at home fertility blood test

[Lurchermumma]

Hi all,

Does any one have any experience with using an at home fertility test? The one I stumbled upon you send off a blood sample with a pin prick and they send it to a lab. Do these give you any useful information or is it just speculative based on the information you give them?( It asked for a lot of details about my periods, lifestyle and how we are trying to conceive)

Just for a bit of back ground we have been TTC for 10 months - had an early miscarriage at 7 weeks ( I think this is classed as chemical pregnancy but wasn't really clarified).Trying hard since but nothing. Basically I just have a gut feeling that something is wrong,( for some reason even before TTC felt like this) I can't really put my finger on. I haven't had any symptoms really other inconsistencies with my periods and emotional hormone responses which I think are mainly due to me coming off my birth control ( On an interesting aside I was on the implant for 6 years and the last 3 years of it my sex drive was at a 0 so having that make a triumphant return whilst TTC has been interesting- sorry that's a bit tmi and off topic but I would be interested if anyone has experience this. )

No disrespect to the NHS,most of my family work for them but from what I have read if I go to my GP now they will just tell me to keep trying for a bit longer. I am approaching my mid 30s and honestly I just want to know sooner rather than later. I'm not sure if we could afford to go private but the at home testing seems a good middle ground IF it actually works.

Has anyone tried this? Or similar? Or any experience with getting help the "early"in journey.

[JA-fnuk Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK]

Would suggest arrange appointment to see GP regarding fertility concerns sooner rather than later . It varies where you stay how long you have to be trying to become pregnant before being referred for treatment Also take a look at our website fertilitynetworkuk.org and you will find factsheets and information about all aspects of fertility . Hope this is helpful

Janet

[soccerkt6]

Hi lovely

As Janet said, different areas have different requirements for how long you need to be ttc before you’re considered for fertility treatment. It’s quite annoying and arbitrary - some areas require you to have tried for 1 year, while others require 2 or even 3 years. As you say, it’s best to know where you stand and get the process started sooner rather than later, so I would just go to your GP and say you’ve been trying for a couple years already. I know it’s not ideal, but everything about fertility testing and treatment on the NHS takes longer than it should so I would say to get in the system and started with the investigations soon.

Best of luck xx

[Hopecontinues]

Hi, I've done at home fertility tests and they were really useful, plus the doctor made some comments. Make sure you drink plenty of water before you do it, that makes it easier to collect the blood.

It's also worth having an ultrasound. I used ultrasound direct, but there are others. Once you have those results, you'll know if you have any basic problems and then you're in a good place to go to your doctor and or speak to a few private clinics.

They'll be looking at your AMH level and AFC. Useful to know the levels of other hormones too and you can get some of those tests from your doctor.

The one good thing is you know you can get pregnant. Sorry to hear of your miscarriage by the way.

Good luck with your journey.

X

[Luka_Ru]

Yes I have used them to do a CD21 check, AMH and other hormones, PCOS check and thyroid check. Worked well for me, though getting enough blood is difficult! Make sure your hands are warm.