Help. Don't know what to do - WWYD in my position?

[maybemyrtle]

Hello, on/off lurker here, don't really have anyone except DP to talk to about this offline so would love some advice please.

I'm 37, been ttc 2+ years, had 2 mcs, no longer ovulating. No children :(

Got pregnant last summer on 3rd cycle of Clomid, but have now had 3 more unsuccessful cycles. His SA has just been repeated and is fine, my most recent day 21 test (on a clomid cycle) is exactly where it should be. My day 3 test was messed up so I don't have a recent one of those.

My GP now wants to refer us to the Infertility Unit at the hospital but they may not accept us because it's been less than 2 years since my most recent (failed) pg. GP can't prescribe any more Clomid as I've now had 2 x 3 cycles.

Not sure if IVF would help us - it might get me pg but obv sustaining the pg is another issue. Also would be ££££ as I'm too old for NHS treatment and according to their stupid policy haven't been trying for long enough anyway.

I started seeing an acupuncturist and taking Chinese herbs, I've given up coffee and am consciously trying to relax. The acupuncturist's confident that he can get me ovulating again and I think I trust him.

The all-consuming "will I ever had children" panic has set in over the last week and I don't know what to do. I was happy to keep trying the Chinese thing for a few cycles but am I just wasting time? Should we bite the bullet and go private? Will we regret having dismissed IVF? Are there any other things that we should be doing or tests we should push for? Feeling so panicky and confused just now, what would you do?

Sorry for the essay.

[JuliaScurr]

time is presumably a key issue?
in which case - what treatments can be done concurrently? Have you tried eg nutritional medicine (also private so £££)? or any other 'complementary' treatments? I'd do everything in ascending order of cost, tbh so long as it didn't compromise the most reliably effective treatment Presumably you can still get NHS miscarriage prevention treatment - research the most effective hospitals & consultants - then get referred to them
good luck

[Happilymarried155]

If cost isn't an issue I would get referred and get the ball rolling for ivf-the whole referral process can take quite a long time and they will probably repeat the tests you have had anyway. It may take at least another six months for you start any ivf.

Good luck x

[maybemyrtle]

Thank you so much for your replies.

Julia Time is definitely an issue. I hadn't thought of nutritional therapy (or heard of it actually) so thank you, something else to look into. The ascending order of cost is really sensible.

Stumbled thank you - that's reassuring to hear. I kind of assumed that it would be a sales pitch scenario and we'd be persuaded to commit vast sums of money there and then.

Happily that's really useful too, again I'd assumed it would all happen very quickly - getting the ball rolling and continuing as we are sounds like a plan.

Thank you x

[yorkiebilb]

Hi maybe

If it is anything like the set up in my area I got referred to an nhs fertility consultant by my gp 6 months after my mc for further tests. That has been a very slow process though and because of my age (nearly 36) so my husband and I decided to go down the private route at the same time and I am currently going through my first ivf cycle.

If age wasn't an issue then I probably would have carried on down the Nhs route but I do feel that time is against us and we need to act sooner rather than wait on Nhs as success rates leasen the older the women is.

I really would recommend seeing a private consultant and chatting to them about your options. I never felt like I was being fleeced by them but I did alot of research online on clinics in my area and their success rates/feedback from other. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

[bessie84]

if i was you, id deffo go private, get everything done quicker, esp if mony is no issue. good luck hun xx

[JuliaScurr]

maybe I've used nutritional therapy for MS with good effects. A very different problem, but I know it has been used for lots of things

this is where I went. It costs a bloody fortune and I totally do not support private medicine, but we have no choice, we can't get NHS treatment

newmedicinegroup.com/

[naty1]

You can get treated nhs under 3 years byt it is probably is you have a known issue i think unexplained can be a 3 years before referral.
Also you may have a waiting list in your area.
The hfea site has links to how many nhs rounds are paid for by each pct.
Have you had a thyroid test?

[maybemyrtle]

Many thanks again for all of the replies, I wasn't expecting so many people to respond.

Thanks yorkie, think I'm going to spend the weekend looking at the local places and success rates etc. You're right that we really need to know the options.

Julia definitely going to look into this, ty for the link.

naty In my area I can only get investigations and things like clomid as I'm over the 35 cut-off for IVF. Because I'm a bit older, my GP has said she's prepared to try pushing us through for further investigations although it's under 2 yrs. I definitely wouldn't get IVF on the NHS here. Thyroid was fine as was everything else, tubes look fine, the only thing is that I'm mildly anaemic and I just don't ovulate. Next stop is the AMH test.