Unexplained Infertility

[Nlm27]

Hi. Me have my husband have been TTC for 2 years, all fertility tests came back normal. Been diagnosed with unexplained infertility. Next step is IVF but cant get it on the NHS for at least another year. I'm surprised there is nothing the NHS can offer me before IVF. Does anyone have any suggestions to help concieve. I've tried clear blue advance ovulation tests, the green ovulation sticks, taking my temperature, COQ10 supplements, DHA supplements, i use femometer and my tracker to track my cycles. Just dont know what else there is out there that could help x

[Alwaysbelieving]

Hiya I’m in a very similar situation to you. We’ve been trying for 3 years and were supposed to start IVF in April. We have been diagnosed with unexplained infertility as well and it’s just so upsetting isn’t it! We are doing everything we can with ovulating kits, trackers, pre-pregnancy vitamins etc and there’s just a whole load of nothingness. Did your clinic tell you it will be a year before you can start IVF? I really hope that’s not the case 😢 I feel your pain and fingers crossed it happens for us soon xxx

[Nlm27 in reply to Alwaysbelieving]

Thanks for replying to me. It's so hard isnt it. Sometimes I wonder if it's better to have a medical problem because at least you have a reason then. In my area you can start IVF on the NHS after 2 years with a medical problem but have to wait 3 years for unexplained infertility, it's so unfair. We have had a consultation for private IVF so think we may go down that route if we can try and source it financially. I have another appointment with NHS consultant next week so I'm hoping they have some kind of plan in place for me 🤞. I hope your IVF starts soon and wish you the best of luck x

[Alwaysbelieving in reply to Nlm27]

Oh I see! I thought you were referring to start dates for new patients due to Covid-19! That is unfair having to wait 3 years! Thanks, wishing you the best of luck too and sorry I didn’t have any helpful suggestions xx

[Hidden]

I’ve had 2 children been trying for 3 years for my 3rd my fiancé 1st we’ve had 3 mc and 2 chemicals had mc tests and basic fertility tests all is fine but I’m 40 & nothing has been offered fertility wise it is frustrating nothing is there before ivf to try to help naturally.

[Sbeaniex]

Hello!

So sorry to hear this! I’m in similar position however I’ve not started IVF yet. We had a MMC in July 2018 and ever since have never fallen pregnant again. So 2 years on I’ve had tests and they’ve all come back fine. My partner is about to have his and I’m praying they come jack fine! When I’ve read up on IVF and things GPS can help with I didn’t know the wait list is so long? Did they say why you’d have to wait a yet? It’s heartbreaking knowing the one thing you want just gets pushed back even further. When I started this journey 2 years ago I never thought I’d be in this position now. As I’m in same boat as you I wouldn’t say tips but we use the conceive gel although not worked for us yet you could always give it a go? I’ve come off ovulation kits now as I found they just consumed my life. So many people say just relax and it will happen when the times right. Please tell me when the time is right because I’ve been waiting 2 years!! Sorry I couldn’t be of any help!

[Nlm27 in reply to Sbeaniex]

Its so frustrating isnt it. For my area, we cant be referred for NHS IVF until we have been TTC for 3 years, so we still have another year to wait. We can be referred June 2021 but will then have to battle the NHS waiting lists! I'm almost 29 but my husband is 36, for his sake I just dont think waiting for NHS IVF is fair. I think private is our only option. I havent heard of the gel before, I'll have a little look into it. Thank you x

[Sbeaniex in reply to Nlm27]

It’s called conceive plus. I have had no luck, however I know people who have fallen first 2nd month of trying. It’s about £17 but really is worth ago. They also do other things on there too.

Good luck with your journey! X

[LeaBu]

I can highly recommend taking Impryl or a high quality supplement. I am living proof of the importance of getting your vitamin intake, something I probably took for granted for a long time. I would always take pregnacare once I got pregnant, but not leading up to.

Impryl supplies folic acid in its natural methylated form so your body doesn’t have to convert it from its synthetic form.

I was diagnosed with unexplained infertility many years ago. Many miscarriages and failed ivf later, Over the years I’ve had 3 rounds of chlomid, Tamoxifen, intrilipid and prednisone steroids for elevated killer cells, dna tested MTHFR.

I am hesitant to reply on people’s journeys as I feel fertility is an imperfect science and science is still catching up in so many areas, but if I could do things differently, I would spend the money on a high quality vitamin rather than dive in spending thousands of pounds on fertility treatments hastily.

[Nlm27 in reply to LeaBu]

Thank you for your advice x

[Oxfordgirl]

Sorry to hear about your long journey to conceive. If you can go private that will speed things up massively and you’ll get further diagnosis, ex. amh level. NHS might be even slower than normal under the current circumstances. Also, once you get pregnant it’s nearly another year until the baby arrives. It really depends on how long you’re willing to wait, which is understandably frustrating. Unexplained means the things you’re trying are probably not the answer to your problem. That being said, my cousin kept trying and she finally conceived her 2nd daughter naturally after 7 years at 34.

[Suzy86]

We were unexplained so I totally understand your frustration. Not having something to try and fix as such is really difficult mentally and something I really struggled with. After a failed IVF round and 2 failed frozen we paid for an enhanced semen analysis as we refused to do another round blindly when there was still apparently no reason I wasn’t getting pregnant. The analysis tested for things that the routine analysis doesn’t and cost about £400 I think. We found that he actually had a bad infection which he’d probably had years with no idea and that DNA fragmentation was higher than it should be. He was recommended certain supplements to help with the fragmentation and was given antibiotics. We didn’t have chance to try naturally before our next round of IVF but we did fall pregnant on that round and I’m now 31 weeks. We’d been trying for 4 years, several rounds of treatment and no success. I’m so intrigued to know if something as simple as needing antibiotics was the issue all along and I wish we had have had these tests before putting ourselves through IVF.

If you can and are willing maybe think about researching and paying for some extra testing through a private clinic. I wish we had have done this first as the NHS tests leave a lot of gaps!

[Nlm27 in reply to Suzy86]

Oh wow! I have heard about the DNA sperm test. This is definitely something I'm going to look into, thank you. Congratulations on your pregnancy. I wish you all the best x

[Stevie85]

I understand your pain. My husband and I have been trying for 3 years and have had all of the tests. I'm ovulating like clockwork and he is fine but it's just not happening! We have just started IVF.

I agree it's so frustrating when you don't know what's wrong. I just feel like we are so unlucky.

Why do you have to wait so long for IVF on the NHS? Have you been referred by your GP yet? Once we were referred it only took about 2 months before we had our first appointment at the clinic. I know it's different for every area but a year seems like a long time and not sure why they are telling you that.

Hope it works out for you x

[Nlm27 in reply to Stevie85]

I'v been under the NHS fertility clinic for about a year now having various tests. In our area we can only apply for NHS funded IVF after TTC for 3 years, so still have another year to wait until we can be referred 👎 xx

[Hidden]

Im so sorry. On top of all that uncertainty they make you wait longer than other couples. But thats i suppose their hope you will get pregnant naturally.

No words of wisdom. I tried everything as well. Some people rave about detoxing and avoiding all the chemicals possible but i dont have the strength to do that. Other than that im on supplements and try to do moderate exercise. My nhs journey has been 2 years now and only had one fresh transfer. I know other women have it worse so im not ungreatfull. But if i had known this and wait times etc i would have gone private perhaps x

[Nlm27 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for your advice. I wish you all the best xx

[Sunshine92]

Hey. I really relate with your story. Me and my husband were unexplained too and i had tried all the things you had described; also acupuncture, reflexology, hypnotherapy, womb massage. You name it i tried it.

I felt backed into a corner by medics that ivf was my only option. We did try Letrozole (similar to clomid to help boost ovulation) for 6months but that was unsuccessful. If im honest i didnt feel like it made any difference. I was so convinced i was missing something, a test they never offered, or a hollistic or medical treatment I hadn’t tried but other than homeopathy there wasnt anything. It doesnt seem to make any sense does it?

We ended up having 2 rounds of ivf and i was fortunate enough to get pregnant on my second round. The road to ivf seemed so long, so I would advise you start the process of that now but keep exploring any other options you might have in the mean time.

I’m pregnant now so I have no regrets, I know i am so very lucky. But I do feel sad every day we were never able to achieve this naturally.

Unexplained infertility broke me mentally and physically, its awful. Dont let it break you. You’ve done an amazing job in trying all you can for your dream 😌 xx

[Sunshine92 in reply to Sunshine92]

Sorry ive just re-read your post that you cant get on NHS IVF for another year.

Keep pushing! The first GP i saw was very dismissive, told me to wait. Just didnt sit right with me. It was affecting my mental health so much. I went back and saw a different GP who was wonderful and agreed to refer me. Dont give up xx

[Nlm27 in reply to Sunshine92]

The CCG for our area only funds NHS IVF after 3 years of TTC 👎. I thought it was pretty set in stone? Are you able to push for it sooner?

[Nlm27]

Thank you for your kind words. I did try reflexology too but I didnt really think much of it. I'm definitely an 'everything happens for a reason' person, but find the unexplained infertility very hard to digest as there is no reason. We have started the private IVF path and I think that's a path we will continue. I just get a bit bitter and think why should I have to pay for my baby! And after finding this forums it's made me realise how low the chances of IVF working on the first round 👎. I think we are going to look at an Unlimited IVF package. I'm hoping we might be abit more relaxed financially if it doesnt work first time around. Congratulations on your pregnancy, I wish you all the best 😊 xx

[Daughterofaking]

Sorry to hear this, I'm in the same shoe as you. I have tried several supplements name it and it dint happen. Did several test as well as my husband and everything is fine. They can say the reason why we aren't pregnant. So with all this they referred us for off treatment, but the waiting list is long and we opted to do it with private clinic. I'm taking injections now for follicle growth and egg collection subsequently. We hope it turns out successful at the end of the day. We are with create fertility at Birmingham.

So my advice to you is to start as soon as you can with private while you still look into NHS if you want. Best of luck and baby dust to us all. We will get the answer we seek.

Right now I'm taking Coq10, but D3, methyl folate, baby food and me prenatal though I'm changing to Naturelo, omega 3 and zinc and my DH is taking men's prenatal, zinc and vitamin D3.

[Elfine]

Hi,

Sorry you're going through this. We've got unexplained infertility too. Sadly, there's nothing in particular for us to. I only take folic acid, vitamin d, and omega 3. I had my egg collection on March, we now have 14 embryos in a freezer, and we're having out first FET in 3 days. I really hope you can have treatment soon. Unfortunately, everything takes so much time. I'm just trying to be the best mood I can. It's hard but I just need to face the music. Big hug!

[Nlm27 in reply to Elfine]

Thank you 🥰 Good luck xx