TTC 35+ Thread 8

[M4v3r1ck]

New thread ladies! Hope this works! 😃

@MgW1 yeah, I have 50mg. I found it to be good, better moods, fewer symptoms etc. I'm really hoping it'll help everything to come back to normal when I finish the tablets I'm on.

So it’s cycle day 1 for me. If I did ovulate it must have happened late but I’m still not sure I did. Either way, it looks like I’m back to weird light periods again which isn’t a shock since I’ve clearly had some hormonal problems this month on antibiotics.

I wonder if the acupuncture I had two days ago brought it on? Seems very optimistic? I also had the second covid vaccine yesterday, I wonder if that helped 😂

Might just be timing but I guess it’s good that I’m on cycle day one again. I think some of you took 50mg b6 all through your cycle, I’m thinking of doing that from today because I’m sure those who did it said it didn’t cause delays to ovulation or your period.

I'm so glad that a space like this exists for us. I think I'm in an slightly different position from some of you - I do see a lot of birth announcements and baby photos on social media, but most of my close friends are similar age to me, some a little older, and single without children. I know most of them desperately want to meet someone and start trying but aren't having any luck. Doubt they want to listen to me wittering on about how difficult it is to have to have sex five days in a row (which we are finding impossible btw-even every other day is a challenge!)
I've only started really trying since the start of this year- now using opks, reading up, taking supplements etc and finding it stressful! Before was just dtd once or twice when my app predicted my fertile window and seeing what happened. Of course absolutely nothing happened even after to years. Not sure if it's related to age as it seems lots of younger couples have similar experiences too - and lots of much more positive stats about conception over 35 seem to be being reported recently- like in the article @M4v3r1ck shared below. Hoping we all get some good news soon!

I need to read that article @M4v3r1ck @KatRee but I saw a fertility clinic posting about it on instagram so I need to go back and read what they were saying about it as well.

@thislittlebird yes I'm taking B6 (50mg) and is hasn't really altered ovulation, just stopped the irritating spotting in the luteal phase and it helps with my mood!

Definitely glad I've started taking it!

What is vitamin B6 for?

Ok it wasn’t a clinic it was a fertility over 35 insta I saw it on, here’s the link (including criticism of the article) www.instagram.com/p/CNfePZ_BW0g/?igshid=es80ojhgrecz

The problem I have already with this article is I am already over 37.1 and 37 was when my periods started going funky 🤷‍♀️. Whether that’s ttc stress or the beginning of the end of my fertility, I don’t know? But all I can do is get my appointment done in May, see what they say and then plough ahead with IVF as fast as I can because I don’t trust my hormones working with me as time goes on.

AF here, pretty shocking effort last cycle so no surprises there. It didn't help that I was still bleeding a bit when EWCM came in which is always a bit grim. Has anyone else had that? Fingers crossed for a more normal cycle. I've got the week off but entertaining the 4 year old might be more stressful than work 😬

@KatRee Most of my friends have children now but there are 3 that are single and desperate to meet someone...I don’t talk about my fertility problems with them because I know they must feel even worse than I do as they don’t even have anyone to try with. It would be very insensitive if I moaned to them!
I’m grateful for OH every day of course❤️, just want my body to work so that we can have a family 🙏
I also find all the information very overwhelming including all the supplements, some of them very costly, seems I’m always reluctantly popping pills and I have no idea if they’re helping or not!!😕

It helps produce progesterone and regulate hormones I think (it's been month or so since I researched it). here's some links @KatRee

www.vitaliahealthcare.ca/natural/progesterone-deficiency.html

www.floliving.com/benefits-of-b6/

www.hollandandbarrett.com/the-health-hub/vitamins-and-supplements/vitamins/vitamin-b/what-does-vitamin-b6-do/

There's loads of info out there and a number of us have used it and seen the benefits. I think it's also great as we approach the dreaded M word.

@Misty84 All of my main friend group are now pregnant/due any day now, just had their first, or had kids for years. The stats are something like 1/6 or 1/7 couples with suffer with infertility and guess how many couples are in this circle of friends?

@thislittlebird it’s soooo shit, yes we’ve fallen in the crappy 1/7 couples!!
Sounds awful but hanging out with my single friends is the only time I don’t feel like a complete failure 😔

I don't really have any single friends. God, how depressing lol. @Misty84

I just feel really shitty about my husband's sperm results right now. I so wish they'd got better so we felt there was a chance to conceive naturally while waiting for IVF or whatever. There is a chance, but it doesn't feel like it's a great chance

The other thing is all these friends I mentioned....almost all of the men drink much more/are less fit/healthy/whatever than he is and I feel like he's got such a shitty short straw considering how he lives.

Ladies, I have just done my STI test, in preparation for referral. It's a home test kit, and MY GOD I was not expecting what was to be done. I am not sqeamish, but squeezing that amount of blood from a finger into a little vial is quite the task!! First mistake was using my middle finger, which has Raynaud's, so that didn't go well - got the smallest drop of blood out and then nothing. You get three little clickers to prick fingers with, so I had a go with another two fingers and finally got up to the line. It took about 20 minutes and I looked like I'd trapped my hand in a door. The swab was a lot easier, I'm used to waving sticks around in that area by now!

Thanks for sharing the articles @thislittlebird. I noticed a big change with my periods aged around 33/34. Suddenly went from a 28/9 day cycle to around 24-26 days and got much much lighter. I went to the doctor's at the time because I was worried about the implications for fertility, but of course they weren't worried at all because they were still well within 'normal' range. Had bloods taken at the time just in case and also last month and both time the progesterone levels came back 'normal', but I've seen suggestions online that what I was told was 'normal' (40 nmol) is actually low. So difficult to know what to believe!

yeah those blood tests are quite hard to do @TTCat39, I got my husband to do mine for iron because he's better than me at stuff like this and he used my little finger, took a couple of minutes and I was glad I didn't do it myself lol

@KatRee mine was 17.5 nmol and then 10 nmol so...yeah . I'm sure this is why my periods have been light since last summer (bar last cycle when they were normal again).

@thislittlebird Fingers crossed for you - it does seem that there is quite a bit that can be done to help hormone levels and also issues that an SA identifies. But yeah, it's so unfair some of us seem to need to be on every supplement under the sun to help us along whilst some who wouldn't know a vegetable if it hit the in the face seem to fall pregnant just by looking at their OH

@TTCat39 That sounds horrendous!!😂🙈

@thislittlebird @KatRee Yes so frustrating to see other women and their partners not look after their health one bit and yet still get pregnant fine! Does my head in!!!!

@KatRee I'm hoping they can help, yeah. Just resigning myself to needing IVF now, I guess. I can't work out what made my period go back to normal in March tbh, either it was the acupuncture or the B6, but I guess it doesn't matter as long as it goes back to normal. That's the aim. Going to book acupuncture again for early May and start the B6 again.

All these people who just get pregnant without taking a thing or worrying about changing anything don't realise the struggle lmao.

@Misty84 I definitely make no claims of being super healthy or anything but I know my friends are not more healthy lol

@thislittlebird haha yeah same.

When will you be starting IVF? Due to my low AMH I’m not predicted to respond well😔, speaking to the NHS next week anyway to discuss (as I was so shocked when they first told me that I forgot to ask any questions!)

@Misty84 I don’t know tbh. Need to have the appointment in May and then see what they say. I’m wondering if I can do a private round while I wait for the nhs round I assume they’ll offer. I need to think about questions to ask them over the coming weeks I guess.

What are you going to ask? How did your conversation go with them before when they threw you that curve ball?

@thislittlebird It was the first thing they said to me so there wasn’t much conversation ahead of that! I think all my other results have been ok, it’s just that one which is pretty major.
I’m going to ask exactly what they believe my chances to be with IVF. Details of laparoscopy (I’m on a 6 month wait list for that). Whether I can be on a call back list if they have a cancellation (unlikely but worth asking). If they’ll refer me to another clinic. And to ask for all my results so I can send them to a private clinic.
(As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m not eligible for funded ivf due to the low AMH so there’s no point waiting around for them anymore!)

Tomorrow attending a live webinar on IVF at the Lister clinic.

I know quality is more important than quantity, which is why I’m trying to make improvements (as I don’t trust the quality to be that good if I haven’t managed to get pregnant in nearly 2 years of trying!)
No idea what the future holds...but just want to get on with it now as I’ve wasted so much time waiting for NHS appointments and results.

Hi ladies, sorry I've been away from MN for a couple of days so have missed quite a lot of the chat!

@Misty84 I was so sad to read your heartbreaking story of losing your sister in such tragic circumstances. I can completely understand how massively this must influence your perspective on life and your feelings towards starting your own family ❤

I said that I would keep you updated as I'm having my ivf consultations. We've just had one so far with the 'normal IVF' clinic. I really liked the consultant, he was positive but at the same time realistic about our chances. He said that based on my age and amh, the chances of success per embryo transfer is about 20%. I said ok, but what are the chances of having an embryo to transfer? He said that with low AMH, we would be looking at only retrieving a small number of eggs, so we wouldn't be expecting to have the luxury of "spare" embryos to freeze. He did say that there was a good chance of getting one suitable embryo to transfer though. So that's something. I am quite tempted to proceed based on those odds, they aren't that terrible, and this is with the clinic that is closer to us so wouldn't involve such disruption to our lives. The waiting list is 4-5 months because of Covid though, which isn't ideal (he also works for the NHS clinic and he said the current NHS waiting list in my area is 12 months 😳) We've got our scan and consultation with Create this week, so it will be interesting to compare the treatment plan they would suggest for us, and to find out what their waiting time is.