Any success stories and ideas for secondary infertility?

[Annabellaboo]

Hello ladies.
I am hoping to get some ideas and support on here.
I am 35 years old, very healthy with a 3 year DS. We have been trying to conceive our second child for 2 years now. I became pregnant very easily with my first and had an easy pregnancy.
This time nothing.
I have had all the tests the nhs provides. Progesterone normal, I ovulate, DH sperm count is normal, no blockages etc etc. I have tried charting, ov sticks, changed my already pretty healthy diet (cut out refined sugars and have lots more greens etc, and alkalised my body). I take advised supplements and have even tried acupuncture.
I do however have short cycles, sometimes as short as 21 days but averaging 24. This is a little shorter than I had before my DS.
We cannot afford IVF and I am not sure I can face that anyway.
My consultant last month has prescribed me a half dose (25mg) of clomid, which a scan showed on the first round it definitely boosted things even more with a good few mature follicles. I already ovulate but she thought as my cycles are quite short and a little irregular it may give me a boost.
I have been convinced several times I was pregnant (oh how cruel our bodies and brains can be!) but AF always turns up.
I guess what I am asking is does anyone have any other suggestions of things I could try or why I can't conceive time. I am open to theories and alternative methods.
Any experience in this subject and success stories please share.
I try not to stress about it all, but some months it just really gets you down as there is no real 'reason'. The hard thing is watching other mums around get pregnant multiple times so easily.
Thank you for listening!
Anna

Hi been reading your posts the last few days.i look at other threads but this one really explains how I feel.i have I ds from a previous relationship he is 8 and my oh has a 5 year old.i came off the pill about 4 years ago with the if it happens attitude but after a while I noticed how many baby's had been born and on second etc,so started really ttc with opk and timing that's been 3 years so far I mentioned to my doctor so she sent me for 21 day bloods which were "fine"whatever that means.i haven't really went back as oh is reluctant to have sperm sample done.your stories and strength have really helped as apart from my mum I really don't have any1 else I want to tell.i read a few things I didn't know like spotting before af iv always counted from spotting not realising it should be from full flow.also a while back yous had wrote about immune testing so researched last night as I got diagnosed with ra in December my rheumatoid doctor basically said it shouldn't affect but wouldn't put me on certain drugs as it can make you infertile but these ones are fine aswell as pain killers but after my crazy lady Google search it says with immune disorders it can attach sperm or egg as it thinks it is a foreign body.my af yous to be all over the place but after stopping the pill there 28 to 31 days.iv read about taking Royal jelly?so started that and changed my diet this week.sorry for butting in but I really hope to see some bfp from you lady's.my jealousy is starting to take over when I see so many others having kids like why are they lucky and not me.theres no way I could afford Ivf as my sil went through it 8 times to conceive I know the financial cost.i couldn't understand why they kind of took not a lot to do with me when dd was born and I was on my own now I understand how they felt as they had done everything correct and there I was a single 22 year old who missed a pill.breaks my heart that ds is 8 even if it ever happened the age gap is gutting hope yous don't mind iv joined xx

Hi Tara04. You should ask your GP to refer you to a fertility clinic or to test other hormones but your oh really has to be involved too as it may well be any issue lies with him. I think there's a macho thing for men but if he's serious then he needs to rule that out. My oh has to give a sperm sample and said despite being a bit weird it was ok. We did have a giggle about it too which helped. Like you I have a connective tissue disorder and was also told I should be ok. I was on mtx which is the worst possible drug for ttc & im wondering if that has permenently affected my system even although I've been off it over a year. I don't think it's that however as I've seen loads of pregnant woman in rheum' waiting room over the years. I wish you all the best & hope you find the support you need here x

Hi ladies,
Hope everyone is doing well. I apologize, I've been off line last week. We were on holiday - no internet and little cell coverage which was incredibly relaxing.

Thank you so much for all of your support. Its been a roller coaster of test results, but I had a 6.5 week scan today, and all looks good. We have a heart beat! I'm still holding my breath. I can't believe our luck, we were given such crum odds of conceiving without IVF ICSI. DH is still undergoing his varicocele repair surgery next week, he's so nervous.

Clopsephine - how are the injections going? are you noticing any side effects? Are you approaching your IUI? Wishing you much luck.

Katy - I'm so sorry that your pregnant 'friend' was so incredibly insensitive. I'm so angry and hurt for you. Complete rubbish.

Bloopbeep and Tara 04 - Welcome to the group. This blog has been my lifeline during some difficult times over the past few months.

Congrats jennysilentg must have been emotional seeing the heartbeat sending lots of luck that you have an amazing pregnancy and a healthy baby after all you have been through!bloopeep we had a good talk and he is making an appointment.defo a macho thing!!.got more blood took to check b12 folate and somthing else doctors phoned today iv to go over to discuss my vitamin deficiency so somthing wrong and after googling it says if there's b12 deficiency it can cause tempo ry infertility so il be asking on Thursday.my rhumy nurse told me Mtx was a no go as it can bring early menopause so sulflafazine was my first option but it's been 8 months since I started it with no improvement but iv been taking Royal jelly for over a week not sure itl help with bfp but Defo an improvement with pain and less tired auto immune disease sucks.thanks every one for being so welcoming hope every one is doing ok will update on Thursday xx

Oh wow Jenny that's lovely news, been thinking of you and wondering how you were getting on - congratulations!! I hope everything goes smoothly for you from here. So nice to finally see some success on this thread. I've been starting to lose hope!

I had my scan this morning - IUI scheduled for Wednesday morning. I had a 25mm folicle and 8.1mm lining - hoping my lining gets a bit thicker before Wednesday but dr seemed to think it was ok. Folicle size seemed pretty good so quite happy with that. I'm a bit worried I'm headed for a big crash this month as I'm feeling hopeful.

Welcome to any of the new ladies I have missed. Sorry this is short - off to google optimum lining and folicle size for IUI!!

Jenny how wonderful! Nice to have some good news on here at last!
I hope this is the start of a lucky streak for us all!
Welcome newbies, I hope you find the support you need here, it really can help through the dark times.
Closephine- Glad things are looking good for you this month, but I know what you mean about the fall being harder. Fingers crossed for you this month could be different...

jenny that's lovely to hear. All the best in your pregnancy :)

Ok so I have a question to ask. It looks like my Luteal phase has gone from 14days in May /June down to 11days last cycle down to 9days this cycle. I have all the signs of having progesterone in my system (tender aching breasts etc) but could this drop in LP mean I've not got enough of it? I've thought low Progesterone was my problem from the start but when I saw my gynae earlier this year about mid cycle spotting and cramping he said that progesterone only tells us we're ovulating and that if we successfully fertilise an egg that the corpus luteum will produce enough progesterone to carry it through... But I read so many other women's stories saying this isn't the case for them and their doctors recognise it as being a problem. What can I do to get a doctor to look into this as a problem?

I had a progesterone test last cycle at 7dpo and was told that it was over 20 so meant i'd ovulated, yet my period came just 4 days later with two of those days with severe cramping and some spotting. Being the NHS they didn't give me an exact figure just >20.

Everything else I've tested for has been fine.

Oh my goodness, what wonderful news Jenny! Really lovely to see some good news here at long long last, I do hope things continue to progress well, you must be so excited.

Sorry I've been off the radar- we have now moved into our new house but had no internet or even mobile signal for a few days- what a relief to have it back. We've been so stressed with the jive that dtd'ing has really been the last thing on our mind and to be honest I'm not even sure I can be bothered this month for the first time- still feeling quite deflated from my false alarm last month I think.

Closephine- I'm thinking of you going through your IUI- actually meant to wish you luck a few days ago but computer crashed halfway through. Keep us posted with how it's all going- nice for you to hear Jenny's good news just before to remind you (and us all) that it is blimmin' possible!!

Anna- I was going to ask my consultant exactly the same thing as I was concerned my spotting was starting too early and therefore whether my progesterone levels are low- I persuaded my gp to let me have another progesterone blood test this month to see. I have my appt with him in a month time but it's interesting to hear what you were told, and reassuring I guess- so I don't have an answer for you. But I'll let you know what my consultant says about it nonetheless.

Evening all

Had my Iui today and post swim up the count was just 2 million :( also didn't realise we don't get a morphology result on the Iui sample doh. I almost didn't go through with it. Couldn't really be bothered with the indignity of it all for such a poor sample but they convinced me I may as well. Then the dr spent about 5 mins faffing about with a too large speculum (painful) before deciding he needed a smaller one. Fun times!

I went shopping to cheer myself up afterwards and took advantage of the sales.

Glad to hear your move in a good distraction Rose!

Bloop - I don't know if this is right, but my dr told me progesterone levels measured by blood tests to tell if you've ovulated are different to the spotting/short luteal phase problems some people have. Don't quote me on that, but just because your levels were ok, I don't think that means much for the spotting and sounds like you could perhaps benefit from some progesterone pessaries.

Oh closephine how exciting! It only takes one sperm to fertilise the egg. Fingers crossed for a motivated & energetic swimmer.

I am hoping my gynae will take pity on me when I see him at end of the month and let me try progesterone pessaries or something to help me.

Thanks Bloop - unfortunately I am way past finding any of this exciting now. It only takes one I know, but DH's seem to all be swimming in the wrong direction with 2 heads sadly.

Feeling low today. I want my miracle now :( dis is 'graduating' from pre-school later. My baby is going to school and he still doesn't have a sibling. At this rate I'm starting to think he never will and that I'm going to feel a little bit sad for the rest of my life.

Aw closephine sorry if I offended you. I didn't mean to. I'm feeling very similar except my Dd is going into y3 at school and I'm guessing by your name I'm 10yrs older than you so I think time has possible run out. I think it's my eggs that go the wrong way. Or maybe they're actually chickens and not eggs at all. There may be loads of them in there but mine all suck - given my age maybe there's a granny in there sucking all my eggs :( I keep my fingers firmly crossed for your miracle x

Bloop - you didn't offend me. I was in a bad mood the other day and I have had a number of people in real life refer to certain aspects of my treatment as 'exciting' and it grates on me! Sorry. What tests have you had so far? Have you had the dye test where they check your tubes? And has your dh been tested? I too have some symptoms of low progesterone but I had them before falling pregnant with ds, all tests seem to show me as being 'fine'/'perfect' (another word that annoys me - ugh I'm turning bitter!) and DH's results are getting worse and worse. I was so convinced I was the problem at the start of all this.

How is everyone else doing out there?

I'm still pretty fed up. We were at a bbq last night and our consultant was sat at the next table, pretty sure he didn't even recognise us. We live in such a small place I can't get away from these people. The main dr that looks at my bits on a regular basis is everywhere I go... Supermarket (at least 3 times I've seen him there), wh smith and I got really annoyed when at Christmas I took my son ice skating and HE WAS THERE. There is no escape!

Totally convinced there is no way this IUI will have worked but at the same time that irritating hopeful part of my brain is niggling away at me. 6dpo here so still a while to go as well.

Hey all
I was dipping in and out a few weeks ago. Not sure if anyone rememebers. Thought I would pop back.
Jenny thats is fantastic news, wishing you a healthy and happy rest of pregnancy. How wonderful.
Also Closephine I hope you get a positive result. I can understand how it seemed less than optimal with those results but it does only take the one random one who decides to swim the right way and only has one head!
As for us, we had our long awaited first appointment at the fertility clinic last week and the news was far from reassuring. After the doctors telling us OH's results were borderline the nurse at the clinic tells us we have a severely low count

Oh and my dd was 7 a couple of weeks ago so any hopes i had of her having a little playmate are disappearing fast. Even if we do go for ivf and miraculously get lucky she will be at least 9 by the time a baby was born. At least. This is just shit

And this is the last thing I will say, sorry. But I feel I am starting to get bitter. I have one friend who is absolutely lovely. I look at her and she is the same age as me, married, house, good career, one small baby and likely to have another , easily, in the not too distant future. Can lose weight at the drop of a hat. And im so jealous and raging at the unfairness. And it isnt her fault anymore than its our fault we arent like that. Im fatter than i want to be, struggle to lose weight, were going to save up for house deposit and wedding once we have been on hol next month but now all savings will be goong on ivf instead. No babies here. Both of us are infertile...not even just the one of us, nope. Lucky us get hit with the double. Sorry again to be so negative, I am hoping once the dust settles a bit on the news I wont feel like this anymore. It isnt very nice.

Hi all, I'm a bit behind I think as I stopped getting email alerts again.

Jenny- that is amazing news you really do give us hope. I hope everything goes smoothly for you.
Closephine- I'm so sorry about your husbands results. I really understand your pain as my husband just has the same. I know IUI feels pointless and it's hard but it's giving you a slightly better chance. It's hard though as I bet you hate the hope you give yourself each time. That's harder than a normal month. We are just saving for ICSI but want to get this house move done first. It must be so hard seeing your consultants wherever you go! I live just outside London so not something I can relate to!
Bloop and Tara- sorry you are going through this too. Hopefully you can find some comfort here!

My body has been playing tricks on me. Two bloody days late on period. No late ovulation and two negative tests. Why?!! Just give me my period already. I hate the little stupid voice of hope that pipes up and I'm spending my days angry at myself for daring to think I am when I've done two tests and have zero symptoms. With my first I had terrible cramps so I know unless I have that I'm out. Grrrr.....

Mysterious- I get the friend envy. The friend I told you about (proudly announcing hers when she knows our troubles and not stopping talking about it) - I've dodged her since but I know I'll have to see her this week. I am trying so hard to keep upbeat in our text messages and I know as our sons get on so well it's just selfish of me to keep hiding away.

Xx

Oh god yes katy i hate that little voice that pipes up. I have no periods but every now and then I will feel a bit sick and even though I know it is just a bug or something I can't help doing a test and then being miserable when it is negative. As if it would be anything else. This is so difficult

Hi ladies,
Just a quick one today as I wanted to share a good story with you all to hopefully spread a little hope. Some of you may remember the friend I mentioned who also has had unexplained secondary infertility and been trying for over 3 1/2 years. She was just about to start her 1st round of IVF, had bought the very expensive drugs and then found out she was pregnant. She has had 2 scans and so far so good at nearly 12 weeks. I am so happy for her. Let's remember it can happen, but for now we must live and love our lives and little families just as they are.

That is lovely news Anna. It really can happen!

Thank you so much for the warm congratulations. It still feels surreal.

Closephine - Please don't loose hope! Your numbers are a little better than mine were for the IUI - post wash SC was 0.8 million and my biggest follicle was only 17 mm. I was so down when I was told how low the count was, though DH SC was 2 million prewash a month before. But, it all seemed to work. I have my fingers and toes crossed for you that one good sperm meets your egg. Hoping you get to continue the streak of good luck.

That is lovely news Anna. Good to know it happens.

Such an emotional day today. I was the latest if ever been and I had just convinced myself maybe I was and feel so stupid today as I came on. I just feel so damn angry and tired from it all.

Hi everyone, lying awake in the heat listening to a cockerel crowing and what sounds like a plane circling (?) so unable to sleep and thought i would catch up on here!

Mysterious - sorry to hear you are feeling so low. Have you been given anything to try and make you ovulate? I guess it probably seems pointless given your DH's low count, but if you're going to have to wait a year to save up for Ivf then might be worth trying in the interim anyway?

Katy - your AF is a bitch. So sorry to hear she was playing tricks on you! I've only had that once before, but again like you, despite the negative tests I still had that lingering hope.

Anna - lovely news about your friend, she must be over the moon.

Jenny - glad to hear all is going well! It would be lovely if it worked for me too but I've not felt any symptoms to suggest it might have as yet. What symptoms did you have pre AF being late if you don't mind me asking?

Nothing to report here really except that I may melt today. Think we are forecasted to hit 34 degrees but I read in the news to expect it to feel like 45!!!!!

Katy - Thinking of you today. That's happened to me, 4-5 days late, convinced that I was pregnant, and then AF would come with a vengeance. Looking back at my temperature charts, a chemical pregnancy was likely to blame. So disheartening.

Anna - congrats for your friend, that is amazing news.

Closephine - I had absolutely no symptoms, though I never really lost the bloat from the injections. I was convinced it didn't work. I began to wonder when I reached 16 dpo and called for a blood test.

Hello. Turns out I've not been ovulating. NHS won't do anything for another 6months because we're still considered a fertile couple (mc early Jan) - is there anything I can try to get my body to ovulate?