Let's be honest: What should I shouldn't do during an IVF cycle?

[Anonymous]

1. Alcohol- pre or post transfer
2. Excersise- can I run moderatly before and/or after transfer? If not running- what can I do?
3. caffine- how much to cut?
4. anything else-i've heard drink a lot of water???

[Anonymous]

No alcohol, no running but elliptical or walking, possibly spin. Weight lifting ok, no new kinds of exercise. Reduce caffeine, be healthy. Different drs have different recommendations on how much exercise and how much caffeine.

[Anonymous]

(1) Drs have told me moderate alcohol is fine pre-transfer, but post-transfer you want to act as if you are pregnant so no alcohol.
(2) No high impact exercise once you start protocol because your ovaries become enlarged and you could damage them by bouncing around. So no running. But strenuous exercise is ok so long as no impact--e.g. elliptical and spinning are ok.
(3) Caffeine - same guidelines as alcohol, above. Post-transfer limit to one cup of coffee or equivalent level of caffeine per day.
(4) Generally just try to be healthy and take care of yourself, for your own peace of mind. If you like yoga or meditation do that or whatever else you need for stress relief. If you like to de-stress by having a glass of wine in the evening, go for it!

[Anonymous]

PP here. I have not heard the advice to drink a lot of water but I have heard that the meds cause you to retain a lot of water, so it makes sense that you would want to limit salt intake and try to flush out by drinking a lot of water.

[Anonymous]

I can't imagine why you can't drink right after your transfer - embryo doesn't implant for a few days anyone.

[Anonymous]

You should not change what you do in normal life except to accommodate the appointments etc. Never forget to live and don't let it consume you.

[Anonymous]

IMO...It WILL work or it WILL NOT, regardless of what you do/do not do (short of extremely crazy behavior you would not do on a daily basis anyway; I am thinking along the lines of drugs, sky diving, etc.)

That said, you DO what you need to do to feel more confident and reassured.

Even given what I said, I still took the 2-day's of bed rest because it made me feel better.

I think it is human nature to want to think we have more control than we really do...Looking for a reason to make it work...If it were only that easy!!!

Good Luck! =)

[Anonymous]

16:46 here. I totally agree with the PPs that the most important thing is to take care of yourself and live as normally as possible, reducing stress and not letting it take over your life. What I posted were merely guidelines. I agree that having a glass of wine post-transfer is not going to hurt anything. The only thing I think is actually important is the no high-impact exercise. Physically your ovaries enlarge to the size of oranges from the medications, and they are only attached via your fallopian tubes so they are essentially floating around in your abdomen and are very sensitive and vulnerable. High impact exercise when they are like that could actually damage them, I have been told. But if you love exercise and it de-stresses you, you can always do intense exercise such as spinning or elliptical where you are not bouncing around.

[Anonymous]

I rested quietly for 36 hours and had success. I can't believe anyone is telling OP it would be okay to drink during that time. Common sense say don't do much of anything for a day or 2 if you can help it. You just invest 10k+ for a baby. Take a couple of days off for goodness sake.

[Anonymous]

The only IVF cycle I had success with out of 7 was the one where I didn't do any resting. I didn't exercise or go crazy cleaning or anything, but I did do normal every day walking around. Studies have shown the bloodflow can help implantation. OP, after going through the process 7 times, I strongly believe in everything in moderation...like other's have said. Best of luck!

[Anonymous]

Google "ovarian torsion" for why you don't want to do a lot of vigorous exercise with stimulated ovaries.

For those of you suggesting spinning as an alternative to running, I'd recommend keeping it in the saddle for the most part and ensuring that you've got a good amount of resistance to prevent the "bouncing" in the saddle that a lot of spinners have -- which, in addition to being extremely uncomfortable on the lady bits, will also be jiggling your ovaries up and down.

[Anonymous]

...Continuing (this is PP).

The name of the game is "regret management." If you think you're going to play Monday Morning Quarterback if this cycle fails and go through all of the things that you _think_ could have affected the cycle, no matter how remote or improbable, then you'll want to limit all of the "bad" things that could be affecting your fertility (excess alcohol, caffeine, exercise, etc.)

[Anonymous]

Agree with PP, it's really about making sure you have nothing to regret if you get a negative. With the powerful drugs they're using, I'm not sure a little bit of this or that here or there is enough to determine a result one way or another.

That said, I feel like I need to know that I've done EVERYTHING I can to support success. Given what I'm spending on IVF, lifestyle/diet changes don't feel like a sacrifice at all.

I'll say one thing about alcohol--acupuncturists are vehemently against it. It's not for fear of harming the baby, but that it may interfere with fertility and the effectiveness of the cycle.

Dropping alcohol when I started TTC has been a gift regardless, I just feel so much better. Less dehydated, less headaches, cheaper dinner bills, less calories/sugar, and now I don't really enjoy it anymore anyway. I manage to have a great time while being a teetotaler.