TTC for 1 year +

[FlapJackered]

Does anyone want to join?

I have been TTC #1 for 15 months and had a MC at 8 weeks in February.
I am off to the GP tomorrow to try and get a referral to a reproductive endocrinologist.
Tried every trick and tip and old wives tale in the book to get a bfp!
It would be good to have a group of longer term ttcers to chat to.

Yet another friend has had a baby ☹️ I'm happy for her yet feeling like crap and wondering why is this not happening for me ☹️ my cycles are so short and feel like it means I'll never conceive, does anyone have any advice? Just so down about it all xx

@queenqueenqueen sorry youre feeling down....I totally know the feeling. Everyone on social media/the tube/the office/the tabloids is pregnant atm, it's crazy!

How short are your cycles? I take b12 formula (max supplement) and coq10 which have helped mine a bit xx

@RosettaR fingers crossed for both of us! Really hoping the tests give some sort of answer. I'll go for my day 21s next week so not long now!! Xx

@queenqueenqueen, I know I swear everyone is pregnant at the moment. Someone I know on Facebook has posted the smuggest pregnancy announcement, with a picture of her and her husband in a beautiful location, bump fully on show. And I feel like they only just got married. I think it feels worse because people don't talk about fertility problems. I mean I might well know people in real life who are struggling too, but they just keep it to themselves like I do ...

In terms of cycle length, I agree that vitamins can help. My ovulation day went from day 12/13 to day 15/16 after I started on pregnacare. Have you spoken to a GP?

How is everyone doing? We have gone a bit quiet on this thread! I am due AF tomorrow, but I am so convinced the witch is coming I have put some wine in the fridge ready for a glass. 🍷 I feel ok about it this month though as I have so much work on at the moment, I don't think the stress would be ideal if I was pregnant.
Is anyone else due soon?

All's quiet here too. I'm booking in on Friday to have my 21day bloods retaken to see if the progesterone comes back low again. According to ic ovulation tests I ovulated yday I think - is it possible that these tests show that ur ABOUT to ovulate hence the positive, yet u don't actually release an egg, hence the low progesterone??

I'm having a month off due to the hycosy. Its good to have a break from monitoring food / alcohol / caffeine all the time.

My hycosy was fine but I've had a letter following the hormone blood test saying I have subclinical hypothyroidism, which can cause infertility. The letter is a bit confusing though, it seems to say that they want to test me again, but if I don't have TPO antibodies and it doesn't get worse they won't recommend any treatment. I felt really depressed and discouraged about the whole thing yesterday.

I'm on holiday this week so trying not to think about it all. Then when I get back we've got a consultation to bring all the results together and hopefully decide next steps.

@Broodyaf yes my understanding is that the ovulation tests don't prove you definitely ovulated, just that your body was getting itself ready to ovulate. Good luck with the new test. If you don't ovulate I think there are different things they can give you to stimulate ovulation.

@Broodyaf as @RosettaR says ovulation tests show your lutenising hormone surge which normally happens between 12-32 hours before ovulation, so that would explain the low prog!

@RosettaR I hope you're having a good holiday, it's good to have some time off thinking about it all and allow time to chill isn't it, it is hard though! That's great your hsg was fine! Sorry to hear about the hypothyroidism I have it too and I am on levothyroxine now, it's very treatable though and great they seem to be taking it seriously and testing again. Do you know what your TSH was?

@FlapJackered it was 3.6, so not too high. Was yours higher? I'm worried they won't treat it because I think 3.6 is within the normal range, it's just for fertility it should really be lower.

I've learnt that hypothyroidism massively runs in my family, all my female relatives on my mum's side have it, and some have been treated. I'm trying to collect as much information as possible before our next appointment so will hopefully speak to some of them too!

Hey ladies. Hope you’re all well. I took a break from here for couple months as the whole ttc process is getting me really down. All I see is bumps around me and I wish it was me. I completed my second month of soy isoflavonnes didn’t work! 😟 I’m going for another blood test next week as my TSH levels were low just to re check!

@RosettaR mine was 4.9 and they luckily agreed to retest and it had gone up to 7 so they agreed to treat me, it was like pulling teeth trying to get them to test me and then to get the treatment so don't be afraid to be pushy with them. I printed out studies from the internet about tsh levels and increased risk of miscarriage etc.
I think having family with it will help with eligibility for treatment too.
When is your appointment?

@Mrs71 sorry to hear you had a rough time recently. I have been the same and have been having a bit of a break. The Soy hasn't worked for me since either and my consultant has told me to stop taking all ovulation boosting supplements as I have a giant cyst on my ovary.

We just found out DH's morphology on his SA is only 2% which may explain things a bit. We have to wait until 6th to discuss it with the consultant, but it doesn't sound great. I think we might be heading ivf ICSI direction. 😩

@FlapJackered I suspect I won't get treated for the hypothyroidism, unless the result is a lot higher this time, like happened to you. My repeat TSH blood test is next Tuesday, then the consultation on Friday, and we should have all the results by then. We've not heard anything else so hopefully that means my DH's sperm, and the rest of the hormone analysis, is OK. It feels like such a lose lose situation though, because if everything Is OK that just means we're heading for "unexplained infertility"...

I'm sorry to hear about your morphology results in any case, and that you have a bit of a wait to discuss them. You know you just need to forget about it for a few weeks but it's so hard! How is your DH taking it? I think it is hard for men ...

@Mrs71 I feel exactly the same, it feels like the whole world is getting pregnant and it's horrible it's not happening for us. Have you previously had thyroid issues? I've been told my TSH is low, and am also getting it retested.

Hi all,
I'm back after a few weeks away - needed to stop thinking about ttc for a while!
I'm not doing any of the extras anymore (ov tests/supplements) just doing the biz around ov time according to glow app.
Hub had a SA last week and it waiting for results, the doctors surgery won't give him results over the phone. He has to wait for a email (?) or the dr to phone. Is that normal?!

2x new pregnancy announcements at work, and 1 x close friend just gave birth.

How is everyone?! Xx

Hi @bunhead34. To me it sounds normal for the surgery not to give out the results over the phone without the doctor calling you. I think it's because you need the doctor to tell you what the results mean, they don't like just giving you a number and sending you to Google ... The email thing is new to me though!

I've also got a bit lax with the supplements, I figure I've been taking them over a year now so I must have built up some stores! I've also stopped temping and OPKs as my cycles are really regular anyway. There's obviously some reason I'm not pregnant, but I'm sure it's not timing.

I’m in exactly the same situation as many of you. 39 years old, TTC for 17 months, have never been in the pill, cut of caffeine, alcohol, gluten, sugar and taking folic acid, fish oils, multi vitamins, use Pre seed and still nothing. We’ve had tests at hospital and all our results were deemed good for both me and my partner. To make it even harder everyone around me is getting pregnant which I’m finding hard. Not sure what else to do!

DH got his results emailed yesterday - it just said they were normal.
No run-through, no advice on what to do next. Great!

So here again period due today, not going to crumble and buy a taste - waste of money! Why do I do this to myself every month!?!?? 😟

I share your pain people!

I went for my last blood test today, progesterone and a repeat thyroid. The nurse then told me that their advice re thyroid has just changed and now my level of thyroid function wouldn't even get raised as an issue. So I think we are also heading for being told everything is normal (unless they are holding something back as a surprise). It's rubbish because that should be good news but then you just think, so what do we do now?

@Ilovecats2 I feel youbwith all the giving up. I've had a month off this month because of my hycosy and I realised how much it had all been weighing on me, the monitoring caffeine, not drinking, taking vitamins, carefully washing vegetables, avoiding certain foods, not taking hay fever tablets ...

@bunhead34 good luck with the SA, when do you get the results? I have chilled massively on the extras too, our consultant basically told me not to bother with them and that I could be doing more harm than good. I don't know about you but I am much more chilled not thinking/worrying about it all.

@Ilovecats2 it is so hard isn't it, especially when there is no obvious reason why it's not happening. Almost everyone in my close friendship group is pregnant too.

@queenqueenqueen we all do it! It is so hard to resist. Have you managed to avoid poas?

@RosettaR sorry to hear that, I would make sure you find out the tsh level. There are natural supplements you can take to support your thyroid so it might be worth looking at those if it is a bit high?

DH did a repeat SA and morphology was only 2% and he has sperm antibodies apparently which is not good news. So it seems like the problem is on his side. In a way it is good to know what the issue is but I am concerned this will mean ivf for us. 🙁We are seeing the consultant on 6th so hopefully he will clarify it for us.

I couldn’t get into my account for a week! Just got in today after lots of emailing.
@RosettaR I’m going for my TSH blood test tomorrow. My levels were low in the first blood test but my GP said it’s nothing to worry about as other stuff balanced it out or something. I stressed to him I was really worried about this so he agreed to re test the TSH level.

@FlapJackered sorry to hear about your husbands SA. Least you have answers I kind of wished something flagged up in my tests as least you know you can do something about it. Hope everything works out for you. I am feeling slightly better this month too. I’m not as stressed or anxious and I’m looking forward to booking a holiday for Sept time.

@FlapJackered we got the results last week, it was just an email to say everything was normal. Now DH is trying to get a phone appointment with the dr to get referred to the fertility clinic.
I feel like everything is taking forever!

I did think that the supplements etc all
Might be doing more harm than good. I started on them pretty quickly after starting TTC but maybe I should have just left things alone! It is good not to have to think about all that too tho.
I might get a thermometer to track ovulation as I guess that will be useful for the fertility clinic 🤷🏼‍♀️

Sorry about your DH results, how were his first results?
I'm never really sure which is better, knowing what is wrong or 'unexplained infertility'. Fingers crossed the consultant will make you feel better about it ❤️

@FlapJackered sorry about your DH's results. Hopefully they can suggest something other than IVF, fingers crossed for you.

@bunhead34 I've worried about the supplements too. I've been taking the standard pregnacare since before I started ttc (although I've got sporadic of late). I can't think of any rational reason why that would cause a problem but you this process makes you question everything!

Hi ladies,

I've also been nervously awaiting results, our first time. Surprisingly mine all came back normal, other than marginally low red blood cell count. I was expecting low progesterone given my short luteal phase, but it was 35nmol/L which is apparently fine. Obviously very pleased, but a bit lost now as not sure what the next step is.

DHs have come back with low morphology. We're not really sure what this is, but it was 2% when it's meant to be 4%, or something.

Weirdly I haven't actually heard something from my doctor, I got the results from logging on to the system. I was expecting some sort of contact...shall I just ring them and try and speak with someone?!