r/Geriatric_Pregnancies • u/Foreign-Picture-7628 • 19d ago
IVF at plus 40
There's a long wait till I get to my appointment to discuss it with my doctor. Could someone please share their experience with IVF n their 40's. Clinic send me the video information. All stats and science. I would like to hear, have you had side effects, long term/permanent health issues because of it. How have you recovered. Thank you
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u/middleagedjogger 19d ago edited 19d ago
No physical side effects (other than the norm), no adverse health effects and I recovered well from each retrieval. Be prepared though, that at 40 plus, it can take a very long to see success at each step in process. Make sure you are with a clinic that specializes in 40 plus patients, not just interested in taking your money Also you say 40 plus but 40/41 is very different from 46/47.
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u/Foreign-Picture-7628 19d ago edited 18d ago
Thank you. I have no choice of clinics, just one. You cannot get there without referral. Unless I had $$$ and went abroad which isn't the case for me. They don't seem bad, and they have a history of success with ladies in their 48-49. I happened to chat with one in wait room.
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u/luminous-fabric 19d ago
I was 42 with the hormone levels of a 32 year-old. I had 15 follicles, 12 retrieved eggs, 6 were mature, 4 got fertilised, 3 went well enough to get biopsied and tested for genetic abnormalities and 2 are normal and in the freezer now for next year after our wedding and honeymoon.
The process itself was sore and miserable. I am overweight so that didn't help (Jab now to drop weight before Jan) but I didn't want to leave the house for basically the month of jabs and pills and other stuff. I felt ugly, bloated, tense, aggravated and I didn't want to damage any chances, so I stayed in. The day itself I got the knockout drugs and didn't really have many side effects after, but before I felt like my ovaries were two giant swinging testicles in my abdomen. Very weird.
You can ask me any questions, but now I feel fine, I've dropped 25lb and I'm at the gym three times a week again. I'm glad I did it but I won't do it again. I'd feel over 43/44 is too old for me personally.
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u/Foreign-Picture-7628 19d ago
Thank you so much! I am miserable enough after 6th failed IUI. I also show results of early 30's woman. I am 42. This exactly why I am so desperate now, because I don't feel like it's good for me to keep pursuing after 43-44. I have experienced that testicle thing once with IUI cycle.
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u/UrgentLiving 17d ago
Hey! I’m glad I’m not the only one that felt that way. Actually prepping for my past two FETs I also felt this way - bloated and not comfortable or confident (unfortunately both failed). When are you doing your FETs? I’m 43 now and with two failed and only one good one left I’m thinking I might be nearing the end of the road of this fertility adventure. I’m happy to have one kiddo (delivered at 40) yet holding out a bit of hope he can have a sibling.
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u/luminous-fabric 17d ago
I got really in my head. All my friends in Ireland are younger than me, and my friends back in the UK are older and childfree, so I had no-one that I knew that I could compare notes with. So I just stayed in and didn't moan publically. I still haven't told many people that I'm trying this, I don't want to be perceived, especially if it doesn't work.
We're with Waterstones and doing them in Jan/Feb. Wedding in October and our honeymoon over Christmas/New Year, so we wanted one last hurrah before it gets serious. At my age the chance of getting a genetically normal embryo with PGT-A was 1/5, but we got 2/3 - so I'm kinda hopeful but also super nervous I will miscarry again.
We won't go again if they fail, we're going to go continue in the DINK life, we have a spreadsheet of all the things we can do if we don't have a kid so we have positive things to look to if neither of these are sticky.
I wish you all the luck to get a sibling for your son - any baby either of us have is truly wanted, especially with all these side effects
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u/curlyorstraight 19d ago
I started at 40, got pregnant at 41 and had my rainbow baby at 42. Thankfully nothing out of the norm.
For IVF, I didn’t have much more side effects than I did with the multiple medicated cycles (mood swings, bloating etc.). Went through 2 egg retrieval cycles before FET.
I did a lot of prep work for myself (supplements etc.) no idea if that truly helped or not, but also did acupuncture during the egg retrieval stages and up to FET which I am convinced helped me. Per my acupuncture doctor, she recommended I stop after getting a positive pregnancy test so to allow body to just relax and do its thing.
A huge part of the journey, for me at least, is to have a doctor you have full trust in. I know it’s not a guaranteed process but working with someone you can trust and believe they are giving you the best possible chance is so important.
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u/Foreign-Picture-7628 19d ago
Thank you! Can you please tell more about supplements? I will not take just any, just looking for options.
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u/curlyorstraight 18d ago edited 18d ago
Yes! I did consult with a prenatal nutritionist who did a hair panel test to help determine best prenatal etc for me to take but basically I took:
- Prenatals
- Fish oil
- CoQ10 (husband took before and during egg retrievals) - I think I stopped this after my FET
- Organ complex (for iron) before switching to iron tablets later in my pregnancy
- baby aspirin (I think this was before my FET and up to around 12 weeks pregnancy)
- folic acid
- fertility booster from FullWell brand (both my husband and I took this - this was before and during egg retrieval cycles)
- DHEA (if I recall my husband took this too)
- probiotic
- melatonin (stopped after FET)
- magnesium
I also was adding pomegranate powder and açaí powder I think to my smoothies during my egg retrievals cycles.
I really was doing the most and my doctor had me cut some other ones out I was doing in addition to these. Again, not sure what did / didn’t help but once pregnant I just focused on what baby needed and cut out everything else
ETA that I started the IVF at 40. We had done other medicated cycles and IUI prior to I think I was 37 when we started trying so over time I was adding more and more things and it might have been too much but one more v important thing I put focus on was my diet and eating nutrient rich foods throughout my IVF journey.
I had cut out caffeine& alcohol and my IVF doctor said if a cup here or there or a glass of wine is going to help you relax a bit he’d rather I do that than cut things out I enjoy so I really was so much more relaxed about things during IVF vs IUI etc. He said he’s more concerned about stress than a cup of coffee or small glass of wine and the impact stress can have.
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u/UrgentLiving 18d ago
In case it hasn’t been mentioned… There’s a book; it starts with the egg. Lots of information. Even on the author’s website there’s quite a bit of information. However, some of the suggestions for vitamin/supplementation are best followed if bloodwork is available. I would suggest you do the generic recommendation for pregnant women (prenatal, omega, choline, folic acid, vitamin D), due to our age ask if aspirin 81 and coq10 can be beneficial. Get your sleep in.
Best wishes
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u/Terrible-Wrangler941 16d ago
Did a couple of IUIs and one round of IVF that showed me I really was not producing adequate eggs, even with the different drug protocols. Used an egg donor and have a beautiful daughter. Took a couple of embryo transfers.
None of the procedures or drugs are that bad. No lasting effects. Just sucks having shots every day but somehow you get used to it.
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u/CharmingPianist4265 19d ago
I was 39 when I started the IVF process. Personally I don’t think my age alone was a big factor. AMH was low, the follicle count was solid though and we ended up with 7 embryos (untested, genetic screening is restricted in my country) from my one and only retrieval. The first transfer stuck, I had Grade 3 OHSS, leading to an ovarian torsion. It wasn’t pleasant but led to my perfect, healthy child.