Anyone else starting investigations this month?

[babypleasenow]

Hiya just wondering if there are any ladies on here who have been TTC 1yr+ and are seeking help from GP this month as I've just requested a call from my gp to discuss and would like someone to buddy up with as I'm scared! 😂

Hi @acaciabluebell..that’s so funny I was thinking about you today and was going to message as I knew your appointment was in September!

Really glad you’ve had it and some progress is being made! And that it looks you’ve identified some issues so you at least know where you stand and what the next steps will be. My HSG went so much better than I was expecting..I had one second of pain as the dye went in and then it was fine! Didn’t even have any cramping afterwards. They told me the results straightaway. I really hope yours goes the same way, I know everyone seems to have a slightly different experience with them. I would perhaps see if you can get the day off work? It made me feel so much more relaxed knowing I didn’t have to go to go back to the office afterwards if the news wasn’t good or if I was in pain x

I am very much with you on being tired of TTC…AF arrived today so on to cycle 25 now! Feeling quite down about it all today but try to remain positive on the whole. We can start IVF at any time really but we are looking at January 2022 so we could be starting at the same time! Fingers crossed we both conceive naturally before then but it would be nice to have an IVF buddy 😊 have you looked much into the whole process? I’m a bit terrified so I feel like I need to do some more research

I’m the meantime, I have contacted a private fertility clinic and asked if they can help with some further investigations as I know they could do an ultrasound of my ovaries and perhaps help with my short luteal phase. They said they’ve got appointments available in October so I’m just waiting for confirmation of a date. Hopefully something good comes from that even though it will probably cost a fortune! I just want someone to explain the ‘unexplained’ infertility for me

@acaciabluebell hiya lovely!
I've had some time off this app, trying to stop fretting and researching every little thing. Some people say it helps if you don't think about it but still, nothing!

I saw a private doctor last month or the month before (time is going SO fast!) and they said I've got polycystic ovaries. My other half is fine, the dr said he should be proud of his swimmers 🙄 lol
They've prescribed me clomid but we're going to try another few months by ourselves. I put on a lot of Covid weight, and I'm slowly starting to lose it so maybe that'll help the PCOS which will help conception, I don't know!
We've sort of said December is when we'll take the help. Not the best idea, as it's so expensive privately!

In saying all that, I'm currently on CD40, with no signs of my period and negative pregnancy tests so god knows!

Glad to hear you've had some answers at least. The private place wanted me to have the scan thing you're on about, but it was hundreds. Waiting to see when I'll hear from the Nhs and see if they suggest it! Xx

@Riviera90 Hey!! I really appreciated your advice r.e the HSG. I've had it now (it was last week) and was nowhere near as bad as I was expecting, thankfully! And the good news is that tubes and everything looked good! Asides from that I'm well, just waiting waiting and more waiting really. I have read some articles about "increased fertility" after having a HSG but I highly doubt I would be that lucky 😂 Have you been to see your private clinic? If so, how did it go?

@beth1311 How has the Clomid been? I'm really tempted to go private and get some Clomid myself!! I'm so sick and tired of doing nothing twiddling my thumbs lol

@acaciabluebell I haven't been able to take any yet, my period hasn't arrived and I'm now CD70!! Going insaaaaane.

My POAS tests are negative, I've had a HCG blood test which was also negative, but I have all the pregnancy symptoms and no signs of AF.

I wish my period would just come, because I'm fed up of not knowing what's going on.
I'm also trying not to let my heart get set on being pregnant with negative results 😂 it can happen, right? X

Hi!

@acaciabluebell really glad your HSG went well and tubes are all open and looking good! I also read that for the 3 months after HSG your chances are meant to be improved so hopefully that’s the case for you! What’s your next steps now? Have they set up your next appointment or are you going to have a big wait again?

The private clinic went well I much prefer the doctor there. He did a scan of my ovaries and uterus and all is looking good there. He suggested getting another 21 day blood test done as he agreed with me that my luteal phase is on the short side. Got the results of that yesterday and he said progesterone levels were borderline (so I did ovulate but wasn’t very high). Shame they couldn’t have told me this when I got my first lot of bloods done last October! But the good news is that he’s given me progesterone to take this cycle and clomid to try next cycle as I’m already too late to start it this month.

@beth1311Really hope you period makes an appearance soon!! I would be going mad with a 70 day cycle and negative tests too! Are you going to try clomid when your next cycle does come around?

@Riviera90 No luck yet, got AF today so on CD1 and onto month 22/23 (I've lost track tbh). We haven't been given a follow up appt yet, I'm tempted to call up so they book it in though. We were told 10 weeks from my Sept appt, which would be around the first week of December. I just want to have a date in the diary to be honest. My husband is having his tests this month so hopefully we should get the results of them soon. I just hope that there's no waiting list when we eventually do get referred for IVF!

Oh that's fab, so glad that you had a good appt with the private doctor! What were your progesterone levels, do you know? I ask because mine were always consistently low (like I ovulated, but not high enough). Mine were approx 20-25pmol each time. Good luck with the clomid! I think I might ask for clomid if it turns out we have to wait a while for IVF.

@beth1311 any updates lovely? Maybe you could talk to your Dr about inducing a period with something like provera? xx

@acaciabluebell SHE FINALLY ARRIVED!
Never been so excited to have my period, and try my new period pants haha

I got to CD75. Said to my Mum that if I reach CD100 I'd ask for more options and then there she was!

Going to try clomid next cycle. Feel like my body needs a bit of a break this month! Xx

@acaciabluebell sorry AF has arrived again!!
I would definitely call up to get another date confirmed, I think we need something to focus on when we’re this many months in! Hopefully your husbands tests go well…will his results come back quite quickly? I think it was about a weeks wait here but not sure if that’s the same everywhere.

Ohh that’s interesting! I think he said mine was 28 which sounds high now? I also thought that when I googled the levels after the appointment but I wasn’t going to turn down progesterone or clomid. Picked up the prescription for both today so excited to get started 😊 I would ask about clomid! I hadn’t realised previously that it could be used if you were ovulating regularly but after a bit more reading it does seem it’s also used to help your body produce more progesterone.

@beth1311 yayy finally! How have you found the period pants? I have been looking into them!

What did you doctor say for the clomid cycle? He’s given me 5 tablets to take from CD 2 to CD6 with a scan on CD12 and I think a blood test after ovulation but don’t know if that’s normal or not xx

Hey girls! I've realised that I tend to come onto mumsnet whenever I get AF, I guess I need the moral support haha. But sadly it is CD1 for me, I had another failed month, so onto month 23/24, basically reached 2 years of TTC which is hard for me to grasp right now. Hypothetically I could have 2 babies right now :(

@Riviera90 so my follow up appointment has finally been booked but it's not until mid January, and it's just a telephone appointment too. I tried calling up to see if I could get a cancellation, or be added to a cancellation list, but no luck. I'm feeling so disheartened with the NHS process to be honest, I don't see us starting IVF any time soon, probably not until mid to late 2022.

Soooo with that said, I've decided to go forward with some medicated cycles. I'll be on Letrozole and I'll be taking it from CD3-7, starting from Monday. I'm using OPKs and then will get a progesterone blood test on 7dpo.

How has the Clomid been for you both? @beth1311 @riviera90 would love to hear your updates x

Hi @acaciabluebell, it’s always lovely to hear from you and happy to give moral support in whatever way we can! So sorry it’s yet another month of disappointment and the NHS are being slow 😔 x

It is exciting you’re starting on letrozole though!! Do you know what the reason was for them giving you clomid rather than letrozole? My doctor mentioned both but then gave me clomid so I’m not too sure of the reason for that.

I’ve been feeling good on the clomid. Had my scan on Thursday and I’ve got 5 follicles growing!! The doctor thought we’d only see 1-2. So he’s asked me to hold off TTC and go back for another scan tomorrow. He’s happy for us to try if there’s only 2 follicles still growing but if there’s more he doesn’t want us to risk it due to the chance of multiples! Really hoping there’s only 2 as I don’t want to have to wait another month. He does want me to stick with clomid though and just reduce the dose for next cycle.

Will they do a scan on you during this cycle? It seems like everywhere does it slightly differently!

@beth1311 hope you’re getting on ok x did you decide to leave it until next cycle to start the clomid?

@Riviera90 I had the option of both but I had researched previously and said I would prefer Letrozole. It has less side effects than Clomid and also doesn't affect uterus lining, etc. And no I'm not being monitored! Just a day 21 blood test that I need to book myself. Tbh paying for all the scans would have been so pricey so I was fine with not being scanned. I'm on the lowest dose of Letrozole, and I'm not at risk of over responding as I have lazy ovaries anyway, lol.

I'm on CD16 today and I think I ovulated on CD13! Booked my progesterone blood test for next week to check if I did ovulate.

How did your cycle go? Did you end up going ahead with the 5 follicles?

So, my first Letrozole cycle failed :(
My progesterone came back at 29nmol on 7dpo. Higher than my usual numbers but still not that high. I'm 12dpo today with BFNs and expecting my period today or tomorrow.

Hope your Clomid cycles have gone better ladies @Riviera90 @beth1311 xx

Hi @acaciabluebell, hope you are doing ok x

Sorry, I took a bit of a break from MN as I don’t think it was helping me to think very positively!

I’m sorry your first Letrozole cycle didn’t work, my Clomid cycle didn’t either. I did go back for a second scan the week after and only two follicles carried on growing so was hoping for twins but it wasn’t to be.

Your progesterone level does seem to be moving in the right direction so it sounds promising! Are you going to stay at the same dose of letrozole this cycle or try upping it? My doctor said he wants progesterone to be above 30nmol so you are right on the cusp x

My progesterone came back at 77nmol in the clomid cycle 😮 but this didn’t make any sense to me or my doctor as my LP actually ended up being 1 day shorter than when I wasn’t on anything! We were both really confused but he’s decided to give me progesterone tablets to take from ovulation to and see if that makes my LP longer. I’m about 2DPO today so we shall see!

As I left the doctor said ‘2022 WILL be your year’…I really hope that’s the case for both of us!! Xx

@Riviera90 Omg 77 is so high! Was that just from the Clomid or were you also taking progesterone pessaries last cycle? That's really incredible. I hope my numbers increase... I know the 29 is very close to 30 but I just don't think it's high enough for pregnancy as I keep seeing people with much higher numbers. But maybe I shouldn't be comparing myself to others :/ On the plus side, I did have a nice 14 day luteal phase from the Letrozole without any spotting. I normally have a 10-11 day LP including one full day of spotting.

I'm CD9 now so just about to start testing for this cycle. I took 5mg Letrozole (so double the dosage) from CD 3-7. Did you stick with the same dosage this cycle round?

P.s I had really bad ovulation pain last cycle so genuinely scared of what ovulation is going to be like on double the dosage 😬😬

P.p.s Happy new year everyone!!

Happy new year!!

@acaciabluebell 77nmol was just on the clomid! So should be even higher this month but I’m not booked in for a blood test to check.

I found it quite hard to get a straight answer on what’s the ‘right’ progesterone level when looking online and I think they say it’s not always that accurate as it fluctuates for everyone in their LP x but if you had a 14 day LP with no spotting already that’s amazing!!! I’m no expert but I wouldn’t judge too much on the level as I had a 9 day LP with a level of 77 😂 will you book another blood test this month to see if yours has increased?

I stuck with the same dosage of clomid (50mg) and will be on that again if needed next month. He just didn’t want to risk the follicules being over stimulated if my dose was upped.

I hope your ovulation pain isn’t any worse this month! I’ve never actually had ovulation pain so feel very grateful for that. Is it similar to AF pains? Xx

@Riviera90 Yeah that honestly is strange that your LP was so short. Was the blood test taken on 7dpo? Crazy that progesterone could go from 77 to

@acaciabluebell I had the blood test on 6DPO but it still seems a big drop quickly and I started getting AF cramps the very next day…strange! Hopefully I’ll have a longer LP this time or just a BFP would be nice! Had a few more pregnancy announcements over the last week and just don’t understand why our time hasn’t come yet 😔

Oh wow that’s good! Did you get a peak OPK today?

Has the cramping been bad this time? The pain sounds pretty intense. I’ve always had pain around AF time but will only occasionally be so bad that I can’t move! I didn’t really want to go for a laparoscopy either but luckily the doctor said they would err on the side of caution with me as I’ve already had abdominal surgery. My sister did have one though and she said the surgery and recovery wasn’t too bad at all. Have they discussed your ovulation pain or a laparoscopy at any of your appointments?

@Riviera90 R.e ovulation I'm honestly not even sure because ever since my dark OPK on CD10 all my OPKs have got lighter... So now I don't know if CD10 was my peak or not because it wasn't that dark :/ But then I had really strong ovulation pains yesterday so I'm really confused. I think I'll keep testing for a while but it's annoying as I really want to time my blood test perfectly. I'm going to be so disappointed if I don't ovulate this month despite being on double the dose of Letrozole.

Recently I've been thinking about next steps after Letrozole and I think we might continue with private treatment. I'll give it 3 cycles of the Letrozole and after that I might discuss progesterone pessaries or using a trigger injection, or maybe even going forward and trying an IUI. Just something different I think. My husband is also starting to think about fertility treatment now as well, over the past 2 years he's been pretty lax about it all and saying "it'll happen when it happens" but last cycle he really thought I was pregnant and was really disappointed that I wasn't. So it's nice to have him invested in the process now a lot more.

R.e the laparoscopy, my doctor never mentioned it at all actually. They were just focussed on IVF once they saw our SA results because we have MFI. The waiting lists for lap is ridiculous, it's honestly like 1 year + on the NHS so I don't think I want to wait even longer than we are already waiting for IVF.

I 100% know how you feel about the pregnancy announcements, it just feels like an unattainable goal for me right now. Sometimes I just think why am I even bothering, maybe I should just give up and see if some miracle happens, as everyone keeps saying "when you stop trying, it happens, blah blah" which is annoying because I actually stopped tracking and everything for literally 9-10 months after my CP because I was sick of it all, and nothing happened, lol.

So my 2nd round of Letrozole failed, I don't think I even ovulated because my progesterone was only 16 although I had another 14 day luteal phase. Started my 3rd cycle but don't have much hope. I'm thinking of doing a mosie baby type insemination this month so I'll report back if its successful 🤣

I had my NHS appointment last week and it was not good. My consultant wasn't available, a random other Dr called me who didn't know anything about our case and didn't know anything about IVF criteria. She said she didn't know but she thinks we can't get referred until my partner is assessed by a urologist which could take another 12 months. Which is 100% not part of our CCG criteria might I add... So that thoroughly put a dampener on things. Not really sure what to do anymore, considering going private perhaps.

How are you @Riviera90 I hope your Clomid cycles have gone better than my Letrozole ones??

Hi @acaciabluebell!

I’m sorry last cycle didn’t work out 😓😓 I’m so confused about your progesterone! I haven’t had blood tests to check the levels the last couple of months but would be interested to know the level they are now. How much longer can you continue with the letrozole?

Please do report back on how the insemination goes! 😂

I would be so angry after that appointment!! I would definitely think about going private x in the meantime can you get back in touch with your normal consultant?

My last cycle didn’t work either 😞 I’ve been all over the place the last few weeks. We were meant to be getting married in December which we’d booked about 2 years ago so I thought I’d have a 1 year old by the time of the wedding 🙄 but someone else wanted our date so we had to make a decision last week! With covid, we’ve decided to put a hold on a date in October instead. I also got back in touch with my dermatologist last week because I went on accutane about 9 years ago and it was a miracle worker and I had clear skin all the way up until I came off the pill. But since then it’s just been getting worse again and I can’t keep up with the scarring and it’s making me so sad and self conscious. So he said he would prescribe it to me again but you 100% cannot get pregnant on it so I’d have to go on two forms of contraception.

It’s been a very very hard decision as I really don’t want to do it, but we’ve decided this is going to be our last shot until the end of the year. So I’ll either be giving birth in October or getting married! I just really need something to look forward to again and to start living so I’m going to leave it up to fate.

I had my scan last week and I had three good sized follicles so that’s good. Got a positive OPK this morning so now it’s just a case of wait and see for the next 2 weeks! Can guarantee this will feel like the longest two weeks of my life xx

Hey @acaciabluebell, hope you are ok?

How are you getting on this cycle?

I need your eyes! I POAS just now and I think I have a line?! But I feel like it must be an evap! I have literally had every single symptom I do every month - I’ve had cramping since 10DPO (currently on 13DPO), sore boobs that are getting less sore now, brown spotting, temp has gone down this morning.
But I just had the urge to test so it’s not even FMU. What do you think? X
I had blood tests on Thursday pre accutane which I should be getting the results of today so I’m scared to find out now if they’re positive or negative for HCG!

Omggggg @Riviera90 that's a clear line!!! Can you take a different test, a pink dye one like a FRER?

@acaciabluebell omg I’m in total shock I can’t stop shaking and I don’t know what to think 😭😭😭😭

What CD are you on? I praying for you that this is your month too!! X

OMG @Riviera90 I am ecstatic over the moon for you!!! Finally finally we have some good news after nearly 1 year of being on this thread together 😂❤️❤️❤️

What a crazy coincidence that this happened in the final last-chance attempt at TTC before your planned break...so crazy sometimes how our bodies work, I can't understand it!

So was this cycle another Clomid cycle? Did yo get scanned/progesterone tested etc? I am 7dpo today of my 3rd Letrozole cycle. I'll find out if this cycle worked in probably 3-4 days 😳

Thank you, it’s madness!! Never ever ever thought this day would come!

I know! My fiancé is convinced that’s why it happened! I’d gone into full on wedding and honeymoon planning mode! But I still refuse to believe the ‘relax and it will happen’ myth 😂I’ve literally tried every trying and not trying method over the last 2 1/2 years + and I think clomid/ progesterone boost was the key for me!

Yes it was! I had a scan just before ovulation and there were 3 follicles!! So hopefully it’s only a singleton or twins no triplets in there 😂 no progesterone test though. Have you this time?

I have every single finger and toe crossed for you and that it’s third time lucky for both of us!! Would be so amazing if we could carry on on the pregnancy threads together! And don’t give up hope because I was 100000% convinced this morning and the last few days that I was starting my period today or tomorrow x I only tested before putting the wedding deposit down! Think my due date will be 3 days after it was meant to happen 🤣 please keep me updated!! And thank you being here with me for all this time ❤️