Start of fertility testing

[Peonies94]

Anyone else at the start of fertility testing? I’ve had my first bloods and had husband is waiting for his SA. My bloods weren’t done on any particular day of the cycle, and I have no idea what rhey were looking for. I phoned for results and have been told the gp hasn’t looked at them yet, but there’s no ‘red’. I’m assuming they won’t be looking at ovulation, which I am pretty certain I’m not ovulating, as I’m only having around 3 periods a month. Currently 3 months since last period. If anyone else is around the same place in the process or could help me with what they may be testing, that would be really helpful! Thank you

@Peonies94 yes actual readings with a normal band or a 'should be above band'. What did you DH get? X

@Peonies94 The appointment is at the hospital, just says Outpatient clinic, Infertility, so your guess is as good as mine! Lol. I assume this will take the place of what would normally be a GP discussion and the initial referral for bloods etc based on what everyone else seems to be doing for early investigations.

@FlyOnTheWall89 yeah pretty much the same now we’ve looked at it, I saw some photos on here and if was all table like forms. We just had a sheet that had all random letters typed in between, we’ve worked it out now! @Aqualou ahh okay! It’s crazy how everything is so different. I haven’t met with my gp yet, she just listened to what I said and replied ‘pick your blood form up tomorrow’ and then when I had results I was just told ‘All normal, scan next’ basically with no other info!

@FlyOnTheWall89 were there certain results which were not great, or was it just generally? Ours was mostly fine, however morphology was lower. This seems like one of the most important. I’ve ordered some supplements to try and improve results!

@xoJellyBean have you started on clomid yet?

@Peonies94 morphology was very low and sorry count not great either. Morphology is a tricky one because you can get pregnant without good morphology results - many won't know they have poor morphology until they test. There is also lots of research about if you have high count, it sort of voids a slightly low morphology %. So in summary, I don't think it's the worst one to be low in. Which supplements did you go for? X

@FlyOnTheWall89 we got the Pregnacare his and hers we did! Going to try that for now! It includes zinc which I’ve read is good for the morphology? His other results seemed good so hopefully it isn’t too much of an issue anyways 🤞!

Does anyone know if an ultrasound scan will be able to tell me if I ovulated? Even if it’s 2 weeks after ovulation occurred? I had a peak last week and I’ve been treating this as my TWW, however I’m not sure so I’m continuing to dtd, but it is exhausting! Would be useful to know if what I thought were symptoms were, so I could not continue dtd on my super long cycles every other day! My appointment is next week and my predicted ovulation day will be 2 weeks from that, I wondered if they’d be able to confirm? Thanks

@Peonies94
Please don't take this as a fact, because I'm not an expert. I know they can see follicles in ultrasound scans, as with some drugs to help the ovums grow they will scan you to see how many are likely to ovulate, so you know if there are 3 ready and waiting and can make the decision if you want to risk that or not. But if I'm not mistaken I don't think they can tell after ovulation happened

@Omgdnswv ahh okay! Thank you! I was hoping I’d know! Thank you for that though! I appreciate the help and I’ll ask them when I am there anyways!☺️ If I had had my scan when initially planned It would have been perfect timing! 3 days before peak OPK! However, this was cancelled due to covid!

@Peonies94 I believe like @Omgdnswv said, they can see your follicles growing (I have a follicle scan this week to check if I'm ready to ovulate) I'll be given a blood test in a couple of weeks to check if I've ovulated. Don't think a scan can tell if it's happened

@xoJellyBean good luck! That’s a shame, if I had had my other scan I may have had a better idea! Thanks for that though! Hopefully I’ll be give further tests following this to check that out! Due to my super long cycles I’m not totally sure I’m ovulating!

Hi all :) those of you who have had appointments with sub fertility clinic through the NHS please can you tell me how long you waited in between your referral and finding out your appointment date? I'm sooo impatient!

@Endogal hello! I haven’t been referred yet so can’t help! I’ve just had the initial tests (bloods/scan) Hopefully someone will be able to answer soon!

@Endogal where are you based? I'm N Ireland - was referred on March 2021 and no appointment yet 🙃 I ended up going private. I hope it's quicker for you!

What kind of things have you guys tried to help with fertility?

I had my scan today and my uterine lining is 6.9mm. the last two scans I only had 4mm so that's quite a change (wondering if that means I will ovulate this time, but the ultrasound doctor couldn't tell). I've now ordered more Lady's Mantle Tea, as I've started drinking that about a month ago cause it's supposed to help "strengthen the uterus".
Then I was wondering if it was maybe the agnus castus that my gynecologist prescribed me when I was in germany. It's supposed to take about 3 months for it to show any effect, I had 100 pills and when I ran out I didn't bother figuring out if you could get it in the UK because it didn't seem to have made my periods regular. All the ones I found online had a dosage of at least ten times what mine had so I didn't order any, but came across Inosito (myo and D-Chiro) which I read about so much but it was always something doctors gave their patients so I just assumed it was prescription. I ordered it now but am thinking, if I had actually bothered to look and gotten it maybe 3 months ago, would I have be able to have normal periods again already? I guess I'll have to wait and see what it does when I start taking it.

@Omgdnswv irregular periods are so hard to work with aren’t they! I’ve tried a fertility diet and just taken conception his and hers (obviously the hers and DH the his) but not tried much else!

I hope you ladies don’t mind me joining this thread but I am in the same situation and it’s interesting to read other peoples experiences.

I thought it worth mentioning @Omgdnswv I have recently started taking inositol in powder form from my protein as I read about it online. I haven’t had a pco or pcos formal diagnosis yet as waiting for fertility referral but it was mentioned to me that I looked like I had a mild case on one side from a US. I can’t speak for fertility help but the inositol seemed to help me in the first month of taking it, AF was right in time and usually she’s days / weeks late. I don’t think it has any major side effects from what I’ve read so maybe give it a go.

Best of luck on your journeys!

@Loulou2202 thank you for sharing your experience with inositol, from what I've read online it seems very promising and the reviews on the one I bought almost call it a miracle cure to irregular periods and other PCO complaints (fingers crossed it might help with my acne too, I used to have amazing skin but for the past years my face has been constantly blotchy)

@Endogal I've had my referral through fairly quickly - initial referral from my GP was end Oct 21, letter in Feb, with initial appointment booked with Sub Fertility for 11th March. I'm in Kent.

However, I've had no testing at all with my GP, not even a real conversation, so I think my case probably isn't comparable elsewhere!

Hi everyone, hope you don’t mind if I join.

@Endogal in response to your question about NHS waiting, my wait has been pretty long but not things are moving they do seem to be moving pretty quickly.

Me and my husband have been TTC just over 2.5 years. Will be 3 in July this year.

Went to doctor at 12 month mark, told to go back in a year cause they can’t do anything until 2 years have passed.

Went back after 2 years, had day 2-3 bloods and day 21 bloods. DH got paperwork for SA.

Day 21 bloods fine - they were taken end of August time. Ive not been given numbers but show I’m ovulating. Was pretty sure about that anyway as regular periods, peaks every month etc

Day 2 bloods were a bit of a nightmare. Taken around September time. First lot of bloods did show borderline thyroid issues and high prolactin levels. Another blood test was issued but I had to wait about 12 weeks from first set of bloods which added time.

Second set of day 2 bloods, thyroid was okay but prolactin still high. Doctor not sure what to do as not high enough to suggest tumour. He wrote to endocrinologist to see if they wanted to see me. This was done early December.

By Jan I chased docs, endocrinologist confirmed that cause day 21 bloods were good not an issue and they did not want me referred. Was told then that needed STD swab before referral could be sent. Got that done mid January time - they said they would then refer they just needed result for referral.

DH SA is fine as far as we are aware. They wouldn’t tell me, but basically said if they hadn’t contacted DH (they hadn’t) it’s because there’s nothing wrong.

This week got an appointment with fertility clinic at derby royal. That is for 14th March.

All in all, it’s taken forever to get to this point, but by Jan docs had everything they needed and referral appointment seems to have come fairly quickly.

The appointment is for me and DH - im assuming they’ll arrange a scan, maybe Check if tubes are blocked etc before anything else. Realistically, based on time we have been TTC we’re going down an IVF route so I’m hoping that will happen sooner rather than later.

In those 2.5 years I’ve never had a BFP do something clearly isn’t working!

Thank you guys! Looks like quite a range of experiences thank you for sharing! The GP said to call in 6 weeks if I haven't heard anything. Luckily I've basically already had every other test under the sun so from what I can gather it will just be my husbands SA and the tubes test that needs doing! When did they take peoples partners details for those of you who have been? My GP didn't mention anything about it so I just sort of assumed I'd bring him along!

I've basically recreated the conceive plus ovulation support tablets before they took the d chiro inositol out (as the reviews were less good after and from what I've read the ratio between myo inositol and that is super important?) so I take my inositol complex, vitamin D, folic acid and metformin on a morning then on an evening more inositol, coenzyme q10 (supposedly increases egg quality) and ginger root extract (suppose reduces inflammation)! It could all be a load of rubbish but it makes me feel better feeling like I'm doing SOMETHING!

@Endogal I’m taking almost the same in supplements as you , except metamorfin and Inositol intake is in powder form. I had a mmc sadly in Jan 2021 and been trying all sorts ever since.

Iv just had my long awaited first fertility appointment cancelled by text , it was supposed to be tomorrow and Iv waited almost 5 months for it so I’m a bit gutted. I wanted to ask for a HSG as it’s the only test I haven’t had and Iv convinced myself Iv got blocked tubes and I feel like I can’t move forward until I know one way or the other.

Fingers crossed for your appointment in March !

@Omgdnswv, I didn’t take it as regularly this month as I did the 1st ( just other stuff going on) but I am suffering with my skin this month so I am back on it properly now.

@endogal
Did your GP say anything about your Vitamin D levels? Any pregnancy book and I read said to go for a pre-conception checkup to check your blood levels and see if you need any supplements or vaccine boosters. When I told my GP that she said is was nonsense. My Gynecologist in Germany checked my Immunities (found out I had no antibodies against toxoplasmosis or cytomegaly, but there's no vaccine for those so...just be aware of risk situations) but she didn't check any vitamin or mineral levels (forgot to ask).

Had the results for my partners SA today, the doctor said they don't all know where to swim to, so they want a repeat test. On the paper, there are several other things where he is below the minimum Healthy value, but then again he is 45 already, so we didn't expect a perfect score. I still think my 70 day cycles and skipped ovulations are the main reason we haven't been successful yet. Will see what my GP says to it when I can call about my latest scan results

Oh @loulou2202 I am so sorry to hear that, how disappointing I hope you get the appointment rearranged soon! By text too seems so insensitive, I feel like these things can often just be treated like any other medical appointment without realising the heartbreak that has happened to even get to that point! Hopefully it's not blocked tubes though, but it'll be good to have the test to put your mind at rest!

@omgdnswv I take vit D generally to try and counteract seasonal affective disorder as I barely get a sniff of daylight, it wasn't something specifically for TTC! But I know what you mean about it being conflicting to what you read online, my Dr's preconception advice was pretty much take folic acid and self refer once you're pregnant! Sorry to hear about your husbands sperm analysis, but I suppose you only need one of each, and I can see what you mean about being less worried about sperm as its easier to have one good sperm out of millions than it is to magic up an egg if you're not ovulating! My last cycles were 80, 140 and 150 days so totally relate... Currenly on day 60 and feeling some twinges and have spotting so I'm praying the metformin and supplements may be doing SOMETHING!