Hi guys. We have consultation 3 days before my period is about to start. We are NHS funded so I am not sure if 3days will be enough time to get medication to start the treatment? I have been waiting for this for ages and the thought that I have to postpone for one more month it driving me crazy.
I would appreciate if you could share your experience.
Thank you.
Hi Annalea,
We’re NHS too and we get the medication delivered to us. It’s always come the next day but each time they’ve phoned me on the day of my appointment and have asked if I need it that day so I think you’ll be fine. They’ll get the drugs to you in time
Good luck! Xx
What medication? Clomid?
Hi. To be honest I'm not sure. At this appointment we should be shown what medication we will use and how to do the injections.
Hi Annalea. I had the same consultation as you are describing last week. I walked away with the contraceptive pill and was told to start taking it when my period arrives this month, then I'll be sent all the injections by post once they know I've started. Not sure if it'll be the same for you as I guess each clinic is different.
Good luck. It's a lot of information to take in at first, but they give you leaflets which explains it all anyway xx
At our NHS hospital we didn’t get our medication until our baseline scan and blood work was confirmed ok and we had the green light to actually start stims that day. I was doing a short protocol though so everything was with my natural cycle, I didn’t have anything beforehand. We are private this time but at the same hospital and they said again we will get our meds on scan/blood day. Hope everything goes ok for you.
At our NHS clinic (which is adjacent to the main hospital) we always collected our medication at the hospital pharmacy immediately after our appointment. Many clinics work with a particular pharmacy to fill their patients' prescriptions, so yours may do this as well x
Hi. I was told they send medication by courier so that's why I'm stressed.
Thank you for sharing. Good luck with everything.
Do you know what protocol you will be on? I have to take norethisterone from day 16 of my cycle so they can roughly control when my period will come to start stims so they timing is right for the clinic. Also my clinic uses a delivery service and they send everything we need via DHL. So I think it will very much depend on what protocol your clinic has you on whether you will start on CD1 or not. Good luck with your appointment.
Hi Suzy86
Thank you for reply.
I'm very regular 28 days so I thought they will follow my natural cycle.
We have sperm issue so we had sperm retrieval. On follow up appointment we were told we can start icsi. I dont think they had it planned at the time because we were told we would get all details from nurse consultation.
That's why I'm panicking because long wait for this appointment meant we missed one cycle we could have started. And now I might miss second as its just few days before. I'm worried I will not be able to start treatment and I have to wait until December.
I hope everything goes well for you.
Thank you again, it makes life easier when you can chat to people who know what I'm going through.
My clinic are pretty annoying that they only do retrieval’s on certain days each week so they try and manipulate things as much as they can I guess!
Well I’m really hopeful you can get your meds on time. I think each clinic varies how they get their meds to you so I’ll keep my fingers crossed you can start this month.
It certainly does help to talk to people, it can all feel very lonely and confusing otherwise! Good luck with it all! 😊
Hi Annalea, it really depends on whether you’re doing long or short protocol.
With long protocol you start on either day 14 or 21 of your cycle (depending on your clinc/meds) and take medication to down regulate. You then have a withdrawal bleed around day 28 and start stims medication on your next day 2 or 3. If you’re doing long protocol then sounds like you’ll be fine to start when you reach your next day 14/21. You basically have a prep cycle and a treatment cycle and the whole process takes around 8 weeks from first starting meds to your test day.
Short protocol means you start on cycle day 1 and so there’s no prep cycle - you’re straight into the treatment cycle so takes around 4/5 weeks in total.
Your clinic will advise you on the best protocol for your situation although if it’s just male factor that you’re dealing with and your AMH and follicle counts are normal with no PCOS then I’d be surprised if you’re not on long protocol as that is the standard one to try first time, unless there’s a clear reason to go short ie risk of OHSS.
The waiting is so frustrating particularly with NHS as you’re always being slotted j to their timetable rather than yours. They will also only have so many treatment slots each month so you can sometimes get pushed back because they simply can’t fit you in that month, which is crap.
We had a month between our nurses appointment and starting our first cycle but really hope you can get started ASAP! x
We are NHS and we always pick it up from the pharmacy on the day funny how everyone is different xx
Hiya, we got all ours delivered in about 2 weeks and I started about a week after that but I'm sure they can do it quicker based on when your next period is and sounds like lots of others have had a lot sooner. Good luck! 🤞😊 xx
Consultation update
Initial consultation 
Ivf consultation
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