Going through IVF Cycle can be a stressful journey. Many factors are contributing to anxiety and stress, including the time it takes, the loss of work, the cost involved, the pressure on relationships, the effects of the medication and concerns about the process. Factor everything together, and we can see the incredible demands placed upon the emotional and physical self. As a result, it’s natural for patients to feel some degree of stress, anxiety, and even depression during and after the IVF cycle. 

Fertility + Stress = Trouble

When you’re feeling anxious, your nervous system releases stress hormones such as cortisol, and those hormones manifest in things like high blood pressure, shallow breathing, and increased heart rate. People experience stress in other ways, too, such as sadness, insomnia, irritability (and the total opposite, stress napping), and headaches.

Because of the fight or flight response that gets triggered when an extremely stressful situation arises, any system that isn’t necessary for survival shuts down, including your reproductive system. This is why your period can be late when you’re experiencing high levels of stress for an extended period.

A Barrier to IVF

Anxiety, stress, fear of uncertainty, the feeling of your life continually being on hold, the emotional costs are all major reasons why women don’t continue with IVF when the issue of money has been taken out of the equation.

A recent small study recorded that for women in the US who chose not to resume IVF despite being insured for more cycles, 39% declared that stress was the purpose why they could not continue treatment. Specially, these women asserted that the toll fertility treatments took on their relationship was too much as well as just being too depressed and anxious to continue.

IVF is an expensive procedure, but you can certainly reduce the costs by having your IVF treatment in Cyprus IVF Centre.

For sure, you can’t put a price on a much-awaited pregnancy, but by visiting Cyprus IVF Centre for your treatment, you can cut down on the charges, giving you more money spare for all those essential things you need when the miracle baby comes. Your treatment, as well as your hotel accommodation and airport transfers costs, will usually add up to less than half the amount of having your treatment nearest clinic.

The impact of anxiety and stress on IVF success rates is a little bit complicated. 

One meta-analysis reports that emotional stress is unlikely to influence IVF pregnancy rates, and those feelings of depression, worry or tension undergone as a result of a woman’s fertility problems are unlikely to reduce chances of pregnancy further.

On the other hand, there is research claimed that women who undergo emotional distress and receive psychological treatment are twice as likely to become pregnant than those that do not. While there are some reasons not to take this statistic as a fact, it highlights the possible untreated anxiety can probably have. Although the researchers report that the impact size of psychological treatments may not be as big as doubling success rates, they do nevertheless believe that reductions in anxiety are linked with improved pregnancy results.

Whether or not, it is obvious that stress and anxiety do hinder IVF success rates.

A reminder: many circumstances influence your ability to get pregnant, including the health of your reproductive organs and your age. And not every study points to a strong link between stress and fertility challenges. A study of 111 women who kept records of their anxiety and stress levels discovered no differences in pregnancy rates among those who described their stress as high, moderate and low-level. Conclusively, this news suggests that average levels of stress in relatively healthy women don’t negatively affect getting pregnant.

Regardless of whether or not anxiety does affect success rates, we all agreed that when anxiety and stress are better managed, quality of life improves along with the quality of our relationships and just the overall ability to feel a little bit ‘normal’.

To put it simply, although it impacts on IVF success rates is conflicted, overall, better managing our stress and anxiety can be a good point. 

Trust Between You and The Clinic

As soon as you step through the Cyprus IVF Centre door, you will feel safe and secure.

Team Miracle uses the newest equipment that allows performing the most advanced treatment. The level of treatment you get in Cyprus IVF Centre is of the highest standard, which increases the chances of achieving pregnancy. 

You will be treated by caring, compassionate and highly trained staff, in modern, clean buildings with the latest most superior lab technology. You will also get round-the-clock support from Team Miracle. The staff all speak English, so you don’t have to worry that you won’t understand what you are being told.

Team Miracle’s friendly patient coordinators always support you during your IVF journey – from the beginning all the way till the end to assist you to have your desired family.

What is the best way to manage anxiety and stress when doing IVF?

Mind-body interventions, such as online support groups, education sessions, guided relaxation, acupuncture, yoga and mindfulness classes are just some of the ways that have been studied to try and discover what best helps women doing IVF to overcome their anxiety and stress. Acupuncture is one of the best recommended ways. And at Cyprus IVF Centre, you can contact a highly experienced acupuncture therapist who can offer specially tailored fertility acupuncture sessions during your IVF treatment.

On top of this, there are more traditional methods such as eating a healthy diet and exercising.

Just as we all have different symptoms and triggers of anxiety and stress, the ‘best’ way to handle it is likely to be unique to everyone.

Don’t let stigma get in your way: you deserve to feel your best.

With Team Miracle no stress but success