# To pill or not to pill



## kafryn99 (Mar 4, 2012)

I am getting conflicting medical advice from two different doctors so I am hoping some of you may have experience to weigh in.  I have PCOS and I am on the pill as the easiest way to manage it.  I live in Egypt (but I'm American) where IVF with a sperm donor is illegal, so I am in touch with two clinics in Cyprus.  One is telling me that I can do my pre-IVF tests whilst on the pill, that it is no problem.  The other tells me I should finish this current cycle, go off for a full month, then get my tests done in effectively two months from now.  Because I have to lie to my Egyptian doctor and say that I am married and my husband and I can't conceive, I can't really walk into his office and discuss my options with my current birth control pill without raising red flags.  So I am getting conflicting advice based on an email exchange without any doctor actually seeing me or doing any tests.

Does anyone have this experience - deciding to pursue IVF while on the pill?  How did you handle it?  My main concern is OHSS - I have read some pretty scary things about it, and again, I am in a country that is not a world leader in medical care, so I am not interested in taking ay unnecessary risks.

Thanks all!
Kathryn


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## morrigan (Dec 8, 2009)

I am wandering if this article may assist you although its a bit technical

http://www.ivfauthority.com/2012/02/use-of-birth-control-pill-prior-to-ivf.html

I would say it depends on what the tests they are talking about are and what protocol you will be on. I know alot of girls on here used pill with short protocol to time cycles when cycling abroad. My doctor wanted to with me but as i have a clotting disorder it would fo increased risk of blood clots so i decided not to.

I would of thought you would need to discuss pill husband or not so maybe you could get away with it (hopefullty your using a different name in case your doctor reads this website!)

when i travelled ofr my ivf i took out specialist medical insurance to put my mind at rest - i used these http://landing.ivftravelshield.com/ not sure if matter what country you live in or not? Any good clinics should monitor you closely for OHSS and not put you under a big risk although its never risk free is it.

Good luck with your cycle

/links


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## Sharry (May 13, 2007)

Hi

I also live in the middle east too, just check it is not like the UAE where it is illegal to be umarried and pregnant, punishable by prison and deportation!

Sharry xx


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## kafryn99 (Mar 4, 2012)

Sharry, diplomatic immunity can be a good thing ;-)  And actually Egypt is less like that than the Gulf - no one seems to really care about the foreigners' personal lives, they just roll their eyes at us...

Morrigan, thank you for the article.  I won't pretend that I understood it all, but I don't fall into any of the risk factor categories in the last paragraph so that made me feel somewhat better.  The more I read about all of this, the more I decide it is more of an art than a science, and that conflicting advice may mean there are just two paths to the same outcome, not one doctor being less capable or diligent than the other.  I have my old doctor in the States who I decided I will try to do a phone consultation with.  He is the one who diagnosed me with PCOS years ago, so hopefully he can help.

Thanks!


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## bingbong (Dec 9, 2008)

Sharry     blimey that's terrible!!!


Sorry Kafryn I can't help but wanted to wish you lots of luck   


bingbong x


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## Tito (May 2, 2011)

Not sure this might help but in egg share the pill is used so that the recipient and the sharer can match there AF dates when starting a cycle so it is used in ivf in this case I know


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