I had IVF failure twice. Please guide me.

Question

Hello doctor,

I am a 36 year old married female. I got married five years back and we have no child. I started my fertility treatment four years ago. At first, I was treated for ectopic pregnancy and my right fallopian tube was removed. Again, I was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was treated for six months. My first IVF was done last year and it was a failure. Again, the second one was done six months later which was also a failure. My husband was diagnosed with fair to poor sperm DNA integrity and he is getting treated for the same.

I am taking Ovacare Forte twice daily and folic acid tablets once a day. I was advised to take these tablets for six months and it is about three months since I started. My periods used to be normal most of the times, but now it has been irregular during the last few cycles (last cycle in a gap of 45 days). Most of the times, my egg development was induced. I would like to take your advice for regular cycles and to improve my ovary and reproductive system.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

As there is a blockage in the fallopian tube, IVF (invitro fertilization - a manual process of fertilization of the egg and the sperm in a laboratory) is the only option. Ideally, the ovum should be healthy in such cases, unless there is an association of PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) or other cofactors.

Ovacare Forte and Folic acid are micronutrient supplements and may not alter your cycles. As you are planning for IVF within next three months, you need to prepare your mind, general health and uterus for conception. Considering your age, stress and other mentioned histories, I would suggest the following:

Join a general yoga class near your home. Continue this daily either morning or evening until you undergo IVF. It is important to keep your mind relaxed and stress-free for this treatment. It will also give you a positive hope.
Visit a spiritual place regularly which you believe in.
Once in a month, go for a distant travel with your husband and stay in a hotel or go for a picnic which will really make you mentally fit for the IVF. You can also have a pet (fishes or birds or any other of your choice). Stress has a very serious impact on the hormone balance, thus this is the first thing one should not compromise.
To strengthen your physical general health, do not skip food at any time. Kindly avoid tea, coffee, tobacco or alcohol which is not advisable during any treatment period. Instead, you can consume fruit juices of your choice, tender coconut water, boiled cow's milk (milk + palm jaggery or palm sugar candy + a piece of ginger + one crushed cardamom).
Be careful not to get any other diseases (infection, etc) which will make you take other medicines that may alter your health before IVF.
During IVF, genital/vaginal infection is one factor which often leads to failure of IVF. So, bathing twice daily (morning and evening) is important. Bathing will maintain your personal hygiene and also maintain body temperature. Hence, your body system will not struggle to keep your body fit. Still, vaginal tablets will be given by the physician during IVF.
Add more vegetables to your food. More vegetables or vegetable soups (homemade) reduce oxidative stress and hence improve immunity. This may help better implantation in IVF. You can add more drumstick, ladies' finger, colocasia, ash gourd, etc, to your diet. These are specific to the uterus and ovarian hormone maintenance.
Continue allopathy drugs as per advice. The physician can plan your IVF regimen according to your present condition. Hence, no need to worry about the menstrual cycle irregularity.
In addition, you can add the following herbal supplement for the next two months and then stop it. Tablet Aloes Compound, two tablets in the morning and two tablets before bed for the next 50 days. This is the drug which prepares the uterine endometrium and ovary for IVF. Then you stop this therapy. Otherwise, it will interact with the IVF protocol.