TTC through Donor IUI or Donor IVF or just undecided - all welcome! #makeithappen

[kwick]

This thread is for anyone trying to conceive... or thinking about doing so through donor IUI or donor IVF. Nothing TMI - feel free to join, we are a lovely group here to support and help keep the cray-cray away!
Here is the link to the previous thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/2587046-TTC-through-Donor-IUI-or-Donor-IVF-or-just-undecided-all-welcome

Hi Caution - I think you can only buy them direct from the supplier. Just Google 'Wild nutrition'. It's worth reading a bit of the blurb on the website and if you have any questions phone them up. They are so knowledgeable and helpful and clearly believe in what they're doing.

shoes I've had a look and I think I'm going to get some of them supplements. They look really good. They are pricey, but the way I see it is you can't exactly put a price on a baby/getting pregnant healthily.

kwick I have also ordered It Starts With The Egg. So excited to read it!

Glad I've been helpful Caution. I've just finished a bottle of their Fertility pills and ordered the Pregnancy ones. I'm crossing my fingers that I still get no side effects with the new ones.

Because of the price I don't take them every single day. If I've had a good day diet wise and eaten loads of different veg and omega 3 then I don't bother taking them and just take a plain Vitamin D along with my high-dose Folate (do not self-prescribe high dose Folate. There are some low level risks attached to high doses which mean that if you don't need a high dose its better not to be overdoing it. Stick to 400 dose unless told otherwise). The Wild Nutrition things have the full dose of 400 Folate in them so you won't need a separate folate.

You have been helpful Shoes - really helpful, thank you :)
I'll have my fingers crossed that you get on well with the pregnancy supplements too. When is your 12 week scan? Did you say it was next week?

That makes sense... So they're your "back-up"? I've looked online and at Boots you can buy vitamin D & folic acid supplements that are combined... Would you say they'd be worth getting, too? They were only like £3.69 for 60 tablets, which I thought was really good.
So far I haven't been told anything about high dose Folate (at my app with the donor coordinator they mentioned starting on folic acid around the time I wanted my initial consultation) so I'll just leave that as it is. X

Hi Caution. Not sure if this helps, but my naturopath has put me on 4000 units of vitamin d daily. I get 1000 in my prenatal vitamins, so I take an additional 3000 a day. For my folds acid I'm taking the natural form folate. She said it absorbs better. Is that right kwick? I know that there has been a lot of talk earlier about folic acid and folate. Eat lot of dark leafy greens and ditto to everything else everyone else has mentioned.

Thanks karen, that does help. I guess I'll just have to wait to see what my consultant says in regards to whether I should be on folic acid or folate, but I know I should be taking more vitamin D than the average person because my vitamin D has been low in the past. I'll be sure to add dark leafy greens to my shopping list (not a massive fan of them - will have to force myself to eat them!), alongside everything kwick mentioned too.

My 'It Starts With The Egg' book is being delivered tomorrow. Can't wait til it arrives and I can get stuck into reading it . How's everyone's Thursday? X

shoes is our resident expert on folate vs folic karen I am on folate now and when I can flipping remember to pack my supplements when I am travelling I take 4-5mg a day.
Yep you heard it right: I forgot EVERYTHING at home this trip... really with myself... at least getting home tonight.

Oops really sorry folks.... In my rush to explain my drug supply challenges I was not clear: John Bell & Croydon said they had to order the DHEA and would take 5-10 days which is a real bugger as I leave on Monday for a week long trip (yep AF has still not arrived so God knows how I will fit in baseline scan, frickerty fcuk). So they left a message today to say it will cost over £100 for one bottle (clinic used to charge £18) so price differential is HUGE.
Have now ordered myself online at £6 per bottle - it is micronised which is really important and fingers crossed it will arrive on Saturday. I have run out of this wonder drug (don't even ask how the hell I let that happen).
I have just double checked the dose I am taking of vitamin D with "it starts with the egg" and I am on track - sure I have done that before but my memory is shot and I did not recall...

Last few weeks have just been so intense work wise.... Not looking forward at all to next week, but hopeful IUI is around the corner...

Am behind on the thread... Just needed to get all that off my boobage!

kwick call me naive and simple, but who is DHEA and what drugs are you ordering? Is this for your IUI?

Had a massive chat tonight with my Mum, brother and his girlfriend about my impending IUI(s) and potential pregnancies/children/baby names. Was so nice to speak so openly about it and for them to get excited about the prospect of them having a grandchild/niece or nephew in the near future - makes me even more keen to start now!

Oh, and the reason why I cannot go ahead and book an initial consultation is because I still have around 8lb to lose until I am under the 35 BMI mark. They won't touch me til then (so they said previously) and the weight just won't budge, so looks like I'm waiting a little longer!

I'm naive and simple too... no idea what DHEA is!? It must do wonderfully magical things to be so pricey! I've Googled and see its a hormone?

On the subject of folic acid vs. folate, folate is the natural form of folic acid - the same form that we get from eating certain veg (e.g. lentils, asparagus, broccoli, spinach, beetroot, beans) so we know that our bodies can deal with folate. Something like 1 in 4 women can't metabolise folic acid which then means that there's an excess swimming around in the bloodstream which isn't great and means that the nutrient isn't doing its job.

Based on this, and the fact that every folic acid supplement I tried made me feel sick, I decided that I may as well take folate rather than folic acid to ensure that I was getting what I needed and absorbing it properly. There seems to be only one downside to taking folate rather than folic acid and that is the price! I choose to take Solgar folate which I think is one of the pricier brands but that is purely because they do a 1000mcg tablet and they don't use weird ingredients in the binding (lots of allergies here).

(Note that Wild Nutrition list their folate in the fertility supplements as 'folic acid' because otherwise women are concerned that the supplements don't contain 'folic acid'. It is definitely folate that is in the pills though - I checked with them).

Kwick - a short time without your supplements won't make a difference because with the vast majority of them we build up stores so your body probably won't notice most of the missing pills. Sorry that you're having such a busy time and the hassle with getting the DHEA. You'll somehow manage your IUI - it always amazes me with all your travel that you manage to get your scans etc. done. You are a very determined lady!

Hope everyone's ok this evening. I am so tired and quite miserable but I'm assuming its hormones so not unduly worried, just a bit fed up!

DHEA is a pre-cursor to testosterone. It is quite polemic (hope that words works in English) as some take it for anti-aging purposes. Anyhoo I asked my previous consultant about it, after reading about it in "it starts with an egg" and she was more than happy to prescribe. I quote " all of my natural IVF ladies take it".
It is supposed to help egg quality.
Hope that helps clarify

shoes I was more worried about missing my thyroxine - 3rd time in a week

Dear God: please let today be a goid work day! I have so much to do and so little time - esp as I have to leave early for GP appt!

Morning Kwick. Could you keep a couple of days' worth of your meds in the bag you usually travel with just so you know it's always there as a backup?

Yep I'm on folate, apparently you can take too much folic acid. shoes for clarification is that 400mg or mcg?

Back from NY and really tired, not sure if I'm lagged or it's the meds. AF due today, though could be delayed due to meds, and then the scans start. I'm so excited, and yet totally chilled. I'm putting my PMA down to this www.amazon.co.uk/Fertility-Affirmations-Sarah-Arkell/dp/B0082P06N6 these make me smile and feel so positive, so I thought I'd share!

Excellent that you've decided caution , I flip flopped so much on a clinic, but it's a really personal decision.

kwick I always forget something when I travel! I have to write a set packing list and physically tick it off when it's packed!

400mcg (0.4 mg) I think.

I've been told to take 5mg of folic acid but have chosen to take around 3mg of folate instead: Given that the folate is entirely absorbable I figure that I don't need as much folate as I would folic acid.

There's seems to be varying info about folate and folic though depending on body mass, wasn't kwick told to take more by her doc?

As long as we are taking some!

shoes good thinking batman!! I swap bags all the time depending on trip plus at weekends (when I have sleepovers at my mum's I often do not take a bag (have everything I need except supplements/meds there). My normal way usually works: ie bag in kichen but I was just extraordinarily unobservant on Wednesday...
Anyway - not going dwell just learn fir next trip!

stork am lovin the attitude going to take a look at your link.

Yep I am on 5mg of folic - but take less now I am in folate, following shoes comments - also there is 400mcg folic acid in "trying to have a baby" and about the same in my new drug for the PCOS (which says that any excess comes out in your "waters").

Still no sign of AF... now I need it to come not before weds due to trip next week

I am so confused on what's best for me in regards the 'folic acid vs folate' debate. I suppose I'll just have to wait and see what my consultant says when I FINALLY get to see them when I book my appointment. In the mean time, though, I've bought folic acid & vitamin D combined supplements to get me started and get me through the next month, just so I'm taking something and just so it looks like I'm trying/am serious.

Kwick if not, when you think about it, just set reminders on your phone to remind you to pack your supplements an hour or so before you have to leave. I'd be lost without my phone to set reminders on...
How did you get on at the GP?
My copy of It Starts With The Egg arrived today. Can't wait to start reading it tonight!

Stork your attitude is amazing... You go, gal! I'll have a look at your link now. Do you know how long your AF is expected to take??

Shoes when's your 12-week scan?? :)

Caution - my scan is on Thursday. I feel apprehensive. I've got a wedding tomorrow then a day with family on Sunday so being quite busy I'm hoping Thursday will come around quickly. I'd give anything to see a healthy baby on that screen!

Ooh not long Shoes. It's understandable to be worried and anxious; totally normal too, given what you've gone through. Hopefully being busy will keep your mind occupied until then. Oh, and in regards to your period type cramps that you were experiencing the other day, apparently that's totally normal because your uterus is stretching. Everyone is praying that you see a healthy baby on that screen too - we're al right behind you

caution if your consultant is anything like the two I have had then you will need to suggest things. I asked about the coq10 - she said "great idea", I asked about the DHEA, she said "of course, aren't you on it already?" (That was over 6 months in), I asked for 5mg, she said "if course, particularly after your MC"
Threads like this have helped me so much as well as my own research. I wish I had started earlier with finding stuff out!

shoes will be thinking of you my lovely.

So GP is sending me for loads if blood tests - he thinks I might be diabetic - which is absolutely fabulous news also he told me to read through all possible side effects from supplements as itching could come from there.
So I started checking through last night and a common side effect of vit b complex is itching so I will stop taking - see if that helps. ... cannot actually remember why taking... could be because my mum always says do not take one vit b without the rest - will ask her later

Have a great weekend everyone!!! I had a wonderful lie in and feel much more human.

I really hope for your sake kwick that the itching is the vit B!

caution AF could turn up anytime between now and 12 days from now....once it arrives I can get the go ahead to start stimming so it's the next thing on the tick list!

Positive vibes to you all!

Always the way with doctors/consultants, though, isn't it?! They seem to "miss out" vital information and let you find out for yourself. I've started reading It Starts With The Egg, so I should be a lot more clued up after I've got through that.
Oh kwick I hope it's just your vitamin B causing the issues instead of the possibility of diabetes! You'll have to let us know how you get on.

stork that's a massive time frame! I hope it's sooner rather than later for you.

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend!

So this weekend has been the quest to find pallets to go under the shed (that was my birthday present), which will be installed in November.

Still no sign of AF - needs to stay away until wednesday at least!!!

kwick I've just clocked that we're near the 1000 post limit again - will you be making another thread?