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Infertility

Our Infertility Support forum is a space to connect with others in the same position, discuss causes, treatment and IVF, and share infertility stories of hope and success.

When can investigations resume? (Scotland.)

782 replies

theotherfossilsister · 07/05/2020 13:53

Just that really, I know it's a difficult time for so many people, but clinics shuttered just as DP finally agreed to get his semen analyisis done. My progesterone was normal, and I have regular periods, so I don't think Clomid would be an option for us. We've been trying for a year and a half, and I am 35 on Saturday.

If we do get a referral, and need IVF, how long will that take? So many questions?

Thanks

OP posts:
BambiOnIce80 · 21/05/2020 21:01

Sounds like you had as very positive consultation there @LouScot 💓 I can't imagine how difficult it is to pick a sperm donor! 🤯 It's just taken me 2 weeks to pick a pair of sneakers, so I dread to think what the time line would be for that! I agree on the coQ10 - I took it and it certainly didn't seem to do me any harm (and we've got 5 frosties, so maybe it even does some good 🤔). I'd definitely want to exhaust my egg supply first too. Not sure I'd want to go down the donor egg route either, but I guess you never know until you're faced with it.x

@theotherfossilsister your novel does sound very exciting! 🤩 I've got nothing but admiration for anyone who can put the work in and actually produce a novel 😀 Just a quick note about the AMH - my GP requested one for me too when we were getting the initial bloods done and it turns out that GP's can't request them 😕 Only the clinic are funded for that test, so all requests have to come from them 🧪 Didn't want you getting an unpleasant surprise on Monday.x

RonRon1 · 22/05/2020 08:48

@theotherfossilsister your book really does sound interesting! Hope you ladies manage to have a lovely weekend!

BeHereNowx32 · 22/05/2020 10:24

@theotherfossilsister that sounds great. You seem to be very productive and organised. Very creative too.

@LouScot there’s lots for you to think about, but definitely take it one step at a time! The consultant told me that I had poor egg quality after a few failed transfers, but now I have my DD! I ate lots of protein before egg collection. Being in the garden will be therapeutic. I have no idea how to do gardening but will try!

@BambiOnIce80 10k is very impressive!! That will be good for distressing and the healthy lifestyle. Good for you.

BeHereNowx32 · 22/05/2020 10:25

@RonRon1 hopefully work takes your mind off things?
I’m not working just now, and definitely bad for over thinking things 🙈

BeHereNowx32 · 22/05/2020 12:53

I’m starting my treatment again as soon as my period comes. If it’s not here by 1st of June, they will give me a tablet to bring it on. They said it can take up around 10 weeks for period to return, and I’m on the 10th week 🙄

LouScot · 22/05/2020 13:17

@BeHereNowx32 hopefully it'll come soon naturally but if not then the 1st June isn't too far away, so fingers crossed!!

Hope everyone has as nice a weekend as possible. As said above, this is a lovely thread 😁 x

BambiOnIce80 · 22/05/2020 13:28

Oooh, so you've heard from them with the plan then @BeHereNowx32! 😀 Did they ring you or did you get an appointment letter through? Hopefully AF will rock up sooner rather than later and you won't need the pill🤞

Having a group of people who just 'get it' and aren't that far away is a real comfort - very grateful for finding you guys ❤️

BeHereNowx32 · 22/05/2020 13:34

@BambiOnIce80 they phoned me and said I was in the first group to start. I’m trying not to feel nervous or excited. 🙈

Definitely nice to have people to talk to. It’s a tough journey!

BambiOnIce80 · 22/05/2020 13:46

Ooooh, that must have been a surprise phone call!! 🤩 I'm excited for you!! 😃 It's a FET you're having, isn't it? If so, that gives me a bit of hope 😊 I was wondering if FET's like us would get pushed back so that they could get through all the FET's from the freeze-all cycles from when they went into lockdown, but it sounds hopeful that that's not the case and they've got capacity to do cycles for people with frosties from older cycles🤞 Maybe I'll get my cycle in July as planned after all... 🔮

BambiOnIce80 · 22/05/2020 13:48

... So excited that I forgot to tag @BeHereNowx32! 🤦‍♀️

BeHereNowx32 · 22/05/2020 13:55

@BambiOnIce80

Thank you. Yes, I’m FET. I hope you get the phone call soon too! They’re starting up quickly anyway

Daisz · 22/05/2020 16:25

I got the call this morning at around 11am. I am 42 so not sure if they are prioritising slightly older patients first. I am also doing a fet and just waiting for af to start.

BambiOnIce80 · 22/05/2020 18:06

Welcome @Daisz 👋 Excellent news that you've had a call too! 🤩 Were you booked in for your FET just before lockdown happened/during lockdown? I had a missed miscarriage in March after our first fresh cycle in January and the clinic were very kind and said we could have a FET whenever we wanted one, so we said July (give myself some time to physically/mentally heal, get in shape, etc)... I'm getting impatient now though and wish I'd said sooner! 🤦‍♀️ I've just turned 40 as well, so time is kind of nipping at my heels 🙄 Oh well, need to stick to the plan... patience is a virtue and all that 😇 😏

Daisz · 22/05/2020 22:11

Thank you @BambiOnIce80. Sorry to hear about your loss, and hope that this time will be successful. This will be my fourth fet. The last attempt resulted in my dd who is now 2.7years, hoping that she may have a little brother or sister before it gets far too late. I have two frozen embryos left. @BeHereNowx32 I am also on a 1stJune cut off, and on week 10. I have been having PMT symptoms for weeks off and on, but nothing is happening as yet. Good luck also!

BeHereNowx32 · 23/05/2020 08:32

@Daisz Hi! Oh yeah, been feeling like it is coming for weeks now. Would really like to avoid the tablet, because I don’t do very well with hormonal medication! I was so depressed after the prostap injection 🙈
Fingers crossed it will come for us both in the next few days.
I also have 2 embryos frozen. So, we are very similar! I had 4 transfers to fall pregnant, with my DD.

BambiOnIce80 · 23/05/2020 09:25

@Daisz @BeHereNowx32 you guys are so similar! So lovely to hear two FET success stories 😊 Sounds like you're going to be cycle buddies too 😄 In my crappier moments I keep thinking that we used up all our luck getting pregnant on the first attempt, so that'll be my only experience of being pregnant 😔 Hearing about your positive FET experiences really does help, so thank you ❤️ I'm working hard on striking the right balance between optimistic and realistic, but it's tricky! 🙄 We've got 5 frosties to be going at, so hopefully we might get lucky again (and stay lucky 🤞). Che sera, sera and all that 🔮

BeHereNowx32 · 23/05/2020 09:41

@BambiOnIce80 this is such a hard journey, even more difficult that you had to go through a miscarriage 😔 you will go experience lots of emotions! Just take it a step at a time. I had 3 fresh transfers and nearly didn’t do that last one, because I was convinced that it would never work. Hope you’re ok X

Daisz · 23/05/2020 22:05

@BambiOnIce80. My last fet before my dd resulted in a chemical pregnancy, low beta that did not progress, so very early miscarriage, although I think of it just as a failed cycle, so definitely do not give up hope. I read a lot of Professor Robert Winston's advice on ivf, after my chemical pregnancy and implemented much of his suggestions, yes it may have just been coincidental but it certainly did the trick. I plan to do much the same this cycle.

BeHereNowx32 · 25/05/2020 12:16

@Diasz is there any tips that you can share for FET?
I stopped taking my folic acid for a bit, so started that back up again. But I have nothing else that I’m changing... I will try drink more water I guess. 🤷‍♀️

BambiOnIce80 · 25/05/2020 13:13

I second that that'd be really helpful, if you wouldn't mind @Daisz? 😬 I've looked at Prof Winston's Genesis website before, but there's about eleventy billion different videos to watch when all I want is a nice list of do's and don'ts! The doc at our clinic said that seems I miscarried after a normal 7 week viability scan it's more likely to have been a chromosomal problem (and there's not much I can do about that 😔), but it'd be good to know what Prof Winston advises for a good outcome 🙂

BeHereNowx32 · 25/05/2020 13:57

How to Cope with IVF: The Essential Survival Guide for First Timers by Silvia Dunn is a brilliant book. I need to read it again. It even has recipes for homemade face masks and mocktails to help you relax 😂

And I used a mindful ivf app (which is called mindful ivf). Which was great. I really need to use that again too!

BeHereNowx32 · 25/05/2020 13:58

@BambiOnIce80 it doesn’t mean that it won’t work next time! I know it’s stressful though

Daisz · 25/05/2020 16:28

@BeHereNowx32 @BambiOnIce80. I last went on Professor Robert Winston's genesis research website over 3 years ago, when doing my last cycle. Since then it seems to have escalated to a vast volume of information, that seems hard to trudge through.

The main points I took away and implemented, was using a high quality multivitamin, Vitabiotics has been researched with ivf and it does appear to offer some benefit in helping with a positive outcome.

Having regular sex leading upto embryo transfer, (obviously using barrier method contraception). The thinking behind this is that your body does have a sort of memory, and if you are not having sex, and then for an embryo just to appear out of nowhere may cause some confusion to the body, your body maybe more willing to accept an embryo if you have gone through the natural process of trying to create one.

Also this maybe a bit controversial but Prof Robert Winston also did a very specific study in the very early days of ivf using red wine. The conclusion he came to is that having a small glass of very high quality red wine such as a Burgundy a couple of hours before embryo transfer improved chances of implantation by around 4%, which does not sound a lot, but when dealing with the overall rate of success of ivf it is a significant number. It does relax the womb to being more receptive in accepting an embryo and there are some medicinal benefits in a high quality red, also it helps you to feel more relaxed at the time of transfer. I must admit, it felt so wrong opening a bottle of wine and 9am on the morning of transfer, and it goes against everything that you are told to do, but if you are leading quite a healthy lifestyle I believe the wine before transfer will give full medicinal effect.

As I say coincidents do happen, but I did all of these things on my successful cycle which I had never done in my previous two fet or my fresh cycle.

It is worth noting that Professor Robert Winston does stress that if an embryo is bound to failure due to chromosomal problems then nothing will help. He also mentions that it is impossible to know if an embryo is going to implant by looking at the grade, and that a high grade embryo means absolutely nothing, because although it looks good under a microscope, there is no way of telling if that grade A embryo has any chromosome problems to prevent a successful pregnancy from occurring.

He also talks a lot about how ivf is used too much because of unexplained infertility (which is me) and that further tests should be done to establish the root cause of infertility, rather than going straight to ivf because that in itself could be why ivf is not successful for someone in that situation and therefore the embryo is bound to fail, so his advice is very generalised and he does make it very clear not to expect miracles if the main cause of infertility is not dealt with.

BeHereNowx32 · 25/05/2020 20:27

@Daisz I have read those things actually. Will need to get myself a mini bottle of red wine for breakfast on transfer day 😆 thank you for sharing!

BambiOnIce80 · 26/05/2020 10:46

You're right @BeHereNowx32, it worked before on a fresh cycle so I should be thankful that it might work again on a FET 🤞🔮 I think it's the keeping it alive part that I'm more worried about 😔 Even though the scientific part of my brain agrees with the doc that a chromosomal abnormality was most likely the cause (common things are common, rare things are rare and all that), I still can't help feel like it's my fault because I did something 'wrong' 😔 I did have a few chai tea lattes on my commute whilst I was pregnant that I maybe shouldn't have (~100mg of caffeine, so well under the 200mg daily allowance) and I got my roots done at 7+4 because I couldn't cope with the gray (oh the irony, given the current situation! 🙄) and I'll always wonder if either of those things were a factor 😔 If I am lucky enough to get a BFP again I think I'll avoid both of those to be on the safe side.

That's really helpful, thank you @Daisz ❤️ I'm loving the idea of the glass of red before FET! 🍷😂 DP is Italian and we have a Super Tuscan that he's kept squirreled away for a 'special occasion' so maybe FET should be it! 😁 Like you, I'm primary unexplained and it drives me nuts that no one can give me an answer! 😤 I thought the IVF process itself might reveal the reason (egg permeability issues, embryo quality issues, implantation issues), but at every step of the way things seem to go well (up to 10+5, at least 😔). The only 'good' thing to come out of the miscarriage is that our clinic doc said that if it happened again she'd advocate referring me for uNK cell testing to see if that's anything to do with anything. In the meantime, she got my GP to refer me to the Chalmers Centre to investigate me possibly having an 'abnormal vaginal microbiome' due to me having a few symptoms that make it a possibility (I won't bore you with them! 😳). It can cause infertility and miscarriage apparently, but it'll be August before they'll be open to be able to see me... it'd be nice to get an answer eventually 🤞

How are things going with you @theotherfossilsister? Did you manage to speak to your GP yesterday?

And any update about your tests @LouScot? I hope things are progressing nicely 🤞

I hope you've heard from the clinic @RonRon1🍀 Been thinking of you and willing them to call you 💓