smoke test

[jmgX]

ive heard a lot about smoke tests. what does this test for? nicotine or any type of smoke? my partner wanted to try smoking herbal replacement stuff instead of nicotine but would this still show up on a test?

I believe it's for carbon monoxide. It's a small tube that's you breathe into and comes up a figure.

My partner and I both did it and got readings back of '1'
I have never smoked in my life, my partner is a social smoker and smokes at weekends when drinking and I believe he might have been doing it at work too. Either way we both got the same result

He told our clinic he was a social smoker so they made us wait a further three months with him stopping smoking fully before they would put us on the waiting list for IVF. Finally on it now (an extra month added on due to the Covid outbreak)

@willithappen ahh ok brill thanks for replying. do you have any tips on helping him quit ?

Sorry I have never been a smoker so I really wouldn't know what would help. My partner struggled a lot, especially if he was out and drinking and would forget but when sober he wouldn't.

The fact we've been on lockdown so long and not able to go out has helped as he's in turn not been drinking so hasn't felt the need to smoke

@willithappen no worries thank you. i dont know the process at all im just losing weight so i can be referred for fertility. do they test for just nicotine or do they do a blood test too for drugs. my partner has done drugs in the past and i dont want this to affect starting ivf.

So I think every clinic may be different but we didn't get a blood test for drugs, no.

The only thing my partner got was a Semen Analysis test and then the smoke/weight/height etc check at our initial fertility appointment.

If it helps I will post our experience so far:

October 2019: went to GP to discuss. Referred for blood test to check if I'm ovulating (called day 21 test) and my partner was referred for his SA.
December 2019: letter came in with fertility referral appointment
January 2020: initial fertility appointment at the fertility clinic (so moved on from GP). Smoke test etc done here
February 2020: I did a HyCoSY (to check if my tubes were clear due to my history). Was told at this time because my partner said at our initial appointment that he was a social smoker he had to have stopped for three months before they would refer us. Given another appointment to go back
April 2020: end of April was our appointment due. Initially it was changed to a video appointment because of Covid and then cancelled altogether.
May 2020: start of May I was given an appointment (video appointment) for the 18th May. At this appointment they basically told us that they recommended IVF and we were going on the list from that day.
End of last week I got the letter saying we were officially on the list
Been told waiting times before were usually 6 months from first referral but due to Covid-19 they are backlogged by 4 months so I'm looking at a 10 month wait list to be top of the list now

So now it's on to preparing

@willithappen wow thanks for that! that first part was a fast process for you. good luck hope it all goes well.

im just going to have to hope he has the willpower to stop!

It seems fast but from initial GP appointment it's taken seven months to get onto the waiting list and I'll be waiting a further 10 months so 17 months from initial GP appointment to being top of the list. Seems crazy to put it like that

@willithappen yeah when you put it like that. good luck with everything hope all goes well for you X

No they don't test for drugs, they will just ask if he does or has taken them and will write to his GP (with permission) asking if there's a reason treatment shouldn't go ahead. Some hospitals will do a test to see if he has been smoking but not all do it. Lifestyle factors can have a huge impact on his SA results and therefore your fertilisation rates which would likely leave you with a lower chance of success so do consider delaying if you feel needed. Good luck!

@Lauren83 ok thankyou. his SA results are really poor but hes trying his best to stop smoking.

I know you will probably be keen to get things moving quickly but I honestly feel you need to get the issue sorted ASAP, morphology in particular can be affected by lifestyle issues, depending how many cycles you get this may be your only chance at it before you have to start paying 6k a cycle so it's always worth pointing that out to him too. I'm not a smoker but I can imagine it's not easy to stop. He needs to have been fully off the cigarettes for a minimum of 3 months before you even consider treatment in my opinion. Luckily for men sperm is produced in 3 month cycles so after 3 months he should see an improvement hopefully