A bit of support needed please!

[Sunshine2988]

I’m just feeling so done with the whole ttc thing, I’d really appreciate some support from anyone that’s in a similar position!
Quick summary: I’m 32 came off the pill in Nov 2018, periods didn’t return until Nov 2019. HSG, ultrasounds and bloods came back normal, partners analysis normal. Cycles regular, 29-32 days. We’re in the nhs system, had a follow up last month saying repeat day 3-5 and progesterone test as I only have a 9 day luteal phase. I feel like this must be the issue but it’s not recognised anywhere!
Anyway phone to let the nurse know that I’ve had my bloods so it can be reviewed but they’re suspended until jan due to COVID!!!
I haven’t got any friends that are going through anything like this, they’ve got babies too and it’s so hard to stay positive.
Dr said give it 3-6 months then ivf which I just really didn’t want to do
Anyone else in the same boat?

Not exactly the same but we'd been trying for 12 months and contacted my GP in the summer. It became apparent it was going to take a long time to get anything done or be seen be a specialist (as most GPs are not experts in fertility matters). We decided to cut our losses and go for private tests. Consultant appt, scan, SA and baseline bloods were around £400 and we were told I had poor ovarian reserve and low antra follicle count. We were told we could conceive naturally but it might take longer and might not happen. We decided to cut our losses again and pay for a private round of IVF whilst being referred to the fertility clinic through the NHS at the same time. Fast forward a few months and I had a positive pregnancy test yesterday from our first round of IVF.

We've been extremely lucky so far, and this won't happen for everyone, but moral of the story is if you're in a hurry and getting frustrated with timelines it might be worth going private. You will get there with the NHS at some point but it will take a lot longer (in most areas of the country).

As a side note, I found IVF much less invasive and stressful than I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, it's not a breeze, and everyone's experience is different, but I've found it very manageable. Best of luck 🤞

Sorry, should have said, everything seemed fine with me too - regular cycles, healthy lifestyle, no medical conditions etc. We are both 31. Fertility consultants aren't generally worried about the length of your luteal phase I don't think, so try not to worry about that.

@Sunshine2988 I'm sorry it's so hard, we were referred to an NHS clinic in the summer but were told they were closed due to Covid and could be for months, so we did the rest of the tests we hadn't done yet privately. Thank god we did because when we eventually saw the NHS in Oct they told us they couldn't help us (my AMH is too low to meet their eligibility criteria). It doesn't sound like that'll happen to you, but I did find that they were asking less questions / offering less alternative treatments than the private clinic. My personal feeling is NHS fertility clinics are great for ppl with classic conditions but not for those of us with more unusual ones.

@MGee123 congratulations that's great news. I also have a poor ovarian reserve, do you mind sharing which clinic you used? Did you do mild / natural IVF?

@Dbop100 thank you for your reply! Yes I feel the same, it’s not really like they’re trying to figure out what’s wrong. I’m sorry you can’t get nhs treatment, it’s so annoying that you have to wait all that time.
The repeat bloods were also to check my fsh make sure my reserve is still ok as that was fine last year aswell.
The ironic thing is I do actually work in a private fertility clinic, only been there for a year (I started temping and had no idea where the job was until I got it!!) but I just didn’t want to tell people and I think the idea of having people you work with knowing you so intimately is a bit scary but I feel like that’s the way it’s heading.
Well that’s it I’m worried that there’s something wrong that won’t be picked up until ivf like egg quality, and how that would be managed in the nhs if there’s only one protocol for all you know?

Hello @Dbop100 👋 we are with Kings Fertility in London. We just did a regular short protocol and I had a fairly high dosage of stims plus a double trigger pre egg collection. They got 6 eggs, 5 fertilised and we had 1 at day 5 which was still doing the right thing so that one went back in! From what I've read, this is roughly in line with the drop off rate you'd expect. Our consultant was optimistic we would be good responders for IVF due to our age and health, and it seems he was right. I have read on here others doing the mild/natural route but this seems to have worked for us 🤞

Sorry @Sunshine2988, not meaning to hijack your thread 😬😊

I have never heard of any doctors accepting a short luteal phase unfortunately, I have that plus multi day spotting and the fertility consultant just always says progesterone won’t be an issue. The good thing is that if you do do IVF you’ll get progesterone support, for me they gave me it for 2 weeks post fresh cycle and I miscarried once they stopped it but in my frozen cycles I’ll get it for 12 weeks so I’m crossing my fingers one of those will work.

In your shoes I’d want to try and get onto the IVF waiting list as soon as you’ve had the blood tests, it can be a long wait. I was 2 years from when I first went to the GP to getting to the top of the list then another 8 month delay due to covid.

@MGee123 thank you for your reply, and congratulations I’m so glad it worked for you!
I just mentioned I work in admin in a private clinic and as I’ve not been there long I was hoping not to have to tell anyone and I’m not sure how much I liked the idea of people I work with knowing me so intimately! But we do have accept NHS referrals so if we do have to do ivf I’m hoping that it can be done that way.
It’s good to know you had a good experience, I know some people handle it well and have really good outcomes, maybe it’s just because I don’t know anyone personally that’s been through it, I’ve only seen it through work eyes! Xx

Also just saw your update, I’m with the NHS and they do different protocols based on your AMH/ previous cycle ovarian response. Egg quality isn’t really something they test for, they generally assume it’s good if you’re young (under 35) but they will know after egg retrieval if you didn’t get any mature eggs or if no embryos form so there can be some answers at that stage. But often there are no answers, half of the time infertility is unexplained even though there must surely be a reason.

Oh bless you! That must be really tough with what you're going through. You could look at another clinic though? There are lots of them about (although this probably varies a bit depending on where you are in the country). I can certainly understand not wanting to go through it at your place of work.

IVF is definitely a very personal journey. We took the approach of knowing the statistics (more likely to not work than work) but levelled this slightly with thinking there is no reason why it won't work. We also went into it anticipating needing to do more than 1 round, and I think that helped too. It is certainly an emotional rollercoaster, but having people to talk to about it and trying to keep life going in the meantime (I worked throughout) really helped. Although I appreciate in your line of work, working might be quite emotional. Wishing you lots of luck x

@kikisparks thank you. That’s such a long wait isn’t it, I hope you’re getting back into treatment soon though? Hopefully things will start getting back to normal soon. I did go to the gp early on really, so I am in the later stages of the nhs consultations but I know it can be a long wait to get your funding approved etc and imagine COVID has just made this longer! I think we’ll just ask to get referred as soon as I speak to the dr in Jan and hope she agrees!

@MGee123
yes there are a few where we are, I think I’d been putting off the thought of it so I’ll need to do some proper research like you say. I do like your way of thinking though, I think it’s a good way to look at it. Realistic but not pessimistic! I’m part time fortunately so I do have other work to distract myself with but it can be a bit all consuming at times - like you can’t escape!!
Thank you for replying and I really hope you have a lovely smooth pregnancy xx