Sperm tests - private or wait for NHS?

[cazd]

Yeah - we were the same - We went to see the Drs and he gave us these test sheets to just take to the hospital whenever we wanted.
We went to the hospital on 21st July (1 week ago) and the Drs have just called to say his results are in
Unfortunately Dr forgot to tell me to fast for 14 hrs before my bloods were taken so I had to go back the next day.
So... 7 day turnaround isn't so bad.

Not sure if I could cope with a 4 month wait though!!!

Cat - I know exactly how you feel.. .When you're ready...You're Ready.
OH and I have been together for 7 years but it was only last year that things clicked and we started thinking about having a family.
But now we're at that perfect time in our lives - not a day goes by that we don't talk about TTC or what it'll be like when we have children.

Mrs G - I think its even more tricky that blokes aren't wired like us - the desperation to have children doesn't really hit them - well... it hasn't hit my man yet. he doesn't see the correlation between 'drink' and 'no conception' grrrr.

So how did you go about private consultation - are you properly private now or did they refer you back to NHS. Do you think you made the right decision?

 

[Mrs G]

So how did you go about private consultation - are you properly private now or did they refer you back to NHS. Do you think you made the right decision?

I rang round the hospitals which were within a practical distance and one of them (Salisbury) has consultants who do both private and NHS treatment at the same clinic. We paid for the initial consultation and were put on the list. At that point we didn't know if there was any NHS funding but we would do it either way. They managed to secure the funding and get it transfered from our PCT in Bournemouth. The treatment, waiting list and the clinic is the same at Salisbury whether you are private or NHS, I don't know if that is the case elsewhere.

I guess we jumped the queue a little by paying for the initial appointment but we would still not have had that appointment now if we had waited for NHS. It might be worth ringing a local clinic and enquiring about paying for an intial consultation, and maybe a SA too..??!! I agree with what you say about men, my dh is fully aware that he is proabably the reason but is still adamant even now it'll happen naturally before we start treatment. Bless!!

Kath xx

 

[cazd]

Well we just got the results...

My bloods were fine but OH's came back with 6% morphology!

Dr is referring us to a urologist and said we should be seen in about a month.
I guess we'll see what happens with that then....

In the meantime I've decided our house will be an alcohol-free zone!!!

 

[chocolatecat]

Hey Caz,
Sorry about the spermies - I'm not clued up on what the 'scores' should be, but I'm guessing you're not happy with that!
Big hugs to ya.

The hospital has phoned up to say they've opened up a new clinic and so his appointment has moved forward to the 10th of Sept - which is nearly 3 weeks earlier - so I'm pleased about that.

My spotting has started early this month, so I think I'm out already - that will make it 12 cycles then

 

[cazd]

Heya - fab news about the appointment - still over a month away though...

 

[jojoD]

Hey there,
Husband and I have had a mixture of private and NHS care to get us to where we are now. Like yourselves we would have had to wait for NHS appointment for SA. We just didn't want to wait as we were feeling anxious, of course everyone feels different. We went ahead for private SA, it only cost £80 and we waited one week. Our private fs then rang me the next day to discuss results. Within two weeks of that we were in the clinic discussing IVF and ICSI ( I had already had my tests done by this point). So rather than wait a month just to do SA, we had SA done, results back and discussed the next steps. Although in Northern Ireland at the moment the 'private' or self-funded IVF list is longer than the NHS. So private isn't always faster on the health service...

 

[emmap]

Hi

My husband had hes sperm count done by nhs 1st but when we went to see the doctor he recommended we had it done again privatley the results are done straight away.
I cant remember exactly but it was about £45 and they sent copies of the results to our nhs doctor.
i had my bloods done by nhs though and thats was ok.
i was diagnosed with 2 blocked tubes. i also had to 2 laparoscopy done & hsg on my private medical care and was given 4 cycles of clomid by them as well so was quite lucky.
Once we were told we needed ivf we decided to go private as after 4 years of trying i didnt want to then have to go on the nhs waitng list. also you only get one cycle where we live, so didnt think it was worth the wait.

 

[jojoD]

Chocolatecat I also meant to say don't be worried about mixing your NHS and private care. As I said my husband and I have combined both over the past few months. I had concerns about doing this, this feels like you're doing the double! LOL!! Like claiming job seekers and working at the same time but I was assured it isn't. Currently we are on the NHS list, Private NHS list and with an independant clinic also. The way I look on it I will go down the route that is fastest. Have had tests done by GP and brought them to clinic and vice versa. My advice is if you're willing to pay get on every list available XX

 

[cazd]

i had my bloods done by nhs though and thats was ok.
i was diagnosed with 2 blocked tubes. i also had to 2 laparoscopy done & hsg on my private medical care and was given 4 cycles of clomid by them as well so was quite lucky.
Once we were told we needed ivf we decided to go private as after 4 years of trying i didnt want to then have to go on the nhs waitng list. also you only get one cycle where we live, so didnt think it was worth the wait.

Wow - 2 blocked tubes! blimey - and only getting one cycle - that's not fair!

 

[Mrs G]

Heya - fab news about the appointment - still over a month away though...

Hey caz, we also went to a urologist and TBH he was very good but only if there was a phyiscal reason for low count (we also had 6% morph). he did u/sound to check for varicosele and when that came back neg he referred us straight on to fert specialist. In our experience, paying for the inital consultations privately was quicker and also more thorough. When we had nhs SA done they really did not explain it well at all to us. I guess it depends on the wait you have with NHS, I'm impatient and got fed up waiting !

x

 

[chocolatecat]

Thanks all for your input! I really appreciate it. Chatted to OH last night, we're going to find out more about going private now, costs and waits etc..., if it's going to be quick we'll go with it.
I suspect we have some sperm issues but also I have issues with my cycles (like I'm only 8 dpo and been spotting a few days, and bleeding today, but my temps are still up -grrrr)

I'm sorry about your blocked tubes - hugs - but gosh, now I have even more to worry about!

 

[Mrs G]

I don't know if others will agree with me but we actually found it easier once we knew what we were dealing with. Also I think that feeling you are doing something (anything!) gives you more control too.

and to all
xx

 

[emmap]

i had my bloods done by nhs though and thats was ok.
i was diagnosed with 2 blocked tubes. i also had to 2 laparoscopy done & hsg on my private medical care and was given 4 cycles of clomid by them as well so was quite lucky.
Once we were told we needed ivf we decided to go private as after 4 years of trying i didnt want to then have to go on the nhs waitng list. also you only get one cycle where we live, so didnt think it was worth the wait.

Wow - 2 blocked tubes! blimey - and only getting one cycle - that's not fair!

post code lottery im afraid, but it was all worth it after in the end our 1st ivf worked and we have a little boy called Charlie and i 'm expecting my 2nd baby with our 2nd attempt at ivf.

 

[emmap]

I don't know if others will agree with me but we actually found it easier once we knew what we were dealing with. Also I think that feeling you are doing something (anything!) gives you more control too.

and to all
xx

Hi
I felt much better once we decided to go for the ivf,and we had great results so fingers crossed for you. Drink lots of water and try reflexology.x

 

[emmap]

i had my bloods done by nhs though and thats was ok.
i was diagnosed with 2 blocked tubes. i also had to 2 laparoscopy done & hsg on my private medical care and was given 4 cycles of clomid by them as well so was quite lucky.
Once we were told we needed ivf we decided to go private as after 4 years of trying i didnt want to then have to go on the nhs waitng list. also you only get one cycle where we live, so didnt think it was worth the wait.

Wow - 2 blocked tubes! blimey - and only getting one cycle - that's not fair!

x