Unexplained infertility support thread

[lovie]

Hello

Edit: maybe we can use this thread as a place to talk to others with unexplained infertility, share the struggles and hopefully celebrate bfp's together

I was wondering if anyone knows of any threads/groups on this forum for those of us lttc with unexplained infertility? If not does anyone fancy joining me here to talk about the challenges and treatments associated with unexplained infertility?

I have only recently got the tests back from the fs, I often wondered whilst waiting for tests which thread would be my "home" when we were diagnosed would it be the pcos or the endo thread or maybe we would have male factor infertility. I feel a bit lost having no answers about why it's taking so long to get our bfp.. I love how you can look at the beginning of a thread and see the original posters with babies as their avatar pics, it really gives me hope!

A little about me, I'm 27 and my oh is 34 we are on cycle 18 of ttc, our tests came back saying that things were mostly normal, my fsh/lh ration was 1.5/1 but they didn't seem to think it would be a problem... Oh sa was all super except for morphology which was only 4% but his volume and count were both very high.

The next step for us is ivf, we live in Sweden and the fs has referred us for ivf rather than iui as she doesn't think iui is any better than natural dtd for unexplained couples, we can pay for iui ourselfs if we want and she won't do a hsg unless we pay for iui we have 3 free ivf cycles so it seems silly to pay for iui... But then I'd like to know if my tubes are open!

Thanks for reading hopefully i will find out where the unexplained ladies hang out! Good luck to you all

 

[StorkStalker]

Hi Lovie..
I am sorry you are going through all of this..
We also have "unexplained infertility" and it drives me crazy.. I don´t think there´s an active thread for it.. So why not this one?
We have been TTC for 4+years.. 1 mc 3 years ago, nothing before and nothing since...
I´ve had IUI without success... at first without stimulation, and the 2nd round with.. I do ovulate on my own but my then FS said it couldn´t hurt...
We lived in Switzerland and now in France.. The next step could be IVF but are on waiting list for FS and have been told that an unexplained infertility diagnosis would not qualify, so who knows how long that will be or if it will be at all... Meanwhile I use ClearBlueFertilityMonitor and DuoFertilityMonitor, CB for 1 year now, and Duo for the 3rd cycle..
I´m 32 now and DH is 38... I feel like my biological clock is not ticking, it´s like an annoying alarm every day every hour!!

Good luck to you!!

 

[KittyCat82]

Hiya, unexplained here too! There were a couple of threads not sure they are very active now. There is certainly one in the assisted conception section. We have been trying since about Jan 2010 and totally unexplained with one failed ivf. Check out my journal for more info if you like. I think being 'unexplained' brings a whole host of extra emotions with it-very tough. We do however have high success rates for treatment and even still conceiving naturally! x

 

[purplesparkle]

we are unexplained too been trying for almost 3 years. I have high levels of prolactin and take brocromptine to manage that everything else for both of us is normal. It is hard not knowing what's preventing us from getting pregnant. Tried 6 months of clomid no joy. will be starting iui in feb hoping that will give us a bfp

 

[lovie]

Thank you for replying!! I'm sorry there seems to be so many of us struggling with unexplained IF I will change the title of this thread to "unexplained infertility support thread" or something like that..

Stalk stalker Im so sorry for your loss the unexplained side of things drives me crazy aswel! I have had times when I have wished there was something wrong with me or my oh (as silly as it is to wish a problem on myself) just so I had a reason and could explain to my family what is going on... I find that because I have no reason to tell people they give me stupid advice like "maybe you should do yoga" France must be an amazing place to live! Are you Swiss originally? I'm English bug I live in Sweden as my oh is Swedish.. I'd much prefere to live in a country with nice cheese and good wine than Sweden which has meatballs and fermented fish! will they only treat diagnosed infertility problems in France? That seems unfair what is the cost of private ivf like over there? I know there can be a big difference depending on the country. Good luck with the monitors, would you say they have been a good investment? I understand where you are coming from regards to the biological clock... 2 years ago none of my friends had kids, now more than half are new mums or pregnant! I love being around their babies and sharing their pregnancies but I'd love to join in with my own bump! Best of luck to you, I hope you get a bfp really soon

Hello kittycat that's great news that couples with unexplained infertility have good success rates with treatment! Thanks for that info it helps with my pma! Im so sorry the 1st ivf didn't work are you thinking of having any more treatments? I will pop over and take a look at your journal I hope you get your bfp soon

Hia purple sparkle how exciting that you will be doing iui in feb! Will it be medicated or unmedicated? Fingers crossed it works for you and your celebrating a bfp Next month! Does your high prolactin give you any symptoms?

 

[purplesparkle]

thanks lovie will be taking clomid and other iui drugs still trying to get my head round what i have to do and how its going to work.

 

[uwa_amanda]

I also fall into the unexplained infertility as well. I was prescribed Provera to kick star my periods. They were very irregular. After three months of that I was prescribed Clomid at 50 mg. I have since been doubled up to 100 mg and on my fifth cycle of the stuff. My insurance won't cover anything above that so if the Clomid doesn't work, we will probably end up childless since ivf and all is too expensive and adoption is just as bad cost wise. DH got an SA from the Veterans affairs here in the USA to make sure none of the meds he was on caused any problems for him...all was good there. (he's a disabled veteran of the Iraq War).

 

[lovie]

hello uwa_amanda

I'm sorry to here that you too are suffering with with unexplained infertility also sorry to here that your Oh was hurt in iraq it must have been awfull for both of you

good news that the sa was all fine! I hope the clomid does its job and you get a nice bfp soon!

AFM i was wondering if mosy ladies with unexplained if are given clomid... i was supprised that my fs didnt perscribe it for me

 

[Turtlemad]

Hey, everyone, can I join in too? I'm also unexplained, have had bloods, hsg, and SA, all came back clear. Been trying for 3years now and only recently met the FS. She prescribed 4months of clomid to give extra targets, and then she recommended onto ivf, insurance doesn't cover in Ireland so we have started saving just incase!!
Unexplained is so frustrating, my mam was so happy when I told her, cause she said nothing was wrong with me! But all I can think if there's nothing wrong, why no BFP?? And if there's nothing wrong how can they fix it?? anyways rant over, I am lucky that there is nothing wrong with me, I'm just frustrated with unexplained today

 

[uwa_amanda]

hello uwa_amanda

I'm sorry to here that you too are suffering with with unexplained infertility also sorry to here that your Oh was hurt in iraq it must have been awfull for both of you

good news that the sa was all fine! I hope the clomid does its job and you get a nice bfp soon!

AFM i was wondering if mosy ladies with unexplained if are given clomid... i was supprised that my fs didnt perscribe it for me

Thanks! He did get hurt over there. He messed his back up real bad when he hit a roadside bomb. I'm just glad that's all it was...that was a really scary phone call to get.

 

[lovie]

helloturtle mad

i know what you mean by wanting something to "fix" at least there is solutions to diagnose issues! i love your explanation as clomid creating more targets i hope the targets get hit for you soon!!

awa im so glad he wasnt more hurt, still it is so horrid he was hurt at all

 

[StorkStalker]

Hi to all the ladies in this thread..
It´s nice to have one since it´s so frustrating to fall in the "X files" of infertility...

Thanks Lovie , it´s a long story, but to be brief, I´m Mexican, met my husband in Bath,UK (12yrs ago).. he is from Spain... we lived in Switzerland ´cause of his work, and move here for the same reason.. dealing with IF has been a rollercoaster because it has always been in a different culture/ambiance than our actual homes, different language (German in Switzerland & French here).. what I have figured out so far is that here they do treat unexplained IF but it´s not a priority so there are waiting lists and you get bumped if there´s someone with higher priority so to say.. which I kind of understand, but still I feel my situation is an emergency.. I have been told you can qualify for up to 4 tries of IVF.. but it is not easy to get to the first one, let alone the rest... Going private means 6000 Eur + meds.. so there´s that.. And then as my FS has explained, since there is no "tell" as to why I am not getting pregnant, the probability of success is the same as a natural cycle (he said the same was for IUI)... I do not believe this however.. I believe anyone´s chances are greatly increased with IVF...

As for the monitors, I trully find ClearBlueFM more reassuring, it gives you an actual biological pre-ovulation sign... Duo for me has just been a very expensive thermometer, charting the same way I did for a whole year and a half on my own on FertilityFriend ...The chart is very simple, and I feel they calculate fertile days on average and not on actual data as they claim... They always give me 6 fertile days around day 15 of cycle.. Right now I am on day 16 and have not ovulated and I am already on day 4 of the fertile window, CBFM has yet to show me a peak, so I expect to ovulate in 2 days.. which will put me out of the fertile window Duo "calculated".. Also, they ask you to keep using OPK and input the data, which for me feels like cheating.. It´s not what I expected at all, but at least I have charts again now to try and figure out patterns and stuff (I stopped temping before because it drove me nuts)... I have the one year or money back guarantee from Duo, and I really hope I wont be getting my money back.. That would mean we got to 5yrs TTC..

Well, long post over.. Glad to have this thread... hugs to everyone and hopefully we will be getting out of here 1 by 1 this year!!

 

[lovie]

I love the term the x-files! great way to refere to it

i have the same frustrations as you in regards to dealing with lttc in a foreign country its so hard to deal with a culture/language difference on top of everything! do you speak french? i speak some swedish but i ask to have a doctor that will speak english as im not so good at swedish when im stressed/upset.

I dont mean to be mean to your fs but i dont think an ivf cycle is only as likely as a natural cycle for us unexplained ladies... i have used this ivf calculator that you might want to try i found it interesting!https://www.ivfpredict.com/index-1.html

I hope you dont get your money back! it does sound a little like cheating that they ask you to put the opk results on!

 

[Irish_eyes]

Hi ladies, don't mind if I join in? I have been TTC for over 3 years...since December 2008. We have had all our tests done which all came back normal and ok so we are unexplained also. I have high prolactin but have been taking bromocriptine to correct that so that is all in order. I am 34 and DH is 36 and I have never had a bfp.

We filled in our paperwork for IVF at the end of November at a private FS appointment and still waiting on our offical letter to say we are on the waiting list. The wait is going to drive me demented as the NHS in Northern Ireland is shit. I was hoping to start treatment in November this year but I have been hearing bits and pieces from other women waiting on treatment in Northern Ireland on another forum and I am now thinking it could even be March 2013. Not a happy bunny. I also use CBFM and still use opks....I have to admit there is even months that we take breaks from trying.

If you want to know more you can read my journal but be aware....it's mainly me complaining.

 

[Irish_eyes]

AFM i was wondering if mosy ladies with unexplained if are given clomid... i was supprised that my fs didnt perscribe it for me

I made the private appointment with FS back in November to specifically ask for Clomid but when I got there she assumed it was to get the ball rolling to get us on the waiting list for IVF. I told her I wanted Clomid but she refused it because I ovulate on my own. The same consultant gave a girl I know on here Clomid and she ovulated on her own too. That girl now has a gorgeous baby boy. So they have one rule for one and another for another. Sometimes I think it just easier for them to put you forward for IVF.

 

[lovie]

How frustrating that they won't give you cloned when they have given it to others in a similar situation even tho your waiting for ivf it would be good to try something in the meantime.

I think alot of fs think we all want to go right to ivf I guess some ladies do... But lots would like to try other things aswel!

I hope you get to start ivf soon! Maybe we will end up cycle and bump buddies!!

 

[mk8]

hi ladies, outta curiosity, have you also had a laparoscopy completed to take a better look inside? ive read conflicting views on whether to do a diagnostic lap (despite a normal hsg result) before starting ivf. my understanding is that some go straight to ivf and i wonder what is the better choice.

wishing you ladies plenty of babydust! fingers crossed that 2012 will be the year you all become mummies!

 

[purplesparkle]

i have had a lap everything was ok its worth having for peace of mind

 

[mk8]

Thanks purple sparkle.

 

[mk8]

Thanks purple sparkle.