The Trials & Tribulations of Trying to Conceive when its just not happening (12m+)

Scottie_dog

picklekin wrote: »

Scottie, sounds like you had a generic blood test not the ones we are talking about. You can have several tests to see if your ovulating and if there are any other hormonal issues here is what you should get:

• Blood test to see if you are ovulating. This is done by measuring progesterone in a blood sample taken seven days before your period is due.
• Blood test during your period to check for hormone imbalances –measurement of FSH (follicle stimulating hormone, LH (luteinising hormone) and oestradiol. This test can also identify possible early menopause as a cause of subfertility.
• Sperm test to check for abnormalities.

Hi Pickle
Yes it seems like I may have just had generic blood tests.
That is very helpful information, thank you. I will make an appt for the doctor next week and see if I can get those blood tests you mentioned.
I'm so glad I decided to come on here, your a friendly bunch
I hope everyone has a great weekend x

cwtw

I have up alcohol completely for a while but still didn't get pregnant... So I just drink in moderation now. I have discovered that IKEA do really nice alcohol free cider / perry that's really reasonably priced if you want an alternative.

Clevernamehere

I think if you're only having the odd glass of wine you're fine. You maybe also don't want to be answering awkward questions about why you're not drinking.

I took the plunge and booked an acupuncture session. I'll keep you posted.

pinkteapot

Hey everyone,

scottie - I can fully understand not being mentally ready for medical treatment, but when you're ready it's well worth both you and OH going to your GP and having all available tests. In England you can do this after a year of trying. If you then want to explore alternative therapies before the medical ones then that makes perfect sense. But it might be better to know for sure first that nothing is wrong that's stopping you conceiving, you know? If all the tests are fine then they call it "unexplained infertility" and it can physically happen naturally for you. This is where diet, acupuncture, etc can help. If something is wrong then at least you know the deal and can consider whether you want any treatment. Hope I'm not scaring or upsetting you. I was scared of the test results so totally understand not being ready to go ahead with them yet.

Re alcohol - I've always still had the odd glass of wine, including during the 2WW of my natural cycles. Just to clarify though - no booze allowed during IVF 2WW because you have to stay well-hydrated to limit OHSS. I'm currently stimming and clinic says no alcohol at all during that too. Pickle is spot on re the placenta.

codemonkey

Uggh. Just been to a party where I heard one of my formerly sane friends refer to herself as a '[the area she lives] yummy mummy' and her 'mummy and baby friends'. Ended up leaving ridiculously early because I was feeling very out of sorts after that.

Clevernamehere

Yuk Code, I suppose the upside to infertility is that you don't find yourself turning into one of these idiots.

Scottie, I was the same as you and I didn't want to be "medicalised" (still don't). I started getting tests after 2 years ttc and they found some pretty massive fibroids that had to be removed surgically. I don't want to scare you but I could have had that dealt with a lot sooner. Might be an idea to eliminate any of the basics and go on from there.

Scottie_dog

pinkteapot wrote: »

Hey everyone,

scottie - I can fully understand not being mentally ready for medical treatment, but when you're ready it's well worth both you and OH going to your GP and having all available tests. In England you can do this after a year of trying. If you then want to explore alternative therapies before the medical ones then that makes perfect sense. But it might be better to know for sure first that nothing is wrong that's stopping you conceiving, you know? If all the tests are fine then they call it "unexplained infertility" and it can physically happen naturally for you. This is where diet, acupuncture, etc can help. If something is wrong then at least you know the deal and can consider whether you want any treatment. Hope I'm not scaring or upsetting you. I was scared of the test results so totally understand not being ready to go ahead with them yet.

Re alcohol - I've always still had the odd glass of wine, including during the 2WW of my natural cycles. Just to clarify though - no booze allowed during IVF 2WW because you have to stay well-hydrated to limit OHSS. I'm currently stimming and clinic says no alcohol at all during that too. Pickle is spot on re the placenta.

Hi Pinkteapot
Thanks for your advice. I'm going to make an appt at the docs next week and take it from there. It almost seems as though I'm "admitting defeat" but your right, It's best to find out if anything is wrong at the earliest opportunity.
It's so nice to speak to other people who have more knowledge than I do, although we are 15 months into our journey, we haven't told anyone we are ttc, apart from my best friend who I only told last month. I try not to google too much... Google can be a scary place!
:rotfl:

Scottie_dog

Clevernamehere wrote: »

Yuk Code, I suppose the upside to infertility is that you don't find yourself turning into one of these idiots.

Scottie, I was the same as you and I didn't want to be "medicalised" (still don't). I started getting tests after 2 years ttc and they found some pretty massive fibroids that had to be removed surgically. I don't want to scare you but I could have had that dealt with a lot sooner. Might be an idea to eliminate any of the basics and go on from there.

Hi Clevernamehere
Thanks for your advice. I'm going to make an appt at the docs next week. It is scary but I need to get on with it. Maybe I just needed a virtual kick up the bum from you lovely ladies :rotfl:
I keep saying to OH "if nothing happens by next month, I will go back to docs".....
Time to make the app, I've also informed him he will probably need to go too.
Hope you have a nice weekend x

pinkteapot

scottie - it is really scary so we all understand. It's the worry that the tests might show a problem.

So you know what to expect when you do it, here's what we had to do, but again different NHS areas vary:

We both went to the GP and he referred us to a hospital consultant. The referral had to go off with some test results. OH just had to do a sample in a pot. I had two blood tests if I remember rightly, on different days of my monthly cycle. At the consultant appt they told us the results of those, and booked me in for a scan that checks whether your Fallopian tubes are blocked. I think that was all the tests. They'll then tell if something is wrong or if you have "unexplained infertility" and you can go from there.

That process takes a good few months by the time you've done the first blood tests and waited for your consultant appt.

Take your time. My post was mainly out of concern for you spending money on alternative therapies without knowing if they might work. x

codemonkey

Scottie - don't wish to scare you but we tried for 3 years without any medical intervention only to discover, when we finally gave in, that DH has a zero sperm count. So that's 2 years of trying, peeing on ovulation sticks, bding when they were positive whether we wanted to or not, wasting god knows how much money on vitamins and herbal remedies, and the hope and heartbreak every month. I'm not saying this will be the case for you (the condition DH has is very rare) but if there is a reason why its not happening, then its best to know so you can deal with it, and if its a timing issue they can help with that too.

Just a warning though - GPs don't seem to know much about fertility. I had one tell me to go and BD on day 14 of my cycle, despite the fact I have long cycles and don't ov til at least day 21 usually. The next time I went back to see a different doctor, I went in fully armed - this is how long my cycles are, I ovulate on this day and so on and he still explained day 21 progesterone wrong. I had to do cd2 and 7dpo blood tests and have a swab and DH had to give 2 samples over a month iirc before they'd refer us to the clinic.