oh, i am PP, they retrieved 19 eggs from me. i always had a high antral follicle count and good response to relatively low levels of stims. so this was nothing out of the ordinary to me or them.

i think my estradiol number was high, maybe too high for my low BMI. but i had been through injections cycles before and no problem and the same low level of drugs was used, 75-112 of Follistim. i guess Menopur was added on this time but just one vial each time. not sure why i overstimmed, but it does suck now. it does not resolve quickly and, even though i am feeling better, i am not allowed to do any exercise and need to drink Gatorade (if i never have Gatorade for the rest of my life that will be too soon) and have to take what i think is a rough shot every night (blood thinner) and this all seems indefinite right now.

my OHSS came on as a result of pregnancy which i guess launched my HCG into overdrive. twins.

I think at your stage, there's nothing much you can do to avoid hyperstimulation. I am one of those who experienced mild OHSS after the retrieval. One of the signs of detecting OHSS is your Estradiol blood level is more than 4000.

When I had OHSS, my level exceeded more than 4000. But the doctor never told me about that. When I switched to other clinic due to the relocation, the current doctor told me my case was regarded as high-risk OHSS. It could have been worse as hospitalization.

So I suggest that you ask your doctor about your Estradiol level. If it is close to 4000, you better ask for advice what you should not do ( such as don't drink much water etc)

Good luck!

drink plenty of water and eat a high protein diet

I think that you're talking about ways to treat hyperstimulation. (drinking Gatorade, etc.) The way to avoid it is careful monitoring during the stims phase to make sure they're giving you the appropriate level of drugs to get a good response without pushing your ovaries into overdrive. I think if you do a search, either here or on Google, you can see a good liste of symptoms of OHSS. Some bloating post-retrieval is to be expected, so if you have that now, don't worry. Just monitor your weight and make sure you're not gaining a lot very quickly.

Good luck at retrieval today!

other than not doing IVF? Doing egg retrievel tomorrow and already getting very nervous about the after effects. What are the early signs I should be looking for? I read that drinking gatorade and avoiding carbs will help (but isn't gatorade loaded with carbs?) and NOT to drink water cause that just makes it worse. I would like to think CFA will go over all this tomorrow with me but based on my experience wtih them if I don't ask the questions VERY specically they simply don't mention any potential problems. I only have 6 follicles and 2 are pretty small so its not like I had such a great response anyhow.