IVF now or wait a few months?

[Sultanafan]

Hi all, I would really appreciate some words of wisdom if anyone has any. Age 39 and TTC since aged 38 (from April 2020). No BFP during that time. All the usual tests done, hormone level blood tests, semen analysis, then referral to fertility clinic for ultrasound and AMH blood test. AFC and AMH of 11. No fallopian tube check as doc advised the ultrasound all looked ok and no medical history to suggest there may be an issue there. All tests are fine so we have unexplained fertility and the fertility clinic has recommended IVF due to my age. We are thinking we will just get going with IVF ASAP, it will be private which we can do. Heard last week that one of my good friends who is a few months older than me is pregnant and it happened really quickly. This has made me a bit confused, should we try for a few more months before starting IVF or just get on with IVF now to start with a bit of time before I’m 40. Other than this I’m pretty healthy, good diet, exercise, healthy BMI, very limited caffeine and alcohol, supplements etc. Thank you!

I'd crack on with IVF. Your friend's pregnancy is irrelevant to whether you will get pregnant. Time is ticking so get going with IVF and wishing you all the best x

Thank you sleepyquest. I think it’s IVF nerves making me jittery. All the best to you too xx

Tricky one. If you've only be trying a year and haven't experienced any miscarriages or ectopics then I'd say to try for one more year?
Since you are paying privately anyway and not like you have an NHS deadline that you have to factor in.

Most people I know in their late 30s nudging into their 40s took 2 years to conceive naturally. I also know several people who did multiple failed rounds of IVF at age 38/39 and did conceive naturally age 40

Thank you for responding @andivfmakes3 It is a bit of a tricky one and no right or wrong answer. I’ve discussed with two friends, one who had IVF a few years ago, and one who has two kids naturally and both have said they’d just get on with it if they were me. I’m nervous about the IVF process itself both physically and mentally (although would be ok I’m sure) and also IVF messing up my cycles post IVF if it doesn’t work which are usually very dependable and regular

Have you read It Starts With the Egg? Found it really useful, its about improving egg quality, for natural conception and for egg collection. We would also be looking to go private with IVF, but I'm giving it three months to implement the intermediate plan to get my eggs (and my partners sperm) in the best shape. Either to hopefully collect more and better quality eggs, or best case scenario, to improve our chances of natural conception. The supplements and lifestyle changes (eliminate BPA, plastics and phlalates, and eat a plant heavy mediteranean diet) take three months to have full effect. I'm almost one month in and its not too bad, just the vitamins (especially ubiquinol) are expensive!

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7

Just be mindful with ubquinol it can lengthen your cycle as a side effect which isn't always a good thing - it really messed with mine after a few months

I didn't notice any difference to my egg quality and I largely followed "it starts an egg" for 5 Ivf cycles over 18 months

The author is not actually a fertility specialist she is a science writer and lawyer!!! The book pulls together research from several studies which typically have a very small sample size of women

I would take a good preconception vitamin instead like Proceive Max for women (and men) as it has the most "stuff" in it

@Sultanafan

About 50% of the women I know got pregnant naturally either after a successful or failed round of IVF as it actually helped kick start their cycles.
I also was worried about messing with my body - I chose to only do short protocol IVF and natural modified IVF so no down regging (the part where they give you drugs to induce a sort of menopause)

I’d start IVF straight away, tbh it’s a no brainer at your age if you’ve been trying for a year. I had my first child via IVF at 39. It worked the first time and my only regret is not doing it sooner.

I started TTC at 38. We have unexplained secondary infertility and it took 27 cycles for me to get pregnant. How many children do you hope for? If more than 1 I'd start IVF now

@BabyMoonPie

I started TTC at 38. We have unexplained secondary infertility and it took 27 cycles for me to get pregnant. How many children do you hope for? If more than 1 I'd start IVF now

Apologies- that should have said had unexplained secondary infertility as we're not infertile (after trying so long without success it's hard to believe I'm pregnant)

@BabyMoonPie congrats! Lovely news!

@andivfmakes3 oh I'm really sorry re: the five cycles, that must have been so tough. I have taken ubiquinol daily for the last two months, and haven't noticed any difference in my cycles yet. I had been on Proceive for months and had one miscarriage. I'm now on Zita West pre-conception pack, plus the extra antioxidants from the plan. I want to give it the three months so I've given it my best shot. One bonus is my skin looks very nice and I have more energy

@Sultanafan no time to lose OP - IVF itself isn't a magic pill that will work first time and if you are even remotely contemplating a second kid you need to get started asap.

What supplements are you taking. Our doctor suggested proxeed for us after being diagnosed with UI.

We took it for 4 months as suggested before doing IVF. There was no waiting list for us for IVF so decided to try those supplements first and then book in.

We were due to start IVF at the end of May 2016 but 2 days before our appointment with the nurse to learn how to do injections, I got my first BFP!

We used the supplements again with baby 2 and again got a BFP after 4 months of use (6months trying overall)

Thanks all, your comments, hints and tips are appreciated! @A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 I’ve not read It starts with the egg but have picked up some of the key points from it from mumsnet and elsewhere and now taking co-enzyme Q10 every day. Me and DP also both on Proceive for over 35s. DP has improved his diet generally too (although only very recently, wasn’t awful before but definite room for improvement ). We would like more than one so the overall view seems to be just to get on with the IVF. Something did make my ears prick up a bit today as DPs sperm morphology is 3.3% and someone said to me that is on the low side whereas GP and fertility clinic said that was fine. It’s so confusing! Congrats on your pregnancy @BabyMoonPie I am finding it very tough after 13 months so take my hat off to you and wish you all the best for your pregnancy xx

I'm 3 1/2 years into ttc and 1 1/2 years into ivf. I wish I'd started ivf sooner. As an aside consider taking probiotics. I recently had a biopsy of my uterine lining and it showed I have low levels of good bacteria in there. You can get vaginal ones (eg. canesflor) and oral ones for women specifically. My doctor said the other day "I'm beginning to think we should give all our women probiotics".

Having started IVF a few weeks before I turned 38 and now 39.5 and no baby yet (about to start my 4th round), I’d crack on with IVF. You simply don’t know how long it will take & your eggs are as young as they’re ever going to be.

@andivfmakes3 what you’ve said above is exactly what I want to discuss with the clinic regarding a treatment plan as would prefer to keep the IVF meds minimised where I can. Good tip

@seven201 thanks for the info, that's one of the things out of my 15 plus pills a day I'm not taking 😂 so will need to get on that. I haven't read much about it so appreciate the tip

OP just bear in mind that IVF isn’t a magic answer and it may well take a few attempts. I’ve had 2 rounds and 2 MMCs. We will keep going but I wish I’d started sooner. In your position, I’d go for it!

[quote A1b2c3d4e5f6g7]@seven201 thanks for the info, that's one of the things out of my 15 plus pills a day I'm not taking 😂 so will need to get on that. I haven't read much about it so appreciate the tip[/quote]
It's a pretty new thing in terms of impact on fertility. I take everything in it starts with the egg. It's ridiculous!

@seven201 I take everything on the intermediate plan from the book, its a lot, but the reviews were really good and some ladies on here have been independently told to take the same by private ivf clinics so I thought I'd go for it! Good luck

Yes, keeping in mind that IVF is not that simple either. Wishing you well @louloulemons

Good luck also @Porridgeislife @A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 @seven201

Good luck to you also!