IVF, short or long protocol

[keepitgoing]

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help.

I am 30, as is my dh. We've been TTC about 20 months now, with no hint of a bfp. We were found to have mild male factor/unexplained, but after three months of hundreds of pills, dh's morphology is now 10% (was 3-4%). So I guess now totally unexplained.

Anyway, we are going for ivf soon, and are private as we live abroad. In our consultation the doctor said he'd recommend long protocol for us, but the reasons he gave were
-easier to time around commitments we have
-potential early natural lh surge on short protocol

Re the first, we only have issues with timing in April (if we do LP), as dh may have to go abroad at short notice. My understanding is you need 2 weeks notice to stim even on LP.

So given this, that we'd rather do it in March, that there are less drugs involved, and a quicker process my question is:

Does anyone know why you'd want to do LP? How common is the second risk? Our doctor would do either for us, and I will email with these questions, but just wondering what other people know, and your experiences.

Thanks!

[keepitgoing]

Note, I've not had amh yet, will have it done next cycle, but he assumes given age and response on clomid that it's normal.

[ControlGeek]

Watching with interest and maybe giving a little bump to the thread - short protocol for me due to high AMH levels, unless I have ovarian drilling during my forthcoming lap, in which case it's anyone's guess.

[EuroShagmore]

My own experience was that I found downregging horrific. I felt horribly depressed and anxious and not like myself at all. I'd inject at night and wake up feeling like the world was going to end - heavy heart, black cloud following me around, etc. I'd feel slightly better by the evening and then have to do it all over again. When the clinic wanted me to downreg for an extra week to fit in with their timetable I lost it completely and decided to stop, with my husband's full support. He found it very upsetting to watch me turn from a happy balanced person into someone he didn't know at all in a matter of days.

Some people sail through downregging, but it is something to be aware of (there is at least one other person on this board who had a similar downregging experience). I'm now doing natural IVF (no downregging, no stimms) but would consider a mild short protocol in future. I'm never downreging again.