IVF at Guy's & St. Thomas' & general process/timeline

[Lill02]

Hi all,

This is my first ever post, but I've been following for a while. :)

After having all the usual tests, including a hycosy and hysteroscopy, we were diagnosed with unexplained infertility a while ago. We have now finally waited long enough to be eligible for IVF on the NHS. We've got an appointment back at Guy's & St. Thomas' tomorrow (we had to see the GP and ask to be referred back as we've now waited the required time frame).
I'm not 100% sure what will happen tomorrow, but I'm basically hoping they will agree we've waited the required time and suggest we get the ball rolling for IVF, i.e. fill in our funding application, etc. I'm really hoping this will happen, I can't face being sent away again after we've waited so long...
What have your experiences been? Does that sound like realistic next steps? Has anyone been at Guy's & St. Thomas' and can share their timeline?

Thank you!

@notyetamumbuttrying all I had was menopur 300iu decreasing each day then fyremadel in the morning for the last few days I just took one shot of busereline as my trigger.
My DH morphology was 4 which I queried but the doctor said 4% of however many million is still loads of sperm which is why it’s not a concern, he kept saying you only need 1!

Unfortunately my trying time is in writing now. I cocked up when I sent the first PALS letter because I didn’t think they’d call us unexplained. I still don’t buy that we are unexplained. We both have issues??? The explained area has no trying time. If it wasn’t for that I would tell them three years but I was too honest 🤷‍♀️

@RiverRiot I just don’t understand why they think his count makes the motility issue ok. It clearly doesn’t, it massively reduces his numbers.

@thislittlebird Bear in mind that with a count of 124mil he still has over 11mil that are progressively motile while a guy who had 39mil count and 32% motility would have 10mil, which would be classed as normal. Maybe that’s their angle but I don’t know why they wouldn’t just clarify that for you, if so. Hope you get some answers soon.

@RiverRiot it’s weird really because it’s so much below the parameter but they don’t worry because higher count. It’s very frustrating because it can’t be normal or right for his motility to be so low. I don’t mind if they explain this so much, even if I don’t accept it as reasonable, but just saying “it’s not enough” when there are no guidelines (beyond the normal parameters) on what’s “enough” confuses me. I really thought they’d help us for a while, since we have the motility and my low progesterone. I am fairly resigned to them not helping us, but at the very least I want to know what nhs options we do have. What tests and so on? I love how someone can just go in and lie and say they’ve been trying for three when they haven’t and we have legit issues and they aren’t interested.

@GJW2018 I love how they say you only need one and I’m like ok, great but where is my one 😭

@thislittlebird that’s what the consultant said to us. I said ok well where’s that one been when we’ve had sex what feels like every day for years! It’s so frustrating not having an answers!

@GJW2018 honestly it makes me so annoyed when there’s clearly something awry. Some people on threads I’m on seem to have bfps every other month and they have other issues but the point is....there must be an issue of some kind for egg not to meet sperm after 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 years and so on? How can some folks get pregnant over and over again but others can’t at all? It cannot be that everything is a-ok imo.

Three years ttc is just ridiculous when you’re over a certain age. Can’t believe there’s no caveat for age either.

@thislittlebird But love, as I’ve outlined above, you have over 11million ‘ones’.

I remember being worried about DPs morphology but when I did the maths, I realised that because his count was high, proportionally, he still had more normal ones than someone with a lower count.

That’s what I’m trying to say. The fictional guy above would probably be classed as unexplained and your DP has MORE moving sperm than him.

I agree, it’s weird. There should be better guidelines and clearer cut-offs (and you certainly should have had better care!) but please try and take some comfort in the higher overall numbers.

When is your urology appointment? I really hope they can clear this mess up for you. xx

@GJW2018 my menopur is 300iu every day, no decrease. Haven't been told to use fyremadel yet but I have loads of it in the fridge?! Oh yeah 4% is absolutely fine, I haven't heard of many samples that go over this, I think once someone's partner had 7% but most seem to have 4%. My Dh is now up there, it used to be 2.3% 
@thislittlebird how frustrating! I can't believe they don't caveat age in the time taking as well! Madness

@RiverRiot I think it still isn’t what it should
be. I was speaking to someone on here who works in it and they were saying 9% is very low, none of these 11million are getting where they need to and I don’t expect them to at this point tbh. If I’d had a bfp ever I’d be less worried.

As I say, someone can try for six months and then walk in and tell a white lie and get treatment and someone with a legitimate issue approaching 40 doesn’t have enough of a problem. It’s depressing to the say the least. I really did think they’d help us, but more fool me for assuming our problems were enough to get help I guess. I did think they’d offer something, or more tests but nope.

@thislittlebird I agree that it’s not what it should be and of course 9% is low. I was just trying to say that even though it’s shit there is still hope.

None of this is fair, none of it, for any of us.

I understand your hurt, anger and frustration.
I agree with you about age, about it all.

But we have to drag ourselves out of the rafters with something otherwise we lose our damn minds.

Please don’t lose yourself in this. I nearly did and it was f*cking horrible. xx

I’m just not hopeful it’s gonna happen ever unless we address these problems, with age not on my side there’s really not much choice than to spend £15k even trying to get pregnant because if we wait I’ll probably be too old and my hormones will be even more messed up. It’s very depressing.

Sorry to bring the thread down, I just really thought someone would help us, I don’t mean to be so depressing.

@Etonmess20 it is frustrating but there is no much we can do about it...

@RiverRiot @notyetamumbuttrying I am on a short protocol. And btw thank you both for asking me as until this moment I thought I don't have this info. Now I doubled checked my letter (and researched the meaning of antagonist ) so I already know my protocol.. silly me 🤷🏻‍♀️

@notyetamumbuttrying Thank you for the info. Hope the egg collection goes well!

@Vparisi yes, it seems there is no rule for the timeline. I just hope they are shorter for all of us.

Ah I didn't refresh the page before posting so now I see a missed lots of posts.
@thislittlebird this is really frustrating. I wish we could tell everyone who is applying to say 3 years. they should take age into account as well!

@GJW2018 that's great news! Now you can take relax and wait a bit more until the final step

@HereToLearnAndShare no worries and thank you 😊 scan is on weds so will know a date after then hopefully 🙏🏾

@thislittlebird hows things with you today? Feeling more optimistic about things? It's good you have the private consultations in place and June is round the corner now!

@GJW2018 Good luck today! 🍀 Hope the spa weekend was fun.

Thank you! @RiverRiot woke up this morning in a panic. Feels like awaiting exam results again! Didn’t have an overly restful weekend ... after my egg collection noticed a red mark in my belly butting that got bigger and darker as the days went on. Called Guys on the Friday and sent a picture they said it’s loose blood in my abdomen pooling in my belly button so had to go back Saturday morning for a scan and blood test. They found blood clot on my ovary from where it was punctured and must’ve been bleeding but had now clotted. Then headed off to the spa and spent the whole of Saturday night vomiting! We called the on call mobile which luckily was the doctor who scanned me. Felt so bad calling at 2am! She said my scan hadn’t looked like OHSS so must’ve been something I ate which I agree with but yea not the relaxation I had envisioned! Will let you know how we get on today ... slightly terrified!

@GJW2018 Oh no. Sorry you had a crappy weekend that’s sounds horrible! Hoping you get some awesome news today to make up for it. 🤞🏼

@GJW2018 ah sorry to hear what happened, wishing you a great outcome today! Please let us know how you get on x

@GJW2018 oh my gosh that is horrible. I have been thinking of you for past few days! Hoping there is some good news in store.

@GJW2018 oh god what a nightmare, sorry you didn't get the relaxing weekend you deserved! All the best for today, got everything crossed for you

Soooo we have 17 very cold potential babies! I cried when they called. So amazing. They were very sketchy on the details for when to put them back in, the extra meds I have etc but I don’t care now I’m just so pleased they’re there 💖

@GJW2018 wow congratulations!!! That is such amazing news. Those are fantastic numbers and I hope one fan make its way to a warmer home very soon! So exciting

@GJW2018 I've been waiting for your update all day. So so so pleased for you! Hopefully not too long before they can pop & chilly one in for you 🙏🏼