u/Mediocre_Road5803

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to share my journey coming off Reta. I started in January 2026 from 160lbs (F, 29yo, 5’5), my goal was 130lbs but I keep loosing so it came to 118lbs. I feel great in this weight, never stopped doing strength training 4 times a week and 10k steps daily. I never went more than 3 mg, mostly 2-2.5 and tapered down very steadily starting July with last 0.5 dose on September 5th. It’s been a month and 5 days off. I can’t say that my appetite skyrocketed. I definitely feel hunger but I can pretty much control it.

I went off because I am prepping for my IVF, and just did my egg retrieval, embryo transfer in December. I did not gain any weight so far.

If I want to eat I go for healthier options. I don’t snack, watch sugar intake, and started tracking everything. Never been a huge junk food craver or anything like this. I do meal prep and plan my grocery shopping. I stay in 1700-1800 calories deficit while getting leaner and maintaining muscles. My deficit is around 300-400 calories. I don’t really want to do body recomp due to fertility stuff coming up and I don’t want to up my calories for it. I want to monitor me being off it until my transfer.

I think my brain rewired since I have gained huge self control over my appetite. I stop when I feel slight fullness, I will not eat just because there is cake. I actually stopped having sugar cravings whatsoever. The look in the mirror always reminds me how confident I am now and how strongly I don’t want to come back to my old body. I’ve read a lot of stories but so far I am optimistic. Since I increased my calories intake and prioritize protein/carbs, I started noticing my body going from skinny to toned.

I just want to say that maintaining is possible if you put effort. After, it becomes a habit which is easily maintained. My partner went through the same journey so doing it in partnership is much easier.

Reta helped a lot with stomach issues, bloating and so forth. Some side effects for a while were low sex drive for a while (trying to convince for a long time is a bitch too in term of sex drive). On my highest dose I felt really depressed even though I was about to go to the trip of my dreams - Japan, but after I lowered to 2.5-2 things started to be bright again. When I lost most of my weight on 3-2.5 mg, I had dizziness getting up fast and occasional nausea but it also it went away with lowering the dose. Another thing was tight sensation in my thyroid and ear congestion for some time. Second one was to weight loss but went away within 1-1.5 months, that was super annoying.

I tapered off the same way I upped the dose, so it was slow but steady process which I recommend for getting off it. Right after taking my last 0.5 dose I went in European vacation and didn’t put on even one lb. I fluctuate between 118-120 now.

Good luck to everyone in this journey. I am fairly new to being GLP grad, but ask if you have any questions.

Please be kind, addiction is a b*tch so I am trying my best and looking for advise.

I am on day 3 of stims, my egg retrieval is planned sometimes between 10/7-10/10. FET planned in Dec after PGT testing. I am a 29yo female who vaped for the last few years. Over the last 5 years I am TTC, few of these I spent in a very toxic work environment and for the last 2 years I finally found a great job but had a very traumatic miscarriage last May and did a shit ton of therapy to get back to myself. This road was so stressful and exhausting, I use vaping as coping mechanism, my therapist said I vape because this is how I deal with my IVF anxiety and at the right time my brain will re-wire in the direction of quitting.

But here we are, almost at the very important milestone and I just can’t quit, not that I can’t, I have to be honest and say I don’t want to. I’ve been through so many disappointments, life changes, and literally at the bottom, that this habit is something that helped me cope a lot. I am not a serial vaper, I don’t smoke at work, so r wake up at night to hit it, I hit the vape occasionally during the day when I am home, or go out for a 1-2 drinks on Friday with my husband for our little weekly date. It gives me relief, not gonna lie.

My cartridge is over and I am having a dilema. Stress about wanting to still vape and not doing so, or buy another one and just hit it to relief stress how I did before. Will it really affect anything at the point where I am at? Even if I continue, I do plan to quit before FET, but currently this is like my little oasis, my 5 min ritual. In my head, I changed so much, lost 40 lbs, eat clean, workout daily, but this is something I am still holding dearly. It’s f*cked up, I know.

So I don’t need statistics, I need your real raw stories about how you dealt with your own vape addiction. What helped you? How it affected your results?

Hi, I am fairly new to this sub and I need an advice on my recent semen analysis.

Backstory: I am 36 yo male, local truck driver, gym goer. Non tobacco user/occasional alcohol user 1-2 days a week a few beers. We’ve been TTC since 2022. Got pregnant accidentally with same partner in 2018, did not go through with this pregnancy. In May 2025, had 1 missed miscarriage due to triploidy at 8 weeks and a chemical in October 2025. We are preparing for IVF in October 2026. Diagnosed with unexplained infertility. There are no known female or male factors.

Recently completed a semen analysis and I am concerned comparing them to the Dec 2024 results. I was pretty dehydrated and recent heat might’ve affected the sample. I am going to repeat it in a month but plan to start CoQ10 and getting a cooling pad for hours I drive. I am looking for advice or similar stories. Why the trend went down? Could it be one time thing? How it might affect our IVF chances? We didn’t consider ICSI yet. Thanks!

Semen Analysis Results: Dec 28, 2024 vs. Aug 6, 2026

Days of Abstinence: 3 days (Dec 2024) | 3 days (Aug 2026)

Total Sperm Count (per ejac): 56.5 M/ejaculate (Dec 2024) | 14.4 M/ejaculate [LOW] (Aug 2026) (Normal: >= 39.0 M/ejaculate)

Total Motile Sperm Count: 40.0 M/ejaculate (Dec 2024) | 5.1 M/ejaculate (Aug 2026)

Semen Volume: 2.00 mL (Dec 2024) | 0.75 mL [LOW] (Aug 2026) (Normal: >= 1.50 mL)

pH: 8.5 (Dec 2024) | 8.0 (Aug 2026) (Normal: > 7.5)

WBC Conc: >= 1 M/mL [ABNORMAL] (Dec 2024) | < 1 M/mL (Aug 2026) (Normal: <= 1 M/mL)

Transport Temp: Collected on site (both dates)

Viscosity: Normal (both dates)

Sperm Concentration: 28.3 M/mL (Dec 2024) | 19.1 M/mL (Aug 2026) (Normal: >= 15.0 M/mL)

Total Motility (PR + Non-Progressive): 71% (Dec 2024) | 35% [LOW] (Aug 2026) (Normal: >= 40%)

Progressive Motility (PR): 63% (Dec 2024) | 25% [LOW] (Aug 2026) (Normal: >= 32%)

Normal Forms (Morphology): 12% (Dec 2024) | 4% (Aug 2026) (Normal: >= 4%)

Hello everyone,

I would like to know if any of you went into your first IVF with calm and relaxed attitude? How did it go for you? Did you go with the state of mind that everything will work out or if not you’re still going to be okay and try again? Or once you start you become anxious, or after the first fail you loose this positive mindset?

I’ve been TTC since the end of 2021, had a lap surgery in Nov 2024, got pregnant but had a miscarriage in May 2025, biochemical in Oct 2025, and I will have my consult in July. I am 29 and my husband is 36, healthy, normal karyotype and genetic tests, good ovarian reserves, good semen analysis, no blocked tubes or endo, regular cycle and ovulation, relatively healthy lifestyle. But something doesn’t seem to connect. I had a lot of therapy and I am mentally ready for IVF journey (or so I think at the moment). But I am just curious about others experiences and what state of mind they were in when starting IVF for the first time. Maybe I am looking for copping mechanisms during this procedure.

I am new to this community, plase share your experience, i will thankful for any advise.

Thank you!