Help regarding lead up to IVF

[a&p]

Hi, just hoping someone can give me some advice. Been trying to conceive for 4 and a half years and myself (32) and my boyfriend (42) have just recently been tested to find out why we can't get pregnant. All my tests came back fine but we've just found out that my bf has a low sperm count (5m) and low mobility (20%). We were told this over the phone when i phoned for my blood test results. We were told that there was only a slim chance of us getting pregnant naturally and we've been given an appointment to see my doctor on 8th November to discuss what happens now and to get the ball rolling with the IVF waiting list. What i want to know is - is that it for 2 years? Is there nothing else that can be done whilst we're waiting to get to the top of the list? I just can't bear the thought of doing nothing for 2 years

[nimble]

Hi A&P, really sorry to hear and I know how you are probably feeling at the moment. It is devasting to find out that you may not conceive naturally.

Is the appt in Nov with the Drs or hospital/clinic?
Alot depends on yr finances and if you are able to afford tmt yourself. I personally could not wait for 2 yrs (and we had the age factor too against us) and therefore we decided to pay for the tmt ourselves to get the ball rolling. We were fortunate that the consultant we saw in the hospital was also the same consultant we have in the clinic therefore we could self refer.

It still took us 9mnths to get our first appt with the clinic but once in, you can get on with the treatment as quickly or as slowly as you want.

When you see the Dr ask about the waiting lists as they may be different for each NHS area, but also ask about being referred to a clinic if you are able to pay for the tmt as you are likely to be able to start tmt alot earlier on.

Have a look on http://www.hfea.gov.uk/cps/rde/xchg/hfea - this will give you a list of all the places that you can get tmt. Another good site is http://www.infertilitynetworkuk.com/ as they talk about PCT funding.

Another good source of information is a book by Rita West and she gives advice on food and vitamins that help produce healthy swimmers for men.

My DH also had really bad results from the Drs too and after reading her book, I banned him from hot baths / saunas and got him taking an array of vitamins as well as limited drink before his tests at the clinic and guess what - his results were fantastic and we were put down as unexplained infertility. His contribution at EC was also really good too!!

I wish you all the luck with your appt in Nov, you have come to the best place to get advice or even to let of steam.

love nimble xx

[a&p]

Hi Nimble

Thanks for your reply. My appointment is with the hospital in Nov. I've been told by the nurse that the waiting list for IVF is 2 years which right now just feels like forever. We have discussed paying for one attempt (that's all we can afford at the moment as we're in the process of looking for a house as well) but i've no idea on what the cost is likely to be or if us going private will knock us to the back of the waiting list again. We've even considered a few attempts at IUI whilst we're waiting but from what i've read it doesn't seem too successful. We're even considering going abroad for IVF treatment as we've heard it's cheaper, but again i've no idea what that consists of - time away, cost etc. It's a minefield and right now my head is buzzing. I'm hoping once i talk to my consultant at the hospital things will become alot clearer.

We're going into town on Monday to get the vitamins he's been advised to take - multi, c, zinc (Are there any others?). I've already got him wearing looser clothing and taking cooler showers. I hope doing all this will show an improvement.

Thanks for the links, i'll take a look at them. And i'll do a search for the book you suggested.

Thanks again
Ang

[nimble]

Hi ang,

not surprised you head is in a spin!

just to give you an idea of costs ours were approx £2500 for IVF, plus approx £1100 for drugs then you have other costs such as admin fees so basically we are looking at £4000. They will never give you an extact amount because of the drugs but you will be able to get an idea of the actual tmt costs and i would allow a £1000 on top for drugs. Ours unfort shot up as my ovaries didn't respond well and therefore they increased my dosage which ended up being an extra £500!! They may also suggest that you go for ICSI due to yr bf sperm count which is a little more than IVF.

We were not offered IUI purely because of our age and they like you to go for atleast 4 cycles which they told us would take about 10-12mnths, therefore we would have lost a year, so we started straight on to IVF.

If, this cycle doesn't work, we are going to talk to the Drs about NHS funding as we were never offered it in the first place.

Other vitamins worth trying are : folic acid (yes for him!), selenium but generally all the normal types A, B6, B12 etc so a good pack of multi-vits will do.
The book is titled fertility & conception - she also has a website which i think is www.zitawest.co.uk but I'm sure if you put her name in the search engine it will find it.

good luck with your shopping tomorrow!

love nimble xx

[a&p]

I think we will seriously consider going private for 1 attempt at IVF if it costs around £4,000. Even if it ends up costing abit more it has to be worth a shot.

Once again thanks for your advice. I've no doubt i'll be back on here over the next months, years for more advice.

Ang xx