LONDON recommendations? Fertility check up-egg reserves, anything faulty etc.

[caramelgirl]

Been trying for 18 months (21cycles) for #2. Nothing doing except one m/c in April at 5.5weeks.
Ideally I want a check up to see if anything wrong-with womb, cervix, hormones, any eggs left etc.

Had my day 3 done and trying to get day 21 done. Also am doing hormone analysis throughout one cycle privately (Genova). Hoping that might give some indication.
Doctor v v unhelpful. She suggested that if I am worried to see Mr. Okaru at St. John & Elizabeth privately. A friend recommended Rashna Chenoy at London Independent.
I wondered re Zita West, but can she do the medical checks on eggs, uterus etc.?
If I'm paying (a lot) I want to get a comprehensive MOT!
Thank you!

Hi Caramelgirl,
Zita's clinic can perform these test, but I don't live in London and so cannot advise you on the others. Sorry.
However, if you have conceived within the last 12mths that's got to be a good sign, Good Luck! x

Can I ask why you can't get the basic tests on the NHS? As you have been trying for over a year, you should be able to get these. They are fairly basic but will check hormone levels confirm ovulation, take a look at your uterus via ultrasound and check your tubes are open with a HSG.

If you want to go private to speed things up, I would have thought any of the big fertility clinics will do the tests you want, but the cost will add up. I'm having private care (additional tests, etc) alongside NHS and frankly that is expensive enough.

Thanks v much for responses.

We have a v silly GP system where any laydee referrals are via one doctor. And she is super reluctant to refer. Am I entitled for HSG etc. if already have a dc?

And names of any clinics? I am ignorant and wary of iffy ones. Would they just be based in each private hospital? Eg London Bridge, John & Lizzy's etc.

There's tonnes competing on Harley St. I had fertility MOT at Spire. For £300 I had a range of hormone tests and dildo cam. Results take 2 weeks.

This means your womb lining is checked as well as follicles in ovaries plus confirmation of ov.

Also had this confirmed by NHS progesterone test.

Still need to get tubes checked which I am pushing for on NHS.

Get SA done on NHS too, if you can. Takes two to tango.

Good luck; sorry it's been so long around 14 months ttc2 for us as well. Have discovered low sperm count but that's all so far.xxx

I'm haven't been through the secondary infertility system myself but my understsanding is that you are entitled to investigations and maybe clomid if there is an ov problem, but you are unlikely to get IVF funding. Perhaps someone will come along soon with more knowledge in this area.

You're entitled to investigations but no IVF; however if you have IVF at the hospital to which you were referred for investigations there is some saving as the cost is slightly reduced. So worth pushing for GP referral to unit where IVF is available. But MOT at private clinic will help and you don't need to tell GP

Brilliant! Thank you for advice and prices and taking the time to tell me. Really do appreciate. Also nice/reassuring that others surfing the boards on a Saturdsy night.
Yes, told DH that if he doesn't diff me this cycle he is off to JIAJ at doctors. He is away with work for all but my nominally fertile days, but has promised to hit hotel gyms etc.
Will get ringing Spire and may get tough with stubborn doctor lady..
Very Good Luck to you all.

Get DH onto the NHS system as will save you some money!

Really good luck. I feel for you. Prolonged TTC is dreadful for anyone - whether it's DC2/3 or still hoping for your first (which of course must be particularly upsetting...).

Give Spire a ring on the first day of AF, unless of course you get that elusive BFP this month!

Yes, am v bored of ttc and obsessing about it all. Every month I think what a relief it would be to have a BFP. Not just because I really want a baby, but also to feel like normal me- or as normal as can be when pg. At least woukdn't be baring rictus grins at newly diffed friends etc.
Who knows, maybe we'll all get BFPs this month and spend Eastee retching at thought of chocolate eggs. I am certainly up for that!
On day 3 now, will call spire to make arrangemts now for next month in a fate tempting kind of way.
Thank you and Good Luck

Check this out Caramelgirl Link

Well, my hormones are duff it turns out ( and have been fooled by cbfm into thinking we had a chance). Saliva samples over a month showed v low oestrodiol and luteal progesterone so no ovulation.

Super happily (well relatively speaking) I have scored a private referral letter off a different doctor- bit dodgy but was desperate.
So am off to spire on Thursday (day I'm due on) to see infertility consultant lady and for mot if that makes sense given that I'm not currently laying eggs at all.
Am going to buy myself a nice folder in which to store my notes. Hoping she'll have a super simple fix. Bracing myself for mega bucks ( or at least Clomid). And going to try not to cry on her having embarrassed myself twice today. Gah, PMT and naff hormones and ttc- bad combo.
Feel v stupid for not getting test done earlier. If there gets to be a happily ever after and a next time then I am deffo checking everything I can beforehand.
Hope better news for PPs

Hi caramelgirl - sounds like tough news, but at least you can try to get something sorted now after months of trying without knowing. You may not need MOT if you already know the problem. See what happens.

Have you considered alternative therapies? I wonder what's causing such hormonal imbalances...

Did your DH get tested too. He will have to if you are going to have any form of fertility treatment.

Wishing you the best of luck.

I have pretty much given up myself despite fairly healthy hormone levels and a good antral follicle count. I have one last method to try based on advice here and DH's low sperm count (we won't do IVF for various reasons). We might get lucky, but I'm beginning to realise that we may just have to glad of being a one-child family. Well, at least that's only one teenager to deal with in a few years' time.

Thanks beangrower. Very sorry to hear you are feeling pessimistic. Fingers crossed for a last hurrah-after all, it only takes one egg etc.
Baffled by hormone panel. I am just printing results and the same panel from four years ago (pre 2.5 yr old DD) to compare and contrast. Wonder if it's the old Just Relax thing kicking in. Just hope it's not early menopause (am 33, my Ma was 39 when she got hers).
Ironically (argh, never sure if using correctly, but anyhoo) I am a complementary therapist: nutritional therapist in fact. So jumping all those hoops and have helped others to conceive. But not me this time (yet).
I was having acupuncture but felt pressured into Chinese medicine as well and DH had to babysit which meant shagging time was being unproductively spent with needles etc..
Had English herbal medicine pre DD and really liked it but need to find a practitioner I trust.
Husband away with work but on a promise with a sample jar as soon as he's back in UK.
Best of luck anyway, hope it works out positively for you

Oh caramelgirl - how disappointing. I bet you are extremely healthy. Life is so unfair sometimes. However, I'd be surprised if you are experiencing early menopause although I'm aware it can happen. I'm a great believer in herbs and acupuncture. It will help you with more than just TTC; but I appreciate it isn't easy to fit into life etc. Meditation is another one to try...

I think my pessimism reaches a high around AF time. We'll keep going but try to let go at the same time IYKWIM. There's a possibility that we've actually been trying too hard and need to take a quality not quantity approach to SWI... I'm booked in for an HSG next week so that may help us but I'm trying not to get my hopes up after 15 or so cycles of TTC. I have to be v thankful that I had such a great pg/birth/healthy DS when I was 38 and that's the bottom line really.

Thank goodness for your DD. Have a lovely Easter together.

Ooh, we can be HSG twins! Fingers tightly crossed for both of us. Had a really good, albeit v expensive, morning with v nice consultant (£170 to see her- putting prices in case useful for lurkers) so am booked for HSG and cervical competence test on Tuesday (£420 at Spire), had day 2 bloods and AMH and TSH taken today (£140). And I will get day 19 or 20 bloods done in London and post back up to her in Midlands ( am at my parents' at moment so am taking full babysitting advantage!
It sounded like my imbalances can be addressed if the hormone panel was representative so I am really crossing my fingers.

It was SO nice to be listened to and taken seriously. Even explained stuff like lying on my tummy post sex brcause of retroverted uterus.

I do think that SFF is probably the best approach- just saw that someone on the brooking thread scored a BFP after her HSG with duff hormones and even tho' they had sex post op at 'wrong' time. She mentioned the importance of new underwear for successful conception and I have taken note!

Consultant said HSG really bumps up conception rates for three months afterwards. She explained that "crud" (technical term!) can block up entries to Fallopian tubes after miscarriage and possibly just with age as well.

I am a massively psychosomatic person, so going to try believing in miracle powers of HSG, visualisation, herbalist if I can track one down AND new underwear! And as you said, being very thankful for what we already have. So easy to overlook when focusing so blindly on ttc.

Have a wonderful Easter with your family. Hope DS enjoys the chocolate avalanche. And that there is a little left over for you. Prestat salted caramel one on my wishlist (there are certain compounds in dark chocolate that are thought to enhance implantation you know....(ignores GI impact))

And btw 38 and a happy healthy pregnancy first time around is fantastic. Suggests you are in good physical condition so hopefully a little tweak with HSG will help the sperm make it (assume quality is more important than quality in these instances). Good Luck!

Oops, just lurked on brooking thread and you are on it beangrower .And you go to the Horniman! Fab place. Anyway, not actually stalking you, just flooding with posts! Happy Easter

The Brooking thread is a lovely place to be Caramelgirl - why not pop along and join us?

I love the Horniman. I bought my first flat in FH and used to walk my dog there. Now live further SE but still drive over with my DS every fortnight or so.

You and I sound like we have a lot in common - including retroverted bits (and I adore dark choc)!!! I've heard that doggy style is best for us types (sorry if TMI), but not that I should stay lying on my tummy afterwards. Thanks for that. Any more handy advice? So glad Spire worked out for you and that things are moving forward.

You have age on your side and I feel really confident that you will have another little one with some tweaking and brooking. I agree that psychosomatics must play a part though I stared TTC2 with great confidence as I conceived DS the month after DP had moved in when I was 37 and he was 40. It took about 6 months (aged 39) TTC2 for me to really start worrying. But there you go - much more relaxed now we've worked out that we're dealing with low sperm count and DP is playing his part.

Fx for both of us and have a truly lovely Easter in Brummy. It's been lovely to meet you on MN btw. (You know if you ever want someone to chat to I'm really up for a coffee in the Horniman!) xxx

Btw - thanks re' encouragement over age/fitness. Yes, I seem to be creaking along quite nicely thanks to yoga and swimming (though was a bit of a wild one and knocked back a lot of booze throughout my 20s so must have got away with it). I didn't have a morning of sickness during my 42-week pg - just one head cold. DS was born at home after a 7-hour labour and I was back to my normal physical shape after about 6 mths. But kinda makes it more annoying to not have another as I enjoyed all the baby bit so much and would even say we had a peaceful (water) birth that didn't hurt. Crazy really. But hey ho - maybe lying on my tummy post HSG & SFF will do the trick eh?

Do you remember much detail of TTC for your DD? Was it all quite straight forward for you?

Sorry if I'm confused - perhaps you live in Brum but are visiting London this Easter. Either way have a good one. xxx

Ah no, fled brum at 18 but do now return and marvel at bargainous house prices etc. and how much nicer it was than before.
Yes, I knew positions but was waving my legs in air which is thwarting sperms progress apparently- acidity in vagina kills them off so they need to be pooled on cervix. She did say no rush, within ten mins of finishing- so no need to push him off immediately!
Big life changes for you in past then- moving in and making a baby super quickly. Sounds both romantic and hectic.
We had lovely water birth at our local midwife unit- within 90 mins of arriving. Was fab. Like you say, I feel like I quite enjoyed it all (tho' tbf not so much the tiny baby housebound bit- we got out every day from day 1 but it was a real effort)
SPire was a fab tip, thank you. Very grateful. In fact that was original reason for thread, so thanks ever so for that.
May delurk on brooking thread. Think I have been ttc so long that I remember the original Blooferlady brooking thread about a year ago?
And yes, spring summer Horniman meet up might be lovely. With any luck they could just roll around together and we could chat and perhaps smugly rub our pregnant bellies !!!
Right, actually signing off to sleep now. MN really is dangerously addictive.

I hung out in Brum a bit in my youth (first boyf from Uni lived there) - quite a good city I thought. Down to earth! But I'm from Wales (low expectations?)!

Ok so doggy style, lie on tummy, take your time. And in my case aim for quality and as close to ov as possible (needles/hastack). Oh and have you tried preseed?

Well - my HSG is a day after yours and then I'm due to ov the weekend after (though have loads of family landing at my house - gah, timing). How about you? What makes you think that CBFM was telling you lies btw?

Waterbirths rock - congratulations on yours, sounds wonderful! And I found the tiny baby bit very sweet but possibly because he was squidged into a sling and I carried on pretty much as I wanted through a lot of it, though he was a crap sleeper unfortunately (now brilliant thanks to nasty old CC). I do sometimes wonder if I'm mad to be wanting to do it all over again (at the grand old age of 41, which I will be by the time a baby comes along). Breast-feeding nearly killed me at first though I persevered.

Let's promise each other to get diffed and meet up at the Horniman to celebrate together (thinking positive here)!

REALLY GOOD LUCK with the next few months caramelgirl - I really do hope you crack it. And I hope you get your Easter salted caramel treat this weekend.

Now as you say - must get off bloomin MN.

(Maybe see you with the Brookers. I know at least 4 ladies from that Fred who fell pg after HSG...)

x

Quick update: HSG improved EWCM and period blood quality but no BFP.
DH has super sperm so not him.
Acupuncture lady diagnosed me as yin deficient. Lots of rest prescribed!! She thought duffo uterine lining meant fertilised egg couldn't implant.
Upon return to private Gynae she pretty much said the same- I now have 400mg cyclogest to take from day 19 to stop lining deteriorating in case of BFP- otherwise I discontinue on day 28 and expect period again.
Apparently it is routinely given for all IVF pregnancies to help them stick. Clomid also improves progesterone pre and post ovulation so that will be my next (expensive) stop.
Meanwhile I finally managed to find a more sympathetic GP and have a laparoscopic investigation of womb and ovaries booked. Be interested to see if they find any symptomless endometriosis as apparently this is a major cause of otherwise unexplained fertility.
Good luck to anyone else reading this.

Also, meant to say, apparently secondary infertility accounts for 30-50% of unexplained infertility. Weirdly this made me feel much better and not so much an idiot for failing to reproduce(ha!) past success.

Update: BFP last week so am 4 + 6 and, of course, bricking it.
Cyclogest from 7dpo (I started taking it just as the stringy sticky CM which meant I was coming to end of cycle) and a full cycle of acupuncture worked on first cycle.
After 19 months and probably 21 or so cycles, we only managed sex twice (illness and Olympic TV obsession, honestly, TTC really hasn't taken the romance out of our lives) and still managed to score a BFP.
Not counting it as a baby until I see it on screen but am PUPO and feeling like at least we have a chance.
Private prescription cost £1/tablet so £2 day. Plus consultation was £170 or so again. Will take it to 14 weeks if we are lucky enough to get there.
Hope information is useful to someone.

Congratulations!
Took us a while to conceive number 2 and know how tough it can be. Really hoping all goes well for you.
These stories keep so many women going who are having difficulty conceiving.