Intro to OHSS

6/23/2009
A couple of days after my ET, my waist girth had gone up 3 inches, my weight had gone up about 5 pounds and I was starting to feel uncomfortable. I went in to the RE, they said I definitely had some fluid (they called it "moderate" OHSS), and to start drinking Gatorade and avoiding salty foods. They drew some blood and gave me a "hat" to pee in. That was really fun - taking that to work and in and out of the bathroom. I had to record my urine output and call the RE if it dropped below 33mL an hour.

I guess I shouldn't assume everyone knows what OHSS is. Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is a complication from some forms of fertility medication. Symptoms are set into 3 categories: mild, moderate, and severe and some others. Mild symptoms include abdominal bloating and feeling of fullness, nausea, diarrhea, and slight weight gain. Moderate symptoms include excessive weight gain (weight gain of greater than 2 pounds per day), increased abdominal girth, vomiting, diarrhea, darker urine and less in amount, excessive thirst, and skin and/or hair feeling dry (in addition to mild symptoms). Severe symptoms are fullness/bloating above the waist, shortness of breath, urination significantly darker or has ceased, calf and chest pains, marked abdominal bloating or distention, and lower abdominal pains (in addition to mild and moderate symptoms).

In mild forms of OHSS the ovaries are enlarged, in moderate forms there is additional accumulation of ascites with mild abdominal distension, while in severe forms of OHSS there may be hemoconcentration, thrombosis, abdominal pain and distension, oliguria (decreased urine production), pleural effusion, and respiratory distress. Early OHSS develops before pregnancy testing, and late OHSS is seen in early pregnancy.

6/27/2009
I had been drinking the Gatorade, which was pretty tough b/c I think Gatorade is disgusting. Every flavor. Urine output got down to about 50mL/hour, but started to rise again. I went to a July for Kings concert at the Madison Theater in Covington, KY. One of my and L's friends proposed to his gf on stage. It was really sweet and I was impressed; it took a lot of time and effort to pull it off. Of course she said yes, so congrats to the two of them. I was still really bloated, and I wore a shirt that accentuated my "bump." I had been walking around like I was pregnant for a week - people were holding doors for me, etc. It was really nice, even though I was being a big faker. I do have to say that standing on my feet for 4 hours at that concert was a mistake. I was very uncomfortable afterwards.