IVF in Scotland

[Violet1987]

Hi all,

Hubby and I have been through 2 rounds of IVF on NHS and now are about to begin our 3rd round. We have only been pregnant once but miscarried at 11 weeks 💔

We are stressed out as our clinic don’t seem to be listening to us and I think it’s because we are NHS. Do any of you have advice about this?

We come under the unexplained category- even though we don’t seem to make good blastocysts! We have been put forward for ICSI on our last round.

I’m really really worried about my periods since beginning this journey and after our miscarriage last year. They are incredibly light and lucky if I actually bleed for 1 day! I then get a day of light brown blood and that’s it. Consultant didn’t take my concerns seriously so I went to get progesterone levels checked and the it came back that ovulation did occur?? WTF does that even mean?

This journey is so hard!! My husband is 43 and I’m 32. Any advice greatly appreciated 🙏

[Cinderella5]

I found my NHS experience pretty much like a one size fits all feeling. I cant knock them really as I guess they only do "standard" protocols and I know they do have success as 2 of the girls I cycled with got pregnant. However it just felt like there wasnt much thinking outside the box. As for your progesterone levels, they can tell if ovulation has occurred as your natural progesterone levels surge afterwards so your levels must have been high to show that. My periods arent very heavy either but Im a bit older than you and I was on the pill for years (how ironic) so not sure if that affected things. It shouldnt however affect your IVF cycle are you are medicated. Im very sorry for your loss, its heartbreaking.xx

[Violet1987 in reply to Cinderella5]

Hello Cinderella5.

I understand what you are saying as I know a few women who have got pregnant from NHS cycles too.

I was on the pill for 11 years!! 😣 and told by a Kinesiotherapist that it rids your body of vitamin e - something that doctors don’t tell us when we are young.

Thank you for getting back to me.

Do you pay privately now? And are you in Scotland? X

[Cinderella5 in reply to Violet1987]

I am in Scotland. We used our cycles up and as I said Im a bit older then you, I was 38 when we did NHS treatment. Im having DE treatment abroad as we pretty much got told my eggs were rubbish although my AMH for my age was average at 7.19. We just didnt get to blastocyst stage. Have you considered taking DHEA? One of the girls I cycled with was around your age and not getting great embryos and she decided to take it and did better has twins! I took it and although my embryos did improve we didnt have an endless amount of money to carry on with my eggs and wanted to improve our chances so made the change. I actually didnt know that the pill dimished vit E.xx

[Violet1987 in reply to Cinderella5]

Oh wow, I’ve actually never heard of DHEA? Since starting on this forum yesterday I feel like I’m getting a much better education from everyone’s posts on here than I’ve been told by the consultants!! I asked the consultant at our last review if there is anything extra my husband and I could take to make better blastocysts and he said no - the only thing to do was to keep as healthy as possible.

Sorry, I’m not sure what AMH is? I only had to get my bloods done for 3 months before we were referred to clinic.

We are doing ICSI next time, sorry I’m not quite sure what DE is?

I was shocked when the lady told me that too about vitamin e. It was pure coincidence that I got chatting to her about my IVF as I was actually there because I badly sprained my neck. She told me to start taking vitamin e and put a teaspoon of grape seed oil into natural yogurt or porridge. She said that she’s helped lots of women improve their environments ready for baby to grow x

[Cinderella5 in reply to Violet1987]

Sorry, DE is donor eggs....Im now 41! ICSI should hopefully help eliminate a few things for you. DHEA isnt 100% proven nor prescribed in this country, the theory behind it is that its supposed to help with egg quality. Im not sure which clinic you are with but they usually do check your AMH levels prior to treatment so they know what protocol and dose of drugs to give you. Its meant to give an indicator of your egg reserves. Healthy living is of course important for you both. This is a great forum, Ive been here a bit too long unfortunately but the support is amazing!! Ask me anything else if you think I can help....or PM me if you want to keep it private.xx

[EmGLA]

Hello

I’m 32 and also getting IVF on the NHS in Scotland. I’m currently on my second go at my first round (first cycle cancelled before egg collection).

As for the clinic not listening, I asked if I could have a chat with a senior nurse or doctor after my first cycle got cancelled (due to an error on their part). We were able to have a chat and I feel much better now.

It sounds like you are looking for more information around your treatment?? There are loads of resources like the book ‘it starts with the egg’. Websites HFEA or The Duff or Pregnancy Kitchen or even podcasts like Big Fat Negative.

Good luck when you start your last round

Xxxx

[Violet1987 in reply to EmGLA]

Hello 👋

Good luck with your cycle!

Thanks for the tip - I have been reading the HFEA website and I’ve just downloaded it starts with an egg. X

[Violet1987 in reply to EmGLA]

Thank you for telling me about ‘It starts with the egg’ x

[jessandandy]

Hi,

I had icsi and it was successful first time round. Icsi is better as they basically forced sperm to egg rather than letting then bond naturally via ivf.

Good luck....

[Violet1987 in reply to jessandandy]

Hello Jessandandy.

Thank you! I really do hope the ICSI works x

[Sarah_a_2018]

I'm having NHS IVF in Scotland, also with unexplained infertility. Our first cycle gave us one poor quality blastocyst at day 5, we took a year before we attempted cycle 2, the consultant changed our medication to give me more eggs and improve the quality, I had also changed up my exercise, improved my diet, took supplements and had acupuncture, I made so many changes but couldn't tell you what made a difference but we had better quality embryos and one to freeze, our second cycle was also a bFn and we're going ahead with a frozen transfer in the next couple of months but if we need a third cycle I'm going to be pushing for more tests to determine our fertility issues as I fear that the reason our IVF cycles are failing is the same reason we can't conceive naturally. I've asked about nk cells, auto-immunity, endometrial receptivity, changing downregulation and stimulation protocol, I changed consultant and I felt she listened a bit more but the testing I wanted even if it was self funded the consultant didn't recommend it except to try an endometrial scratch with our next transfer.

The NHS ardntt helpful and I do feel that the IVF approach is pretty much one size fits all and they can't give me any answers so I've taken matters into my own hands and try to do what I can with holistic therapies, supplements, I'm getting my hormones tested to give me a better idea of how my hormones are working before we go to cycle 3.

My husband and I have decided that if we need a fourth IVF cycle that we will need to self fund were not staying at our clinic we will be changing and I'm hoping that as were paying the quality of care and services offered are better.

Feel free to PM if you want to chat or have any questions

Good luck with your journey xx