Infertility investigations/IVF in Scotland - thread 3

[itsmschanandlerbong]

A thread for those of us undergoing infertility investigations or treatment in Scotland.

Thread 1 - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/infertility/3742246-infertility-investigations-ivf-in-scotland

Thread 2 - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/infertility/4138992-Infertility-investigations-IVF-in-Scotland-thread-2

@Hopewishprayer I think there is a place in Manchester some ladies choose to use who specialise in lower AMH'ers as well

@2mumlife I'm crossing everythinig for yous for that pink line to stay and darken!! That's awesome news!

@Hopewishprayer Sorry my AMH is quite high, but low AMH doesn't mean you're out of options at all! Speak to your doctor to see what he says, hopefully somebody else will have experience. Also, high AMH is not a guarantee of IVF working, at all! Sometimes with high AMH lots of eggs get produced for IVF but few are mature, so wait and see what the doctor says :) Good luck!

Also @Hopewishprayer, I have quite a high AMH/no PCOS, in theory I should have produced lots of eggs with minimal stims and here we are, "only" got 8 at egg collection. I've then heard of people with low AMH get lots of eggs, so as @2mumlife says it's a bit of a lotery to be fair, don't loose hope because of low AMH!

@2mumlife eek exciting! Cautious congratulations to you!

@hopewishprayer I also have low AMH (2.2, age 39). It is by no means ideal but it's still worth trying ivf as you just don't know, everyone responds differently. I'm doing mild ivf with Create in Manchester, although I'm just at the early stages at the moment so I can't really give a full review of my experience yet! Have you had a follicle scan, how many follicles did you have? Any other issues identified with you or your partner?

Congratulations @2mumlife!

So pleased for you @2mumlife, hoping your good news is confirmed on Monday

@2mumlife - Congratulations to you!

@Hopewishprayer like @Kitekat81 I also have low AMH (1.3pmol at 37, now 38 and not re- tested)

Low AMH is a low blow when on this journey but has no impact on our ability to become pregnant which I think we tend to forgot when we focus on IVF. If you ovulate, you produce an egg each month and that means you can still fall pregnant if you are able to try naturally.

It essentially means that when are pushed to do IVF we are unlikely to produce large numbers of eggs which is the whole point of IVF. That said it does not mean IVF won't be successful either it just makes it more challenging. It only takes 1 egg and I have seen success with worse stats than yours or mine so I remain focussed on the goal.

I am heading into cycle 2 after having a cancelled cycle due to poor response so no positives to offer currently but remaining hopeful. I am with GCRM and have completed a cycle with CREATE in Manchester. I am on the IVF list for NHS but waiting to reach the top which could be sometime!

@GemmTryTTC @Kitekat81 @Scirocco @ally99101 @Comiston34 Thank you! I'm really grateful we have plans with friends this weekend coming down from Aberdeen to give me a distraction and hopefully make days go quicker! I know its such early days still, but at least I can finally feel my body isn't a dud after all the unsuccessful attempts

Also @GemmTryTTC am I right in thinking today you're expecting your day 3 update? Fingers crossed that all those fertilised eggs are thriving little balls of cells!

@2mumlife tomorrow is our day 3 update 🤞 Can’t wait really, I just want Monday to come along to know the end results really… I guess I’ll have to be patient!

@GemmTryTTC Ah ok sorry, I will be keeping fingers crossed for tomorrow then!

Thanks ladies - that’s reassuring, I was worried that when I go for consultation next week I was going to be told ivf wouldn’t be possible. I’m 38 and also MF identified (I think will need to have surgical retrieval)
Hopefully after appointment next week will have more information on our situation and what next steps are. Hats off to all you ladies who are further along in the process - I’m already feeling anxious and impatient and I’m just at the start!

@Hopewishprayer You might be looking at ICSI. Good luck with appointment next week!

Yes I think so - thank you 😊

@Hopewishprayer - Who are you with? It's worth noting that the NHS does have a different viewpoint - they may agree to offer only one cycle to see how you respond. They will then decide if you are entitled to further cycles under NHS funding.

NHS is a little more one size fits all with their protocols which is why many of us move elsewhere with low amh to try different types of protocols - Mild/Natural modified/Flare. We can be a more challenging group of patients, with higher chance of multiple cancellations along the way before we get a good result but a calm and insightful clinician is worth their weight in gold, the NHS however tends to focus on easier won cases due to the cost implications. Which given it's NHS funded that does make sense if not entirely fair when you are the tricky case!

Our NHS consultant will review our private cycles before offering us our NHS cycles when I get to the top of the list. If we've retrieved less than 3 eggs I won't be offered any cycles using my own eggs but recommended to use donor eggs. It's tough. I like to think of this as my Plan C.

@Comiston34 I currently at monklands and expecting (hoping) to be referred to Glasgow Royal. That’s good to know thanks for the info, I am thinking of private first while on the NHS wait list to speed things up a bit.
When you mention donor eggs I was looking into that also as a plan C - I assumed this can only be done privately - do you know are there instances where nhs offer this option ?

Hi all.

Work has been crazy this week so I've not been on - wow I've missed so much.

@2mumlife Congrats - so exciting!
@GemmTryTTC - everything crossed for today.
@itsmschanandlerbong - How are you doing now?

@Hopewishprayer My amh is 0.3 - so very very low. We went ahead with IVF, only got 2 follicles and 1 egg but that egg made a 4AA blast. Unfortunately it didn't take but it shows that you can get a good quality embryo even with low amh. As others have said don't get too bogged down in that. There's nothing you can do about it and I focused on improving the quality of my eggs.

Thanks @Kamiros! Got the call a little bit ago, from the 7 fertilised 6 are growing good and one is a bit behind, which is very good news! Now just to wait until Monday to see how many are suitable for freezing, fingers crossed!!

@2mumlife congratulations! It's an amazing feeling ❤️

@Hopewishprayer best of luck for next week!

@GemmTryTTC that's great! Fingers crossed they all make it to day 6 🤞🏻🤞🏻

@Kamiros my tests are still very faint, I'm 12dp5dt now, I was hoping it would have darkened by now. I'm preparing myself for a chemical. I phoned the GP to see if I could get a blood test but they don't do them, so I phoned the clinic for advice, waiting on a call back. Clutching at straws thinking at least I can see a line still, albeit so faint.

Brilliant new @GemmTryTTC Reading all of this gets me impatient to start my next cycle.

@itsmschanandlerbong thanks a lot! 🤞 I have everything crossed for you. Let’s hope we have a good blastocyst update on Monday!
@Kamiros thanks! Do you know when you’re starting your next cycle? Good luck!

@itsmschanandlerbong Oh I really hope not, everything crossed for you.

@GemmTryttc So whenever I'm ready really. My last cycle raised my TSH levels, they were too high at transfer and I'm worried that had an impact. So now trying to work on suppressing my levels before I start again. I'll probably test levels just before transfer next time and freeze if need be. I went and paid for a full thyroid panel of bloods today so if they come back OK then we'll go on the next day 1. Who knows when that'll be though as my last cycle was only 14 days, the one before was 40.

@Kamiros right that’s tricky! Fingers crossed for good TSH results and a good cycle!!

Thank you @Kamiros @itsmschanandlerbong! I got myself in bit of a tizzy this morning as I tested again and both me and DP thought the line looked lighter, but actually now its dried out and things it doesn't look as different. Trying not to obsess over it now, when I know its super early and testing for really low levels of hcg - I've also wondered because the FRER picks up both hcg and hcg-h whether it's just the initial hcg-h has dropped a bit and hcg is still picking up.

@itsmschanandlerbong I've read so much about variability in hcg levels. Hopefully clinic will get you in for a scan soon

@GemmTryTTC That's fantastic they are all still going! It was my closer embryo (and one they weren't initially entirely sure had fertilised correctly) I had transfered this time and its the first one thats tried to stick!

@itsmschanandlerbong could you ask for a referral to EPAS (early pregnancy assessment service)? They've done serial bloods for me before.

@GemmTryTTC that's a great update!