Day Nineteen of IVF cycle – 10 sleeps until first blood test, 13 sleeps until confirmation blood test.
By a massive lapse in judgment i have missed one of the most important things that you will learn thoughtout the duration of an IVF cycle
Side effects – they are now your new best friend!
There is nothing more exciting to look forward to than reading the pamphlet that the nurse has just handed to you with your new bunch of drugs…
I am now nearly 20 days into my cycle, i have stimulated the ovaries, gone through the EPU, managed to get to ET and now it is the waiting game, drugs are finally finished right? WRONG! If you thought the needles and injections were fun, wait till you get to know the next part… and this might just be classified as ‘too much information’ (much like most of this post) however it is part of the story, so you know – either suck it up and read on… or stop now…your choice, but dont say i didnt warn you!
And the side effects involved…
Now not many people actually read the instruction leaflet, but in this situation i thought it might be required as this new hormone is not swallowed in pill form, not injected, it is inserted… and has a wonderful and descriptive name “Vaginal Gel” so before i jumped into this i wanted to make sure i was ‘inserting’ it correctly.
So i am sitting on the loo reading this leaflet, preparing to insert my first dose of the gel, and i come across the section titled Side Effects.
To my horror and humor in small little print came the following statement:-
“Very common side effects
- feelings of severe sadness and unworthiness
- feeling emotional
- decreased sexual drive
- sleepiness
- constipation, nausea
- passing urine at night
- cramps, abdominal pain, perineal pain (around the genital & the back passage)
- headache
- breast enlargement or breast pain
Common side effects
- bloating, pain
- dizziness
- vaginal discharge, itching of the vaginal area, vaginal thrush
- diarrhoea, vomiting
- painful sexual intercourse
- painful joints
This is not a complete list of all possible side effects. Others may occur in some people and there may be some side effects not yet known”
Now not everyone gets all side effects, i know that, and yes they have to give you ALL of the possible side effects, i’m no hypochondriac, however, i have been on these hormones for a week now… and if you asked my husband and coworkers to describe me in one short sentence it would be:
A normal girl turned instantly teary then instantly overly cheerful, turned grumpy, crazed B-i -A–c-h
And not only am i emotionally exhausted but i really have sore boobs, a bloated belly, as well as constipated (to the point where prunes are not helping) and i now raise about three times a night to pee… PLUS, and at the risk once more of ‘too much information’ this is a warning to all those with sensitive ears, leave now…PLUS i have cottage cheese like discharge!
Annnnnnnnd – apparently this is normal! (insert sarcasm here)
So for those of you thinking the clomid was bad… think again!
“When things are bad take comfort on the thought that they could always be worse. And when they are we find HOPE in the thought that things are so bad they can only get better.” Anon
