IUI wait times on NHS

[ComebackQueen]

Hello All

I’m a newbie and I have finally plucked up the courage to join. I’ve been suffering for vaginismus which has plagued my almost ten year marriage. My GP who I was with until Christmas 2019 was useless. She gave me dilators, said because I had a smear test under GA there’s no physical barrier stopping me and to basically have a glass of wine and it’ll happen. I then took matters into my own hands and paid for private sexual therapy for two years, acupuncture for almost two years and have been using dilators to varying degrees of success for six years.

We moved house just before the lockdown and finally bit the bullet and called my new GP and explained everything. She was a wonderful, supportive super star.
She wants my husband to provide a semen analysis and upon that, she wants to refer us over to a fertility clinic.

She mentioned because of my PCOS I would probably be recommended, given my age too, that IVF is better option but she said we can try IUI first which is what she said we can push for once we get an appointment.

Does anyone roughly know how long from referral to being seen my clinic?

My husband is going to provide ‘his business’ next week whilst he is on annual leave and we were told the results take 2/3 weeks to come back.

So for argument sake, if we were referred end of November, how quickly does things start moving?

I tried to ask my GP but she said it’s impossible due to a backlog from Covid to predict but she said in theory we are supposed to wait no more than 18 weeks for treatment to start.

I’m so confused and after years of guilt and shame I can’t believe I’m actually sharing my story.

Unfortunately due to covid wait times hugely vary at the moment - IUI is probably bottom of the wait list as it's usually considered that IVF is for the more "urgent" of cases so they'll get priority? You'll also have to wait until funding is confirmed and also contact with the nominated clinic. If the clinic is attached to an NHS hospital rather than stand alone then wait times are really long? Before covid It was around 9 months for us from referral to being given a slot ready to start?

Oh no, I thought it was 18 weeks, I will be referred to UCLH once semen analysis comes back. It’s scheduled next week and then I need to book another consultation and I’ll be doing some blood work which my useless first GP failed to do but this is apparently just a formality before the referral is sent.

Thank you so much for answering though, much appreciated.

It's the various appointments you have to jump through first and then you have to wait to get the referral letter which drags everything out - plus most NHS clinic don't do treatment from end of November until January. I know some people who were already had their referrals before lockdown and were ready to go are still waiting and being told at least 3-4 months still and basically just have to wait for a call from their clinic confirming they have a space

You’ve been so kind and helpful, I thought the biggest hurdle was the referral from GP.

I’ll sit tight in the meantime and work on dilating and getting a diet plan ready so when I eventually get seen I’m firing on all cylinders.

I still need to work on the vaginismus as apparently there’s no way to avoid things going up there....!!!

Not that anyone cares but I wanted to give an update.

So my husbands analysis was not good, he also, annoyingly, didn’t register with me at this new surgery when we moved so he has been forced to use the old gp surgery and my current one isn’t accepting new clients since we went back into lockdown.

Anyway after weeks of waiting, he was given an email version of results and simply told he needs to book another in three months due to it being poor.

My superstar GP is still referring us but thinks due to sperm issue and my age her referral for iui will most likely be rejected and they’ll say go for ivf depending on what they decipher with the semen results.

She made a comment about the amount of time I waited and said bear that in mind whilst im waiting for my appointments to come through.

I’m really scared and have cried myself to sleep yesterday.
I am scared of my husbands sperm results, scared of being rejected for ivf because of it and scared of all the prodding and poking.

If they say no to iui but recommend ivf is this a new referral?

I can't comment on waiting times in your area, but I would have thought if your husband's sperm results are worse it should actually help your case for fertility treatment.
I don't think the poor sperm results will delay treatment apart from the wait to repeat the analysis. Your referral from your GP will be a referral to the fertility clinic rather than for a specific treatment so waiting time to be seen by them shouldn't be affected.
As IVFbeenbusy says waiting times vary so much and very many clinics close at Christmas for treatment cycles as people undergoing treatment may need scans and other procedures, but they could still be doing consultations, maybe virtually. I don't necessarily mean they'll get your consultation soon but if they are doing them virtually they can keep working through the list.
You have waited a long time and been through a lot, keep working on what you can as it will all be useful preparation when your turn comes.
Alternatively you could have a private consultation, some clinics are doing online open events so you can get a feel for them.

@LongerthanMrTicklesarms
Thank you for your reply, I was worrying about the sperm results because IUI is now regarded, by the NHS at least, as pointless unless it’s for same sex couples and/or for women with psychosexual issues but NHS only like to proceed for the latter who are using partners sperm with ‘normal’ results.

I’m also worried about my age and quality of eggs and the doctor keeps mentioning my age.

Ah, right gotcha so I get a referral presumably to my local hospital fertility unit and it’s them that decide best course of treatment.
I was so worried I would have to be referred again and that resets the clock.

Based on the general comments made, there is a lot more jumping through hoops before I can start.

I started acupuncture for fertility already maybe I should dial that back, as it’s £70 a pop.

@ComebackQueen which area are you in may I ask?

It's a lot of waiting, that's the one thing I wish I had been more firm with myself on learning as I assumed it would all go quickly but no. Then Covid hit and made it even longer!

I went to GP in October last year and due to start IVF short protocol on my January period through NHS

Hey @willithappen I’m in Hendon North West London, which is London Borough of Barnet.

My husband is still registered at our old surgery in Pinner which is North West London too but it was London Borough of Harrow.

Apparently the referral can be made but my GP is the lead GP so we will be within Barnet remit and not Harrow which uses UCLH.
I do know UCLH is highly rated but I’ll see where I’m directed to with my new surgery.

Wow, you were referred in October 2019 and will start January 2021?

This is even longer than I had imagined.

I was stupidly thinking I’d be pregnant in 2021.

I think I need to go on holiday and just cry!

@ComebackQueen yes those times are right, but bear in mind it all kind of shut down for a period during lockdown so that added a lot of time on to my wait so it shouldn't be as bad for you. Different areas also have different wait times too.

I was the same and Christmas last year I was so convinced that I'd either have a baby by the following Christmas or be pregnant by then. Buuut now that's my goal for next Christmas!

@willithappen I am wishing you all the baby dust, prayers and positive energy.

Silly question with IUI what’s the procedure process been like thus far? Lots of time off needed for appointments? Prodding! Probing?

I’m someone that has never taken a smear test whilst awake so I never, really know anything related to gynaecology.

I can’t even have penetrative sex so I just generally avoid asking questions in fear and embarrassment.

I’ve been working my self into a state tbh and the gp was only going to refer me this week once my husbands results were scanned into my file which may take a few days. That I found strange as she had an email version of the results but it needed to be physically scanned before any referral could happen!

I know I have a year to go but I think I need to psyche myself up, I need to do more therapy and dilating and I’m going to take advantage of my work place counselling services.
If I’m so emotional and all over the place now, I dread to think what state I’ll be in when someone tries to shove a wand up there

Ok I’ve just had the husband ask exactly what is the issue with his sperm results at his surgery. A locum GP stated low morphology and high white bloods cells and husband was diagnosed with varicocele when he was 17 years old.

It looks like iui will be off the table and he will only be referred for further investigation after a second semen analysis.

So distraught- this is not how I imagined my fertility journey being.

@ComebackQueen I'm on for IVF and no IUI (sorry I didn't make that clearer, was giving my experience in the unfortunate event that you ended up down IVF route also)
So sorry to hear you got some bad news. My partner is also 1% morphology but the clinic said it's not an issue as all his other parts were above average so it evens itself out :/

I know it's not how you pictured it, but with the IUI success rates you might have ended up at IVF anyway and this will skip going through the other processes to get there. I know that's not ideal/how you want it though.

Thanks @willithappen by the looks of it I’ll be asking you questions about Ivf.

As you say, at least by eliminating iui I’ve shaved some time off before going to ivf.
Must see the half as glass half full, I just feel so demoralised, all this time it was my inability to have penetrative sex and now we are getting over that hurdle, husbands sperm decides to compete with me for who is the most useless

@ComebackQueen will happily help answer anything where I can :)

It does seem strange to think of it that way as of course you would want IUI to work but if it didn't and you ended up at IVF anyway then like you say at least you have now cut that time out.

Get your husband on some vitamins just now and they can try help improve some of the results nearer the time. We are both on the well woman/well man conception stuff and then going to get more protein into our diet too.
Although my partner has 1% morph (we are still down as 'unexplained') I have a fear that I have immature eggs because my diet has been horrendous for years. I have a healthy BMI, I just now I eat like crap, too much chocolate and fizzy juice and not have healthy foods so I really need to kick my butt in gear for that

Thanks @willithappen

I’ve researched zinc, vitamin D and C.

Husband also has high white blood cells linked to his varicocele. His GP isn’t overly concerned and is happy to just get him off their hands so will see if the fertility department want to explore that further. The only thing they did was ask for a repeat test.

I’ve spoken to my acupuncturist who will try fit the husband in but said helping with MFI takes much longer than doing the female equivalent. She said he won’t see progress for 6 months minimum.

With the long wait on the NHS this is a great opportunity to get him into shape.

He eats horrendously and has a massive sweet tooth and drinks 5/6 cups of tea/coffee a day.

I empathise with eating like crap, you sound like me, but I’ve recently eliminated sugar and trying to go gluten free. We can seriously do this, and it’ll be so worth it when we have our babies!