may be trying ivf/question about drugs and flares

[holles]

after almost 10 years ttc#1, my husband thinks he might want to consider ivf. he cannot deal with the cost though. so we're just thinking about it right now. anyway, we have seen a few reproductive endocrinologists in the past few years, and they all want to do fertility drugs with ivf. i had horrible bladder flares due to clomid, and the idea of more hormones concerns me. any experience on this from y'all? i know everyone reacts differently, but i'd appreciate just some general ideas about it. when i used clomid, we started adding urelle to the mix to keep the flares from getting too bad. but it still sucked.

anyway, any advice? i just want to find an RE who'll do ivf without the drugs because i don't like flaring all the time. kwim? keep your fingers crossed. it's still up in the air right now. and i know i'll be at peace even if we don't go this route. but i'd like to explore all the possibilities.

[hollipop]

I did not develop IC until after giving birth, but I can tell you that clomid was the most horrific drug I've ever taken. I had horrible hot flashes and headaches. Once we stepped up to IVF, the injectable drugs (lupron and stims) were a piece of cake. I tolerated them very well. I can't say how they will affect your bladder, but from my experience and friends who have done the same, we all liked the injectables best.

BTW, there is no one that would do IVF without the drugs, because you would only have one egg to harvest. The reason they have to stimulate your ovaries is to get as many eggs as they can to give you a chance at fertilization. For example, I had 40 eggs harvested, but only 20 of them fertilized, and then only 10 lived to the 5 day (blastocyst) stage. We then transferred 3 of the best ones, and I got pregnant with twins. Unfortunately, they were born prematurely and died shortly after they were born at 21 weeks gestation. Three months later, we thawed out 4 embryos, in which one died during the thaw, transferred those 3, and I got pregnant with twins again, but lost one at 6 weeks. 9 months later I gave birth to my daughter. We had 3 frozen embryos left and donated them. My case is not typical, though...most people don't get even half that many eggs to start with.

PM me if you want any other info about IUIs and IVF and I'll give you my email addy. I'm also from Texas. (west of Houston)

[Kara29]

I represent 1% of the IC population with my problems with medications and IC, so none of this may happen to you at all. You may go through the whole fertiltiy process and come out with beautiful babies and no IC trouble in the end at all. This was just what happened to me.

Just a warning to those of you who want to take Clomid or any other fertility type drugs and you have IC already. Caution must be taken. If the Clomid bothered you that bad then I feel that the injections will be 10,000 times worse. I took Clomid, Lupron, Follistim, Cetrotide, Ovidrel, and Prometrium and am I ever so sorry that I took these drugs. These drugs absolutley killed me and I dont have IC anymore. It killed my left in urethra and now I am facing removal. A major surgery. Fertility Medications ruined what chance of a life I was going to have. All I wanted was a baby. I was ready! After one round of fertility injections and Prometrium, I have lost it all. Babies and now my urethra.

This may not happen to all of you but it did happen to me. I will NEVER take those meds again. I am so sorry I tried them. If I knew what I know now, I would not have done that. But we didn't know that was going to happen. Someday IC docs will connect this fertility stuff and hormones with IC but right now none of them get it. It's all new to them. I don't know what in those fertiltiy drugs I took did this to me but it was something. Before this, I was fine. No babies for me and now major surgery.

Please take some time to think this over carefully. I am here to tell you that it can happen and you can get worse if you already have IC and you take these drugs. I am trying to get the word out that there is a danger so that no one else has to go through what I am facing right now. There are so many options out there if you can't have your own babies. Take the time to think about it's worth to you. You would not want to be so sick in the end that you could never enjoy your baby and watch it grow up. What's the risk you are willing to take here. Think about it carefully from one IC sufferer to another and one infertility sufferer to another. I know the pain of both diseases.

Kara

[sandramac]

[B]

[RIGHT] :cat: :cat: :dizzy: :shake: I will give you a small taste of my story!Seen a specalist with 25 experience and ran a clinic.He assured me he knew what my problem was, treated me for 2 and a half years.We did every drug that has been mentioned.I NEVER HAD ANY BLADDER ISSUES!uNTIL THOSE DRUGS! WE had to stop as it was getting to expensive.It then took me 2 years 4 uros and 2 hydros to finally get dio with IC. Then went to new gyno he shook his head ,said i needed a lap done to go in and see whats wrong.wAS TOLD THERE MAY BE A POSSISSIBLY , NOTHING WOULD HAVE WORKED AS BOTH TUBES WERE COMPLETLY BLOCKED,TEST WAS NEVER PEFORMED SO THERE WAS NO WAY TO TELL FOR SURE.HERE WHEN 1ST DOC TREATED ME NO ACCURATE TEST WAS PEFORMED, BUT HE WOULD NOT CONFIRM THE DAMAGE WAS PREVOIOUS ,SPECILAST NEVER USED A ACCURATE TEST TO CHECK TUBES, WHEN HE TREATED ME just found out from 97 to 2000 he was reling on a test performed in his office that was delopeved in 1926 they stoped making this test in 1979 because it was found not reliable THE COLLAGE INVESTAGATION CONFERMED ALL THIS INFO WE REALLY HAD NO IDEA AND TO FIND OUT 8 YEARS LATER WAS LIKE SOMEONE KICKED OUT THE BREATH IN MY CHEAST..I trusted this doc with my life he has taken so much, that could never be replaced.Was then sent to new specilist to do sugery to remove tubes and clean out pelvic cavity from old scarr tissue, to prepar me for IVF.aLSO NONE OF THESE NEW DOC WOULD CONFERIM THAT THERE WAS ANY NEGLECT ON THE 1ST SPECALIST.WAS TOLD TO FORGET ABOUT IT AND WAS TOLD NOT TO THINK ABOUT IT AND MOVE ON.i DID iVF AND MY BLADDER JUST ABOUT KILLED ME.WE DID THIS FOR ANOTHER 1AND A HALF WITH NO LUCK.i ALSO WAS NOT SATTIFIED WITH EVERYONE LOOKING THE OTHER WAY,ON THE 1ST DOC,YOU KNOW THE GUT FEELING THAT WONT GO AWAY.i SENT IN A COMPLATIT TO THE COLLAGE OF SUGERONS THEY DID THIER OWN INVEGESTION ,8 YEARS LATER MY GUT FEELING PROVED CORRECT,WE ARE NOW IN LIGITATION AND TRYING TO STOP HIM FROM DOING THIS TO ANY OTHER COUPLE.mY BLADDER IS SHOT HAVE PRETTY WELL DAILY CRUSHING PELVIC PAIN ETC.iF I COULD GO BACK AND CHANGE THE CLOCK I WOULD HAVE NEVER DONE ANY OF THESE DRUGS.NEVER.i JUST WANTED TO SHARE MY STORY ,U MAY BE FINE WITH IT ALL BUT I BELIVE IC WAS CAUSED BY THESE DRUGS AND HORMONES.DONT WANT TO SCARRE YOU BUT ALSO JUST WANTED TO WARN YOU A STRONG CAUTION.hope u will find peace and comfort in what you decide.Hugs SANDRA :grouphug: