Ivf/icsi West Midlands area?

[Donnas146]

Anyone here having ivf or ivf/icsi in the West Midlands area close to Birmingham preferabaly!
Would just
Like to know approx times scales from gp federal to gynaecologist/tests/referral to ivf clinics

Referal*

I'm in the West Midlands, so watching this. Waiting to see GP in 2 weeks for a referral to gyne as have blocked tubes from fibroids so will likely need surgery first.

I spent some time yesterday searching for waiting times and couldn't find anything. Most likely we'll be referred to Birmingham women's hospital.

What stage are you at?

Hi @Venusstarr we have just been referred to gynaecologist at the hospital after the gp
Going through tests for both of us my oh has very low count low everything. We have the appointment the end of this month so was just wondering how long it roughly takes from
This point to refer all for ivf now. Yes I’ve also read it will likely be Birmingham women’s I’ve also read we are likely only able to get one round of ivf for this area x

Hi @Donnas146, good news you have an appt. I looked at our ccg criteria and we are entitled to one round too. It did say that if there is a known problem then you should be offered treatment straight away. So hopefully the fact that your dh has been found to have an issue you shouldn't have to wait too long.

I was hoping that I could be referred straight to fertility as it seems I am the one with the issue. Dh's SA has been delayed until March, but we're considering going private. Going to speak with the GP in a couple of weeks to see what he thinks.

The women's seems to have good reviews and outcomes, it's just the not knowing how long we'll have to wait that's the difficulty! I'm 35 and dh 36. What about you guys?

Sorry you're in this boat, it's horrible x

I’ll be extremely grateful for even the one round but reading up it the NICE guidelines advises 3 full rounds for better success but it’s a postcode lottery with areas so I know I’m going to be very stressed in case it doesn’t work we are saving for private in case it doesn’t work though as I don’t want to be saving for years I’d it doesn’t work on the nhs.
I didn’t know that! Fingers crossed it will be this year or early 2020 then and howcome your oh sperm test is delayed?
I am 28 this feb and oh is 30 we have time on our side but we have been trying for a very long time and I don’t want to wait any longer as I always wanted around 3-4 children 😬life doesn’t go as hoped I’m afraid and I’m now praying for one lol x

Hi ladies

I was just at the Birmingham Women's hospital for my first fertility appointment on Tuesday.

I got a letter through in Novemeber via my G.P to allow myself to self book into the fertility clinic after I had my initial day 5 and 21 blood tests back. So I was pleased that I was bale to book in realtively swiftyly for this appointment in Jan (There one or two in late Dec but didnt want to be upset over Christmas).

Anyway i'm being investigated now for low egg count so had an AMH blood test taken yesterday and just ahad a referral for a pelvic scan come through today for the end of this month.

He has also put me on the waiting list for IVF too and Dr Shah said the waitining list is 4-6 months.

Hope this info helps. It's still a shock that I might have to have IVF I always thought if I had an issue I would have to do the clomid route. IVF seems a little scary.

LOL I need to read my messages before I post them so many spelling mistakes!

They don't have enough staff available @Donnas146 😔 very frustrating. One round for free is great but the waiting is really hard. We're saving too but we don't know what we'll need yet. Hoping that my gyne appointment will come through fairly quickly. Trying not to obsess over it but it's always there.

Fingers crossed you won't be waiting too long x

Thank you for your reply @Buffy101. Good to hear it seems fairly straightforward, didn't realise you can self book once the GP has got you in the system. Sorry to hear about your amh. 4-6 months doesn't seem too bad.

I'm sorry you're going through it

@Buffy101 hi Thankyou for replying can I ask were you referred from your doctors to gynaecology then referred from
There to ivf at the Birmingham women’s? Sorry so confused I got told by the hospital that when we are done with tests at the hospital that gynaecology would refer us to Birmingham women’s for ivf. It is very scary and daunting the though of ivf and I am going to be terrified especially about the injections and egg collection it’s so much the physical with me it’s the mental
Side as I have anxiety so feel like it Might increase when going through ivf but I know it’s what we are going to ha e to do, I so far have no problems luckily I’ve already had bloods abdominal and internal
Scan and everything came back clear so I’m hoping they won’t need much more test results from us at the hospital as I’ve already had all those tests through my gp

Hi newbie here, been lurking for ages but saw your post and signed up.
We are just about to embark on our first Ivf at the Birmingham Women’s in Jan/Feb and have our appointment in just over a week to get prescriptions for the drugs.
Ours has felt like a very slow road. We had bloods at Gp, found thyroid issues, then I had all the initial scans at our local hospital, they wanted us to wait to see if my thyroid being finally settled made any difference (it didn’t).
We had our last appointment late July this year at our local hospital when they referred us, initial app at women’s in sept, funding confirmation from Nhs through in Nov (that’s what takes the time) and then the next app was quick after that. We probably would be starting sooner than Jan if Christmas hadn’t got in the way. It has felt slow to us (because I’m so impatient!) but I’ve tried to use the time to improve my diet and be healthier.
All I had done extra at the women’s was the amh test.
I also suffer from really bad anxiety @Donnas146, so ivf is going to be a big challenge but totally gearing myself up for it.

Hope some of that sharing of my experience so far helps.

Hi @Brambles7 Thankyou so much for replying! Your comment has really relived me tbh I was expecting to wait years! So sorry what your going through,I hope you get your baby! So roughly it took from hospital to refer all for ivf about 6-7months?
I’m not sure what they will do with us as it seems it’s my oh that has the infertility issue and I don’t at all but saying that I haven’t had my tubes checked just ovaries bloods cervix from scans, did you have to have the test with dye to see if your tubes are open? X

Anxiety 😩it’s horrible isn’t it! But you can do it we are strong just from going through this I think if you’ve been through infertility you can get through anything it has definatly been the hardest thing I’ve ever experienced x

@Donnas146 Ours is unexplained so I’ve had the full works, including the dye through the tubes (felt like a mixture of very bad period pains and cystitis all rolled into one!) they did that at my local hospital so I don’t know the women’s will want you to have that done too but mine was very quick to come through and be done anyway.
I don’t want to sound at all patronising because I’m sure t doesn’t help everyone but I’m guessing you’ve tried your OH taking vitamins with zinc and vitamin E? I mean we haven’t magically got pregnant but it did slightly improve his second test that he had done. We got to the stage where we would do anything just to slightly improve our chances. I spent days and days googling after his first test to try and see if there was anything to help him!

I’m sorry you’re going through all this as well, it sucks, it really sucks and with anxiety on top is a double whammy! You are so right though, it does make us tougher and stronger as people going through it.

Infertility sucks, but it makes it that tiny bit easier knowing you’re not alone. Not that I would wish it on anyone!
Are you just waiting for the referral now or have you got to go back to gp/hospital?

@Donnas146 oops forgot to say, we have been about 6 months from first referral from local hospital to the starting process of ivf I think.

@Brambles oh god I’m terrified of the dye test! 😄did it come back clear? And no not patronising at all! My gp gave us the same advice and finally persuaded oh go give up alcohol ( he thought it was me just nagging) but when he heard the doctor advising him to stop drinking he listened 😒 lol. His first test came back under 2 million 4 percent motile. He stopped drinking had fertility vitamins and lost weight his next came back 3 million 32percent motile so the motility increased the most but still v bad results. We are now on a health kick and trying to get as healthy and fit as we can. We are still going to need ivf with icsi from what I’ve researched, the doctor hasn’t actually told us what we would need but from my own reading up. We have been referred to the gynaecologist in a hospital ( I’ve rang and asked as I thought we were sent to the wrong department as it’s oh with the issue, but they reassured me it is a fertility clinic for both male and female) we have our first appointment at the hospital end of this month so I don’t know what to expect the doctor said probably more tests. I’m just hoping it doesn’t go slow and we get referred to women’s this year as I don’t think I can cope another year or two without doing anything it just feels like we are not getting anywhere closer to having a baby. Definatly a double whammy! I feel it makes it so much worse for me as I’m constantly worrying about the future, I actually can’t ever imagine having my own child but I know it’s just the anxiety telling me I won’t. It is shit and yeah this forum has really helped me at dark times x

@Donnas146. I was totally petrified of it, thought I was going to be sick several times in the waiting room but I told the nurses doing it that I had anxiety and they couldn’t have been lovelier and kept a firm eye on me during the test. In fact I’ve been lucky so far that all the staff I’ve encountered have been lovely.
Mine did come back clear, although the dye did take some time to go back into one tube. What was nice was that they told me there and then that they thought it was fine so I didn’t have to wait.
It’s good that OH test came back with a small improvement after his efforts, though I’m sorry it wasn’t what you like it to be. sounds like icsi will be the route for you to help it along (amazing how much reading we all do around it all, I never knew before how much info was out there!), And well done for going on a health kick, it’s a hard thing to do. There are some odd recipes I’ve found, including a smoothie to boost follicular fluid (apparently) which I could only tolerate by drowning it with custard!
We had first appointment a time hospital in July last year, scans, bloods and dyes in Sept and then follow up in Oct and would have been referred then if we had wanted to (we took their reccommendation not to just in case the thyroid helped).
Everyone’s different so I don’t know if they’ll do more tests or anything but fingers crossed you have a relatively quick experience at the hospital and get referred sooner rather than later. Just going the hospital means you’re further along the chain of doing something practical towards it.
And I can relate too to the anxiety telling you that it won’t happen - it’s so hard to stay positive, but anxiety lies to us!

Thanks @VenusStarr it's so hard going through all this but it's nice to know there's such lovely people on here giving one another encouragement.

Hey @Donnas146 well from my GP I got referred to the fertility clinic at the women's hospital and saw someone called Dr Shah and now he's referred me onto the IvF waiting list so I presume it's a different set of doctors who deal with that? I'm sorry you have to deal with anxiety I also have it too. I thought it was generally well managed but I've been feeling sick ever since I saw the doctor on Tuesday. I can recommend anything by Dr Claire Weekes which has helped a lot with some aspects of my anxiety.

Hey @Brambles7 thanks for all the information. Were you invited to any open/information evenings at the Women's before you got to this point? Anxiety sucks but it sounds like you're doing really well!

Hi @Buffy101. Sorry to hear you suffer from anxiety too, I think all this stuff can bring it out in ways I never imagined. We just have to keep going and keep working on ways to manage it.

Yes, we got invited to a general session for ivf at the hospital, held in a lecture theatre where about 30 couples came and we had packs of info about the treatment & they talked us through the whole process. The most interesting part was hearing about the embryo side once they’ve done egg collection.
We’ve now got a folder of info and some forms to sign before our next appointment. So well have to do that fairly soon!

Hope your amh comes back with good numbers. I found it very interesting that it has to go all the way to St Guys in London to be done. I just thought they would be able to do all blood tests.

Hey @Brambles7 thanks for the information. There's so many of us with similar issues. Do you mind me asking how many rounds of IVF you might do (although fingers crossed it works first time)?

Dr Shah did my final (successful) transfer so he was on the ivf team when I was there 5 years ago. Can’t speak highly enough of him, none of the fluffy hand holding tall, but very direct, honest and straight to the point. By far the best doctor (for me) at BWH and I saw a reasonably large number of them. Good luck to you all.

*talk, not ‘tall’- apologies!

And what I mean by this is that I found that initially he seemed a bit too matter of fact - but I soon came to feel that is exactly what you need throughout this emotionally exhausting process.

Really pleased you had a successful cycle @Thelonggrass. Thank you for sharing your experience :)

@thelonggrass thanks for sharing and pleased to hear you had a successful cycle. I’d not thought about actually matter of fact being what you need to hear during the process, because it’s all so emotional.

@Buffy101 we’ve been saving up a while, so whilst I’ve initially said 4, we’ve tried to be open minded about it because we don’t know how it will go, maybe we won’t be able to manage more than a couple physically or mentally or maybe we’ll be so desperate we’ll want more if it doesn’t happen.
How about you, if you don’t mind me asking?

Just to add to the discussion, once you have been to your first meeting it all happens quite quickly. We had to pay privately for icsi so we booked an initial meeting at the fertility clinic (used to be midland fertility services). This was the end of August 2012. It was then a very fast rollercoaster ride, resulting in pregnancy by November (1st cycle).

I always thought ivf was something other people did and never thought we would end up having to do it. I was amazed at how many ‘ordinary’ couples were also going through ivf. It definitely normalised it for us and took away the feeling that it was unnatural and rare.

Wishing all the ladies on this thread the best of luck. Just remember you aren’t on your own and miracles do happen. My 5yr old daughter is proof!