Pre-IVF prep tips, advice, what the expect.

[RoseWinter]

Hey folks,

I have a chat with my NHS consultant at the end of this month where he ia going to "create" my file and refer me to an IVF specialist on the NHS.

I have no idea when my IVF journey after this will actually start and what the process is once I've been referred.

I'd love to know how to prepare, if you have any pre-IVF tips and advice, what you wish you knew about IVF etc.

Until then, we are trying naturally but I've come in today 😒

TIA x

Ensure you both have good nutrition in the next few months. I suggest following the fertility dietitian on instagram for advice about nutrition for optimal egg and sperm health.

I've also heard that meditation can be useful to take yourself away from how stressful and emotional the whole IVF process can be.

Best of luck 🤞

Thanks @BrizzleMaverick we both are quite healthy and go to the gym at least 3 times a week.

I haven't been told much at all about the process and what to expect so trying to get myself mentally prepared.

There is evidence that good nutrition can help with quality of eggs and sperm. I would expect your Dr to speak to you about this along with the obvious of stopping any smoking and drinking for both of you.

Sounds like your pretty active so maybe just some extras to add in for extra benefit maybe.

Check out the instagram - the dietitian herself has recently had her eggs frozen so there is a bit about that but mainly how nutrition can support fertility.

Depending on what you're doing the gym, it may be counterproductive, so something to be aware of.

It's about strenuous activity and I think it is linked to cortisol production, though I can't remember now. So chilled swimming, yoga, etc all fine. Spinning, circuits, etc less good. I'm not sure what the view is on weights.

Otherwise lots of veg, full fat dairy, whole foods. High protein diet. No/low alcohol, no/low caffeine. Anti inflammatory diet like Mediterranean is good.

Both of you to take decent fertility vitamins. Zita West ones very expensive but supposed to be good. My dr also recommended ubiquinol for me, Proxeed for DH.

Good luck OP! It can be a long and hard road but is so worth it.

Thank you, have been researching most of the day, but annoyingly today, I got a letter through the post from my consultant to say my appointment has been pushed back for another month 🙄

I have waited 114 weeks now for this IVF referral on the NHS! I'm massively losing hope. I'm 38 now so and honestly, should have just gone private but have had other financial priorities the past couple of years. Feeling extremely deflated this evening.

Thank you,

Funnily enough, our diets are already largely Mediterranean with lots of rainbow veg/salads. I'm pescatarian myself, my partner does eat meat. Neither of us drink, smoke or eat junk and try to live as healthy a life as we can. Really getsme down that my body is working against me when there's other people out there battering their bodies with all the bad stuff and still manage to conceive so easily 🙁

I also have a Mediterranean diet, but I noticed that when I was more active my periods and hormones sort of died or went haywire. When I allowed myself to have more carbs and was less active, my cycle was regular and seemed more solid. I can’t speculate what the reasons for your struggles with fertility are of course but just something to be aware of that sometimes too much of a good thing can hinder progress.

Do you have a friend who has done IVF? Preferably multiple rounds at a private clinic? I would talk to them about the process. Ask them everything. Ask them what to expect, how it works, everything. What drugs they took when. How many appointments they had, tests, scans. Ask them to be your buddy during the process so you can check in with them throughout your treatment every day to see if what you're being told sounds right.

Also read up about different treatments. Pgt testing. Etc. read up on and understand stimulation and how it works.
Ask for your thyroid and testosterone levels to be checked. Ask if you need thyroxine or dhea.

I too waited seemingly forever for NHS IVF and the treatment was awful. Impersonal, terrible admin, frequently given incorrect information. The treatment plan was off the shelf and the same for everyone. I wish I knew at the beginning what I knew at the end. The two rounds were a complete waste of time, but at least I knew with the second one what to expect. Unless you're very lucky see the first round as a practise.

Advocate for yourself. Ask questions constantly. Push for more appointments. Ask why they're using those meds and not others. Ask how many follicles there are at your baseline and how each one is doing at each appt. If you only have a couple at baseline will they let you come back next month in the hope there are more?
Ask them when they're triggering and why - is it worth risking the two biggest follicles if five more might catch up?

I would also consider doing a free consultation with some private clinics. Don't tell them you're going NHS but get options on what treatment they'd recommend for you. Go along with your test results - sperm, amh etc. Some do a free 20 minute chat and it can tell you loads. See how it compares to your NHS consultant.

Read It Starts With the Egg and do the supplements three months in advance. Get your partner on proxeed three months in advance.

That's just some quick thoughts. Good luck

This is really helpful stuff. Thank you for sharing all your thoughts. So far, I had bloods done where they checked my AMH etc but they said I wouldn't recieve any results for that for up to 10 weeks and they'll let me know via telephone consultation. That's the appointment I'm currently waiting for. Then they'll organise my create form and refer me to the IVF specialist which I believe is also a private specialist.

Unfortunately, I don't have any girlfriends that have gone through the process. Most of them haven't struggled or have chosen not to have children or simply just aren't ready for that yet due to circumstances hense reaching out on here. It's all just such a minefield right now. Disappointed my appointed has been moved back a month. I'll get on the phone tomorrow as this is really frustrating.

@RoseWinter Has your partner had a sperm test?

Take Coenzyme Q10. It can improve egg quality. My IVF consultant recommended it. My endocrinologist recommend only gentle exercise but I have several endocrine disorders so that might not be relevant advice for you.

I live in a country with no free IVF so went private and was very lucky to have a baby from the first transfer in the first round. I hope you're seen soon.

Good luck!

Yes, all was fine. I have had specialist surgery for severe endometriosis and have 1 fallopian tube that works but both ovaries still all good. So, I'm hoping we can conceive naturally while we wait for the actual referral. It's just such a long wait

Did you know you may be able to request a referral to a private clinic of your choice rather than the local NHS hospital? I wish I had known this at the beginning, however it was not signposted (and my GP didn’t really seem very well informed either).

It would have saved me about a year waiting (referred at 39 so significant difference in fertility terms).

Also recommend ‘It starts with an egg’ for advice on supplements. Ideally you’d want to be starting several months ahead of egg collection.

Also best to cut out alcohol in the months running up to collection.

Just to illustrate how personal it is – my periods became more regular with more exercise! (And I have PCOS, so carbs are a no go in terms of keeping hormones steady).

I had no idea about this. Thank you for letting me know. I have my consultantion in 2 weeks. A heck of a long journey it's been so far. xx

Hope it’s helpful! You should be able to check which hospitals/providers your local ICB has partnerships with. It sounds like you’ve had a real slog with it. Something I found frustrating also was that they didn’t just tell you the time frame for the whole process at the beginning (I asked, but everyone was very opaque – I’d describe the style of information-sharing as ‘breadcrumbing’!) Good luck with the appointment, let us know how you get on xx

We've booked a holiday for June and for October and I know with IVF it can be such a process that stops all those things in it's tracks because of appointments and stuff that will need attending. We couldn't put life on hold while waiting for appointments and now they've come suddenly but been delayed month by month which is such a pain.

Just wanted to say thank you 4 this thread

Would just say, make sure they’re not to anywhere with risk of diseases like zika, as this could put back treatment further. Again, stuff they don’t tell you in advance!! You can probably find more information on the HFEA website (or give them a ring) to check which countries may cause an issue. Agree though, when you’re waiting that long you have to live your life too!

You're welcome. It's a lot to navigate through isn't it x

Wowsers, so much to think about and navigate through on this journey. So much is overlooked. Luckily it's the south of Italy and another European break which we haven't actually booked yet but have the dates off.

I've also purchased Ovum tablets, which is formulated in accordance to the advice given in the It Starts With The Egg book. x