CD4: WTF?

Day two of femara.

I got a call from my clinic with my cycle day 3 blood work.

So, as a preamble, just keep in mind that December 29, 2009, by FSH was a decent 9.7.

Yesterday, these were my values:

FSH 32.8
E2 46.39
bHCG 0
LH 7

FSH was THIRTY TWO POINT EIGHT?

You have got to be fucking kidding me!? WTF?

I wrote to Dr. Italian and his reply:

I think this maybe somewhat falsely elevated from recent cycling.
I would move ahead rather than lose a month.

SOMEWHAT falsely elevated? A 300% increase is SOMEWHAT ELEVATED?

Have any of you ladies heard of FSH values going through the roof when cycling back to back? This is the first I've seen it and I am totally freaked out.

What is really weird is that I definitely had antrals...maybe 5 or 6 of them in all. So potentially a better "looking" cycle this month, but the FSH readings make absolutely no sense.

I am baffled.

I start stims tomorrow. Do I dare waste potentially $8K worth of drugs?

Do I wait a month and risk getting another cyst?

I'm screwed no matter what I do.

CD3: And IVF #7 Begins

I can't believe that I am doing this, but I am starting IVF #7 on the heels of failed IVF #6. I went in for a baseline U/S and bloodwork and the doctor said everything looks good and that I could cycle right now if I wanted to. A couple of antrals on both sides and no cysts. He said I could postpone a month but my thinking is that any month that I don't have a cyst to screw things up is a good month in which to cycle. I've been canceled AT LEAST three times in the last year due to f*ckign cysts. I told him, "If we postpone my chances are that I'll have a cyst next month so we might as well proceed." I think he was fine by that.

And so we begin.

I'm on 5mg femara/day, for 5 nights, starting tonight
1mg dexamethazone/day
prenatals
baby aspirin
the usual gamut of supplements and fish oils

I'll be adding in 450iu gonal-F starting Wednesday night.

First monitoring U/S is on Friday and I have an intralipid infusion slated the same day (might have to push to Saturday if I can't get time off on Friday).

What are we doing differently this time?
1. Adding in an extra infusion of intralipids at ER or ET. My immune system is too wonky.
2. We're adding in 450iu along with the HCG trigger (UCSF Study is showing great promise with it)
3. No BCPs this cycle. We're going STRAIGHT into this one (sorta a natural cycle)

Otherwise, everything is the same.

I wonder when I am supposed to start my lovenox? I think it's usually stim day 2? Crap. Seriously after this many IVF cycles it all starts to run together.

My supplies have all been ordered...centrifuge paid for. Unfortunately, everything will come too late for this cycle - I didn't think we'd go STRAIGHT into a cycle, this was unforeseen (maybe he's reading my blog and thwarting my efforts? Heh.).

Today was very stressful - I had to leave work early on my FIRST DAY ON THE JOB to go to an IVF appointment. I can only imagine that it's going to get worse in the next two weeks. Freezing everything would let me postpone cycling until I feel more stable in my job, less stressed, and also lets me bank a number of embryos.

This timing leave me wondering....should I freeze everything and do a FET?

Maybe cycling back to back, freezing as I go, is the answer?

I'm going to have to think on this one a bit.

CD2: On CD4+ and CD25+ Cells (T-Reg)

All I can tell you is that a 14mm lining creates one hell of an AF.

Here's some reading that discusses T-Reg cells and how lack thereof can cause recurrent loss (LIT is the answer):

Proportional change of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells in decidua and peripheral blood in unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion patients
http://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282%2807%2900656-5/abstract

Proportional change of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells after lymphocyte therapy in unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion patients
http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0015028208010091

Expansion of CD4+CD25+and FOXP3+ Regulatory T Cells during the Follicular Phase of the Menstrual Cycle: Implications for Human Reproduction
http://www.jimmunol.org/cgi/content/abstract/178/4/2572

CD1: The LIT Laboratory is Back in Session

AF arrived today. A new cycle begins.

My reproductive immunologist's office said that LIT might have helped save my blast from imminent "death by uterus." (My saying, not theirs). OMFG. I hate hindsight.

I told them I'm using anon DS and don't know his tissue type but they said to just use my boyfriend's WBCs as it would still provide protective blocking antibodies. Wonderful. Wish I realized this before. I actually totally forgot that LIT was an essential component of my immune workup. I am an idiot to have forgotten about this.

So I've bought all the necessary supplies online tonight in order to do my own LIT again. Hell if I am flying to Mexico, the UK, or Greece to do this as I want to cycle NOW. I'm starting a new job next week and I cannot possibly fly off at this point.

DIY LIT? Why not. I've worked in R&D in an immunology lab and have excellent lab technique.

On my shopping list:

Sorvall GLC-2B centrifuge with swing out buckets
Sterile centrifuge tubes (10ml)
1000ml Lactated Ringers
1000ml Sterile Sodium Chloride
100 - 10ml heparin (green topped) vacutainer tubes
200 Sterile transfer pipettes
23g BD Butterfly syringes
Box gloves
Fritted separation tubes (already have these from last LIT)
Separation media ( "" )

All that's left to buy on the list after tonight is the gloves, centrifuge, and 23g butterflys.

I'm close. Very close.

I should be up and running in a week to a week and a half. It's worked miracles for my numbers before and should work again in a pinch.

I'm still so pissed that I sold off my collection of centrifuges and donated everything else to a vet office.

So pissed.

I feel like an idiot for not having a brain and remembering to do this before I cycled. Grrr....

Beta 2

beta 2 = 1.2

Not much else to say on this one.

My WTF phone appointment is Tuesday at 12:30PM. I usually don't bother with them ... but this time I agreed to do one. I can't imagine that there's anything he can tell me that's new save for, "Let's do it again and this time we'll do the 450iu gonal-F/HCG trigger that you want."

Dusts boots off and saddles up the horse..