I need to make some important decisions and I cannot get my head round that.
I had 8 unsuccessful cycles of Clomid. Now 3 cycles of Gonal-F in which I nicely ovulated but no pregnancy. We are mentally prepared for IVF and happy to go private in the NHS waiting time. The problem is that in order to get NHS funded you need to have completes 6 cycles of OI injections. But after 3 I am somehow tired of all this, because These cycles are absolutely unpredictable and I cannot even travel - I am attending clinics since November twice a week. I need to travel for work, this is almost impossible. So we are very tempted to just go private for IVF immediately. This means dropping out and having no NHS funded cycle. We could afford maybe 3 private but what when I am not pregnant, then we would have missed the NHS just because I am too impatient.I am really struggling what to do!
Any thoughts appreciated!
xx
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sarahharas
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We went just went private and ignored all the NHS bit. For us it was about getting answers fast and allowing ourselves to make plans. The hospital we would have used with the NHS would also only allow us to use a particular sperm donor clinic and wouldn’t consider our reasons as to why this wasn’t right for us, so we’ve done it our way and are paying.
I feel we made the right choice for us but your right it’s a lot of money to invest when you could have a shot for free. I say follow your heart and then don’t regret it.
Yeah we habe done that and we are talking about it. My husband calls it IVF-flatrate (one of their options), I hate that word, sounds so much like fun. But thank you! This strengthens my point of view.
To throw into the mix, has your other half had any tests? Sperm samples and sperm comet dna?
There’s a list of tests that both nhs and private clinics look at before starting treatment.
Have a look in the HFEA website for clinics and find out if they can offer you a visit to see what they are like inside and how the staff are. Also a good test to see how clinics are is to email them a request for information and see how/if they respond..some didn’t bother, so I discounted them!!
Our clinic for NHS two fresh rounds, one frozen and one private round was relatively local, but most recently, using access for donor egg package, we went to Manchester (over 3 hrs drive), but this is due to the cycle being less intensive for me having to attend!
It's really hard to make the decision as patience is something that really starts to wear thin. What different approaches would each take? Which do you feel you would be more comfortable with? X
Thank you, as always. The problem is I dont know. My husband would like to go for 3 more "natural" cycles, because he still sees a chance and for him IVF is just a means when everything else fails. However, he is not the one getting injections and scans, so it is mentally much easier for him (he is also a man). So he would fully support my decision to go for IVF immediately. I have about a week to decide...
I don't live in the UK so no experience of IVF on NHS but if we're talking about patience... we had our first appointment with specialist on July 12 and started my injections Sept 8. Could have been sooner but I had to finish a huge freelance project. Obviously we'd done all the investigations before then but I'm guessing you have too if you've been referred for IVF. If you're really impatient to start, and especially if you can probably afford to do more than one cycle if you need to... I would say just go for it. It would be a shame to miss out on free NHS cycle, but if you balance the costs against the waiting time and stress and certain amount of lack of control you might find it just doesn't add up for you.
Very best of luck with whatever you decide hon xxx
Thank you for your point of view. I am not officially transferred for IVF from the NHS yet, as the rule is 6 cycles of ovulation induction (stupid rule....) but we have done some tests already privately and my hormone levels are regualrly checked. The only that is missing is the HIV but I wait until I have made a decision. I am assuming the worst, we said we are ok to have 3 cycles privately, but I think I need more. However the clinic is very confident that I have really good chances and that I will have a lot of frosties, because I am under 35, I have a lot of eggs and they are good quality.
I’ve done both privately and NHS funded IUI, ICSI and IVF. I went private for my 1st 2 ICSI attempts as my ex was focussed (probably too much) on the clinic (in London) with the best results. It was brutal - I really wasn’t prepared for the amount of time, effort and physical and mental toughness needed. The clinic wanted daily bloods, scans, and when nearing EC, twice daily bloods, high doses of meds... very intense. Needless to say that I capitulated as couldn’t handle the stress of this AND work.
I had an ET on Monday with an NHS IVF (with my 2nd hubby) and it was a totally different experience. Much more relaxed and very caring. Fortunately the NHS checklist is relatively simple in my area, so no long waiting lists.
The moral of the story is find the right clinic for you which fits with your life. You need to be happy and positive going through treatment, so don’t put yourself under unnecessary stress. Lots of love xx
I had two cycles with the NHS, and one private. My experience with the NHS is that they offer standard protocols, not necessarily the one that's best for you, and you can't get add-ons. Also, if they can hide that something went wrong, they won't tell you anything.
In my first cycle (short with antagonist), they collected 11 eggs. Of these, only 4 fertilised correctly, and 3 made to blastocyst. Two were transferred, but the third blasto was discarded because "it wasn't nice enough" (it was a bit slow, but graded 4bc). Result: BFN. E later discovered that the embryoscope incubator broke while our embryos were in. Nobody told us anything during the cycle.
I started having pain to my right ovary, they didn't investigate. The second cycle was again short protocol, with some more medicines: they retrieved only 5 eggs, of which only 1 fertilised. I was so disappointed! Result: ectopic pregnancy (but that's another story). We later discovered that they had accessed only one ovary (the left one) because the right one was "hidden". They didn't mention it, I thought my egg reserve had just dropped suddenly...
We were done with NHS-funded cycles, and at a fertility show we met Klinikk Hausken, based in Norway. They listened to our story, looked at the results of our tests, and recommended long protocol plus ICSI. They also prescribed metformin for insulin-resistance, and realised my TSH was to high, so I started thyroid medication. They collected 8 eggs from my left ovary. In the second they found a big cyst, which was the reason for my pain, and for the ovary to have moved up. Also, my cycle had become 2 days shorter after the first cycle. They reached the ovary and drained the cyst. We got two embryos transferred on day 2, which was a BFN, and one blastocyst frozen, which was transferred in November, and now I'm 17 weeks pregnant!
Overall, I feel like I waisted time with the NHS. They could have looked better at my health. They could have proposed ICSI given the low fertilisation rate. They could have investigated why my ovary was aching. I asked if I could have endometrial scratch (which they performed, but only if you were a private patient) and they said no. They could've done a lot more, but just gave us the basic. And didn't even inform us of the hiccups, because they know better - but this is my body, it's not a task perform!
So, if you can afford going private, go where they take a good care of you, and look at the details of your specific situation. Also, going to Oslo was cheaper than going private in the UK. Possibly, the NHS wouldn't know you had treatment abroad, and you could still claim NHS-funded cycles if the private ones don't work.
Congrats on your pregnancy I hope you have some easy going couple of months ahead thanks for sharing, I read already quite often now that the NHS offers a one-size-fits-all approach that might work well for some but not others. We were thinking about going to spain, but then decided to go for at least 1 cycle here and then see how we feel. NHS seems a bit careless about the people, but some private clinics want to squeeze money out. I think we mightvtry another cycle of OI and in the meantime do all the additional test that are still missing...
Indeed I think that, if there's something the NHS cycles were useful for, was to "break the ice" with IVF. Also, the reason why we went to Norway is exactly because we felt the other clinics at the fertility show, mostly from Spain and East Europe, were treating us as potential paying customers rather than patients.
Could you ask to be put on the NHS IvF wait list while undergoing the other treatment. I was supposed to do 6 rounds of letrozole but after 3 I asked to start my IVF referral while I did the last 3. My ivf referral was so quick I only ended up doing one more round of letrozole x
Thats an amazing idea, I did not really think about this, I will do that immediately!
I agree with Nodds it’s all about the clinic - my private experience has been completely different to hers and very empathetic and low maintenance.
My friend did IVF on NHS and they were uncaring and didn’t try anything different - but again that’s the clinic rather than the payment method I think - my clinic is not for profit so don’t ‘oversell’ stuff to you
Having said all of that I think your gut tells you what to do, you sound tired by things at the moment and it’s going to get more tiring with IVF. It’s natural to feel impatient but if mentally you will be stronger starting now and it fits better with your life go for it - and you free up an NHS slot for someone else too. Having said that you need to be able to live with the consequences too - I am sure you will get your BFP but I know we always said we would never do more than three rounds and round 2 we got BFP but then MC and we have already upped 3 to ‘no more than 5 rounds’ and know of two couples who have done 9 rounds... once you are on the road it’s difficult to get off xx
Oh difficult decision, but I think it’s all about if you can emotionally wait another 6 cycles? My 2 nhs cycles were at a private clinic, sadly I miscarried on round 2, and since had 4 more rounds (miscarried on round 6)with the same clinic because they’re so wonderful. If you get yourself a good one then it can make all the difference emotionally, especially when it doesn’t go to plan! They have also have tested absolutely everything so I feel like they really are doing everything they can XX
I am sorry to read about your MC hope you get your positive outcome soon! I think I need to sleep over this for some more days. But all your comments at least helped me clear my thoughts xx
You could ask your consultant to write to your CCG putting a case forward for why you should skip the additional 3 cycles and go straight to IVF. My region’s individual funding proposal committee meet monthly so if it’s the same, the delay to you would just be a month.
Look at your NHS local IVF policy and see if this is an option. It’s a real shame to lose out on NHS funding.
I also second everyone saying make sure you believe in your clinic. I’ve just swapped to another clinic for my NHS cycles and they are excellent. I did one cycle privately whilst I waited for the NHS to come through and that place gave me no hope
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