I have always been a fan of the Ripley’s Believe It or Not attractions. There is just something about the weird, and odd and wonderful that intrigues me. Now, they have captured my attention even more with their foray into fertility myths and legends. African fertility statues are on tour and [...]
Posted on March 20, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
I don’t take these kinds of OTC products, but my friend who is an ER doc says they have people drink tons of Maalox when they come in for all sorts of abdominal pain and upset. So I guess it’s used often, so check out this warning of a product that says MAALOX on the box but is not the same as the stuff people normally take. It can be dangerous!
From Medscape (a physicians’ site where they often broadcast breaking news):
February 18, 2010 — At least five “serious adverse events” occurred in people who took Maalox Total Relief thinking it was Maalox antacid, the FDA warns.
The two over-the-counter drugs are not the same. Maalox Total Relief contains bismuth subsalicylate, a drug with aspirin-like side effects that include stomach and intestinal bleeding. This drug should never be used by people with a history of gastrointestinal ulcers or bleeding disorders.
Maalox Advanced Regular Strength and Maalox Advanced Maximum Strength contain antacid and anti-gas ingredients. People who are able to take regular Maalox may not be able to safely take Maalox Total Relief.
The drugs have different indications:
The drugs are not interchangeable. Yet the two products have similar labels that feature the Maalox brand name — a name many consumers associate with the antacid.
Posted on March 20, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
My husband has always taken a multivitamin and fortunately, we never had a problem with his sperm count. However, according to this article, zinc and folate taken together can have a dramatic positive affect on sperm counts. Read more:www.examiner.comFrom the article:Recent studies indicate zinc supplements along with folic acid may increase sperm count and improve sperm motility in some men.One published Dutch study claims men who are having difficulty impregnating their partner may increase their sperm count by up to 74 by taking 5mg of folic acid and 66mg of zinc sulfate a day for 26 weeks. It did caution however, that taken alone, there was no significant improvement in sperm count.Although zinc is an essential mineral required to operate the human body properly, excessive amounts may be harmful, so always consult your physician before beginning any new regimen.
Posted on March 20, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
I never intended to become one of the best known patient advocates in the “baby making business”, otherwise known as the field of infertility. But my life has always been filled with the unexpected. After all, I was an ordinary kindergarten teacher who lived in the very common borough of the Bronx in NYC. I …
Posted on March 20, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
Hello to everyone again.This blog is a segue into Egg Freezing. I realize that for most of the infertility community, egg freezing is not applicable, but I do get many questions about it. Plus, I suspect that many of you are the family fertility experts or the neighborhood fertility pros, unfortunately your struggles have made you experts, and you too may face questions about the topic. Some of this also applies to regular IVF, so its worth a read through.If you wish you can start with the blog from 31108, which goes over many of the basics and positive aspects of egg freezing.I am writing today because a good understanding of IVF and egg freezing requires you to know the fine print. Its not that the fine print is bad news its just part of the full disclosure. This installment will deal with drug and procedure complications of IVF, which also applies to egg freezing. More specific egg freezing blogs will follow.From a patients perspective, 95 of egg freezing is just like any other IVF cycle, which is summarized as follows. A woman takes 1-2 hormonal injections per day for about 2-3 weeks depending on the protocol, and during that time she needs office monitoring, about every other day, where blood tests and ultrasounds are performed. We use the information from the monitoring to adjust the drug dose if necessary and to tell us when the right time is to remove the eggs. Once the time is right, a retrieval is performed. This is a procedure done usually in the office, but some programs have it done in their hospitals. Its done under intravenous sedation, which means the woman is totally asleep, feels and remembers nothing, but is not intubated and breaths on her own. Using the ultrasound for guidance, a needle is passed through the vagina, into the ovaries and into one follicle at a time. A suction machine pulls the fluid from the follicle into a test tube, and in the fluid is one cell thats the egg. Usually eggs are retrieved from follicles on both ovaries.The test tube gets handed to the embryologist in the adjacent lab, who finds the egg in the fluid and then does the rest.The retrieval procedure takes about 20 minutes, and when done you wake up right away. You are watched in the recovery room for one hour, and off you go home. The next day you would get a phone call to confirm the number of eggs that were retrieved and the number of eggs that were frozen yes, in many cases there is a difference.Sounds pretty simple? For most women but not all, it actually is relatively easy, but it requires time and of course money well get to that.There are potential complications with any IVF or Egg freeze IVF cycle, but they are rare.One is ovarian hyperstimulation. This is where the ovaries are very sensitive to the medications and become too large. Normally, the unstimulated ovaries are about the size of walnuts, and the medications may make them the size of lemons. This can be a good thing because if you are going through the trouble of the procedure, you would like to get as many eggs as you can, but within reason. Problems occur when the ovaries become too large, whereby they may leak fluid, and this fluid can spread to the abdomen and lungs and result in hospitalization. Very sick women may develop problems with their liver and kidneys and be at a high risks for blood clotting in their legs, lungs and other places.What is happening is that as the fluid goes to places its not usually found, it leaves the circulatory system, making the blood thicker than usual. So there is too much fluid in the abdomen, but not enough in the bloodstream. The treatment keys are properly managing the fluid imbalances. If there is extra fluid in the abdomen or lungs, drainage is usually appropriate. If the blood becomes too dry, we need to add a little fluid there.I realize this sounds hideous, but in fact severe ovarian hyperstimulation is very very rare in IVF and even rarer in women who freeze their eggs. Early pregnancy makes hyperstimulation worse, and since no immediate pregnancy will become of egg freezing, the odds of hyperstimulation become remote. Im not saying it cant happen, and mild and moderate forms of hyperstimulation are more common, but severe forms would be exceedingly rare. Plus a good infertility clinic should be able to treat this complication safely.Still with me? What about the retrieval?Well theres the anesthesia. In my 20 years of being involved with 15,000 plus cycles, I have never seen a complication related to the anesthesia. Next topic.What else? Well, we do push a needle into the abdomen, so there is a potential for bleeding and infection. The odds of needing a transfusion are less than 1 per thousand. The odds of getting a significant pelvic infection requiring hospitalization and IV antibiotics are similarly low. Women with a history of pelvic infection should receive prophylactic antibiotics at the retrieval to reduce their risk, because women with a past infection are more likely to get a second.And then theres torsion. The ovaries are inside your pelvis hanging by their blood vessels, not too different from the way testicle hangings on the outside. As the drugs increase the size of your ovaries, they get heavier and may make them more prone to spinning around, twisting the vessels and choking off the blood supply. You would know this is happening because it causes severe pain and nausea. Torsion can happen before the retrieval or after. It can even happen 1-2 months into the pregnancy the ovaries of pregnant women may remain large for a couple of months after the drugs are stopped. This is because the hCG from the pregnancy stimulates the ovaries to retain their cysts to make more progesterone until the placenta takes over.Of course for egg freezing, there is not an increased risk of torsion during a pregnancy because the pregnany will get started with the ovaries normal sized. Ovary-enlarging fertiltiy drugs are not used for the thaw cycle.Torsion is rare event, occurring in less than 1 in 1000 cases. The ovary can be untwisted via an emergency laparoscopy. If it is untreated, the ovary can die from lack of circulation. However, we have not had this happen to anyone. The key is to call your doctor if you have pain. Losing an ovary does happen with torsion, but the usual scenario here is pain in a woman who is not undergoing fertility treatment, but develops any type of ovarian cyst that enlarges the ovary. Typically, she has pain for a while and is told to wait and see, and then she finally is told to go to the busy emergency room where she is given pain medications. Then many more hours go by waiting for the GYN consult, and by the time they get her to the operating room its too late. In the infertility world, your first phone call sets off the alarms and you are evaluated and treated in plenty of time.And then there is the potential for the ectopic pregnancy. Check out the the ectopic bogs starting 53107.So thats the yucky drugs and needles part.Next time we talk about the pitfalls of egg freezing will try to answer the question, Will egg freezing help me?Thank you, and please read disclaimer 51706.Happy Holidays!Dr. Licciardi
Posted on March 20, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
I did eat a certain amount of soy while I was trying to conceive because I have read that it can be a hormone regulating food. Since that time I’ve come across some claims that soy can actually hurt fertility. However, this article cited below and many others are reassuring that soy will not negatively affect fertility. However, soy is not recommended for men when their partner is trying to conceive since the phytoestrogens may have an effect on their hormones. Read more: Soy Likely Doesn’t Affect Fertility, According To Research In Monkeys www.sciencedaily.comWomen in Asian countries where a lot of soy is consumed have dramatically lower rates of breast cancer than women in the United States. One explanation is that plant estrogens, called isoflavones, increase menstrual cycle length or reduce ovarian hormones both which would reduce lifetime exposure to estrogen. However, these changes in the menstrual cycle could also impair fertility. In a study of monkeys, which have menstrual cycles similar to those of women, Kaplan and colleagues tested the hypothesis that the estrogen in soy can affect menstrual cycles. “Our study was designed to determine whether a soy supplement containing twice the level of plant estrogen consumed by Asian women would alter any aspect of the menstrual cycle or ovarian function in monkeys,” he said. For one year, half of the monkeys were fed a high-soy diet and half got their protein from animal sources. All monkeys were evaluated during this period for changes in ovarian hormones and menstrual cycles. “Soy treatment did not change any characteristics of the menstrual cycle, including length, amount of bleeding or hormone levels,” said Kaplan. “This suggests that any protection that soy may provide against breast cancer does not come from changes in the menstrual cycle.”
Posted on March 20, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
I don’t take these kinds of OTC products, but my friend who is an ER doc says they have people drink tons of Maalox when they come in for all sorts of abdominal pain and upset. So I guess it’s used often, so check out this warning of a product that says MAALOX on the box but is not the same as the stuff people normally take. It can be dangerous! From Medscape a physicians’ site where they often broadcast breaking news:February 18, 2010 At least five “serious adverse events” occurred in people who took Maalox Total Relief thinking it was Maalox antacid, the FDA warns.The two over-the-counter drugs are not the same. Maalox Total Relief contains bismuth subsalicylate, a drug with aspirin-like side effects that include stomach and intestinal bleeding. This drug should never be used by people with a history of gastrointestinal ulcers or bleeding disorders.Maalox Advanced Regular Strength and Maalox Advanced Maximum Strength contain antacid and anti-gas ingredients. People who are able to take regular Maalox may not be able to safely take Maalox Total Relief.The drugs have different indications:Maalox Total Relief is for diarrhea, upset stomach associated with nausea, heartburn, and gas due to overeating.Maalox antacids are for acid indigestion, heartburn, sour stomach, upset stomach, and gas.The drugs are not interchangeable. Yet the two products have similar labels that feature the Maalox brand name — a name many consumers associate with the antacid.
Posted on March 20, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
A Virginia infertility clinic incited debate on Wednesday by sponsoring a contest at a London seminar in which the prize was a no-cost cycle of in vitro fertilization using eggs from a U.S. woman, the Washington Post reports. The seminar, hosted by the Genetics IVF Institute, sought to entice British women to seek donor eggs in the U.S. Stein, Washington Post, 318…
Posted on March 20, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
I am lounging on a beach attending a meeting in Florida as I queue up some posts. So as to not disturb my Vitamin D collecting efforts distract me during said meeting with thoughts of my blog, I bring you a guest post by an adoptive dad.
Hal Kaufman is an adoptive father, frequent speaker on the topics of open adoption and adoption outreach, and the Founder of My Adoption Advisor.
Posted on March 20, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
UroToday.com – The perceived benefits of robotic surgery in terms of elimination of tremor, field magnification, motion scaling, ergonomic surgeon controls and ergonomic surgeon posturing are likely to have an even greater impact in the field of microsurgery than laparoscopy…
Posted on March 20, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
Hello again. Here is the latest entry.Can a small hydrosalpinx prevent pregnancy? Yes it can and it can prevent pregnancy when trying on your own or with iui assuming the other tube is normal , or with IVF. Now a small one is less likely to be problematic, but the studies showing hydros are a problem do not differentiate between small and large. It is not mandatory that hydros be removed, but the pros and cons of removal should be discussed with your doctor.Does a 44 yo a woman who makes 14 eggs have a higher pregnancy rates than most women in her age bracket? Absolutely. For women in their 40s, egg number is strongly related to odds of conception. It may be that bigger the reserve the healthier the eggs are in general, or it may be that the more you have, the high the chances of finding at least one good one. This is less important in younger women, whose odds are good even with a lower egg number. Should you have a second laparoscopy soon after a first in order to do more fixing and cleaning up? These are options but there are others. Back in the day before IVF worked well, this scenario was common, but today if the first laparoscopy looks that bad we recommend IVF. Now this does not mean surgery should be out of the question, its just that odds are if the pelvis is so bad, a second surgery will not help much. You really have to try to get a sense of what the doctor feels the improvement will be after a second surgery vs. IVF. If IVF is not an option for you, then the surgery may make sense. Its a little strange that all of the fixing up was not performed at the first surgery, but there may have been very good reasons for stopping the first time.Why give 5,000 units of hcg instead of 10,000, and are there any problems with this? It has to do with hyperstimulation. You cannot have significant hyperstimulation without the hcg injection. The hcg stays in your system for at least 10 days, stimulating and stimulating the ovaries to make progesterone, but the stimulation keeps the ovaries big and can push them to hyperstimulate. So it makes sense to maybe give less if we are worried about hyperstimulation. If we give half the dose we may be lowering your risks. Again, makes sense, however, I have not seen much written showing that the dose is any safer. It is possible that if you try to take less you will not get enough. Now if you have a good vial that really has 10,000 units, and you are a good mixer, then the dose should be enough. But it may be that some vials do not contain the full 10,000 units. Sometimes the extra mixing instructions are just too confusing and for one of a number of reasons 5,000 units do not make it into the syringe and into your body. This is why we measure the hcg level the day after the hcg injection. A few times per year someone in our practice has a blood level of the zero the day after the injection. The most common reason for this is the injection of air, which occurs by not putting the needle into the liquid before withdrawing. The second most common problem is the injuction of water only, which happens if you forget to mix in the powder. Believe me, both of these happen mopre than we would like. The water only problem can’t happen when using the premixed. Sometimes the there is some hcg in the blood, but the level is really low. If we get numbers under 50, we give another shot but go with the original retrieval time. If the level is zero, we give the hcg that evening and make the retrieval one day after the original day.Can you exercise while trying to conceive? Sure. However you cannot if your ovaries are enlarged from fertility drugs. If you are unsure when the stopping time is, ask your doctor every time you have a scan.I am reposting this question because its really well written and it applies to a large number of fertility patients who are starting out. My comments are in bold:So my hubby and I have been doing infertility testing for a year. I had a miscarriage at about 7 weeks about 2.5 years ago and have been unable to get pregnant since. I did a 6 month study through the national institute of health where they gave me either a placebo or low-dose aspirin and a fertility monitor, all with no success of pregnancy. My hubby’s done 3 semenalyses, which have proved to be normal. . . he had an abnormal count of about 30 on one, but the rest were fine and the counts were fine, we both did the antispermantibody test most of us to not do this test, it just has not been shown to be helpful which turned out normal, he did the hamster test and got 100 penetration never done anymore, an ultrasound which proved to be normal good, as well as blood tests for both of us that have proved to be normal.My cycle varies between 25-33 days, but always falls within that window, just varying lengths within that window no problem. I recently did an HSG test and it showed no blockages excellent.Our next step in the process is a post coital test antiquated, a blood draw at a certain point in the cycle, and a sample of my uterine lining antiquated to see if it’s thick enough at that point in the cycle to be viable for a baby.My dr. said that at that point, if everything’s normal, we can proceed with IUI. However, he did say that we should consider doing a laparoscopy to check for possible endometriosis. He said that even though my HSG test was normal that if I had endometriosis it could possibly flare up and die down. I’ve always experienced mild cramps for 1-2 days on my cycle but isn’t that normal? He said cramps could be indicative of endometriosis. I have no problems with doing a laparoscopy if it weren’t for the cost. . . 2500. I’m just wondering if with everything else positive if mild cramps being my only symptom are enough to warrant the cost of checking it out, or if it’s something that won’t affect my fertility too much. This is acceptable medical practice, however you need to ask about the payoff. If the hsg, exam and ultrasound are normal, the odds of having endometriosis are very very low. Actually the odds of finding a little endometriosis are about 10 because thats the baseline rate in all women, but the odds of meaningful endometrioses that has grown to the point of interfering with you getting pregnant are very low. Now thats not to say that the laparoscopy is not an option, but I would get a second opinion if you wish. As far as my comments on the antiquated tests, again acceptable medical practice, but a little out of date. It does seem that your doctor is organized and at least has a plan.If you are a little older and had a chromosomal miscarriage, should you be discouraged from trying again? I dont think so. Yes the odds of miscarriage increase with increasing age. Most pregnancies, even in women in their early 40s go to term. The miscarriage rate is high, but there are more babies than miscarriages. Should you take any steps to shorten the follicular phase? If your cycles are far apart, it just makes it harder to conceive because you get fewer chances per year than most people. Another problem is that its hard to know when ovulation is taking place, so timing can be an issue. However, I am not aware that the egg quality is compromised in a long cycle. If you can time it well, the odds are the same as in a more normal cycle, and I have not heard that the miscarriage rate is any higher. So most do correct a long cycle to make it shorter, but its not because we are trying to control embryo quality.How are polpys diagnosed? Ultrasound or HSG or sono-hysterogram this last one is where the doctor uses a speculum and squirts a little water inside the uterus while doing the ultrasound. This really helps see small defects in the uterine lining, like polyps. I have found through the years, especially as the quality of the ultrasound machines have improved, that a careful vaginal ultrasound works quite well. HSG has been OK, but it misses small polyps. The sono-hysterogram is probably the best test because it finds the smaller ones, but if the uterus looks perfect on regular ultrasound there is only a small benefit to having the sono-hysterogram.Day 7 blastocyst? If day 6 works why wouldnt at least some day 7s?. I have not had any patients use day 7 embryos. Its suboptimal. Maybe as we get more experienceday 7 will become useful. One problem may be that a good embryo will be hatched out of its shell by day 7, which may or may not be a problem. .IVF during breastfeeding? It can work but I dont know if the breastfeeding affects your chances of success. Yes most fertility drugs are the same hormones that are already circulating, but taking the drugs will increase their concentration in breast milk.After chemo, if the sperm counts are ok, is the sperm ok? This is tough to answer. My feeling is that it is, but its just a feeling. You will certainly get different opinions from different doctors. I have not met any doctors who do not want the husband to use the sperm, but there could be some out there. The doctors may inform the husband that there may be unknown issues. Translocations: is IVF the only way to have a healthy child? No. Pregnancy and delivery on your own is possible. The stats on this are tricky because most embryos that are created from a couple where one partner is a translocation carrier are abnormal. However, most abnormal embryos do not implant, so if there is implantation, odds are its normal not 100 and the odds depend on if the translocation is maternal or paternal. You really need a genetic counselor to give you more specific numbers and more of an explanation. IVF with PGD will help, however, its expensive and tedious, and does not guarantee a pregnancy, or even a transfer. That being said, there are patients with translocations who are only interested in IVF with PGD.If I am not crazy about PGD for genetic screening for Downs syndrome and the like , how do I feel about PGD when you know when you have a specific disease such as CF or hemophilia? I feel much better. PGD works better in such cases.Cervical stenosis: good idea for a blog, but yes it can be a cause of infertility.If the semen analysis is abnormal, always repeat it. Sometimes the minor abnormalities just go away. What if you go for the hsg and the cervix is closed? If you get a period, your cervix is not closed. There are different ways to do the hsg and one involves putting a tube through the cervix and into the uterus. This is at times difficult or impossible to do because the cervix may not be completely closed, but narrow. The better way is not to put the tube in and just squirt the fluid up the cervix. The cervical canal acts as the tube and brings the dye up into the uterus. In this case, there is a much lower chance of running into “stenosis” issues.Thanks again and please read the disclaimer 51706.Dr. Licciardi
Posted on March 20, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
I’ve never been a real fan of grapefruit or grapefruit juice. However, I came across this article that it may be a home remedy for improving cervical mucus. It may be worth a try. Read more:www.thelaboroflove.comFrom the article:Drinking grapefruit juice while trying to conceive has long been recommended by mothers, doctors, and midwives to aide in the fertilization process. The grapefruit juice is said to help thin the cervical mucus so that the sperm can travel easily from the vagina, through the uterus and into the fallopian tubes to meet the egg. The egg white consistency cervical mucus is known to be the most fertile in every woman, but not every woman can product this type of cervical mucus on her own, and so many generations have turned to grapefruit juice.Of course, like many home remedies there are varying rates of success with this cervical mucus remedy. Some women report that they see an instant improvement while others report minimal improvement and others still see no change. Its important to remember that every womans body responds to every drug, chemical, and naturally occurring substance differently so there is no way to determine if this remedy will work for you. But, if you are in search of a natural remedy to improve the texture of your cervical mucus grapefruit juice certainly is worth a try.
Posted on March 20, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
We were watching Paul Williams on the Muppet Show he wrote “Rainbow Connection,” but he happened to be singing “Sad Song.” The Wolvog was biting his nails, making the most annoying sound known to mankind to accompany Paul’s voice. The ChickieNob asked what he was singing about and I told her, “he’s singing about hearing …
Posted on March 20, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
you live in West Virginia according to Gallup Healthways Wellness Index.
Post from: BlissTree
Post from: BlissTree
Posted on March 20, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
Again, this entry has many elements that apply to standard fresh IVF cycles.Here were trying to close in on the real question, If you do egg freezing, will it help you have a baby?Well, it will really does help if you can make some eggs. Sorry if that sounds too obvious, but the more you make the better your odds of this whole thing working years down the line. Just as with any IV F cycle, egg production is based on the number of eggs that are still in your ovaries, and how they respond to the medications.Much of this is loosely related to a womans age but there are a number of other factors involved. The dose of drug can have an effect on the number of eggs produced the more drug the more eggs, but only to a point. In other words, if your ovaries are full of eggs, a dose of 450 units per day may be way too high and lead to danger, but a dose of 225 might get you 15-20 without much of a risk. However, if your egg reserve is marginal, 225 may make 6 eggs, 450 may make 8, but going over 450-600 probably will not get you any more.There are papers and book chapters written about how to stimulate ovaries to get the maximum response in women with limited ovarian reserve. For today lets just say that one of the hardest things we do is try to get the ovaries to produce more eggs than they want to. There are numerous stimulation protocols that we try, and sometimes we get more eggs than expected, but sometimes we get fewer. In very many cases, it may be that it wasnt the doctors choice of medications it was just the womans body being more or less cooperative during that cycle.Testing for ovarian reserve is one way to get a general guess about your response, but its not always helpful. A bad ovarian reserve test is not good news a favorable result does not guarantee results. There are many of you reading this who despise ovarian reserve testing and some of you who have proved doctors wrong, having babies after being rejected for bad day 3 blood tests. I understand this. I think the testing is should at least be performed to give you a general idea about your prognosis so that the expectations can be based on all available information. Included in this is an ultrasound examining the antral follicle count. Again, not a perfect test, but it will help you get closer to answering the question, Will this help me?You will not know about your egg production until after you start your cycle. Lets say you have had your consultation and testing and things look reasonably positive, so you decide to give it a go. Fine, but you need to know a few more things. Especially if you have never been on the fertility injections before, the number of follicles that you develop will be a mystery until you are on the drugs for 5-8 days. By then your follicles will have begun to grow and your doctor can count them up and let you know how you are doing. Unfortunately, some women will be producing a low number of eggs.Follicle number does not equal egg number. We see follicles on ultrasound we get eggs from the follicles. We never really know how many eggs you will get until we try to take them out on the day of retrieval, but we have certain expectations. If we see 10 good sized follicles, we expect to get 8-10 eggs. There are endless examples of variations. For instance, lets say you are way through the stimulation and it looks like there are 5 follicles. But there may be others that look very small, maybe too small, but over next few days the small ones may catch up, giving you say 9-10 decent follicles on the day of retrieval. Another possibility is that you have 5 good ones and 4 tiny ones at retrieval, and even the tiny ones that never caught up in size, still give up good eggs this is not typical.The opposite could also happen. Your doctor may see 10 follicles and only retrieve 5 eggs. How is this possible? Its not uncommon to have fewer eggs than follicles. Some doctors feel that there are some follicles that do not have eggs in them. I think this is possible but not very common. It may also be that the egg is in the follicle but it just does not come out through the needle. This I think is more common. Generally the egg is very loosely attached to the inside of the follicle, but if its stuck to the inside, it may evade the needle.So how many eggs do you need to have a successful egg freeze or fresh ivf cycle for that matter? Again the too obvious answer is the more the better. However 10-15 is a good yield. More than that is a bonus. It is true 30 may be better than 15, but most women do not make 30 so that should not be your goal. Estimates in the 10-15 range usually do not prompt much patientdoctor discussion, however when the estimate is lower, the talks become more frequent and important.Usually your doctor is close enough with the pre-retrieval estimate, so assume it will be close. If a low number is estimated you will need to make a decision, with the help of your doctor, about having the retrieval or not. Yellow flags should rise if you are told there are less than 10 follicles, and red flags should rise if you are told there are 5 or less.Overall there is just no absolute egg number cut-off for cancellation. Some programs may have strict guidelines, but most do not. We all understand the dilemma. If there are few, your odds of success are lower, however if there are few, it means your fertility may be passing. Getting, say, 4 eggs now may be better than nothing, because as months pass, you may make fewer in the future. Stopping without the retrieval, and restarting in a short amount of time, using a different protocol, would probably be the best choice. However, even with making changes you may have the same or even fewer next time. Now I picked 4 follicles as just one example, but the discussion needs to be tailored for 3,5,6,7 etc. Your age, previous response and your desires all need to be taken into account each time.Your doctor needs to take the information above and formulate your chances of not just getting eggs, but of getting a baby from your egg freeze cycle. This applies to all cases, good egg production or not.You will get the most accurate information if you are using an egg freezing practice that has results, not just freezing experience. Experience and results with the thaw and transfer is very important you need a program with a track record. You need to know their experience in going from eggs to babies. Many busy egg freezing programs have no results because they have not thawed any of their eggs yet. Others have done less than a handful of cases.I do want to refer you to the NYU Fertility Center web site section on egg freezing.http:www.nyufertilitycenter.orgeggfreezing.Spend some time going through all of the pages, the information is very helpful.Thanks to the fantastic research and efforts of the doctors listed there, NYU is known for its egg freezing practices and results. I could summarize the site here, but in the interest of accuracy, go directly there to get it from the horses mouth. The results are frequently updated.The breakthrough, as mentioned on the site, is that we believe that our egg freezing success rates will remain similar to our fresh IVF success rates. Therefore, it will help if you have your eggs frozen at a program with excellent fresh IVF pregnancy rates. If their fresh IVF rates are low, their egg freezing rates will probably be low too.Not all egg freezing programs can show good data to support good results 2 out of 4 pregnant is not enough. There are a few who can, so if you are interested in egg freezing, you need to seek out the good ones. Details are sparse, so I really only know about NYU. Odds are there is not a quality program near where you live, so if you can swing it, it may be worth traveling.Even the NYU rates need to be clarified. Most of the studies at NYU and elsewhere on egg freezing have been performed with good prognosis, younger women. We are not positive that older womens eggs will freeze and thaw well. They probably will, but there is no data yet to prove the case. We dont know how long eggs will last in the freezer. We do know there have been children born from sperm and embryos frozen for over a decade, so eggs should be able to last at least as long, but again there is no proof yet. Egg freezing is very new and still considered experimental you do need to freeze your eggs at the right place.We and other doctors can not completely predict the landscape 5-10 years down the road. We are optimistic that our pregnancy rate estimates are correct. However there is a chance that due to unforeseen circumstances, the rates will be lower. You just need to know this going in. It may also be possible that the outcomes will be better than we had hoped.Next time we will cover what you should know about what happens after the eggs are retrieved and how the cost structure works.Thanks for reading and dont forget to read the disclaimer entry 51706.Dr. Licciardi
Posted on March 20, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
I’ve written before about how poor dental hygiene may negatively affect fertility and pregnancy, however the following article talks about how fertility drugs may have an unexpected side effect on gigival tissue causing inflammation and bleeding.Read more:Infertility treatment affects oral healthwww.medicalnewstoday.comFrom the article:Researchers found that women undergoing ovulation induction for infertility treatment for more than three menstrual cycles experience higher gingival inflammation, bleeding and gingival crevicular fluid GCF. This study appeared in the recent issue of the Journal of Periodontology. In this study, the gingival inflammation levels of women undergoing infertility treatment and subjected to ovulation induction were investigated and compared with women who were not using these drugs. It found that despite similar plaque levels, women who received ovulation induction medications for more than three menstrual cycles had higher levels of gingival inflammation, bleeding and GCF. GCF is a fluid that contains enzymes and tissue breakdown products that have been examined as potential markers for the progression of periodontitis.”These effects are presumably correlated with the increased levels of progesterone and estrogen,” explains Dr. Cenk M. Haytac, Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey. “Gingiva is a target tissue for estrogen since it contains specific high-affinity estrogen receptors.”
Posted on March 19, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
The sexual function of male rodents can be impaired by in utero andor neonatal exposure to external molecules such as DES that disrupt normal hormone functioning, giving rise to concerns that low-level exposure to such molecules might cause similar effects in humans. New research, to be published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, has determined the molecular mechanism underlying many of the harmful effects of DES on the mouse testis.
Posted on March 19, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
Please don’t read if you are in a bad mental space, since this will mainly be bitching. But, don’t worry, I tell myself “eff off,you’re pregnant, you arsehole” on a regular basis.
Have been laid up with the nausea since my last post, as in flat on my back, except for the retching, can’t do anything, no, really, anything, except for listen to C-SPAN on the radio because I don’t have a working TV in my bedroom, nausea. Got in to seean OB earlier this week, who recommended we try a subcutaneous pump with anti-nausea meds as I’m spilling ketones and they are worried I’m becoming dehydrated. Waiting for the insurance approval to come through. Hope this comes through soon, because I haven’t had my happy pills in quite a while and I started to cry while listening to President Obama speak about health care. He’s inspirational, he ain’t that inspirational. I need the happy pills. Going to try grating them onto my toast.
If I never drink ginger ale again, it’ll be too soon. I’m currently subsisting on water mixed with apple juice, cinnamon toast regular bread toasted with a little butter, cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on it once a day and white rice once a day. There are some other things to try in my fridge popsicles, Jello, Kozy Shack rice pudding, but something smells in there or at least, I smell something in there, no one else does, so when I open the fridge I feel sick and then don’t eat anything.
Too dizzy to shower. The last time I showered, JD had to hold me up and I vomited anyway. I am gross. Going to see if I can get my mom to wash my hair in the sink.
My day is divided amongst four main segments:
1. MoaningVomitingWrithing while listening to C-SPAN Radio not because of the C-SPAN, just cause I need a soundtrack
2. Rereading all of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series
3. Thinking about what food I’d like to eat if I wasn’t too nauseated and could actually eat something hint: everything
4. Sleeping
Will now call doctor to see if they can encourage the insurance company to approve the dang pump. Am concerned that the insurance company is just trying to wait out the first trimester, thinking that I’ll stop being sick at week 12, so they’ve only got to stall another month.
Have not read blogs in many a moon, but I think about all of you and pray that you are doing OK.
Posted on March 19, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
Infertility treatments may raise preterm birth riskReuters UKA normal pregnancy lasts 40 weeks. In comparison, roughly 5 percent of babies born to fertile mothers were premature, and 0.6 percent were born very preterm …
Posted on March 19, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
A few weeks ago on NBC’s “The Office,” Jim and Pam had a baby. Aww. But in this clip, they confront one of their very first parenting challenges: Breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding difficulties are rarely … MorePost from: BlissTree
Posted on March 19, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
Exposure-based therapy may be effective in preventing progression to post-traumatic stress disorder.
Arch Gen Psychiatry.
Posted on March 19, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
Chinese fertility herbs taken during phase 4 are important for supporting the production of progesterone by the corpus luteum.
Posted on March 19, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
I know that not all of you are of the Faith but to my fellow celebrants I wish you a very very happy March Madness. I have Kansas to win it all this year but along the way I expect…
Posted on March 19, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
Infertility treatments may raise preterm birth riskReutersA normal pregnancy lasts 40 weeks. In comparison, roughly 5 percent of babies born to fertile mothers were premature, and 0.6 percent were born very preterm …and more
Posted on March 19, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
The phrase “Mommy Blogger” can sound like a queue to put your head down and take a nap. Isn’t raising your own kids and listening to your friends talk about raising their … MorePost from: BlissTree
Posted on March 19, 2010 | Filed under Fertility News | Permalink
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