2023 TTC 35+ Part 6

[VixFromThe6ix]

New thread as the other one ran out of space

Thank you. Ive had a lot of sleep - a lot of piriton and a lot of water ..
Feel better for the 7am to 2pm sleep
Felt better 4 some soup
Had a pounding headache but currently eased with paracetamol & ibroprofen

Been told to request a prescription 4 something stronger if feel rough tomorrow

Have you been trying for 6 months ?

It can take 9 - 12 months for those in late 30s ..

Just my opinion and il be the same with my own journey but if youve been trying for 6 months - id be wanting full blood count - vit d - feretin & b12 checks..
And hormone and fertility - hertility health checks
And partners SA at that point

A dr told me this week to lose some weight if poss - i hear them but i do have an energy limiting condition

Females are supposed to drink just under 3 pints a day - Ive made a conscious effort to drink more

Also making sure i have a good in take of iron and b12 every day

Just off to buy more vit D - we need to be even more aware or vit D levels in winter..

Bananas are good 4 B vits
Vit C spesh important in winter

Just to add the cheap ovulation sticks from Amazon have been spot on 4 me

No more buying expensive cb ovulation stuff here

I reccomend Amazon 3 gbp something for many ovulation sticks & using them twice a day from end of period til ovulation

Another thing i did and recommended is to get your folate levels checked after 3 months of FA

Particularly those with a history of miscarriage

Theres different types of FA

Not everyones body absorbs it in certain forms

My mates doing ivf - she takes different FA to me

My folate went from 7 in june
To 22 in October

My sept early miscarriage was from.aug ovulation..

Folate likely not linked but piece of mind now i know my body has some / takes it

Easy blood test 2 ask 4
Particularly those with any absorption issues or anxiety

@worldwidetravel2017 glad you are feeling better after some sleep and TLC.
Yes the GP has done this already, I have had the blood tests on day 3 and am slightly iron deficient so taking iron. I have had scans, all the blood tests to rule out PCOS and so on. I have the day 21 tests next week.
I agree the cheap OPKs are fine, I also use BBT which is very helpful to identify when I have successfully ovulated (or not).

Regarding iron - is that tablet form or liquid form ?

I took floradix gentle iron liquid for a month from mid sept to mid oct - after early miscarriage - partly as i felt i had to do something and partly as id like my iron higher

Iron currently sits around 100

When i was 252 after iron iv - i felt way better...

Tne floradix made no difference to my feretin number at all - duno if i have gut absorption issues or if its due to ibs maybe

I had my stomach checked in a gastroscopy

Im now trying oral iron - a spray - better you - from Holland ans barrett

It goes into my cheek
And also below tongue
Apparently helps some with absorption

I was a very prem baby - always had iron absorption issues hence iron iv

Some females swear by good iron 4 conception and pregnancy

I have at least 2 wheat bisks / cheap wheatabix a day
I snack on raisins and apricots 4 iron and many peas...

In may before iron iv my feretin was just 8 - i couldnt of carried a baby then
Started trying from July

Def request feretin re checked in 2 - 3 months to check if numbers going up

If its below 30 - consider iron iv and stres your age & pregnancy hopes..

Amother thing is to possibly do a Qfit / poop test - you could have bowel polyps - i had them at 36 - it can play a role in lower iron

Beef sunday roast

Corned beef sandwiches etc

A mate of mine had a miscarriage
Now she has a baby
She had iron issues
She rightly or wrongly - believes daily wheatabix / wheatbisks made the difference

Vit c aids iron absorption

I was told on monday to take oral iron spray with orange juice

Lotsa strawberries 4 iron
And satsumas 4 vit c

Blue berries are a super food that do much good in this journey - ive grown to love them since july

We concieved 2nd cycle trying - may of been luck but i believe fixing vit d deficiency and iron deficiency and b12 played a role

Got vit d from 33 to 77 to 89 over 4 months - March to October

Ideally vit d near 100 is good / optimal as per egg book
Due to vit D and miscarriage link
And as over 35s we already have higher miscarriage chance

B12 unfortunately nose dived from 820 last year to 147 in july
Now got it to 300 ish - but i eat a lot of eggs and potato - trying to get it higher

Dya know your
Feretin
Vit d
And b12 numbers ?

@worldwidetravel2017 I am so sorry you had to go back into hospital with side effects. How are you feeling now?

@SnookyPook How are you doing today?

I am currently CD10. I normally ovulate around CD13. Sometimes as late as CD17.

Until today my opks were very light. Today at lunch I had a bit of a darker one. But I decided to do snother one tonight. And this one is much darker. Last cycle when I tested I didn't manage to catch peak and this was pretty much as dark as I got.
I have also had loads of EWCM the last 3 days.
We already BDed yesterday and on Monday. I was going to give us a night off tonight and BD tomorrow.
But do you think I might get peak overnight or tomorrow?
I don't want to waste our best chances. But also don't want to tire us out.
This would be unusually early for me to O. But I am taking proceive. And also was spotting preAF so I guess CD1 wasn't entirely clear.

Thats pretty dark
Id try tonight.
And tomorrow pm / night if you can

You have time after it sometimes briefly too

@FigandHoney managed a little walk and doing ok currently thanks - headaches passed - throat feels a bit off

@VixFromThe6ix how are you ?

@CurlyWurly1991 well thats not the best thing for a herbilist to say to you. Maybe they just want to put ur mind in doubt so u spend more on acupuncture and herbs. If your bloods are ok i wouldnt think 4mths is that long x

Good point @Supertrooper101 and it appeals to my cynical side 😆
thanks for the advice @worldwidetravel2017 my ferritin is 29. I think we’ve chatted about this before, Im coeliac and can’t have the wheat bison, floradix etc. I take 2xiron bisglycinate with 1000mg vitamin C before I get up and hours before any tea/coffee food etc. I then usually have 2 spatone and another vit C later in the day. These things have helped me previously.
b12 result was high so no issue there.

@H0pefull I’m so sorry to hear this and hope you’re taking it easy over the next few days. We are all here for you.

@FigandHoney The line looks really dark 🙌🏻 try tonight and tomorrow if you can.

Good morning. Thanks everyone for the advice. We did go ahead and DTD.
This morning my temp dropped to it's second lowest this cycle. So I am pretty sure I did not ovulate today. But I think I might today or tomorrow.
Did an opk this morning (not at the ideal time) and it was darker than yesterday but still not fully as dark. Although it did become almost darker than the control line when it dried.
Going to try and do another one at work later today.

This is what my opk looked like after it dried. But it doesn't count at that point right?

How long did the OPK take to dry @FigandHoney? If within 5 minutes it should be reliable.

@Angelsrose I am not sure honestly. I walked away to get ready and then popped back in the bathroom and saw it darkened.
I guess I will just need to see what the opk I plan on doing later today is like.

And then decide what yo do. If we were to follow SMEP we would need to DTD another 3 times in a row. Then wait. Then do it again.

I just don't want things to get mechanical. Which they did last time we were TTC. And it really affected our intimate life going forward. And we actually ended up catching in a month we were not trying not preventing and only did it 3 times

The month we concieved we dtd 4 times in fertile window

Its hard as just 20 percent ish chance each time

& then theres are age etc

It does look like ovulation time @FigandHoney

Hope this month is your month

Hows everyone today ?

@VixFromThe6ix ? @Catson ? @SnookyPook ?

Good thank you @worldwidetravel2017.I'll be hitting 5 weeks this weekend so hoping that will get me past a CP risk 🤞🏻 and then I'll register with my midwife on Monday hopefully.

Fingers & toes crossed for you :)

Thank you @worldwidetravel2017 . Hopefully you'll be joining me soon

Awaitimg my ct scan results - i have abnormal ca125 - they dunno why - - - theyve ruled out ovarian cancer , bowel cancer & stomach cancer..

Aslong as ct scan doesnt show anything ' bad bad - we are guna try in nov

I turn 37 in dec - - - i worry about my ageeee

Spent my last bday crying - lol - but hadnt started trying then but already worried re age

@FigandHoney that would be counted as a positive Opk for me, I would be trying to dtd. We have never been able to keep up dtd every day for more than a couple of days … I agree it becomes mechanical and all about the male getting to the finish line. Not much fun for me. So every other day around the fertile week including at least the day I get a positive OPK and if possible the day after that is what I aim for. Usually manage O-1/O-2 and O day.

Rang my GP this morning as I am CD2 so thought it would put me in a good position to arrange some blood tests this cycle to potentially confirm ovulation / rule out a few other things while i am on the gynaecology wait list at the hospital.
Couldn't get in with a female GP (unsure if i would have got the same answer) but was told they don't offer those types of blood tests, and if i want those kind of results i need to either wait until gynaecology can see me, or pay to have them done privately.
Came off the phone feeling really irritated, I may have got it wrong but I have a few friends and family members that have been offered these types of blood tests as a first port of call before they even get their referral. Going to look into the costs of having some blood tests done privately, but so frustrating my GP surgery just don't seem to be bothered at all. Rant over lol sorry ladies, hope everyone else is doing ok today.

Sorry to hear about your bad reaction to your CT @worldwidetravel2017 , hope you are doing better!