# Chromosome tests all clear - change in treatment?



## nic32 (Oct 25, 2011)

Hi there

Im not sure if ive posted in the right place but am hoping someone on here has some words of wisdom to share! i'll try and keep this to the point and not waffle too much (no promises lol) 

You'll see from my signature that we've been through 2 rounds of icsi this year, 1 resulted in a bfp but early m/c, the other a bfn. We had our review appointment a few weeks ago and the consultant recommended some blood tests - chromosomes/blood clotting etc (in honesty I'm not entirely sure of what was tested but they took a lot of blood and I've asked for a full list). 

I called today and all the chromosome tests are back as ok. My gut says that the clotting bloods will be ok too (tbc) but that leaves me really confused! The consultant said that pretty much regardless of the outcome of these tests he'd recommend additional drugs during our next cycle (steroids, max folic acid and a few other things I can't remember) but if everything has come back normal then will it make any difference? I feel like we're clutching at straws a bit and just adding drugs in to pacify me that we're not just going ahead with the same treatment/drugs as we have for the last 2 cycles... This will be our last cycle due to cost so I really want to get this right and at the moment it feel so trial and error rather than a treatment plan that is tailored to us and our history. 

Does anyone have any experience of this/advice?

Thank you!!


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## nic32 (Oct 25, 2011)

Any ideas? (Just trying to move this up the new post list so that it doesn't disappear)
THANKS


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## nic32 (Oct 25, 2011)

Only commenting on my own post to budge it up the new post list in the hope that someone may have some pearls of wisdom to share on this subject....


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## Lil Elvis (Dec 31, 2009)

Hi Nic,

I saw that no-one had replied so I thought I would have a go! It sounds like your doctor has done at least some of the immune testing to see if this throws up any issues. This can be a contentious area - some don't believe in it at all and some will even prescribe the drugs empirically on the grounds that they can't harm (other than the wallet!). The additional drugs might help, but it is just as likely that you have simply been unlucky. Sadly success rates aren't guaranteed with IVF and there is always going to be a bit of that un-scientific 'luck' involved. On my last cycle we had 4 embryos, all graded the same - 2 put back and BFN, 2 then defrosted and we got a BFP (though sadly lost one at 9 weeks). No way of knowing why 1 out of the 4 was the right one as there was nothing to differentiate them in the petri dish. My only suggestions would be to have a hysteroscopy done to check the womb is OK (more detailled than most investigations) and to ensure that your blocked tube isn't leaking into the uterus. Perhaps also seek a second opinion as to the poor fertilisation rate as some men can improve their sperm quality with a regimen of vitamins and, sometimes, hormones. As you produced more eggs with your most recent cycle then a better fertilisation rate might improve your chances by giving you the opportunity to try to go to the blastocyst stage with the embryos.

Wish I had a magic wand and a definitive answer as I know how hard it is to keep on battling.

Caroline


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## nic32 (Oct 25, 2011)

Thank you so much, I really appreciate the reply and it's definitely helped! This side of things is all new to me and our consultant is definitely in the 'it won't do any harm' camp which doesn't fill me with a huge amount of confidence. I'll be asking about the blocked tube leaking! 

This may be a very naive question but I had a uterus biopsy done which showed everything was ok, is a hysteroscopy different?

Thanks again! X


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