Weight loss for IVF 2021/2022

[WeightlossKin]

I need to lose three stone to qualify for IVF. I've got one to lose for my referral and two more after that for treatment.
Creating this for myself and for others who might want to buddy up!

How is everyone getting on? I am on second cycle of letrozole and if unsuccessful we have decided we do not want to waste any time and will move onto IVF next. Looking at the IVF package for unlimited cycles in 2 years and 100% refund if unsuccessful

@Lauralozzle I hope you can get a zero % loan from somewhere! It's so bloody stressful. I have no idea of actual costs as I don't want to looking until I reach my end of March deadline.

Does anyone know how that Gaia insurance thing works? Curious to know but can't figure out what the point of it is?

@Hedgehugs fingers crossed this letrozole round works for you. How are you finding it? I've not heard of the unlimited cycles thing that sounds interesting. How much is that? Does everywhere do it? 😂 Please have all the answers because it feels so overwhelming to figure out!!

Hi all,

Finally after 55 days Aunt Flo turned up! I think alot of it had to do with stress from job hunting etc.

Hopefully this month will be better 😣 I had my doctor appointment and nothing was really new was discussed. Apparently they can't find blood results from my day 21, I had to tell her what my results were and she couldn't find the SA that my husband had done last year on the system. 🙄

Again I was told I need my bmi under 35, so I have 1st to go and will have another appointment with the doctor 🙄 which they said was going to be around April/June, don't know why I cant contact them to advise them once I get to the specific weight and then can start letrozole 🙄

Just feel like it's taking ages with the nhs 😑 I think once I'm on letrozole and dosage is correct. I think we will try for 3/4months and that's it and then go to ivf privately (don't qualify for funding 'too old' 36yrs 🤣🙄)

Just got to get the weight off 😑

Hope everyone else is doing okay? Xxx

Hi @MrsBiddy glad your AF turned up! Stress definitely has a lot to answer for with periods and weight loss.

Frustrating they couldn't find your results 🙄🤦 how does 1stone weight loss goal feel? Do you think it's achievable by June?

I had set myself a final deadline of end of march but then went on a big expensive break away and stalled. I'm extending my deadline by two weeks. So if in the middle of April I'm no closer, we're going to go private and I'll hopefully be eligible to egg donating/sharing to bring down the costs but also will feel nice to do something positive for someone else 😊
In my head I know I'm not going to be at my goal by the middle of April so idk why I'm bothering. I've got 13 pounds to lose. It's just not possible for my body in four weeks.

@MrsBiddy It’s good AF eventually came! You’re right about everything taking ages on the NHS. It’s a bit of a nightmare. You’ll get there with the weight.

@WeightlossKin a big expensive break away sounds amazing 🤩 You’re doing so well if you’ve only got 13 lbs to lose! egg sharing sounds good and should reduce the price a little bit!!

I’m the heaviest I’ve been. Diet has not been good. I think I was more upset about the failed cycle than I realised. So, trying to at least get back to where I was. Im feeling uncomfortable with it, to be honest.

We’ve had extra tests this week, a sperm oxidative stress test. We have stressed sperm! It’s high enough to indicate the likelihood of DNA damage, so I’m approaching this as if we’ve had the DNA fragmentation test.

We’re both on proxeed. DH has to have been taking it for 3 months before we start again. Next round is looking like June/July time. Will be using AOA for better fertilisation and zymot chip.

DH has to clean up his diet, which will actually make things easier so… some progress but more waiting!

We’ve booked a short city break to Munich so looking forward to that!!

Thanks @Lauralozzle if I was outside looking in I'd tell myself I'm doing well too. However, I know I've only lost a stone since the end of November. And I might never lose this stone. I'm trying but I'm really disheartened.

I think it's understandable that it's hit you hard and makes sense to me that initially you try to bounce back from it but the real feelings do creep in - as with any grief, I think it's a bit of denial of the impact at first. And understandable to have gained some weight as a result of sudden change in diet and stress and heartbreak. Just be kind to yourself as you go along. Hopefully there's less need for an intense weight loss this time?

That sounds like a productive step to have taken. I don't know anything about DNA fragmentation. Does proxeed help with that I assume? June/July will be here before you know it honestly.

Munich sounds lovely! A much needed break for you both to reset.

@WeightlossKin Yes, proxeed is meant to help with DNA frag. We’ll see. I’m hopeful.

I know June/July will be here sooner rather than later. It’s hard having to wait, but it’s for the best. No point cycling before the 3 months of the worlds most expensive supplements lol 😂

On a different note, I’ve managed 10 of my 5 a day today! Hopefully I can keep it up!

Ah it's so expensive isn't it?? My husband is on Impryl and we've done some sperm banking with the clinic (paid privately for that) and it did seem to have improved things! £50 per box per month 🤦 so painful but worth it.

Well done on your 10/5 a day! Think of all that goodness getting to your ovaries and uterus 😁

I'm feeling more positive about life in general today. I hate how up and down my emotions are. Did you feel more emotionally fragile on stims? I'm going to have to wrap myself in bubble wrap and hide under the bed when I get there, I genuinely can't handle my emotions now!

@WeightlossKin I was fine emotionally throughout stims. I had some physical symptoms but that was it. The emotional toll started after hearing about our fertilisation rate.

That’s good the impryl improved things. Here’s hoping the proxeed does the same! They work out about £75 a month for him and £35 a month for me. Not cheap at all!

@Lauralozzle it's good that you didn't immediately go emotionally wild when on stims. I can't imagine how hard having negative news about fertilisation etc. Is. One obstacle after another. I frequently hear people say that the first IVF round is a bit of a tester/unknown and can be helpful in highlighting potential problems. Which sucks.

Hopefully the proxeed helps all around! I can't believe it's so much more expensive than Impryl (which I really thought was bad enough!). I've seen some people get advised to take both because they (supposedly) tackle slightly different things. Gosh. Probably nothing compared to the grand scheme of IVF costs though.

How many days are you going to Munich for?
I love being away - nothing you can do about babies, IVF and weight loss when you're away. I've recently been away and could have done with just staying there.

@WeightlossKin We’re going away for 4 nights. So a bit of a long weekend. I can’t wait. I finish work next Wednesday (only doing half day), fly out Thursday and we’re back on the Monday. Back at work on the Tuesday but only a 3 day week because of Good Friday!

We haven’t had a break away anywhere for well over a year. It’s definitely needed. We didn’t have a holiday last year because we were waiting for appointments, not sure when they’d be etc.

We have at least two breaks this year pencilled in and I think we need semi regular breaks with all this infertility stuff going on.

@Lauralozzle so close to your break away now! 😊 A lovely long weekend. Even if you're knackered when you go back to work, it'll be worth it for the adventure and fun you'll have. Regular breaks sounds like a great idea. So good for you, your relationship, your mental health and just life in general! It's hard when there are lots of appointments etc. At least the next time round you'll know what to expect from appointments and hopefully that allows you to do more living around it!

Just an update from me. Got so close to target and phoned fertility clinic to get weighed hopefully in four weeks time. Turns out they have changed the BMI limit and I need to lose another stone. After everything. So. We're going private and I'm going to eat carbs for the rest of my life (in moderation). Hope everyone is doing ok.
I'll still be trying to lose weight and keep healthy but if I lose one pound a month I won't feel like jumping off a bridge.

@WeightlossKin Urgh that’s so irritating!

At least with private you won’t have the same weight issues you have with the NHS. Carbs are delicious, you should definitely eat them for the rest of your life!

Have you found a private clinic yet?

@Lauralozzle yes I hope so. I'd quite like to do egg sharing as with PCOS I think I'm more likely to get lots of eggs? But I bet there's a BMI limit for that so not holding out hope for that. NHS clinic also said I'd have to maintain the BMI and if at any point I go over during treatment it gets cancelled. Which is nuts and too much pressure.

Hopefully we'll be going with LWC in Cardiff. Our local clinic acts as a satellite clinic for them so hopefully it won't be too often travelling the hour to and from Cardiff. Just waiting to hear back from them to book an initial consultation.

How are things with you?

@WeightlossKin It really does sound like private will be less stress. You gain through bloating during stims, the idea that they keep checking your bmi and just cancel if you go over is so harsh! What if it’s water retention because you ate too much salt the day before!

I’m ok, sort of. We’ve paid for a multicycle, paid for AOA and zymot. I had a blood test end of last month for my thyroid, which is too high again so I have a GP app on Monday for hopefully another increase.

We’re hoping to start in June, but it all really depends on my thyroid. There’s no point cycling until that’s down to an acceptable level. It was 6.10 end of last month, so quite a way from 2.5 or lower than it needs to be.

It's mental isn't it? And so much pressure. IVF is going to be hard enough without crying about my weight every other day. Now I'm super nervous about cost etc. But will try to not have a breakdown before actually getting some real info. I've no idea how quickly we can get started, if they'll make us have tests redone, if it's going to be even more stressful than losing weight (I hope not!).

Oh I don't know what AOA and zymot is, I'll have to took them up! How frustrating for you that your thyroid levels are still playing up. I had no idea they were so tricky to bring down. I hope your GP is helpful in sorting it out asap 🤞🤞 is there anything else you can do to help your thyroid? Not sure if alternative things help like acupuncture?

@WeightlossKin I don’t think anything apart from an adequate dose of levothyroxine will help the levels. I’m having a private blood test towards the end of this month that will look further at whether it’s down to an autoimmune issue to see if that’s something and check my vitamin levels as that can also cause an issue with symptoms.

AOA is a calcium solution thing that’s meant to help with fertilisation - they put the eggs in it. Zymot is a sperm selection tool that will hopefully help. We have stressed sperm, and likely a DNA fragmentation issue.

We’ve had to get a loan for our multi cycle. If these two rounds we’ve paid for don’t work, I don’t think there’s much else we could do.

@WeightlossKin that is frustrating. Are they not following the 30 bmi guidelines? It might be worth checking if you lose your free cycle if you do a private one first. In our area you do. I know you can be lucky first cycle so it might only take your private one, but if not, would it be worth jumping through the NHS hoops to make sure you get as many cycles as possible?

@Lauralozzle it's frustrating that you're having to get a blood test privately. I guess thyroid levels for day to day life are more lenient than the levels needed for ivf? It sounds like you've got a lot in place and planned to give yourself the best chance of things working. I guess we'll probably need to take out a loan too 🫤 it isn't a great feeling starting a family in loads of debt is it? But it'll be worth it 🤞

@caffelattetogo their view is that people get under BMI 30 i.e. to 29.9 and then go back up to 30+ as soon as treatment starts so technically breaking the BMI rules so they're forcing people to get closer to a BMI of 29 to prevent them from breaking the rules during treatment. We do lose an NHS round. But I have been losing weight for over two years now. I can't handle the mental torture of the goal post moving after so much effort. And actually I think I can't handle being scrutinised based on a make believe measure of health throughout a stressful treatment process for the basis of funding control. It'd take me best part of a year to lose another stone.

I'm at a point with my relationship with food and my BMI/body as a result of this, that if I'm faced with eating off plan for a day or not eating anything, I'll have to eat nothing because I can't bring myself to eat off plan. I can't keep doing that to myself. I keep jumping between feeling like a failure and feeling really angry about our decision though my husband is much happier.

I don't understand the process of going privately. Are we g

• to have to have all of our tests redone?? 😵‍💫

@WeightlossKin It depends on how old they are I think. I’d ask for a copy of your notes with tests you’ve had so far. I’d have thought they might be able to use them. I’d maybe contact your clinic if choice and ask if any of your previous tests/results can be used rather than having new ones.

I know if I had moved clinic I would have had to have AFC scan, consultation and AMH tested again. DH would have had to have another SA. But the stuff like Hycosy etc wouldn’t have to be done again.

I guess I'll need another scan and an AMH test as I've never had that.
I need to get a copy of my test results I've had previously to give to them - not sure the best way to go about that.
We've got our first appointments lined up for next week, my scan and blood test and then initial consultation. I feel sick about it. I guess that's normal 🫣

@WeightlossKin have you looked to see if it's worth buying a package that includes your tests, as well as an option for multiple cycles? A single cycle is so expensive, particularly with all the tests added in, it might be worth looking at a bundled package?