Hi everyone, a quick update. Had my progesterone tested today and it confirmed my ovulation, so I'm glad I stood my ground. So, we will wait until day 1/2 of my next cycle, run bloods again and then decide on protocol. That's only 10 days away! It's all moving so fast now!
Josie sorry it's taking me all this time to come back. Right, here's my journey so far and a couple of tips on what to read:
I'm a charter, so when I went to see my GP after 6 unsuccessful months, he was happy to skip any blood tests and refer me directly to the NHS fertility clinic, after reviewing my charts. Being a charter means I take my body temp each morning(or I did at the beginning, now I'm too lazy) and track my cervical mucus, which changes through your cycle. He did request DH provides a sample, which brought out that we had an issue with his morphology. That was only 2,5% (WHO has a breakdown of what is considered normal for review on their website) Just to confuse matters, some labs use a rate where 4% is considered normal, some say it is 15%. not sure why this is. Anyway, having now repeated the test twice, we have seen that his diet changes and vitamin intake have take his morphology to 20%! I loosely refer to Marilyn Glenville for diet advise and we have both taken her vitamins for the last couple of months. www.marilynglenville.com/. you get the vitamins and books cheaper on amazon. I have also read Zita West books and spent countless hours on the Internet. My bible is also 'taking charge of your fertility' www.amazon.co.uk/Taking-Charge-Your-Fertility-Reproductive/dp/0091887585.
My NHS consultant asked for Day 3 bloods (LH, FSH, Oestradil, THT), day 21 bloods (progesterone). The latter confirms whether you have ovulated. Ideally this should be around 50. My NHS lab considered FHS up to 13 as normal. the LH should be under your FSH, but not by much. If LH is higher it can indicate PCOS. And yes, these hormones do fluctuate. He also asked for two ultrasounds scans, an external and vaginal. Both are done to see whether structurally your ovaries and uterus are as expected. I was also requested to attend a HSG, which is to check whether you have any blockages on your tubes. They use Xray and die to do this. Some women find it a bit painful, but I thought it was like period cramps at worse. Additionally my consultant did an internal exam at my request (not part of protocol), run tests for chlamydia and Gonorrhoea and I also went to my GP practice and asked for a Rubella immunity test.
Luckily in my case, all these tests have come back normal, so the only issue we have had were on DH sample. Worth noting we still have borderline motility 39.90% motility (40 is normal) and it is very viscous. We hope that IUI will help us overcome these.
In our case, NHS can't help us (DH has children from previous marriage) and frankly, having experienced their waiting times, I wouldn't have put up with it - in my age 39 I just can't afford wasting time on waiting lists. You're still young, so you're ok. So, we have just had our first consultation with a private clinic (ARGC) where we hope to start treatment in the next 10 days! They have just completed a monitoring cycle, which means a repeat of day3 and 21 bloods and a mid-cycle scan. We have opted not to run immunes at this stag. Our consultant simply wasn't concerned. We may change our minds tomorrow. and that's something you need to allow yourself, change of hearts.
As for treatment drugs, I'm still pretty clueless. There are others here who will know more than me. Let's hope you get your BFP before you need to start them. A bit of a novel, but I hope it helps.
MN also has a breakdown of all treatment types and what to expect.