Post by hoosiermama76 on Dec 22, 2016 1:11:28 GMT -5
I am jumping the gun a little, but we have a consult in February, and that gives only one two more months to try on our own. I'm nervous because I have always struggled with my weight, and even after intense exercise and only eating about five ounces of food at a time (after gastric sleeve surgery), I still can't lose those last ten pounds. I'm assuming that they will chalk me full of hormone replacements and fertility medications. I'm scared about their side effects. What have been your experiences with moodiness, insomnia, and weight gain? Those are my first concerns.
I'm going to put and run, bexcuse I'm flying today, but our main issue is MFI with a possibility of endometriosis.
Our RE said that we would be doing a minimal stimulation IUI first. It's basically clomid for 5 days ( or less) one or two injections then the stim. So, not a whole lot of meds in the grand scheme of things.
I could be wrong, and of course it depends on your test results with the RE, but you may not need to be too worried about a ton of meds just yet.
Clomid, which is the normal first round drug for infertility, didn't cause me any weight gain. You only take it for five days of each cycle.
The only other hormone they may use initially is progesterone. That one always made me hungry but you only take it for your luteal phase (10-14 days) of your cycle.
Initial efforts to address infertility are low intervention. It's the IVF cycles where you take many different hormones.
Clomid and femara (drugs used for TI and IUI) did not cause weight gain for me. I had other symptoms, mostly from clomid, like headaches and hot flashes.
I did gain a little weight, but that was definitely due to my being a comfort eater. It did not impact my ability to work out.
I wouldn't worry about it just too much yet. I don't know your hx but joy is right. First line of defense is OI or IUI with clomid but I would ask them about Femara first. I just liked it better - felt better on it. I had 0 s/e on Femara and no weight gain.
The weight gain has been the worst side effect in this whole process for me but there are a lot of asterisks next to that. I'd say my experience is not the norm in this regard because my hx is not the norm either. And the longer you have to do this with more and greater interventions, the harder it gets to manage your weight. But I'm not alone either. wannabmama and I have had a similar experience in this regard with the heavy IVF drug use and weight gain.
I have not experienced any of the other side effects you mentioned. Progesterone makes me cranky and trigger shot temporarily bloated me. Clomid wasn't my most favorite thing but it was all temporary.
Married 10 years. DX: AMA, DOR, endo, one tube, +NK, homozygous MTHFR C677T, and abnormal endometrial function test. MFI with high DNA fragmentation and pericentric inversion on chromosome 9.
Post by thechickencoop on Dec 22, 2016 12:22:22 GMT -5
I think you're worrying for worrying sake.
Have you or your H had any testing completed yet? Your H has trouble ejaculating, correct? I'd imagine before ANY meds, your RE is going to want to check an SA and then whatever testing is needed for you as well (bloodwork, hsg, etc). Then obvs determine a course of action from there.
We're officially unexplained secondary IF + unexplained RPL. I'm on progesterone every cycle beginning at 3dpo. We're on our second IUI cycle now with using clomid + ovidrel. The only side effects I've really experienced were from the progesterone - bloating, headache, blah. Buy that goes away come CD1.
I wouldn't worry too much about side effects yet when you're not even sure what your treatment plan is.
I am jumping the gun a little, but we have a consult in February, and that gives only one two more months to try on our own. I'm nervous because I have always struggled with my weight, and even after intense exercise and only eating about five ounces of food at a time (after gastric sleeve surgery), I still can't lose those last ten pounds. I'm assuming that they will chalk me full of hormone replacements and fertility medications. I'm scared about their side effects. What have been your experiences with moodiness, insomnia, and weight gain? Those are my first concerns.
There are a couple FB groups about pregnancy post WLS if you want to ask other people who have had the sleeve.
FWIW I didn't gain any weight on fertility drugs. Every experience is different, as is the amount of time women have to take them for. I took clomid (side effects were awful headaches and moodiness). IVF drugs made me tired but that's it. But like others said, there are so many drugs and ways to treat IF and it affects everyone differently
I did two cycles of clomid and the only side effect was it making me bat shit crazy. So I switched to femara and no side effects. I have gained about 10 lbs since starting medicated cycles, but that's over an 8 month period, and it's hard to say what was influenced by the meds and what was caused by eating like crap because I'm depressed about infertility. If I ate better and exercised I think I could have maintained my weight.
Post by wannabmama on Dec 22, 2016 23:30:34 GMT -5
lemonliz is right, I gained a lot on the IVF meds. I'm sure the stress and feeling generally crummy on the meds doesn't help with staying on diet and exercise, either. That said, I was fine on clomid other than some headaches.
TTC since July 2014. CP March 2015. IVF #1 March 2016, 5R, 3M, 2F with ICSI. Transferred 2 on day 3. CP. Surprise BFP and then CP August 2016 (prep cycle for IVF). IVF #2: zero eggs retrieved IVF #3: 6R, 5M, 5F, 3 (2 8A and 1 11A) transferred, one "B" graded embryo frozen on day 5. BFP (at home 7dp3dt, confirmed 14dp3dt with 1552 beta) and U/S at 5w5d, 2 sacs and 2 yolks!
Post by teachermomtobe on Dec 23, 2016 17:36:47 GMT -5
*Grad warning*
I gained a few pounds (like 3?) over the year of treatment but I think that was mostly due to cutting back on intense workouts in TWW and not being able to work out during IVF due to ovary concerns. The worst side effects I had were headaches on Clomid but you only take that for 5 days and then headaches went away.
Post by hoosiermama76 on Dec 24, 2016 1:40:30 GMT -5
Wow! You are some knowledgeable ladies! That is what I do. I worry too damn much. I need to chill; it's obviously not helpful TTC. Thank you so much for being so helpful and informative, and I truly hope, we all have a fertile 2017:)
Post by kensie5226 on Dec 27, 2016 12:38:35 GMT -5
** grad lurking **
I did gain weight during my cycle, but it was from comfort eating and drinking, not from the actual drugs. We are only MFI and we did a minimal stimulation IUI, the drugs are listed in my siggy. I had some issues with clomid, headaches which made it hard to work out." I also had to take estrogen and progesterone during the TWW which mimicked some first tri symptoms and really did make it hard for me to find the engery to work out. So in all honestly the drugs themselves did not cause weight gain, but some of their side affects made it harder for me to do the healthy things I was used to. If your using a fertility clinic be prepared to use some drugs even with MFI in order to overstimulate and get more than one egg as well as control ovulation timing so the IUI can be done at the correct timing.
TTC #1: March 2014 Dx: MFI Medicated IUI #1: March 2015-BFP Baby Girl born 11/5/2015! TTC #2: August 2016 Medicated IUI #1: Feb 2017-BFN Medicated IUI #2: March 2017-BFP Baby Boy expected Dec. 1
seems pretty straightforward to me. We tell people all the time to not borrow trouble and stressing isn't productive for anything.
Sorry for delay. Not near my phone today! I meant that I need to chill so that my chances of conceiving are at their best and that I am at my best mental and physical health.
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