Early stages

[Bluedestiny]

Hi ladies

I wrote a week or so ago saying we were in the stages of being referred for ivf by nhs we had a telephone appointment with our local fertility hub, we then had a face to face appointment on Monday of this week by Wednesday we had a letter from the fertility clinic we will use in Manchester confirming we are accepted for nhs funding and by Friday we are set up on their portal, questionnaires done etc and they called to say our first appointments with them will be start of March from transvaginal scan and more semen samples (male fertility issues currently but obviously my scan could show other issues) then a few days later a telephone appt with the doctor to discuss results. I’m sorry if you are asked this all the time but I feel things are moving quickly even though I know it’s only the beginning. We have been told that it will be ICSI I just wondered what happens from here timescales etc (appreciate this is different everywhere) I know the clinic will tell us everything but my mind is working overtime currently.

I don’t write much on here but just wanted to say I have taken so much info from you all and it’s so helpful. Love x

[LizzieBW]

Hi Bluedestiny,

Wow it sounds like things are certainly moving fast in your CCG, considering it's NHS funded. That's really great 🙂

Gosh it's going to be so tough for anyone to give you timescales that will be realistic for your own situation, particularly because of Covid there is really no standard. Some clinics are still working through a backlog of women who should have started IVF meds in March 2020 (myself included) and other clinics were sharp on reopening so are much more up-to-date with their "new start" patients going onto meds.

I was lucky enough to come across a handful of really kind women from my own clinic on here, who were able to share their experiences so fingers crossed you'll find others who are with your NHS Manchester clinic.

If I were you I would ring the fertility clinic reception directly and ask roughly how long their wait lists are to reach the top of the waiting list for IVF. Once you reach the top, it could be 2ish months from there.

Wishing you loads of luck. Xx

[Bluedestiny in reply to LizzieBW]

Hi Lizzie thank you so much for your quick response, I think naively because we have been referred so quickly that maybe everything else would move quickly although I appreciate COVID affects literally everything. I only saw my gp at the end of last year and it seems to have been so quick from there but maybe the first stage is I really don’t know. I will just have to be patient. I am 33, 34 in august so I hope that something happens before I am 35 just for age factor. Either way though absolute minefield. So sorry to hear that you have been waiting and still are, since March last year that must be so difficult xx

[LizzieBW in reply to Bluedestiny]

Your clinic will definitely be able to give you more accurate timescales. Pre-covid our clinic was approximately 5 months to reach top of the waiting list and now it's minimum 1 year but this could be massively different from your clinic in Manchester so I'd say it's not worth stressing unnecessarily (impossible, I know) until you know where your clinic stand. Defo don't wait til your next appointment if you're anxious about it and call the reception Monday morning, then you'll have a timeline to focus on 🙂

Ah, we're not waiting at the moment, sorry. I worded that badly 🙈 I'm on IVF meds at the moment.

I hope you don't have long to wait & lots of luck when you get started. Xx

[Lovemylion]

Hi! That's brilliant they are moving so quickly with your appts, despite covid. I know some people are facing a long wait because of a backlog. I understand it's also overwhelming. I remember feeling a bit panicky with my first round, when the ball got rolling. However now I'm a veteran ivf'er things can't move quick enough 😂

You say you will be having ICSI which is normally used for male factor. So I'm assuming your partner has sperm issues? We also have male factor and had surgical sperm retrieval. At the rate your appts are moving I would guess that you could be scheduled in for your treatment by the autumn. But this is a complete guess. From our first appt to treatment took a year for us. This was before covid. But every clinic is different. It's worth asking your clinic when this is likely. They can give rough guidelines given the current climate.

Any questions, just ask.

XXX

[Bluedestiny in reply to Lovemylion]

Thank you this is helpful, yes they have identified low motility. He has started taking wellman and vitamin c so anything else you can recommend I am all ears, my house I’m sure will look like a pharmacy soon enough. Well that’s good to know I am happy things are progressing but definitely is nerve racking just because of the unknown more than anything. Sorry to hear you are a veteran (in a way, I hope you know what I mean) I see you have a little boy from ICSI which is lovely to read good luck with your second 🤞 this happens for you soon xx

[Lovemylion in reply to Bluedestiny]

Thanks lovely. And yes incredibly lucky to have a 19month old son. So it does work! Loads of success stories on here. I have a great support network Inc my amazing partner which has made the process much easier.

After an appt with a fertility nutritionist at the Zita west clinic My partner is on impryl and omega 3 with vitamin d. I am on inositol and folate, pregnancy plan, coq 10, omega 3 and 1000iu vitamin d. Sounds like a lot but we're throwing the kitchen sink at this. We had an appt recently with an andrologist and he recommended impryl for improving sperm issues. It's expensive but supposed to help. If you go on the website fertility family you can have a read about it. It's a supplement. We won't know if it's had any effect till April after SSR.

We have azoospermia so there is no sperm in the ejaculate at all so has to be extracted. I've also heard proxeed is meant to be good but I'm afraid I don't know enough about this. We've been on a long road and had lots of investigations and procedures to try and correct the issue so we can try naturally. So far...not worked. However we are now on a waiting list with another consultant (2year waiting list)....so we are paying for Icsi in the mean time. Depending on your finances I have heard Dr Ramsey in London does online consultations and he is meant to be very good and a leading specialist in his field. I found this out after we had forked out a load of money the first time. So we are putting are funds into Icsi.

Wishing you the best of luck xxx

[Nat246]

I had a year wait from referral to actually starting, with appts and tests in that year wait (pre covid). But like everyone has said, every clinic is different. I guess just don’t have too high expectations as it is the NHS, and if it’s quicker than you though it’ll be a bonus! Best of luck x

[Bluedestiny in reply to Nat246]

Thank you Nat I think I’ll just take it one appointment at the time I dread the time tbh I would rather just get on with things (I’m sure everyone would) hopefully we will get there in the end, then that’s a whole new level of worry after that x

[Emma672]

Hi ☺️ As others have said, it will totally depend on your clinic and their backlog if they have one. Just so you have another comparison, we were referred (with NHS funding) in august last year and were starting the meds by 9th October, and that was just because I had to wait for my period to start. BFN by the end of November so here we are on round 2 now x

[Bluedestiny in reply to Emma672]

Thank you for your reply Emma that’s helpful to know. Sorry to hear about your BFN honestly I am pretty strong generally but all this scares me to death it’s not the going through it as such it’s the waiting and the disappointment I think it’s so hard for everyone. I hope things turn out better for you this time around xx

[Emma672 in reply to Bluedestiny]

Thanks, that’s really kind. Quite honestly the whole process is a waiting game, each time you jump over one hurdle you’re just waiting to pass the next. But we’re all strong who go through this and we will get through it. Wishing you the best of luck x