Bus 9 - Donkey Cart departing soon, all aboard with ivf, pcos, endo, sub/unexplained fertility jump on

[Marvellouslymadmum]

New thread 😊😊

@Marvellouslymadmum thats awful have they said why they won’t do it? Sorry if you’ve said before

hope you’re doing okay @thislittlebird

@Narwhal88 and @thislittlebird I’m also in the group that ivf doesn’t work for! It sucks. And spent a fortune on it.

Sorry you’ve had your expected bfn confirmed thislittlebird.

@Lauralozzle You started trying the same time as me, July 2019. Feels like a lifetime ago! Pre-Covid!

@Misty84 It really does feel like a lifetime ago. DH thought it’d happen really quickly! Haha 😂 how wrong he was.

TTC just feels like something we do now, with no expectation of anything happening.

Hello Ladies

@thislittlebird I'm so, so, so sorry to hear of your tragedies. It really is an injustice. There aren't really words for this pain and trauma and grief. The grief is just overwhelming. And you have uncooperative medical practitioners on top of that makes it even worse!

@Marvellouslymadmum I am also very sorry to hear about your tragic situation as well. It's just down wrong of the medical professionals to downplay it. Keep fighting and maybe write to the overseers and go to the press! The NHS really don't need more bad press right now

@Misty84 so sorry to hear that you feel that your IVF journey is at an end and that IVF hasn't worked. The grief must be unbearable right now. And the whole thing overwhelming. I hope you are both able to find some support to move forward through this.

No change here for us and every cycle that passes with a BFN a little bit more of our 'hope' dies with it 🙁

@Marvellouslymadmum yes they are expensive. Mine is £15k as it's extensive and on Harley st. I feel really bad for paying for it rather than waiting a bit longer for nhs but I'm just so worried they will then mess it up or not fix it and I can't wait any longer. I don't understand why they are refusing to do one for you when you have all the symptoms, it's crazy! What is their reasoning?

@OrangeBengal thank you

@Lauralozzle we have been trying since June 2019 so I feel you! You've had a long journey to start your ivf. We started our first cycle March 2021.

@Misty84 sorry you are in the same boat. It is just so shit.

Welcome @Lauralozzle

wishing you all the luck in the world with the IVF.

I have a IUI question because AF arrived this morning at 12 DPO.
I’ve never had a 12 day luteal phase before, does anyone know if this is affected by letrozole and ovitrelle?
This was my first medicated cycle with insemination.
💐

Sorry actually the luteal phase was only 11 days!

@Narwhal88 TTC just feels like a way of life now haha. I’m sorry you’ve been going through this since June 2019. It’s a massive headfuck.

It has taken us a long time to get to IVF. GP wouldn’t refer us until the two year mark because he basically said they won’t do anything until we hit two year mark. It’s taken the best part of a year from fertility clinic to IVF. I’m glad things are finally moving though.

@anotherscroller Thank you. No idea if luteal phase is affected by the meds though, might be worth discussing it with your doctor. Sorry about AF though, that sucks.

@Narwhal88 yeah, it's definitely something I'll need to consider ruling out. We wouldn't be able to afford any surgery for it though, if they did find anything. This all sucks.

@OrangeBengal were you with Create if you were doing mild ivf? If that steroid is anything like prednisone then they're known to keep you awake, they always tell me to take them in the morning.

@Lauralozzle welcome to the donkey cart! I think we were on another thread together. We were in a similar boat. Started trying October 2019, but it took a long while to wade through the nhs system and get referred for IVF, with a lot of errors and bad experiences along the way. We were told 3 years of waiting because we were "unexplained" and we absolutely were not, my husband's sperm barely swim ffs. We had to get a private consultant to tell the GP to refer us in the end. Ovulation pains are weird, I used to think I knew what side it would come from until I started fertility treatment and the scans would reveal it wasn't really that side at all. The more you know.

@Alexis7890 thanks. as ok as can be. I won't lie, the longer this goes on the less likely it feels we'll succeed, it's hard to be optimistic.

@MIW01 hey, good to hear from you, hope you're ok. I hear you on the dying hope. I feel more like I'm mentally grieving and heading towards a childless not through choice life as each year passes. I'm dreading going back to natural ttc for a few months, it's just so sad because it doesn't work.

@Misty84 thanks! I'm back to considering the dog idea in the new year.

I'm going for a blood group test on Monday. I don't know what mine is, it's bugging me because my nan had unusual blood type. Thought it best to get it checked just in case. Need to book a follow up with my consultant, thinking I'll do it in the new year at this stage. I want to go prepared with all my thoughts on what the next attempt could involve and need to self advocate.

I find this time of year rough because every year I used to think maybe next year, but realistically for us it definitely won't be next year, if it ever happens. If I ever have a baby I'll be 41 or over, I guess. Not really sure how this happened but here we are.

Hey @thislittlebird, how you doing? No I was at The Evewell under Mr Dimitrios Psaroudakis, he’s left now.

@thislittlebird Yes, I think I remember you from another thread! It’s crap we’re still on this same journey.

It’s so irritating that doctors classed you as unexplained with your OH SA. The NHS pathway to IVF has been a pain in the backside. It’s a bloody nightmare!

Good idea about checking your blood type. I have no idea what mine actually is, only a rough-ish guess. Pretty sure it’s a positive type (a or a/b) cause my mum told me about the bed rest she had to have when she was pregnant with me because at some point she needed to have extra something because she is a/b negative.

Hopefully the new year will be here before you know it and you can have your follow up appointment and get a plan in place.

Hello all. I hope it's not too late to join. I stopped ttc for about 1 and a half. Just today I started to feel broody.

Hello

@thislittlebird I really do empathise.

@Lauralozzle welcome. We've been TTC since end of 2018 thereabouts. We've had a lot of awful experiences throughout our journey. We did eventually receive NHS funding for 3 round with our 1st IVF round in August 2021, 2nd in Feb 2022 and 3rd in June 2022. We had a total of 4 embryos transferred and 0 success. Unfortunately I don't feel our standard of care was great as we were NHS patients. We then conceived naturally in July 2022 and miscarried at 6 weeks in August 2022. I've now had 3 cycles TTC naturally. We will go the private route early 2023. We are open to using egg/sperm donors if advised to do so.

@Happyhappy39soon40 welcome. Sorry to hear you're not having any luck TTC either. I have to admit, from an outsoders perspective, this is definitely the thread you DON'T want to be joining 😪

@OrangeBengal I'd say I'm ok but I'm not really. I'm just crying all the time. I feel like I'm too old, they all keep saying age is the main issue. We couldn't afford for that second cycle to fail, so I'm constantly trying to calculate in my head how many more we can reasonably attempt before we exhaust our finances. I don't want to do ivf ever again but I have no choice, apparently. On that note, I looked them up and I don't think we could afford the Evewell. Obviously if we know it will work we could do one, but potentially we could need a lot, I guess.

@Lauralozzle honestly the NHS cost us a lot of time that we don't have. Now I'm pushing 40 and I'm angry that we've lost a good year to dicking about waiting for a cycle that we learned nothing from since the second one didn't pan out as expected.

My blood group will be really boring when I get the results, I'm sure. But I'm checking nonetheless!

@MIW01 thanks x

@thislittlebird it's infuriating because you can't "fix" your age. I think finding a less discriminating clinic will be helpful. I remember seeing a consultant who pointed out that, way back when women were baby making machines a couple of centuries ago, loads would continue to reproduce into their forties. With humans being one of the shittest mammals at reproduction, continuing to be able to reproduce for an extended period of time was the compensating factor. And of course you have less eggs as you get older. Our environment is toxic, there's only so much we can do. I really do hate this culture of blaming women, blaming victims, that goes round and round and round. It's just plain wrong! A real injustice. We have decided that, if private clinoc agree, we will do 3 more IVF round, which will take us to the "magic number" of 6 that they recommend. Then we will have to look at other options which will include donor eggs and sperm. Adoption will be an absolute last resort, and only if we were able to adopt a baby.

@MIW01 Thanks. Oh, I feel you, TTC since 2018. It really is rubbish. I’m sorry to hear of your previous IVF cycles, the substandard level of care from the NHS and your miscarriage. That’s awful. Hopefully you get better results going private in the new year, or at least a plan going forward.

@thislittlebird I’m sorry you’re struggling. I do feel NHS have one size fits all approach and about a million loop holes you have to fit through just to get anywhere.

First day of down regulation today, starting tonight. Begged my GP to have more thyroid bloods to check I’m still within range (it fluctuated massively when I wasn’t in meds so have the thought it might fluctuate with them to a lesser degree). Blood test done this morning.

Suppose I’d better sort out my diet now I’ve started. Yay. I bloody hate dieting.

I’m sorry that the clinic seem to be less then helpful@thislittlebird. Your AMC is high and ubiquinol and DHEA (you’ll need to investigate the latter) should help with quality. I assume you’ve read It Starts With The Egg? Remember people Agee differently and from your stats, your eggs are technically younger.

@Lauralozzle I'm sorry to hear its such a lengthy journey for you, too. It doesn't help that I feel surrounded by babies and kids, thank goodness I don't work with children anymore. I've found a lot of research suggesting that extra lbs are beneficial for fertility! Even if you're overweight, if you cut calories to lose it, that sends your body into the dreaded survival mode and the first thing to go awry is reproduction! If you do want to lose it though, I highly recommend glucommanan! It's konjac fibre extract that has a whole host of benefits as well as helping suppress appetite such as improvements to gut health, blood sugar control and of course, getting your fibre intake!

I agree with @OrangeBengal that It Starts With the Egg is a beneficial read. My AMH measured 3.9 in 2021 so I'm not off to a great start. I looked back at what I was doing differently when I managed to conceive naturally and noticed I was taking women's prebiotic so I'm going back on those again.

I transferred GP surgeries earlier this year and they only went and lost all my records at the previous GP surgery! I'm so cross . . . I feel like let down by all medical professionals at every step of my journey. The clinoc asking for info we've already sent as well! Its so emotionally draining, why can't people just do their effin jobs properly!!!

Hi all
Wasn't sure whether to post this or not and I'm sorry if this upsets anyone as I've been there but I also know it can bring hope to other long time IVFers.
Today is my OTD and I have seen my first ever BFP. We tested on Saturday but I still can't believe it. My husband was actually the first to know as I find testing so traumatic now that I made him do it (and not tell me when he was doing it).
I'm so so nervous as I know there is a long long way to go and so much can go wrong. Also worried that my severe endo means I have a higher chance of miscarriage.

This is our first transfer with a new batch of embryos after lots of supplement and diet changes at the start of the year. Definitely recommend seeing a nutritionist who put our supplement plan together to improve egg and sperm quality.

I did read it starts with the egg years ago but it can get very obsessive!

@MIW01 my AMH halved in a year and yet the first cycle I got 12 eggs and the second I got 28 even though it had halved! Really depends on the protocol as well. I am also on probiotics. Have you had your microbiome tested?

@Lauralozzle did you get your results yet? I am on levothyroxine though I don't apparently have a thyroid issue. Hope downreg is going ok.

@thislittlebird I hope you are feeling better and so sorry if my news hurts you. On the finances side, have you looked at Gaia fertility? It's basically a payment plan for ivf. Not sure if I'm just being a bit dim but why do you want to know your blood group, is it important for fertility or just in case you need a transfusion at any point? Me and my husband have given blood and they give you a card with it on after.

@MIW01 I’ll have a look at glucommanan. My BMI at weigh in was 29.5, so I’m top end already. To be honest though, diet hasn’t been great this week so far. AF is due this week and it just makes me crave crap lol!

I bet you’re cross with GP. I can’t believe they lost your records! That’s unacceptable. The clinic I’m at asked for copies of bloods is had taken ages ago and all the details were provided in the IVF referral. Don’t know why they didn’t take the hospitals word for it lol.

I’ve read it starts with the egg a couple of times now. Tried to implement bits but gave up at the no plastic and no tinned tomatoes. My diet literally consists of tinned tomatoes for pasta sauces, chilli, curry’s lol. No way am I giving up canned toms! I don’t buy ready made sauces because they’re too sweet for me, no they’re not an option!

@Narwhal88 Congratulations! Your very first BFP gives me hope that I’ll see one too! Chuffed for you.

No results yet, usually takes about 3 days so they should have them Wednesday I hope. I’m subclinical hypothyroid anyway, and my high prolactin was a result of untreated underactive thyroid according to endocrinologist. I’m just paranoid my levels fluctuate so much! Before I was on Levothyroxine it went from 9.8 to 4.5 to 6.45. My last test it was 2.78 on levothyroxine but I just think it could have been a bit of a fluke lol given previous fluctuations I’ve had when untreated.

@Narwhal88 congratulations!!! That’s amazing. Very happy for you, don’t worry about posting.
If you were to recommend three main nutritional changes, what would they be?

@Lauralozzle thank you. Fingers crossed for your levels, the levothyroxine is pretty good at controlling it so hopefully it is ok for you.

@anotherscroller thank you. Well it depends what your issues are and obviously I have no way of knowing what specifically helped or if it was a combo of everything. Our main aim was reducing DNA fragmentation. Biggest thing is we went organic, stopped heating plastics, so only using glass etc. my husband eats oats every morning with lots of walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, seeds and blueberries with blueberry powder. Lots of antioxidants and veg. No caffeine or alcohol and no fizzy drinks. He also eats a fertility salad which has watercress, avocado, red onion, etc in. He hates it all lol.

Lololol I love the fertility salad. Munch munch! Bet he’s happy he can give that up.
I think our diet is all good then.. apart from the no alcohol … 🙈

Hi ladies sorry I have been absent lately, persevering with gonal f injections. So I have had a third monitoring scan, on day 6 I had a 13mm follicle and then day 9 it hadn’t grown at all but some other smaller ones had started developing around 8-9mm then today on day 12 the 13mm is now 11mm and multiple others still around 8-9mm. Has anyone had follicles shrink? Any ideas why? Increasing the dose for a few days and see if they grow again with hope to trigger by the end of the week/early next week. Losing faith in this cycle and think it will cancelled and told to start again in the new year

Hi all 👋🏻

So June or July I was told by the nhs fertility nurse that if I didn't lose a stone by January I'd have to start the whole process again. This because I hadn't lost enough 😑 which resulted in me comfort eating and becoming very low.

I have PCOS & Under active thyroid 🙄

At my highest weight of 18st (bmi 40.4) I lost a little bit of weight trying to eat well and going for walks. My weight kept fluctuating up and down and in October I started the 1:1 Cambridge weight loss plan and for the first time in yearsssss have lost 1st and half. I'm now 16st and my bmi is 35.9. To be honest I've had a few naughty meals hence why my loss is not a much as others. I'm hoping not to cause much damage over Christmas and can fully refocus Jan and onwards.

I was told by the nhs my bmi needs to be under 35 for the tube check (sorry can't remember the official name 😆) and they'd start me on medication and bmi of under 30 for IVF etc.
Private said under 35 for everything.

How long are people waiting on the nhs for treatment for medication or ivf? I will have a phone call in January but wanted peoples experience?

I'm 36 and while my private tests for amh came back slightly higher for my age, I'm worried about waiting ages 😥 feels like time is ticking away and with all the issues with nhs waiting times.

Hope everyone is doing well xxx