I just had my first egg retrieval 2 days ago and I have basically been bed ridden since getting home from the procedure. I’m 24 and in good health so for some reason I thought I’d make a quick recovery, but honestly I feel awful. I’m exhausted, my back hurt terribly the first 24 hours, I’ve had on and off stomach cramping (not like my typical period cramps, probably from constipation), walking hurts, and nothing sounds good to eat except for really basic carbs. I had signed up to volunteer at church tomorrow and be back to work on Monday, but I feel like there’s no way I’ll feel good enough for that… is this normal? I was at higher risk for OHSS because of my egg count, but I’m not experiencing any of those classic symptoms. I also have a one year old, but my husband has had to care for him solo because I can’t pick him up yet. When did you start to feel better from the ER? Any tips?
I was 25 when I had my egg retrieval done and got 43 eggs. I was in a lot of pain right before my ER and A LOT of pain after. It took me a solid week to feel like myself again with no pain.
I had a lot of pain after my egg retrieval. But I was able to go back to work the Monday after a Wednesday retrieval. Did they send you home with pain meds?
Good to know! Just Tylenol and Advil.
If those aren't cutting it, I would call your clinic and let them know you're still in a lot of pain to see what they recommend. The day of the ER and 2-3 days post ER were my most painful days and I needed stronger meds at those times.
27 yo female and in the same boat I had mine on Thursday was hospitalized yesterday and was told I have ohss (37 eggs retrieved 33 fertilized and 28 embryos). This is the worst pain I’ve ever been in!! The only thing they told me to do was Tylenol. But I’m also on letrozole and cabergoline. I find a heating pad to be my best friend. If there was a way to release all this air in my stomach I’d feel so much better too. I’d deff go to the hospital I felt a bit better after fluids. I also try and get up and walk for 5 mins but I am quick to get light headed and dizzy. I hope you get to feeling better soon.
Sorry to hear about the OHSS - I had it too after my last egg retrieval- but just to say, fantastic results on the embryos!! Hope that at least is getting you through recovery. Take your time - I was signed off work for a good 4 weeks after with mine, but I was glad not to be working while uncomfortable and the abdomen took a while to go down.
To OP, this much pain to me indicates something more, perhaps OHSS if you were at risk. Be careful and get to the hospital if you are unsure or it’s getting worse - OHSS can feel awful and be very dangerous.
Oh gosh I am SO sorry!!! Hoping you feel better soon!!!
I had 36 eggs retrieved and was in so much pain after! I alternated between Tylenol and Advil every few hours for about a week and was glued to the heating pad. Also Gas-X and biolyte helped a lot! I had mild OHSS though so wasn’t hospitalized
The best advice I got: hydrate with drinks containing electrolytes for the first 3 days, minimal free water. IV hydration was my favorite but I also had body armor and coconut water. There are a lot of fluid shifts happening due to the process itself of growing and maturing so many follicles. You need to get the hydration into the vascular spaces so the electrolytes help with this (water follows salt so consuming these beverages help the water stay in your veins/arteries effectively hydrating you). I did not need pain meds and required minimal rest -- I am much older than you! Having said that, every body is different so if you do need extra rest, take it! I hope you feel better soon 🤍
Hi! I'm really sorry you're going through this.
I'm 34yo, PCOS, pretty healthy but at higher risk of OHSS (so much so they cancel the fresh transfer after the retrieval) and went for my first egg retrieval this month (Tuesday 2nd, 31 follicles, 24 eggs retrieved). I was told I would need to take Wednesday off, but I should be back at work on Thursday. Today is Sunday 14th and I still haven't returned to work (I return tomorrow). I feel like I was told I was going in for a simple milk tooth removal and instead had all four wisdom tooth taken out.
Wednesday 3rd and Thursday 4th were my worst days. Breathing & laughing hurt. Getting out of bed was a herculean task, felt like a cockroach on its back struggling to get up. Going to the toilet has difficult, especially the wiping, my ovaries were so inflamed I couldn't reach. A 90yo would have probably moved faster than me. I couldn't sleep, the pain kept waking me up. I was originally sent home and told to take paracetamol every 6h. Thursday 1am, I woke up in excruciating pain, ended up in hospital. They checked me over no free fluid, but my ovaries were still massive. I was weighing 4kg more and my waist was 27cm bigger than before I started the hormones stimulation. They prescribed codeine to manage the pain, I only took it at night to help me sleep, but only did so twice. It was making me gassy, and with my ovaries so inflamed they were pushing my organs up, making my digestion incredible slow and making any trapped gas quite painful. This also left little room for my stomach so I wasn't eating much.
My ovaries being so inflamed was putting a lot of strain on my ovarian ligaments. This meant no stretching my legs or it would hurt. To relieve the pain from this I put pillows under my knees, that is how I slept. Also impossible to go on my side, at first because it felt like I had lead in my organs and every time I turned the weight of the lead would re-adjust and it was too painful. When that passed going on my side sent shooting pain up my neck (was told it was the pressure my organs were putting on my diaphragm and can't remember which nerve). So to ensure I stayed on my back I put pillows on both my sides.
Had another check up on Monday 8th, Dr told me the earliest I could return to work was Monday 14th (tomorrow). To be honest from Tuesday 2nd (egg collection) to Wednesday 10th, my husband had to do most things for me. Including helping me settle myself in bed. Since Wednesday I have regain my autonomy but I'm still pretty drained so I have spent most of my time in bed (still with the trusted pillow under my knees). Doing a quick food shop or tiding around the house left me breathless. I'm waiting for my period, but I have had some cramping episodes. They were not pleasant. My pelvic floor seems to be cramping which has never happened to me before. I'm hoping it will start today, I'm worried it will be too painful to be at work. And I've already been off 2 weeks.
Sorry if it was too long, but I wanted you to know you are not alone. I hope you'll bounce back quicker than I did! Also stick to loose joggers, wait until after your period, when inflammation is complete gone, before returning to your usual clothing.
29 F, I feel the same way. I had mine Wednesday and thought I could go back to work Thursday. Nope. Ended up calling out. I’ve been so fatigued and had pelvic cramps and just want to lay around and sleep. It was way more than I had expected. Constipation and bloating was so bad, I finally pooped Friday and hadn’t since Tuesday.
Oh no 😭 I have to go into work the next day and give a presentation lol I rly hope I'm able to walk...
Yeah I think I felt worse the day after the retrieval, more bloated more pain and cramping and emotions all over the place, the day after that was so much better for me and continued to improve every day after that, good luck!! 🫶🏼💕🎀
Don’t hesitate to contact your clinic to let them know the level of discomfort you’re in. My second retrieval was so rough, they had me come back in to make sure there wasn’t internal bleeding or other complications. It was 8 days before I even started to feel like I was turning the corner. Otherwise, heating pad, lots of electrolytes, and all manner of stool softeners and laxatives have helped me. I’m just now recovering from my 3rd retrieval that I had this past Wednesday, and my medical team was really helpful and proactive to make it less terrible this time.
You feel a lot better once your period comes. About 7-10d?
I had borderline OHSS and tonnes of eggs and protein alleviated the symptoms. The albumin in your blood holds onto water and stops it leaking into tissue and the interstitial cavity. My clinic also offer protein infusions for OHSS.
I think you should go to the doctor. Some pain is normal but not what you are describing.
If your synptoms get worse and not better over the next few days don’t hesitate to call your clinic! Try to drink some gatorade or powerade and take some tylenol. Use a heating pad too. Take it easy! I started feeling better after 3-4 days. The symptoms should gradually get a little better as each day goes by, not worse.
I didn't hear you mention electrolytes and I would highly encourage drinking things like Gatorade or liquid IV or some of the more intense double salt electrolyte drinks. As someone else stated it really helps pull water from your ovaries into the bloodstream.
Also make sure you're taking stool softener and laxatives to combat constipation which will help take some pressure off your ovaries (your colon shares the same space)
If that doesn't help, call the Dr. Have you gained weight? (Which is a sign of an electrolyte imbalance, although you said you weren't exhibiting OHSS symptoms and that is a classic one)
I had mine last Saturday. I didn’t start feeling ok again until about Wednesday. So about 4 days of feeling like absolute garbage, difficult to move, bloated, pain from the pressure before any bathroom use. Then it steadily got better, I feel 100% back to normal today.
This is absolutely NOT normal. Please go to the hospital and get checked for OHSS. I'm older so I'm not high risk for OHSS. I have zero pain after my retrievals (outside of constipation) and I can walk and eat completely fine. I'm usually starving after the retrieval. I just have to be careful not to eat anything that makes the bloating worse. Everything you described sounds like bad OHSS. It's best to get checked.
I don't think the hormone crash and electrolyte imbalance that happens post ER is discussed enough. I was 36 when I had my ER. The day of and the next day were okay. But I spent the next few days extremely fatigued amd swollen from water retention. I was achy and felt body pain like you feel with the flu. It was terrible. I was worried about OHSS, but I didn't have it. But boy did ER whoop my behind. Take it easy, give yourself grace and take it day by day.
There’s further context in my post history but I had critical OHSS post egg retrieval, resulting in almost a week’s stay in ICU with round-the-clock monitoring. Please get checked out if you’re not feeling right - it literally saved my life.
I sympathize because I also felt like my clinic woefully underprepared me for the recovery portion. I had extremely high estrogen levels throughout stims and was told of OHSS concerns, but I never thought I’d need several days off of work and end up in the ER for pain. I feel like the retrieval affected everything - nausea from anesthesia, muscle soreness, bloating, constipation, fatigue…I’m trying to push gatorade and rest, but I want to commend you and others who’ve gone through it because it’s such a trial.
I was also told the recovery was no big deal, take that day off work and I would mostly be back to normal after. I have other health conditions that had been in remission for the previous year, and the ER but me in a flare and I ended up in the ER with internal bleeding. Took at least a month for me to feel normal again.
Definitely feel like the recovery and potential complications were not sufficiently covered/understood with my clinic.
After all that I got one embryo.
My advice: don't be afraid to go to the ER for monitoring if you feel like something is not right.