Belfast clinics. GCRM or In Ovo (DR DIAKOS)

[Bluebells1983]

Hi. I have been trying to conceive for 12 months now and starting to look into IVF.

So far all my tests seem OK, my husband has low sperm count (6m) though good motility and normal morphology.

We have an appointment with Mr Ramsey in February to see what we can do to possibly improve sperm before going into ivf.

Does anyone in NI have clinic recommendations. I know there is only GCRM and a new clinic called In Ovo ran by Dr diakos. We went to in ovo for a consultation and they seemed to think ivf would be a good option, but advised us to try for another 6 months before going down that route. Has anyone has any experience of in ovo yet or Dr diakos? I just want to make sure we are making the right choice.

I went for an initial consultation with Dr Diakos and he recommended a DNA fragmentation test for my husband, and a hycosy for me.

All my results are fine, my DH has borderline low count and low morphology.

After those tests were complete he didn't really give a recommendation as such, but we have decided to go ahead with IVF as I am 37 and my DH is 44.

I start in 2 weeks.

So far my interactions with them have been positive.

Thanks for the reply Nichola, good luck with it.

He advised me to get a hycosy as well which should be done in next few weeks.

I'm also 37 so just trying to balance the panic of getting older with being patient and trusting the doctors advice. I just need to breathe and relax again for a while which is easier said than done.

I'm surprised he advised you to wait 6 months, when our circumstances are pretty similar. He wouldn't really give me a steer one way or the other.

I stressed so much about the hycosy but it was completely fine so don't worry!

Yeah that is strange. I might check again once I get the amh results and the hycosy done.

We maybe had kind of indicated that we were thinking of mid year to start things, which is maybe why.

Initially I had said we would give it another 3 months and he agreed.

Therefore I think you're right, he doesn't steer one way or the other, unless maybe your results dictate a particular course of action.

Dr Diakos was previously with Repromed in Cork. I wondered where he had gone! We had him for 2 icsi cycles in 2018/2019, the second of which resulted in our DD. Very nice to deal with and i definitely would have gone to him again if it had been an option.

Nichola - Yeah I liked that he didn't try to steer us or pressurise us at all, he just let us know what our options are once we feel the time is right. I felt like he thought we still had a chance naturally, which is encouraging.

Galgal, that's great you had success with him and would return to him. That's a good review. Thanks for reply.

Just some days I need a bit of reassurance.

Hey did u get any replies to your question? Is the Mr Ramsey you speak about from England?

X

Hi, yeah the Mr ramsay is the doctor in London. We got a range of tests done with him a few weeks ago but still waiting on results. We are holding off on any treatment until we see what he says about our results

We are doing the same at present, we had a few tests and are following treatment advice he gas given. That's interesting to know someone working alongside him at the same time. We got tabs prescribed to help increase sperm count and are only a few wks away from retesting to hopefully get positive results even though we havnt achieved pregnancy yet while oh is on the meds. We got DNA frag which was gd so he gave a prescription for 3 months x

Oh very good, yeah he seemed to be very good and one of the few people we have encountered who actually was interested to help us improve the sperm issue, a lot of other doctors seemed to be content to bypass it via ivf/icsi. Wish I'd went to see him earlier! Hope you get a good result in the retest. We are going to try chinese herbal alongside it, if he agrees, just to see if we can give everything a turbo boost!!! My patience and sanity is wearing thin

We had tried the Chinese herbs and got a significant improvement with our 2nd test so he reccomended we went back on them alongside his reccomendations. Yes I am also starting to struggle again and hoping for an improvement I just cnt face another icsi cycle.
How strange I found your thread and are plans are very similar.

Do you have someone lined up to go to for Chinese meds?
X

Yeah I know, seem to be on very similar paths!! That's great the chinese herbs have worked well for you, encouraging. My husband had been on them since August but to be honest they hadn't made a massive improvement at his December test, though maybe the one we had with Dr ramsay in Jan will show a greater improvement. We just had a consualtion with Maria rafferty last week so waiting for our herbs shipment from her as we speak. She isn't who we were with previously so hoping changing it up may make a difference. Its all very much trial and error and hoping for the best with this!

Small world as it is Maria iam with myself. The semen increase came after western herbs with AOK nutrition but Maria assures me Chinese are better as the get to the root cause, western herbs are taken continuously, oh was on them a ful yr when we got better results.

If there's a will and all that eh.

How long are you trying? X

Aw very good, she seems to get good reports and defo knows her stuff. Yeah I would love to get to the root of the problem rather than finding a way round it. However will reassess that position at the summer of we have no joy by then! I maybe was expecting too much too soon from the herbs.

We have been trying 13/14 months at this stage. But I'm 38 next month so just mindful of that and how long we can wait for it to happen naturally. What about you?

We are 6 years trying with 2 failed icsi cycles which really left me with bad mental health issues but I've worked hard to stay on a good path.

I'm 38 now and it's my constant worry even tho I know loads of older mom's

I wanted to try all I could before we tried another costly cycle x

Well it sounds like you are giving things a good go now, I do think it's really good to properly investigate the sperm issue and also boost your system with the herbs. It's like making sure both your bodies are as good as they can be and so giving yourself the best chance.

Yeah, don't let the age thing bother you, I'm defo aware of it but know lots of friends who have kids no bother in their late 30s and early 40s, and know some of the alternative health people I have been to consider us a young couple, so that says it all.

We just have to keep going and keep hope alive 😊

We must keep in touch if we have any success as it's gd to share tips anytjing that can help x

Oh yes u got to hold onto hope x

@Bluebells1983 just wondering how you are getting on did you go ahead with invoice x

Hiya, I'm holding out until September I think. On a treatment plan with Chinese herbs now and want to give it a good opportunity to work first.

@Bluebells1983 we signed consent forms today I have to say I am so impressed by inovo so far Dr diakos is so thorough im so happy I chose them x

Aw brillant, that's exciting I'm sure. Yeah to be honest I've been happy with all my dealings with them so far too and will definitely be using them for treatment if we need it in the autumn. Really hope it goes well for you l, best of luck

@Bluebells1983 thank you ❤️

Just as an update from me, I'm 17 weeks pregnant after my first round of IVF with in-ovo and Dr Diakos.

Congratulations @Nichola2310 can I ask how many follicles you had a bit stressed about mine x