No doubt that, IVF is a boon for couples or individuals who are trying to conceive for a long time. However, this treatment also has side effects that affect your health severely.
Most of the side effects are associated with physical, emotional, and psychological states. Understanding the seriousness of such effects and knowing the methods to handle them helps to overcome them.
Now, let’s learn about common and rare side effects of IVF treatment in detail. This helps you to prevent serious conditions.
Common Physical Side Effects
Invitro Fertilization(IVF) is the most successful artificial insemination technique that also has many physical side effects. In this treatment, the doctor fertilizes the egg and sperm in the laboratory and transfers the grown embryo into a woman’s womb.
After this process, the blastocyst hatches out of the shell and attaches deeper into the uterine lining. Then, the implantation continues and your body starts changing to create a better environment for the fetus.
Resulting in some common physical side effects that disturb the woman’s normal life. The side effects are,
- Breast tenderness.
- Weight gain.
- Mild cramps.
- Bloating.
- Headaches.
- Nausea.
- Mild abdominal pain and lower back pain.
Emotional and Psychological Side Effects
Both males and females facing infertility challenges often find that IVF treatment deeply impacts their emotional and psychological well-being.
Couples undergoing the IVF treatment may feel anger, frustration, sadness, guilt, hope, excitement, and other emotions at once. If you experience such feelings, don’t worry this is very common.
But make sure you control your emotions and try to keep your mind clear. Because, unwanted anxiety and depression might affect your health badly.
How to overcome the stress of IVF
Overcoming the stress of IVF can be daunting, still you can easily handle it with these tips.
- Prioritize self-care and do things that make you happy.
- Communicate with your gynecologist to clarify your doubts.
- Give yourself time and don’t stress anything.
- Try to understand your expectations and have hope throughout the process.
- Practice meditation and take sufficient time to relax.
- Follow the right sleep cycle and include healthy items to your diet.
- Speak with your partner and spend quality time.
Medication-Related Side Effects
Clomid or serophene, injected hormones, and other fertility medications also cause side effects.
Clomiphene citrate causes various side effects like hot flashes, mood swings, bloating, abdominal discomfort, and headaches. Plus, the severe side effect of this fertility medication is blurred vision and multiple pregnancies.
Injected hormones like HCG, FSH, HMG, GnRH, GnRH agonist, and GnRH antagonist can have potential effects on a patient’s body and health. These medications are usually used to trigger the ovaries, egg growth, and release of luteinizing hormone.
These shorts are usually mild, still induce problems like tenderness, infection, swelling, blood blisters, or bruising at the injection site. It also increases the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation that increases the ovary growth and makes it tender.
The most important side effects of these medications is multiple births. Yes, it increases the chances of multiple pregnancies. You can easily know about the current status of your health with the help of your fertility experts. So, communicate with them and be aware of your health.
Rare but Serious Complications
Ovarian torsion
Ovarian torsion is a rare complication that happens once in every 6,000 women during the egg retrieval. In this case, the fallopian tube or ovary twists around their supportive tissue. This condition completely cuts off the blood supply to the ovary.
Symptoms of ovary torsion are severe pain in the pelvic region, vomiting, and nausea. You must rush to the hospital if you experience such side effects, because immediate surgery assistance is essential.
Bleeding during Egg Retrieval ER
Some women sense mild to severe discomfort, cramping, pain, and fatigue after the egg retrieval. Such symptoms are quite normal after the egg collection. But, bleeding during Egg Retrieval ER is a very rare and serious condition.
This is due to vessel puncture,when the needle hits the vaginal wall during the egg retrieval. You can inform your doctor if the bleeding lasts for more than a few days or it is heavy.
Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome OHSS
OHSS is a complication linked with fertility treatments. Ovarian hyperstimulation takes place when your ovaries swell and leak fluid into your abdomen. This happens because of over response or overreaction of ovaries to fertility drugs or medications.
Excessive weight gain, severe nausea, vomiting, abdominal swelling and blood clots can be symptoms of this syndrome.
Ectopic pregnancy
Ectopic pregnancy is a condition when the embryo grows outside the uterus. If this condition is left untreated, then it could become life-threatening issues. However, this condition is also rare, thus, you don’t want to worry about it.
When to Contact Your Doctor
It is important to stay in touch with your doctor throughout the IVF process. Mild discomfort and uncomfort is common after and during in vitro fertilization procedures.
Some serious signs indicate that you need immediate medical attention. You can contact the fertility expert when you feel intense pain in the pelvic region. Light spotting is common, but unusual bleeding requires immediate attention and care.
Rapid weight gain, breathing problems, high fever, infection signs, severe bloating are some serious side effects to consult the doctor.
Conclusion
So, make sure you monitor your health during IVF. It helps to prevent your body from reaching serious conditions. The IVF process can be emotionally challenging, but maintaining open communication with gynecologists can save you from medical emergencies. So, be aware, stay safe, and prioritize your well-being.
FAQs
In IVF, the waiting period between transfer and receiving the pregnancy test results is the hardest part.
And, some of them believe that embryo transfer is the critical part of IVF. On a whole, the overall in vitro fertilization is an emotional rollercoaster for couples and individuals undergoing this procedure.
According to the data, the entire IVF process can be emotionally challenging. Patients doing IVF treatment struggle with anxiety and depression. Open communication with your fertility expert can help you overcome it. These effects are just temporary and there are no significant long-term effects due to IVF.
In Vitro Fertilization also has some negative impacts because of the medications. They are,
- Hot flushes.
- Severe headaches.
- Possibilities of multiple pregnancies
- Increased risk of preterm birth.
- Low birth weight and maternal gestational diabetes.
- Hypertension.
- Ectopic pregnancy.
