So, I started back on Clomid immediately following the unsuccessful retrieval. It was already in the plans prior to the retrieval, as I knew that even if we found the egg and created an embryo, it will not always be normal. You kind of want to have several embryos available, which is why I went with a duostim protocol.
This is different than two cycles back-to-back. You skip any priming, skip any menstruation, and jump right into whatever stimulation medication you are using to grow your follicles.
My REI described it as first being used for women who were going to be undergoing chemotherapy, and were freezing their eggs prior to. They don't have a lot of time, so they would do duostim. Stimulate, retrieve, stimulate, retrieve - no breaks.
So I started with Clomid, then Menopur a few days later.
Unfortunately, when switching primary reproductive doctors, the first clinic who does the ultrasound monitoring was confused, and confusing. They weren't paying attention to what was happening in the ovaries. I just keep thinking, I know what I'm looking at. I'm the only one that is at these ultrasound scans, every. single. time. No one else is there consistently, and after seeing so many ovaries, they don't know what's what, who's who.
Either way, I advocated for myself. When I started to see that the follicles were luteinizing, I knew that they weren't going to be retrieved. I notified my primary doctor, and he agreed that it wasn't working and we stopped that cycle.
So, I had to have a few months break... then I had a natural pregnancy and a miscarriage.
Needless to say, the DuoStim didn't work for me. But it may work for you!
Our next step is a Flare protocol using an GnRH agonist, but my body has to have another break. I have to wait until my beta hCG is back to baseline or zero. I'll be back to keep you posted!