Help needed to choose CRGH doctor

[kayea]

Hi all
First time posting here and would appreciate the steer from anyone who has experience of the CRGH. I am having to move into self-funded IVF treatment after exhausting my eligibility with the NHS (UCLH). I am now intending to book my first appointment with the CRGH and have been told to select my preferred docotor(s) to see what their wait times are. I have seen threads on mumsnet with doctor recommendations but would like to probe on more recent experiences. Could anyone please advise me on doctors you feel you had a good experience with? I have had two failed transfers under the NHS and need to start the process all over again. Any comments will be appreciated!

When I was waiting for NHS referral, I was told a ridiculous wait time so saw Dr Chronopoulou for an initial consultation but then I got my NHS appointment through. I really liked her and was very impressed with how she handled herself and if my NHS hadn’t come through, I would have continued with her. Someone I know was with Mr Saab and said he was amazing. Hope that helps.

@KG1244 thanks for your helpful input. I picked a few names and spoke to the admin team. It turns out that Dr Ozturk is available so I am having a consultation next week. I will keep the names you mentioned in mind in case.

We are with Dr Ozturk! He’s always been lovely and he seems to care about all the finer details. We had success on our first round with him at CRGH (5th in total) and are now back for another go…

@Giantpandabear such lovely news and very encouraging to hear. Thanks for sharing. Wishing you all the best with round two!

@kayea
Just wondering how you got on? I'm about to start soon so I'm keen to hear others experiences.

Hi@ThesisthenaViva. I've chosen Mr Ozkan Ozturk. I had one consultation with him at the start of the process and he was very thorough. At this stage, I'm going through the egg stimulation phase so there are lots of regular visits for scans/bloods. Hopefully everything goes smoothly. Wishing you all the best!

We had a horrible experience with Ozturk and had to switch. He was not attentive to our issues at all and wanted to go with whatever standard protocol is available. Would say one thing, then claim he didn't say it and we didn't understand.

@blimpy2 Would you mind saying which doctor you switched to and whether you were happy with them?

@kayea Did you go with Ozturk ? How was the experience
I was with Dr seshadri earlier, since she left I had to chose another consultant. Two failed FETs so far. Need some one who is more thorough so that they find whats causing failed implantation.

@rainbowvanilla

Yes, I went with Mr Ozturk. I’ve had to have a few rounds of egg collection to get enough embryos to send off for PGT. We had two failed rounds via the NHS so Mr Ozturk wanted to investigate whether the chromosomal factor was an issue.

The ratio of embryos that came out chromosomally normal vs those that didn’t was quite high and so Mr Ozturk recommended a few tests before my next FET to further investigate why the prior two rounds failed. I’ve recently had these tests: NK cells, EMMA & ALICE, and decidualization.

With all the results in arm, the doctor has prepared quite a specific protocol of meds. I’m now on downregulation to prepare for FET in August. This will be our first FET as CRGH patients rather than via the NHS.

I found Mr Ozturk very thorough and very respectful. He thinks of all eventualities and puts plans in place to pre-empt them. Let me know if you need any other info.

@kayea thank you very much :)

Did you get any meaningful outcomes from NK cells , era Emma Alice ? I have been asked to do them as well ? I am dreading the cost and skipped the Emma Alice. Just did the NK cells 😁 Not sure if they are just adding unnecessary add ons or if it's really required

Dr O suggested we do those tests after a failed embryo transfer with PGS normal embryo last year (following successful implantation previously). I have a medical background and looked into the evidence base and didn’t feel that impressed. We decided to go ahead with next transfer without doing them - thinking we’d revisit if that was unsuccessful.

I had had elevated thyroid antibodies in the past which is associated with lower implantation rates. I was offered steroids but in the end we decided on a gluten free diet. Antibodies were normal when retested and the next embryo transfer was a success.

I don’t know if that helps. It’s such a personal decision - we knew that I had had a successful implantation in the past so I think that helped me feel more confident in declining the tests.

And it possible the tests will prove to be helpful in the future but based on what’s currently published, it felt to me like they are more experimental at the moment.

@rainbowvanilla - you’re right, the costs are eye watering, but having had two failed prior rounds, I felt compelled to proceed. The NK test showed my cells are “biologically active” but not in the region to worry about. Dr O has recommended lipid infusions for this, prior and post embryo transfer.

The Decidualization test showed worrying outcomes – all the scores were out of range, either too high or too low. Dr O is away at the moment and so I requested to find out out the results from a different doctor. The doctor who gave me the results told me that the usual protocol for poor Decidualization scores is to go on the prednisolone steroid but said it's best that I continue the conversation with my own doctor. I’m meant to be speaking with Dr O later this week when he’s back in, but I am very worried about what I’ve read about prednisolone so far and am very reluctant to go on it. @Giantpandabear is the steroid you mentioned prednisolone? I was going to speak to Dr O about what I can do to avoid having to take them. You mention a gluten free diet. I'm wondering if I should be considering this.

@kayea Yes it was prednisolone. I didn’t do the decidualisation test though and no idea whether there’s any link with gluten. But definitely worth asking Dr O if there’s other lifestyle modifications you can try instead of steroids. He didn’t volunteer the gluten-free diet but when I suggested it he was supportive, especially when my antibody levels were normal on next testing.

it sounds like you might have a few embryos so I guess you don’t have to throw everything at it this time. Though obviously each attempt is expensive and takes its toll emotionally… wishing you all the best of luck 🤞🏻

@Giantpandabear it's good to have your perspective and thanks for your good wishes. I'll be speaking wth Dr O about my concerns this week and hopefully I can avoid prednisolone if possible.