Is Fertility Friend VIP membership worth it?

[orangebud]

Hi All.
TTC #1 and at the ripe old age of 35, I thought it would be a good idea to track BBT / CM etc from the start of our journey just in case it takes longer than expected to get the BFP. I wanted to have this info ahead of any potential Doctor visits (not that I'm a control freak or anything ). I have been using FF to track for the past 2 cycles and my free trial is now ending so am now being asked to sign up and pay for the VIP membership. Can anyone tell me if they have it, and is it worth it? If you remained on the free option, what was the difference from the free trial? Thank you all in advance!

[orangebud]

Any info would be great - Thank you

[moggle]

In my experience (2.5 years trying before successful ivf) doctors are not interested in whether you have ewcm or whether you are temp charting. Most likely if you mention this to a GP you'll get a raised eyebrow and a gentle lecture about not obsessing about it, told to stop chatting for your sanity. The NICE guidelines say there's no evidence that charting increases pg rates. And if you started talking to your GP about your cm they'd probably start squirming! The consultant gynaecologist and the IVF consultant also never mentioned either of these aspects as obviously they have much more sophisticated tests that look at your fertility in much more detail.

Guess what I'm saying is it might be useful for you but in terms of when you seek medical help, it probably won't be of much use. They will turn to blod tests to ascertain if you are ovulating.

I charted for a bit but did find I got stressed eg if I woke in the night id be wondering if my temp in the morning would be acceptable, which would stop me getting back to sleep. In the end I stuck to just recording my cycle dates.
If I were you I wouldn't pay out for it now. Maybe in a year if you haven't conceived, consider it again, but by then you can be on the road to getting investigations done so hopefully you won't need it then either.
Good luck with it all xx chances are that in 6 or 9 months you'll be pregnant!

[orangebud]

Thanks Moggle. It is good to hear your story. You have a good point about the GP. What I consider to be prepared - they would probably consider a little (or a lot) OCD . I do wake sometimes in the night and wonder if I should take a temp them as it will be less than 2 - 3 hours before I get up etc. Maybe just chill out for a while and enjoy it. Thanks Again!

[dizzylemon]

Can I recommend Glow? It also produces a graph and it's free. It's not quite as comprehensive as FF but I think it still does the job.

Out of interest, how much do FF charge for their VIP membership? I've been using it for comparison but I guess I am still in free trial :)

[orangebud]

Thanks dizzylemon, I'll give glow a try. I'm a bit of an organisation freak, so love tracking and data .

FF charges £6.30 for 30 days, £10.71 for 90 days or £28.38 for a year. It isn't a lot, but don't want to spend on stuff if I don't need to .

[doobeedee]

I diagnosed my short luteal phase by charting. The GP who raised her eyebrow at me originally had to eat her words when the fertility expert took a real interest in my charts and agreed with me. That said, I don't think you need the VIP version. I had it because I wanted it and found it interesting but the basic version does everything you need it to do.

[orangebud]

Thanks doobeedee. Nice to get one over on the GP I'm sure! I think I'll stick with the basic version for now and maybe give Glow a go too.