Starting IVF in Dec/Jan/Feb on NHS (UK)?

[SophieBee]

Evening all - hope you've had lovely weekends!

Samba - YAY!!! Congrats on getting your start date on the sniffs I'm looking forward to having a bit of company on the old down-regs! It's great that you've got dates already - my clinic doesn't give out dates until we get through each stage. I guess everything is so dependent on how you respond, but it would be nice to put things in my diary!

Still, I've got the date for the baseline scan and I've started what I guess is the withdrawal bleed, so hopefully I'll be on course to start stimming soon after 20 Dec!

PGLady - glad to hear you didn't get it too bad where you were. Hoping the turns up soon for you and Hippie so you can get started this week! It's all so exciting!!

Still not really getting anything I'd describe as side effects, but I guess it's still early days (5th day today). Still all going well, although today's jab stung a bit more than usual Ah well - all in a good cause right?

Catch you soon ladies xx

 

[Sambatiki]

Hey Sophie! Glad its all going well for you and great news on the lack of side effects.
Obviously my dates could be subject to change dependant of if I dont respond.

I found out today that DH is going to be away for my first day of stimming... Im EXTRA crapping myself now.

You should get some tickers so we can see where you at. I love to see the days getting closer and closer.... some times freaks me out too though

PG - Any news on the hag bag?? The day you want her to come she starts to misbehave!!

Hippe - :wave:

 

[hippiehappy]

Hello all! Well I knew this would be a good week when I woke up this mornig to also no backache for the first time in ages thanks to our lovely new mattress that was delivered on Sat morning...
Anyway, rang the clinic to start my new cycle and they just rang back to say we're on!!!
I go in for my bloods and scan tomorrow morning and start down regging on January 3rd. Not December as I thought because showed up later than expected. I'm pretty sure this is due to the Norethisterone that they made me take before the lap, the withdrawal bleed was bang on time but every time I come back on normal periods after taking hormones I'm a bit late... Anyway, I digress.
So I was told that as my appointment is at 8am on Tuesday 3rd of January I'll be their 1st appointment for 2012. Surely that must be a good omen .
Hope you've all had a good week-end. Feels so weird and exciting to finally be able to think about dates!
Will look forward to hearing more good news from you all xx

 

[Sambatiki]

Hippie - YAYYYYY! Thats FANTASTIC NEWS!!!!! Enjoy your last booze free, baby free xmas and new year for a looooooooong time xxx

 

[SophieBee]

YAHOOOO!!! Excellent news Hippie! Welcome to the and hurrah for a new year start date - good omen indeed!

This is all really exciting PGLady - any sign of the for you yet?

Quick update from me - I reckon this tiredness is not going anywhere and is definitely a side effect, so I'm going to stop thinking that I've got away with it
I am thoroughly knackered, and it feels like a different sort of knackered than usual - drained and a little woozy/dizzy. Not debilitating, but not pleasant either. And I fell asleep on the bus on the way home from work, which was a bit embarrassing

Also getting a few sharp headaches, but they seem to disappear quite quickly. I reckon I can cope with these though - just hoping I don't get anything else!

Hope everyone's well! Catch you all soon x

 

[Wallie]

Hi ladies, may I join you? I'm expecting AF just before Christmas and then I have to wait until CD21 before I start DR'ing, I'm on the long protocol. Unfortunately I'm a bit of a pro at this IVF malarky, this will be my third and probably my final try.

I'm attending Ninewells ACU where I've done my other two cycles too. You can see from my siggie that it's not been plain sailing.

Anyway it's getting close and I'm starting to feel a bit jittery about it all again, it's so stressful... but needs must and I'll never know if I don't try once more. I'm hoping for third time lucky!

 

[hippiehappy]

Hi Wallie, welcome, lovely to have you on board! Nice to have quite a few people to share experiences with, sounds like we'll be starting around the same time. I'm also on long protocol and will start dregging on Jan 3rd.
I'm a first timer but so sorry to hear about your experiences so far, still, you know what they say, 3rd time lucky!
Lots of love and hope the new year will bring lots of luck to everyone xx

 

[PGLady]

Wallie welcome and good to have fellow Scot! Your journey so far sounds hard, I hope this is the one for you

Sophie, I hope you have someone looking after you if you're feeling tired? Or at least some time set by for a bit of rnr. Sounds like it's all going quite well so far?

Sambatiki, we'll be here for you on your first day of stimming and rooting for you! Um, I would get a ticker if I knew how.. I'm really not this stupid in real life you know!

Hippie saving a special for you and me - turned up today and I called in. I have my nurse consult on Thursday morning, think they'll teach me everything then and give me my drugs before I start downregging on 2nd, so only one day apart. Only trouble is the office Xmas lunch on Thurs - hope I have time to get the drugs into the fridge before I head out. Everyone is taking advantage of my new taxi service, I think I should charge! I'm feeling quite optimistic, don't want to see my consultant on Thurs who will no doubt remind me how rubbish my chances are (he likes doing that). Just have to remember that it only takes one..

 

[Sambatiki]

Evening Ladies,

Just a quickie from me as Ive got to be up MEGA early tomorrow.

Feeling pretty scared as I get closer now to sniffing Tansey has said that she'll pop over for jabs if I need her.... Im so lucky to have her now as a RL friend as well as on here.

Wallie - I think Ive seen you around a few times Im so sorry that things havent worked out for you Are you going to use accupuncture again this cycle? I was thinking about it but wasnt sure when best to start.

Hippie - Getting closer hun

PGLady Its a really weird feeling calling in, isnt it. Hope all goes well on Thursday You'll have to fill us in with all the gory details as soon as you get back

Sophie - Hope that this is the worst the drugs are going to make you feel. I'm now really pleased that Im giving up the pub job in Jan if thats how its making you feel.

 

[Wallie]

Sam, yes I'll be doing acupuncture again next cycle. I only had a little break after last failed attempt. I'd had enough and needed to forget about it for a while...now started back but therapist is on a long holiday but I see her at the end of january again and I'll probably go weekly when she's back.

Sniffings no problem btw. It's easy peasy and I can do it without anyone noticing now! I have to do one sniff four times a day, so 8am, 1pm, 5pm and 10pm.

 

[hippiehappy]

Hello all, just a quick on as I'm off to bed soon, it's been a veeery long week!

PGLady, how did your consult go? Were you given a date to start down regging? I was told to start on January 3rd although this is my CD23 rather than 21 as the clinic will be closed on Bank Holiday. My CD21 would have been New Year's Day! I will take that as a good omen

Wallie, do you have any dates yet?

It sounds like the process is very different for everyone! When I went in on Tuesday I was told that sniffing would not be an option, all injections for me! Which is just as well as I have chronic rhinitis which means I have a blocked nose for 75% of the time and blow my nose A LOT and sometimes get nose bleeds which wouldn't go well with sniffing
Also it appears I won't have to go through the whole prescription & drug company malarkey as I will be given all the drugs when I go in on the 3rd of January . My 1st down reg injection will be given to me there and then after which I'll be going off with the rest of the drugs and instructions. I will also not get a calendar of events until then!

So I'm officially off alcohol from this moment on. Not that I will miss it too much, I kissed it goodbye on my birthday a few weeks ago and made sure I drank enough to make up for the next 12-18 months of possible abstinence
Been taking Omega 3 (heard they are good for ovaries) folic acid and lot of vitamins. New year's eve will definitely be a quiet one! Will just have to drive to wherever we decide to go and use that as an excuse for not drinking, haha.

SophieBee, Sambatiki and wanabeamama hope you're all doing good

 

[Wallie]

I start dr'ing around 12th January, sniffing for roughly 3 weeks usually then stimulation drugs for around 12 days before EC.

Hope everyone is doing well, remember and keep nice and warm!

 

[Sambatiki]

Hi Ladies

I got my delivery today!!!

So thought I'd share the pictures with you.

https://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e328/sambatiki/temporary-8.jpg

Yes it strange how different each PCT is

Hippie - Good to hear that you will be given all your drugs at your appointment... Im lucky that DH is home in the week sometimes. YIKES on stabbing the whole way through but youre sounding very confident and I know you'll be fine with it

Wallie - You are on LOADS of sniffs a day.... how come? I think that I'll start some Accupuncture in the new year.

PG - Hope all went well and hope to hear from you soon.

Im not going to be giving up drink over xmas.... is that really bad?? I havent been told to give up....

 

[PGLady]

Hello everyone,
Well everything went well yesterday, I got the usual reminder of my predicament from the registrar "you know you have hydrosalpinges and these will halve your chances" erm, yeah, couldn't really forget could I? At least she wasn't accusatory this time (how is a perforated bowel my fault?), so her bedside manner has got a teensy bit better! All whilst having a shot on dildo-cam, well I am blessed.

The good news is that I had 10 follicles (I have read somewhere that 60% are recruited in a cycle, so that means poss 6 eggs), and everything else ok. Had a go at measuring my buserelin injections (no choice of sniffing alas), and thankfully the needle is tiny. The nurse said to wipe skin with alcohol, then measure the dose, so then it won't sting (it will have evaporated by the time I inject) - don't know if anyone will find that helpful.

Sambatiki, I can't decide if your blue bag is more snazzy than the purple one they gave me yesterday! We have matching sharps bins too. So glad to see you have your drugs at last. What a lot! I only have my buserelin so far. I asked the nurse if I could have a couple of drinks on Xmas day and she said it wouldn't hurt. It's only in the stimming stage when it's absolutely outlawed so can have a cheeky thimble full of wine with dinner when downregging. Apparently red is better than white. You won't be the only one.

Hippie, looks like we're one day apart, I start injecting on 2nd If it helps, my schedule says scan on 19th Jan to check lining and could start stimming then. I think I'm also driving for Hogmanay. I'm taking omega 3 too but the registrar told me to stop. I didn't ask why - I think they want to keep it simple first time round. I've seen that lots of other ppl take it throughout their treatment though.

Wallie, Sophie and Wannabe hope you're all ok.

Sorry for such a long one - it's a bit stream of consciousness as I'm tired after last night's festivities!

 

[Traskey]

Hi ladies

Just popping in to wish you all the best with your cycle. I hope you all get lovely

 

[Sambatiki]

PG - Glad to hear that all went well but sorry that the nurse wasnt great Stimming on the 19th.... only 8 days behind me So we'll have lots of excitement.

Trask!!! Cycle buddy!!! Good to see you in here! xxx

6 hours until my first sniff!! OMG.. feeling quite nervous now.

Hope everyone is OK xxx

 

[SophieBee]

Hello all - gosh, things have moved along quite a bit in a few days!

Sambatiki - I hope the first sniff went well this morning! I'll be interested to hear about that, as obviously my only experience is the jabs. Speaking of which - welcome to the jab crew PGLady and Hippie!
I liked your photo - it made me wish I'd done the same as I have everything too. I have the same sharps bin as well, although I've got Gonal-F rather than Menopur for my stimming.

PGLady - I didn't get any alcohol wipes with my jabs, the nurse said it wasn't necessary. Yet another difference I suppose! Anyway, I was told that I can inject in my tummy or top of my thigh and I've found that it stings less in my thigh, but I tend to alternate so that I'm avoiding jabbing in the same place too often. It really isn't too bad either way to be honest - if it does sting it is only for a second and then it is all done with. The thing to avoid the sting is to make sure you get a good pinch of skin before jabbing - that always works for me anyway.

Good news on the follicles too - I didn't know that about the 60% thing and I think I had 11 at the scan I had before d-regging. One of my ovaries is "under-performing" so I've been a bit worried about it all resting on one, but that has put my mind at ease a bit. Of course quality is the thing, so even if they only get one egg, as long as it's a good 'un then I don't mind!

Hippie - my clinic only gives out dates as you get to the different stages as well. So I know that I have my scan on Tuesday (20th) but no idea about the rest. It's a little frustrating as I want to be able to tell work if I am taking time off in January, but I suppose that at least this way I won't be disappointed if dates come and go because I haven't responded.

By the way, I decided not to cut out alcohol quite yet as well - I'll stop as soon as I start stimming (which might be next week if the scan goes well), but the nurse said that the odd glass of wine at this stage was not going to cause any problems. I've heard that brazil nuts are good for egg quality, so I've got a load in to munch on (got to be careful though - extremely high in fat!). Oh and obviously on the folic acid as well.

I've been properly exhausted this week and really headachey as well. Last night I burst into tears over absolutely nothing, so we can safely say I am well in the side effect zone! I cleared all the things I was meant to be doing this weekend, which was a bit of a blow as it's my Dad's 60th birthday today which I'm now missing and I was meant to be going to a gig tomorrow night. However, I think it is more important that I spend this weekend resting up and chilling out so that I can be ready for next weekend! I'm also hoping that all these side effects will mean that I have a nice thin lining at my scan on Tuesday so that I can start stimming - I've heard that this helps balance out the side effects and you stop feeling quite so rubbish. We shall see!

Hope everyone else is doing well - hi to Walley and Traskey

 

[PGLady]

Hi everyone, things are really moving now aren't they!

Good to hear that you are looking after yourself Sophie, there's only so much you can do right now . Sorry you're feeling the side effects - my nurse said the same thing about stimming getting rid of some, so hopefully you'll be feeling better really soon. When I've been reading other posts it seems that lots of people have one lazy ovary that doesn't pull its weight, and they are successful. Thanks for your tips too, mmm brazil nuts.

Sambatiki - hope the sniffs went well, you're now on your way . It was my Dr that was horrible, gladly the nurses at my place are lovely. I think I might ask the Dr not to mention it next time, as it's messing with my PMA!

Traskey, are you going to join us? for you!

Sorry, seem to have overdone it on the smilies - feeling festive and optimistic!
for everyone else.

 

[Sambatiki]

Sophie - Glad that Im not the only naughty one still having a few drinkies Pants on the crappy side effects... will defo be keeping some Nurofens in my handbag over the next few weeks. Hope you enjoy your nice relaxing weekend xxx

I'd also heard about the brazil nuts and bought some the other day... tbh not sure if I even like them

PG - Dont worry about smilie overloads.... I LOVE them

Sniffing went well this morning I was soooo sleepy at 6am on the weekend that I just did it and went straight back to sleep Very easy! Will be sniffing at work tonight so hopefully that will all go ok xxx

Hope everyone else is OK xxxx

 

[Wallie]

Glad to hear everyone is moving forward with their treatments. My packs of drugs has just been like that photo. Different bag though

I've always had to sniff four times a day

I think the drugs didn't make me emotional, it's just you realise what you're going through and you just have such a mixture of emotions they all just come out with crying at anything! I'm normally very happy going through IVF, just the last week that's a nightmare!