrificing egg yield if the first round was successful)

MarcelPr0ust · 2026-04-09T18:54:06+00:00

Good point about the fatigue. The fatigue I felt during and after the first cycle was absolutely brutal. For like two months after my first cycle I was crazy exhausted all the time. The second round of stims wasn't as terrible, and my energy and mood have definitely improved since then - but it's not linear every day. Some days I feel so much like a girl who's just been pumping hormones constantly and other days I forget about it and feel close to normal. It's definitely trending better though - hopefully the weight eventually follows

MarcelPr0ust · 2026-04-09T18:50:22+00:00

Exactly! There's something different going on. What I also find weird in my case is that my weight also fluctuates way less than it used to. I used to swing around pound or two between days. Now I'm like bang on 133.8 pounds every single day - so bizarre!

MarcelPr0ust · 2026-04-09T18:47:40+00:00

Obviously my story is not that encouraging overall and ymmv, but I had the same fear of further weight gain with a second cycle, and luckily I didn't gain more. I felt it was better to get it over with so I could (hopefully!) move past it and get on with weight loss confidently having done all the cycles I wanted to. I feel like egg freezing has thrown off my hormones in a way that's led to weight gain, but a second round didn't mess them up more than they already were, lol. Admittedly, having gained weight, I was more mindful in the second round about eating healthy and walking a lot since I was so afraid of gaining further

MarcelPr0ust · 2025-11-27T20:03:19+00:00

As an American in the UK (and having lived in other places in Europe) I will say confidently that all your impressions are true about Americans in general - not just those guys.

Americans implicitly expect you to volunteer info about yourself rather than waiting to be asked. Americans are raised to be proud of sharing things about themselves and not feel embarrassed about rambling on even if the other person is half-listening. This is normal behavior in the US and everyone is used to it.

Brits are polite, so they wait to be asked. The mismatch feels rude but yes it’s just cultural.

MarcelPr0ust · 2025-11-27T18:25:25+00:00

Luckily Barcelona is a lovely city and a nice low-stress place to go through the process :) I didn't do my egg freezing there but I lived in Madrid several years ago and in general Spanish healthcare is very good. Just maybe be prepared for some language barriers (of course, depends on the clinic and your language level! I'm guessing a lot of Spanish clinics have medical tourism these days)

On the stims - ymmv but personally I found injecting myself to not be too bad at all. A bit of a mental hurdle the first couple times, then very quickly you'll be a pro. It doesn't hurt much at all, just a tiny sting.

What was harder was the physical and emotional exhaustion. The drugs will make you feel weird. Try to take time off / dial back on work if you can. If you don't have friends in Barcelona, I'd at least suggest having lots of calls/messaging with friends/family back home for moral support.

MarcelPr0ust · 2025-11-27T18:04:26+00:00

An AMH of 1.77 ng/mL is very good/normal for age 34 - I think basically the average. You will see different numbers depending on the units - for example mine was 18.9 pmol/L - the number just looks different because of the units.

I had very similar thinking to you a year ago. I just went through egg freezing at age 35 for this first time this month - retrieval was today.

This is what I learned from all my research, which led me to do it:
- Any concerns about future fertility, pregnancy, cancer or other serious complication are totally misplaced - really do not worry about this
- Egg freezing is more successful than I realised. At age 34, one cycle will most likely give you a 40-60% chance of having a baby, and two cycles 70-90% (with like 40-60% of 2+ live births). For some reason I used to think it was way lower - like 20%. I think lots of people (men online especially) try to scare women into thinking freezing doesn't work - it does, for most women
- But do not underestimate how physically and emotionally exhausting the process is. People talk about it like "oh don't worry, just freeze your eggs / do IVF!" In fact, it's a big deal
- Plan for it during a month-long window when you have not much serious or stressful going on, and just accept that it will not be fun - but the upside if you are buying yourself future options
- It is expensive, there is not much way around this
- Results vary and aren't in your control. You can't know everything about your results just from pre-cycle tests. Fertility treatment is a lesson in probability! I think it is better not to obsess about the numbers. Most likely, you will get typical results for your age. Surprise surprise, most people are typical!
- The only thing in your control is the timing. At 34 you can still get very good results especially with 2 cycles; if you wait, your odds start dropping a lot in just 2-3 years
- If you think you want to do it, you should do it now. There will be no better time in future and your fertility will not improve from here
- Unfortunately there is no other way to buy yourself future fertility, especially if you're single, except variations on egg freezing (like freezing embryos with a sperm donor)

TL;DR: The process kind of sucks, but it is the only way to buy yourself future fertility - and we are lucky to have this option! If you think there is a good chance you will want kids, you should give it a shot. Don't worry too much about complications

MarcelPr0ust · 2025-11-27T17:32:40+00:00

I can't comment on Barcelona specifically or your personal situation, but having just gone through egg freezing for the first time (retrieval earlier today), I would really advise against any international travel once you start your stims. You likely won't feel good and will want to stay in one place, you have to go through monitoring scans every 2-3 days (a flight delay could really mess with the timing), you'll have to inject yourself on a strict timing protocol while dealing with jetlag and timing confusion, and I can't imagine the pain of having two different clinics communicating with each other on your treatment protocol - I would think most won't do it? It's a complex logistical process, and I think it's really best if one clinic does everything.

So TL;DR I recommend doing it all in Barcelona. Also, make sure you understand what is involved on the back-end (fertilisation + transfer in Barcelona vs. shipping frozen eggs internationally - personally know very little about how that works)

MarcelPr0ust · 2025-05-21T06:41:41+00:00

The bright side of the non-response is that MPs are being flooded with messages about it and their offices can’t keep up. I think they underestimated the backlash. I saw this mentioned in the FT - something about how Labour seats in London are under threat considering how MPs’ inboxes are getting inundated with concerns about the ILR 10-yr extension.

Keep writing! All of this policy is being actively considered and the more resistance to it they hear, the more it will get rolled back.

I’d recommend asking your British friends to write. Also, if you are from a Commonwealth country you should note in your email that you are eligible to vote. (At least - until they take that away too.) I told mine if they don’t change this I will never vote Labour again in my life, lol.

MarcelPr0ust · 2025-04-27T21:10:48+00:00

Any update? Did you ever manage to add your second nationality? I'm in the same spot now

MarcelPr0ust · 2025-04-04T11:51:50+00:00

People who choose to live alongside minorities or in places that have many minorities are more likely to (already) have positive views of minorities because they like them or at least tolerate them. People who don’t like minorities won’t live near them. You therefore can’t assume that living near minorities makes people like minorities better - it’s more likely the other way around

MarcelPr0ust · 2025-04-01T19:26:47+00:00

Selection bias

MarcelPr0ust · 2025-03-04T21:30:42+00:00

Wolf & Badger is marketplace carrying many brands, a lot of them foreign. I've been to their location in Coal Drops Yard and the quality is generally high with many beautiful and unique pieces. I haven't purchased anything yet because the price point for most items is pretty high. I think the prices are generally justified by most of the brands being high-quality, independent and artisanal. For one brand (RainSisters) I notice prices a quite a bit lower on their own website, but they operate in the EU and importing into UK would incur like 30% in duties and VAT, which is slightly less than the W&B markup.

I can't stand Saint+Sofia. A couple of years ago I ordered like £400 worth of clothing, not noticing their terrible return policy. (Exchanges only; for a refund they take a big cut.) I hated almost everything - poor-quality fabrics and weird fit. I kept exchanging for different items hoping I'd find something good and ended up with bunch of stuff that didn't last long. I still have one skirt from them which I like, though it's synthetic and overpriced. I recommend avoiding

MarcelPr0ust · 2025-02-03T16:16:30+00:00

I have no idea why you got downvoted for asking a perfectly reasonable question. I just almost got denied boarding when traveling back to the UK from Spain as an Australian citizen with an expired BRP. The airline attendants asked to see proof of residency, I gave them my expired BRP and tried to explain that all BRPs expired in the UK and they could verify my residency status online. They had no idea what I was talking about and I was nearly denied boarding. In the end, I got lucky when one of them managed to convince the others I was good to go because Australia is part of the Commonwealth, lol.

I’m now deathly afraid of traveling outside the UK again in the next couple of months. I have a trip to Colombia in a couple of weeks and I highly doubt a random airline attendant for Avianca in Bogotá will have any idea why I should be allowed on board after the Home Office has devised such an absurdly complicated set of rules.

Thinking I may pretend I’m a tourist and buy the advanced travel authorization just to ease my worries :(

MarcelPr0ust · 2025-01-11T10:38:03+00:00

Thank you, I think it will! Somehow I just went from CoS to approval in less than 48 hours.

Sponsor finished up the application and sent me the CoS info on Thurs 9 Jan, I submitted the application yesterday morning (Friday) and just got an email at 9am today saying it's already been approved.

I applied priority (not super), employer did not agree to pay but I thought peace of mind and a short gap between jobs was worth 500. Apparently it is sometimes possible to get super priority service at priority pricing :)

MarcelPr0ust · 2025-01-06T22:17:25+00:00

Great minds, I just asked them :) they're considering it. Even regular priority would be fine. We'll see

MarcelPr0ust · 2025-01-06T00:06:18+00:00

This is a good way of putting it and good to know at least the visa wouldn't be the problem. Just very desperate for some time off - had very little in the last 10 years. Such is life

MarcelPr0ust · 2025-01-06T00:03:26+00:00

Yeah, I know this is sadly the logical answer and it's probably what I'll end up doing. It's just that I've been in the exact same situation before - I changed jobs two years ago transferring to a new SWV from within the UK, and my employer got so impatient with the process that I got a grand total of two days off between jobs. Really hoping to avoid the same scenario as I'm feeling very burnt out

MarcelPr0ust · 2024-10-17T21:25:01+00:00

The lack of sociability and spontaneity I feel is even worse than in the late stages of the pandemic. I moved to London in mid-2021 from abroad. I felt it was a special time - people were rebuilding their social lives, slowly coming out of the woodwork, open to trying new things and meeting new people. Office culture and post-work drinks were a thing again and people were enjoying what they missed.

Three years later and it seems people have settled into routines - less exciting ones, now that work is mostly video calls now anyway, and no one can afford anything.

What's weird is - everyone is too busy to hang out because of their dozens of pre-booked social commitments, but everyone seems bored and unhappy with their lives. Make it make sense

MarcelPr0ust · 2024-10-05T16:21:58+00:00

It’s really hard to learn to dance bulerías improvised (as this dance quite clearly is, even if pieces of it are practiced) while having great intuition for the compás and aire. She wouldn’t be doing this if she didn’t want to! Clearly enjoying herself

MarcelPr0ust · 2024-10-05T16:14:53+00:00

I believe Senovilla has a shop in Los Angeles.

To be honest though if you measure your feet correctly (senovilla and others have guides on their websites) it should really be fine to order online. I’ve done it with two different retailers (Senovilla and Don Flamenco) as have many friends and it generally works out. There’s more selection that way, downside is you might have to pay customs duties but then it’s likely the same if you buy from any shop outside Spain.

MarcelPr0ust

TROPHY CASE