CD 8
Stims Day 6
Fourth day at work and I've got a nasty sore throat. Coco, our new Siamese, is also sniffling and sneezing and has a bit of a wet nose. I called the vet and am taking her in today, but also questioned whether one can get a virus from an animal. I mean, why not? There are plenty of trans-species bugs. The nurse said no, but I don't take medical advice from nurses. Sorry...but I've had way more scientific background than they have and I'd trust my own hunches before taking their advice. So I didn't get a real qualified answer so I'll have to ask the vet today. (Note: Apologies to any nurses reading this, but you either went to medical school or you didn't. Not a lot of difficult science course ARE required for nursing, so, there you have it. There are a few nurses and techs that I worship...like those at DB's but, let me tell you, those chicas know their shit).
So on the IVF front, I've been shooting up my daily dose of lovenox (aka clexane), lupron, menopur, and Gonal F. I've been spared the intense bruising from the lovenox this time as I'm only doing 1 shot a day for now. If I get a BFP I'll potentially increase to 2x's a day. I've got one more day left of femara and I've started up my daily dose of 500mg of zithromax once again. What else? Oh yes, I started with 1mg of dexamethasone a day. I didn't intend on doing steroids this cycle, but in addition to the potential fertility boosts, I thought it might help two other conditions I've got going on.
One is my psoriasis. It's mostly sequestered to my scalp and a few random splotches on my back, chest and arms, but the scalp is truly dreadful. I'm sure people think I don't wash my hair or have the most wicked bout of dandruff. But there's nothing that can be safely done to alleviate it while one is trying to get pregnant. It's an autoimmmune condition that tends to be genetically passed, so it should respond to steroids. At least I hope.
The other reason I'm more than motivated to take steroids is that I had a molar prepped for a crown a week ago last Monday. The good dentist shot me up with three deep needlefulls of anesthesia and in doing so hit something. A nerve? A tendon? But since then I've had severe jaw pain to the point I can't open wide enough to eat a sandwich (not that I'm eating bread on this low carb diet of mine, but if I wanted to eat one I'd be prohibited by the pain). The tooth they prepped has also been aching and I have been in a panic over the potentiality of a root canal, which would set me back another $1100 to $1300. Once a tooth has been dicked with and starts to "go bad" one can develop "pulpitits" whereby the inner part of the tooth becomes inflamed. There's literally no where for this inflammation to go so the tooth dies a slow and terrible death. It's incredibly painful for the patient to experience, too.
Being that I've got a months worth of zithromax and dexamethazone laying about, I figured that if I dumped enough antibiotics and steroids into my body, it just might keep that molar of mine from going south. And you know what? It might be anecdotal, but that tooth of mine, and the jaw, immediately quieted down. I can open my mouth and I only feel the slightest bit of anything out of that molar. Yeah, yeah, you're probably saying, "It would have done so anyways..." But, I've had two other root canals done when I had two adjacent teeth die simultaneously and let me tell you that the pain of those two teeth dying was identical to that which I was experiencing just a few days ago. I could barely sleep at night it was so bad. So I have fingers and toes crossed that I may have saved my tooth from certain death.
I'll stay on the zithromax and dexamethasone until we do our beta in about three or more weeks time and if it's a + I'll be adding in another clindamycin PICC line courtesy of Dr. Hungarian. I'm not sure if I'll remain on the zithromax, or how long the dex lasts because, by golly, we just never get a BFP in this household.
But all this yammering is a bit premature. We have our first monitoring U/S tomorrow morning with Dr. Generous and we'll get a look at how many (or few, as I suspect) follicles we have 'going on'. If we still have 7 or 8 I'll be thrilled...but I won't be holding my breath. The dex is supposed to work synergistically with the follitropin to increase follicles and boost quality, so I am hoping we can eek one or two more out of these old ovaries of mine.
Again, I won't be holding my breath. It wouldn't be the first time I've canceled myself. Ya know?
So on the IVF front, I've been shooting up my daily dose of lovenox (aka clexane), lupron, menopur, and Gonal F. I've been spared the intense bruising from the lovenox this time as I'm only doing 1 shot a day for now. If I get a BFP I'll potentially increase to 2x's a day. I've got one more day left of femara and I've started up my daily dose of 500mg of zithromax once again. What else? Oh yes, I started with 1mg of dexamethasone a day. I didn't intend on doing steroids this cycle, but in addition to the potential fertility boosts, I thought it might help two other conditions I've got going on.
One is my psoriasis. It's mostly sequestered to my scalp and a few random splotches on my back, chest and arms, but the scalp is truly dreadful. I'm sure people think I don't wash my hair or have the most wicked bout of dandruff. But there's nothing that can be safely done to alleviate it while one is trying to get pregnant. It's an autoimmmune condition that tends to be genetically passed, so it should respond to steroids. At least I hope.
The other reason I'm more than motivated to take steroids is that I had a molar prepped for a crown a week ago last Monday. The good dentist shot me up with three deep needlefulls of anesthesia and in doing so hit something. A nerve? A tendon? But since then I've had severe jaw pain to the point I can't open wide enough to eat a sandwich (not that I'm eating bread on this low carb diet of mine, but if I wanted to eat one I'd be prohibited by the pain). The tooth they prepped has also been aching and I have been in a panic over the potentiality of a root canal, which would set me back another $1100 to $1300. Once a tooth has been dicked with and starts to "go bad" one can develop "pulpitits" whereby the inner part of the tooth becomes inflamed. There's literally no where for this inflammation to go so the tooth dies a slow and terrible death. It's incredibly painful for the patient to experience, too.
Being that I've got a months worth of zithromax and dexamethazone laying about, I figured that if I dumped enough antibiotics and steroids into my body, it just might keep that molar of mine from going south. And you know what? It might be anecdotal, but that tooth of mine, and the jaw, immediately quieted down. I can open my mouth and I only feel the slightest bit of anything out of that molar. Yeah, yeah, you're probably saying, "It would have done so anyways..." But, I've had two other root canals done when I had two adjacent teeth die simultaneously and let me tell you that the pain of those two teeth dying was identical to that which I was experiencing just a few days ago. I could barely sleep at night it was so bad. So I have fingers and toes crossed that I may have saved my tooth from certain death.
I'll stay on the zithromax and dexamethasone until we do our beta in about three or more weeks time and if it's a + I'll be adding in another clindamycin PICC line courtesy of Dr. Hungarian. I'm not sure if I'll remain on the zithromax, or how long the dex lasts because, by golly, we just never get a BFP in this household.
But all this yammering is a bit premature. We have our first monitoring U/S tomorrow morning with Dr. Generous and we'll get a look at how many (or few, as I suspect) follicles we have 'going on'. If we still have 7 or 8 I'll be thrilled...but I won't be holding my breath. The dex is supposed to work synergistically with the follitropin to increase follicles and boost quality, so I am hoping we can eek one or two more out of these old ovaries of mine.
Again, I won't be holding my breath. It wouldn't be the first time I've canceled myself. Ya know?
Labels: IVF4, The Hell that IVF Is
posted by linda at 9:19 AM
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Comments on "CD 8
Stims Day 6"
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Thalia said ... (12:51 PM) :
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MLO said ... (8:02 PM) :
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linda said ... (8:17 PM) :
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linda said ... (8:21 PM) :
post a commentlinda is there any chance you'll relax that low carb diet of yours for the rest of the cycle? There have been several studies showing women on low carb diets get and sustain pregnancy less well, I'm not sure why you're still putting yourself through it...
Hoping for follicles for you tomorrow.
MY MIL is an old-school nurse and is ashamed of the current batch of nurses. She doesn't understand how they can be considered qualified when they don't know half of what she expects they should.
I know that my allergist's nurses are AWESOME, but he sends them to all kinds of additional training and have all been there forever. Even the receptionist knows to get the nurses if a patient starts having a reaction.
I know that I'm dealing with new IVF nurses at my clinic and it is frustrating. Let's just say that I had an incident where my MIL thought the nurse should not be a nurse - but her standards are incredibly high.
If you are lucky enough to find an old-school nurse, you can trust them. The new school type are a whole different ballgame.
As to your psoriasis, have you ever been checked for any allergies? There is a really strong correlation between allergic disease and psoriasis - and the links keep getting stronger in the literature.
Pax,
MLO
MLO,
You are so right. It's mostly the new crop of nurses. I think that, in our state, it is due to the lottery system for admitting people into nursing programs. They no longer take the most qualified people, but whomever happened to get the "luck of the draw." That would totally explain it. My first RE's office was filled with imbeciles. I got into an argument on the phone with one nurse because I insisted on PIO in ethyl oleate rather than a food based oil which was potentially allergenic. She just had "no idea" that such a thing existed, and because she didn't know, she didn't want to ask my RE to write a script for it. We went round and round for about half an hour. I finally one, but it was exasperating to say the least.
I would love to know if my psoriasis is caused by allergies. I am allergic to milk but I don't do dairy so I wonder what else I might be allergic to that could cause this to be so bad? Please God don't let it be something as basic as wheat or eggs. My diet is already so restrictive without dairy...I could write volumes on my love for cheese alone. And gelato? OMG....
Thalia,
I wasn't doing the Atkins Diet but more something along the lines of the South Beach Diet. No rice, no pasta, no wheat, and no sugary foods. I did that to lose the weight I'd put on from the first three cycles as my BMI was edging dangerously close to 25 and I felt that I was peering over the edge of a precipice. So now that it's over, I'm just being really careful about what I'm eating and trying to make sure that the dex doesn't put all those pounds back on me. My clinical coordinator at the new RE's office said to stop working out during stims, and I'm being a conscientious patient and following her advice (for once).
J and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary two nights ago and if you saw the desserts we ate at Manresa that night, accompanied by a divine Sauternes, you'd realize that I haven't entirely lost my mind. :-)
I will have to stop by and see how you are doing.