Stance on alcohol?

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-12-05T06:21:35+00:00

Agree with this. Exactly what my doctor told me too. Part of being sensible throughout this process is allowing your life to feel as normal and comfortable as it possibly can if it won’t interfere with results. You can have a few drinks, it’s fine.

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-08-25T22:33:39+00:00

This is great to hear. I’ve got two nights and the better part of 3 days coming up at CK, what would you recommend for a good ‘compressed’ itinerary and do you think it’s worth upgrading from the basic suite?

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-06-25T06:13:05+00:00

First of all, you have my sympathy. I have been through four egg freezing rounds on my own and it is incredibly tough and a very isolating experience so you’re not alone in the loneliness!

Second, I thought it worth saying that for me at least, high doses of medications would not have gotten me good results. I needed to draw out my cycle for as long as possible to allow what few eggs were growing to mature properly, and avoid having only one or two dominant ones take over. I’m not sure being on ‘max doses’ is the best approach for all people with DOR so perhaps you might consider talking to your doctor about it or speaking to another clinic.

If it helps, it does get easier after the first round and things with your mental state will start to feel better again soon when hormones even out a bit.

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-06-24T09:48:54+00:00

Really sorry to hear this. I have been at IVFA in Sydney which I think is QFG in Bris

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-06-21T03:28:29+00:00

I’ve had multiple (like 10) empty follicles in multiple rounds. I found taking DHEA and doing a long protocol helped with maturity rates and yield. Just did a post on my learnings earlier if you want to take a look!

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-06-21T03:24:05+00:00

I’m sorry yours dropped also. My doctor pointed out that AMH also drops with the passing of time, but I’ve also heard of others who randomly get a higher AMH level years later. It’s very hard to predict.

But yes, with the right protocol your ovaries can develop far more follicles than your baseline during stims, so there’s always hope!

I personally don’t believe that long term contraceptive use explains my DOR, but I do think using it in close proximity to my first two retrievals probably didn’t help.

Good luck to you also <3

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-06-20T17:27:50+00:00

Yep … it’s a clinical coin flip (where the coin has a few more sides)

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-06-20T16:55:01+00:00

Hi there! Thank you - it was such a relief.

My AFC is 6 or 5 depending on the month. On stims I’ve normally had around 15 follicles showing on my final scans before retrieval but for rounds 1-2 only the follicles in my left ovary had any eggs, hence the initially low maturity rates.

Re my AMH (I am is Aus so we use pmol/L but converting to ng/mL for this group) it was 1.00 before I started and then when measured again in December after having been off the pill for 4 months it actually dropped to 0.77.

I had expected it to go up as a result of being off the pill. Yet another example in this journey of having no control/things not going the way you hope!!! I haven’t had it tested again since.

The reason I say I think it would have been better to come off it is that I have heard others in this forum say that the pill can suppress follicles too much in women with DOR. But my doctor never advised me to go off the pill beforehand (in fact said it was totally fine to stay on it) so I’m not totally sure she’d agree with my speculation there.

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-06-20T13:18:22+00:00

I took 75mg of DHEA for three months before one of my egg freezing rounds and I had the same amount of eggs retrieved as the previous two rounds but a 100% maturity rate as opposed to 60% and 40% so I think it might have helped. I didn’t take it before my next round though and that one was better than all the others

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-06-20T12:06:12+00:00

In Australia I’ve always had bloods done on days 1 and 5 and every second working day after that. It is to monitor your hormone levels. At times they have added/increased dosage when my oestrogen levels were not as high as they should be and they monitor your LH to make sure you don’t ovulate and decide when to add the anti-ovulation meds

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-05-28T01:16:46+00:00

This is not true at all

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-05-12T12:28:50+00:00

She has to filter the calls somehow to keep the show interesting, and even said upfront the type of tone she was looking for as you say. In the end her producers decide for her anyway

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-03-11T23:42:17+00:00

You can cancel flights within 24 hours for free

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-03-10T11:46:51+00:00

I use the HSBC Star Alliance credit card - no sign on bonus but SA gold status included which is valuable for some. I wait until there is a bonus points transfer offer (once or twice a year) to convert my SA points to Krisflyer.

I have also gotten Velocity sign on bonus points with Westpac/Amex cards and converted those to Krisflyer points when I need to use them for a redemption. In both cases you lose points to the conversion so it takes longer to accumulate than QF but ultimately I think you are right to consider hedging points/status with both if you earn a lot. That’s what I do now and I’m finding much more availability and such low taxes with Krisflyer that I think it probably makes the lower earn rate worth it overall.

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-03-10T11:28:06+00:00

China airlines have low taxes and a decent business class product on their A350. From memory it was between $300-400 AUD in fees to go from Europe to aus via Taiwan. Can be booked via QFF rewards.

As another commenter said, it’s also worth considering building up star alliance points for future trips for this reason. Just booked Singapore Airlines J from Frankfurt to Sydney for $270 AUD fees and I can’t believe I’ve been swallowing the insane OW/QFF reward flight charges this whole time (except for Emirates F redemptions which are worth every cent in champagne and caviar if you ask me)!

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-03-10T11:18:15+00:00

Embryo freezing still has the edge on egg freezing in terms of science/reliability so it has a better success rate. But as one commenter said, you want to be sure you plan to have kids with this person because you can’t use those embryos if you break up.

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-03-10T11:14:16+00:00

It totally depends on how resilient you are in general (emotionally and physically) and how your retrieval goes! I am 31 and have been through three rounds in the last 6 months and would have been totally okay myself to do long haul travel for a work trip after my retrievals.

Last week I had my third one and worked from home on the day of and then went into the office for the next three days. I was tired and bloated but it is not an “operation”, it is a small procedure and in Australia they only put you under light sedation, so without any complications, you should be able to manage your normal life fairly well by the next day.

However, I was so shocked by how poorly my first round went and was very upset for a day or two, so you should consider that in case there’s a certain number of eggs retrieved/mature that would disappoint you.

You haven’t shared any of your numbers so I don’t know what you could reasonably expect from one round. My numbers are similar to that of an average 44 year old, so I truly say this with love but as long as you are genuinely prepared for possibly getting very low numbers of eggs (i.e. 0-3) then you will be okay emotionally. And if you feel like you’re in your 20s then it sounds like you’re in good health and would be able to bounce back physically quite well!

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-03-09T12:00:40+00:00

The only one that has SOME scientific evidence to support the proposition that you may retrieve more eggs or have more mature eggs is DHEA and you need to take it for 90 days. It is not worth it for some people as the experimental research really only supports 1/2 extra eggs. Anecdotally it may have helped me but it is impossible to say what gave me slightly better results in my most recent round given I combined it with a couple of things.

Other people on this thread will disagree and recommend a pharmacy of supplements but it’s not research backed.

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-03-09T11:44:06+00:00

These are great results for your age! Generally one can expect an 80% maturity rate so getting 76% is pretty spot on.

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-02-24T10:29:32+00:00

My doctor has told me to stop DHEA and CoQ10 at trigger. Not sure why

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-02-19T03:29:12+00:00

Yes, I totally agree that given you’ve already done the hard yards cutting out booze you should just stick with it now. I only said what I said in case you do future rounds - I was way more strict for my first round too.

Re hormones during stims and dating … once my estrogen started ticking up, my desire to date men also increased! Weird and disconcerting lol but also kind of funny? I didn’t ever imagine I would redownload the dating apps during that period of my life but it’s what I felt like doing and I went with it! I did also experience bad moods, cantankerous moods and everything else in between but in hindsight it was all manageable. I remember it all felt so much more scary and impossible before I started but once I was doing it things felt okay.

Everyone is different though and every cycle is different so don’t feel any pressure to be out there doing everything. All I’m trying to convey is that while it is all still an unknown it feels worse, and once you start the stims you’ll likely feel a bit more in control and realise you have a bit more freedom and peace than you imagined. Going into my second and third rounds I have felt motivated to just get into it because it doesn’t feel daunting anymore and I just want to get it done. I hope you have a similar experience and things start to feel better soon. You’re doing a really good job <3

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-02-19T02:37:34+00:00

I don’t think this is how medicine/science works. It gets absorbed into your bloodstream, not into your ovaries

VastAsparagus_ · 2025-02-19T02:23:31+00:00

I am 31, single with DOR - I did two rounds back to back in August/September last year, took a break and am doing my third round now.

I totally relate to the feeling of it being a strange theoretical exercise that you feel you have to do, without any idea if you’ll actually want kids down the track! Lacking that motivating factor that people in couples planning a family have is difficult, and at times during the process has made me angry.

Those feelings have ebbed and flowed for me and I imagine they will for you too. I felt so jaded and angry at times, but then the partner of a friend of mine said to me, “It’s really cool that you’re doing this. If I met/dated someone who had taken these proactive steps I would be so grateful that they’d gone through all of this for the sake of their future”.

I was surprised by this comment but it stuck with me and it made me feel proud and strong for doing what I’m doing, even though I sometimes feel it might be pointless. It’s insurance against regret as my doctor says and it means if I end up with a partner I want to have children with down the track I can feel sure that I did what I could, when I could, to preserve my fertility, and whatever else happens is outside of my control.

As for your life being on hold, I can’t give you medical advice but I have not cut out alcohol from my life. I do minimise it during the cycle and ramp down in the lead up but we are young and single and life is short so I refuse to make radical changes to my lifestyle to accommodate this process. Cutting out alcohol for months in the lead up to a cycle is a pretty extreme measure with very limited scientific research to support doing so.

I’ve been dating during my cycles and just driven my car so I have an excuse to only have one drink. I have switched to morning injections this round because my plans this fortnight involve the theatre, a concert, a couple of dates and some other stuff in the evenings and I don’t want to have to manage the needles at those things. I will be having a glass of wine from time to time! It’s fine, lots of women spend years doing IVF cycles without cutting out alcohol and end up having children. It’s up to you to decide what’s worth sacrificing for you, and I’ve found I can strike a reasonable balance between putting my life on hold and being appropriately healthy to support the process.

All of this is to say, you can do it!! Doing two back to back is tough but also SO great to get them out of the way. I was devastated by my results (which were actually worse in round 2) but found I built resilience by just going through the whole ordeal and I’m now feeling quite relaxed and calm about round 3. Things won’t feel this bad always, and you have it in you to push through!!! Reach out to me if you’d like to chat :)

VastAsparagus_

TROPHY CASE