IVF and weight loss

[Elektra83]

Hi All, I was wondering if you had some words of wisdom. We recently found out that we're basically going to have to go down the IVF route as my husband's sperm has reduced numbers, low motility etc. my blood test came back normal and the GP has apparently put in a referral for us.

He provided us with the eligibility criteria and it seems that my BMI has to be between 19-29.9, I'm currently at 31 I think. Does anyone know how strict the NHS is on this criteria? (Is this a daft question?!) will we even get looked at or just told that I need to lose lots of weight and then come back?

At the moment I am freaking out about trying to lose weight (mostly because I suck at trying to lose it! Also, I don't want to be the reason we are rejected for IVF), I am active (workout at least 5 times a week) but I am not sure if that will count or be dismissed.

Does anyone have any experience and can give me some advice? I am going to focus on my diet and try to clean it up, I just can't help but panic slightly :(

They are strict. We were both weighed before they would approve NHS funding. I was 31 BMI at start of tests but as it took months to test/diagnose it was plenty of time to lose weight. Not need to lose much to get to 29.9. Nearer 25 is healthier/less link to miscarriage risks we were told. I got to 27 I think.

I say strict in that they are the rules and were applied in the two counties near me. They also checked we not smoke by testing - not an issue.
A friend had BMI of 34 and could have clomid but no IUI/ivf until under 30.

Absolutely they are strict. You must meet the criteria, and that includes your weight. I was the same - BMI around 31, and plenty of time before we started IVF. I got on my bike a lot, and ate a good deal less. Met the criteria, did IVF, have a DD.

I am now too fat again, but fail NHS criteria on the "already have a baby" front, so weight is less critical. I will be doing my best to lose weight before doing IVF again, though.

You'll manage to lose it, never fear :)

Yes, they are strict. And for good reason. My consultant told me that after maternal age, the biggest factor for determining IVF success was maternal weight. They want you that weight because it's more likely to work. To give yourself the best chance of success and getting the baby you want you should be aiming for a BMI of 25. Additional fat tissue affects hormone balance.

Thanks all for your replies, that's really helpful (and definitely what I feared). My husband seems convinced it will be easy to lose weight...I'm not so easily swayed...(mostly because I am rubbish at it!). I will be making more of an effort to be stricter on the food thing, as that tends to be my downfall.

Heh, thanks ChrisQuean, right now a BMI of 25 involves losing 20kgs...I may have to start small for now...! :(

I found switching to a side plate for evening meal so for pasta/rice helped lose weight plus (as i have pcos) low gi on these foods so brown rice/pasta and bread.
Oh and used my fitness pal app to calorie count aiming for 1500 a day. You can look online for how many for your height and activity level. It was less than i expected (as average woman is 2000) and im average height.
Do you maybe find the exercise makes you hungrier.
I just did 1hr walk on lunch breaks.
My bmi was about 23 and i was trying to get down to 20, again because of the pcos.

I am the opposite end and have a bmi of 16.9 which I need to get up for IVF.

I have an eating disorder than is fairly controlled at the moment but weight gain is still incredibly difficult. All of my family are very slim and I am 5ft 7 so have to weigh a fair bit to get a higher bmi.

Right now seems like an uphill battle.

Hi Elektra , I was in a very similar situation to you last year. At the beginning of July last year I had a BMI of about 35. I wanted to start IVF and was told I needed to get my BMI down to 30 or lower and then come back for the treatment.

I primarily used My Fitness Pal to track what I was eating as I knew my issue was an over-eating/comfort-eating type of thing. So I ate 1200 calories per day. There were slip ups, and there were days I barely did anything, so I probably wasn't doing the most effective way of losing weight, but it did slowly come off. I do have PCOS, which makes losing weight a tricky thing, but I've proved it not completely impossible.

It was the end of October by the time I finally hit a BMI of 30, but it was worth it; I'm still heavier than I ought to be, but I know I can lose weight and I feel a lot better about my image and my body now I feel I have some control over it.

I have since put some of the weight back on, and so need to rein in my eating again - that's always going to be an issue for me, but I should be starting my IVF meds in the next couple of weeks.

You've got a lot less to lose; you just need to find what works for you; eating less, doing more, or a combination of the two.

Sorry to jump on the thread but I'm exactly the same position. Do they reject your funding or do the clinic just put you on hold until you are down to the right weight?

Thanks everyone. I'm trying to use my fitness pal app again and am feeling a bit more positive today...just hope it lasts and that by the time we get an appointment I will have lost weight!
Does anyone know how long it takes to get a referral/appointment?

Don't know NHS referral times I'm afraid; my treatment is going to be private. (Not because I'm loaded, but because I don't think the NHS consider the lack of a husband/partner to be a valid medical issue!)

I saw my GP on the 6th May last year and had the first meeting with the consultant on the 19th May. Sounds pretty quick, but there's been a lot of waiting and weight-losing since then.

Outing myself in terms of a namechange, but my thread with my IVF journey thus far is here if you want to get one person's timeline. I'm sure different people have it differently, but it's at least an idea of the various steps I've gone through thus far.

Electra - would it help if we supported each other in this? Or maybe created a thread for others in our situation?

Do feel free to say no, if it won't be helpful to you

Thanks BlueKarou for the link, it looks interesting!

Blue2014, that would be great :)

Great, shall we stick on this thread and see if anyone joins us?

I started my diet 2 weeks ago, im juicing which has great immediate impact (also cleared up my skin!) but I've got my period this week and I've been so hungry. I'm panicking about losing the weight quickly enough (my ivf referral went in 2 weeks ago due to husbands low sperm count) which is stressing me out quite a lot. I don't know why I didn't start this earlier (current bmi nearly 34, needs to be 30)

How's it going for you?

Sure, let's see what happens!

Oh wow, that's great news, I'm the same - period this week and just want to eat chocolate! I'm not sure what's happening with our referral, think the GP did it last Friday, so will just wait and see. I know what you mean re panicking though!

I'm going to try and cut out the junk and have fruit based snacks first I think and avoid carbs in the evening at least. My downfall is protein - I don't eat enough and being a veggie means having to think about it which is annoying!

I have an appointment with a PT tomorrow at my gym and they will do a body composition/fitness test so hopefully they will give me more insight into the weight thing. I did weigh myself on Monday and am about 2kgs lighter than I thought which is nice...just need to lose more (and hope I didn't read the scales wrong!)

I'm back into my 5 days a week exercising routine again, it's just the cheese food!

Oh wow, your exercise is impressive! I just can't seem to manage it, I've always hated it but I've put 3 pounds back on this week so I suppose I have to do something!

I was veggie too! But in the end I josh found the cheese was too hard to avoid without meat so I've gone back to eating it

I've recently been referred and have a BMI of 28 and was told it would be better for us if I could loose some weight. I had a medical condition that makes it hard for me to exercise so trying to walk more and eat less naughties. Hope ur loss is going well and best of luck with ur IVF!

Wow Craftyginger, did they reject you/put you on a waiting list or just say you should try and lose weight?

Our first appointment has been pushed back by 2 weeks which is a relief for me tbh! I worked out I need to lose a minimum of 2kgs now to at least be under 29 by the time we have our appointment. Still so worried about it though! :-(

Electra - I don't know if it's the same for you but (even having had several tests via the GP) our initial referral is actually only for further tests. I phoned my local clinic - they say I need to be down to BMI 32 before they will offer any treatment (ie clomid) and 30 before IVf.

So it might be worth phoning your clinic - our issues appears to be only with DH low count but as the clinic rightly pointy out, they need to re do tests and do the dye thing for me. If you haven't been through this stage it's likely that's what your first appointment is. My clinic say it's a 20 week wait for IVF after that point and that they'll only refuse me on the run up to actual treatment

Thanks Blue2014! It's definitely the very first appt. My husband has had a SA done and it was the results from that, that made the doctor refer us. I've only had a day 21 blood test done so far.

Lots of texts still to go then I would think. Give your clinic a phone, mine were really lovely and helpful on the phone