Anyone familiar with OHSS?

[Nigellas]

If anyone if familiar with OHSS, I’d appreciate you thoughts on this…

I triggered on Sunday – it was day 9, my estradol levels weren’t out of control (they were on day 7 at 705 but my Dr reduced my Gonal-F and it only went up to 1250ish by day 9, Sunday, so they weren’t too concerned with OHSS) but I did have lots of follies. 5 of them were over 17 and I had a lot more smaller ones.

Fast forward to yesterday (IUI day) - that afternoon I had intense cramping, worse than any period – I though maybe it was from the IUI, but now I’m wondering if it was from my ovulation since it started lighter the night before.... The cramping has since stopped but I am now extremely uncomfortable. I feel really bloated – I feel like I’m full up to my chest. My back is killing me and I feel like I look like 5 months pregnant. However, I don’t have a scale to se if I have gained weight (which was what my Dr’s office warned me of) and I don’t have dark urine (the other symptom they told me about, so I’m wondering if I need to worry. Even without the other symptoms, could this be OHSS? I don’t want to be high maintenance and call my Dr for every little thing, so I’m hesitant to call if this is normal or nothing to worry about – on the other hand, I feel like I might pop I’m so bloated…
Thoughts?

[gator97]

NIgellas--I don't know much about it except that I have read to drink lots of Gatorade. But, I did want to say that from what I understand OHSS can be very serious and so if you are concerned for any reason, I would call your dr. They are used to it. It is what they are there for.

I think this link might be helpful: http://www.ivf.com/ohss.html

good luck.

[Phen]

I think cbiggers from the twinmamas thread had it...

~ Phen

[mrselle]

Nigellas, I had OHSS back in August during an IVF cycle. The best thing to do is get lots of rest and drink plenty of fluids, especially gatorade. If you start to feel really bad call your doctor. In my case, I was so bad off that my urine was the color of tea and I felt so bloated that it was hard for me to drink. My RE ended up draining some of the fluid from my abdomen and that was instant relief for me.

[Scooter]

Definitely call your Dr, better be cautious about this kind of thing. I doubt the office will think you're high maintainence. And if they do, who cares as long as you're reassured. That's the service you deserve for the kind of prices we have to pay the REs!

I only did one injectables cycle, but I was very worried at one point I was developing OHSS. It was just after the trigger, and I talked to the RE when I went in for the IUI about it. I was so bloated & sore (and that was with only 2 dominant follies! We purposely kept the dosage low so that I would be at lowered risk for OHSS). The RE told me that it wasn't OHSS at all, I was fine. But I had to spend several days without moving too much and drinking gatorade to feel better. I was having trouble walking at a normal speed, too, from the soreness. I just remember going sooo slow everywhere. From what I was told & read, those symptoms are the main ones with injectables and don't always mean OHSS. So you may just be experiencing a normal reaction (if your Dr says it's not OHSS).

[kat]

Sorry to hear this is happening to you (and I agree; call your doctor).

A few women who used to post on the IVF thread had OHSS; you might consider posting in that thread, too.

IIRC, there was some disagreement among doctors re: whether Gatorade was a good idea or not. You may want to ask your doctor about that before trying it.

Good luck to you!

[amychris03]

I was very close to getting it (or maybe even had a mild case). My RE
did say to drink Gatorade and also V8's. They also said if you gain more
than 5 pounds in 24 hours to call. I would go ahead and call your dr if
you are feeling that and you dont have a scale, because my RE wanted
to monitor me closely during that time via ultrasound and make sure the
ovaries were shrinking down...

Take care!

[Nigellas]

Thanks so much you guys. I did end up calling and they recommended I drink lots of Gatorade - They want me to call again this morning to check in with them - I’m still huge- My pants don't fit but I'm not really in pain anymore, so that’s good.

[flygirl]

I hope you're feeling better by now!

I had OHSS every time I donated eggs, and it was so damn uncomfortable! I had to wear the baggiest of dresses in order to mask my gigantic stomach. Luckily I wasn't too severe and was usually better after a full un-medicated cycle.

[la_bride_2004]

Nigellas- I had moderate OHSS with an IVF cycle.

I think your E2 levels were safely low enough at trigger that you've probably avoided it. Good thing that you called though. For me, I was very lucky to avoid hospitalization, and it took a while for the bloating to go down and for me to feel better.

Not sure if this is your first injectible cycle or not- some people develop these type of symptoms from the meds. Hopefully you are feeling better!