Uk ladies who have had nhs toxoplasmosis test. Help pls.

[orangeloo]

Hi ladies.

I'm 7wks pregnant today. I am worrying myself sick about toxoplasmosis.
I had med rare steak two weeks before an IVF transfer and then another 5 days after my transfer. It never even crossed my mind steak could be a problem.
About 5 days after first steak I had coldy symptoms for 2/3 days - after 2nd steak. A bit of sore throat.

I have spoken with MW and GP and they kind of told me not to worry about it but I actually didn't remember the first steak when I spoke to them.

I know the risk is small but it is there.
My worries over getting tested are the rate of false positives (more common in autoimmune patients which I am) and then having horrendous pregnancy with more worries and treatment that might actually not be necessary. I also rationalised that the risk of me passing this on as it was so early is less than 1%.

But I can't stop thinking about it so my question is this. How did the NHS test you for it. Did they just do IGG first then if that was positive test igm? Were they confident in the results they gave you and if you came back positive could they tell you how old the infection was?

I've read everything there is out there so really looking for ppl that have had this test on the nhs x

Bump

The chances are so low that you got anything from eating the steak that if it were me I would try and forget about it and not bother getting the test.

The only problem with toxo afaik is if the very first time you are exposed is during pregnancy. If you eat rare steaks regularly and always have done, then you have probably got pretty much 0% chance of a problem this time around.
I have 15+yrs experience working in a job where exposure to toxo is a much much higher risk than for the normal population (working with infected animals), and I tested toxo negative last year - so I have never been exposed in all of that time!
With kindness, you are WAY over thinking. Best of luck with your pregnancy.

my understanding is that its only an issue if you're first exposed during pregnancy so i doubt eating rare steak 2 weeks before getting pregnant will have any impact.

Thanks ladies the websites say it could be a problem up to 3 months beforehand 😬 surely there would be toxo babies everywhere if that were the case. I do suffer with anxiety, as you can probably tell.

I feel a little better but head is still going round in circles.

I know you’re asking about NHS testing but I got a private toxo test before getting pregnant. I was hoping I’d be immune for obvious reasons, and really thought I would be - I’ve eaten a lot of rare meat in my life! It came back negative which really surprised me for past and current infection (I got a result for both IGG and IGM).

Thanks @MissChanandlerBong90

feeling a tad better. More through the fact Theres only so much I can think about it. Just bumping in case there is anyone else out there who has been tested recently.

Hey - I’m in the exact same boat, just ate a rare steak and about to go for an IVF transfer. Really worrying as I didn’t know there could be a risk before looking it up on the off chance! Has everything been ok for you?

Do you own or have ever had cats? I think I read somewhere that the majority of cat owners have immunity from being exposed already. The danger is if you first get it during pregnancy but if you've had it before you'll have lifetime immunity.

I think I also heard that in France it's routine to test for toxo immunity because of the food culture. I wonder if that can be done on the NHS?

@MissChanandlerBong90 where did you get your private test? I am looking to get one as well. Do you know when is the best time to get one?

I am currently just 4 + 3 but had huge anxiety about toxo with my first. I'd like to see if I have antibodies to give me piece of mind.