What should i ask at my 1st FS appointment?

[lovie]

hello

I have my 1st FS appointment next week, I was thinking of making a list of things that I want to ask (so i dont forget stuff and regret it when i get home) do any of you have any suggestions about sensible things to ask? so far I was thinking...

what bmi do i need for treatments such as clomid/ivf?

how common is it for a mans SA to go down in 4 years (my oh had an ok sa 4 years ago)

can you have regular-ish (26-35 day) cycles and not ovulate?

are fibroids genetic?

is pain for 24 hours of a cycle that is so bad you have to take painkillers normal?

does anyone know the answeres to these questions? or do you think that the questions might be "a bit much" any other questions i should ask?

thank you

 

[phoenixrose]

I don't think that any question is to much for a doctor. I know that there have been many times that I've wanted to ask questions, but felt uncomfortable asking, then regretting not asking later. I don't know the literal answer about SA going down in 4 years but after that long I would ask for it to be redone no matter what the doctor thinks especially depending on the age he was 4 years ago. 21 to 25 isn't that different but 29 to 33 is a little different. If it's one thing I've learned it's that you have to take your health into your own hands. I'm not pregnant yet, but I wouldn't be this far into the process if I hadn't.

I don't know if a 26 day cycle is a normal # for an anovulatory cycle but I think 35 can be. Based on 26-35 I would think that you are more likely to be ovulating then not, but you never know. Plus even if you are ovulating they can be of lesser quality. I have PCO (not PCOS) and I do ovulate every month however, my FS suspects that the PCO is interfering with good quality egg making and that's why he put me on clomid to help produce better quality eggs due to increased FSH levels from the clomid.

When is the 24 hour pain? Is is PMS pain/cramping? I've heard different things, but the answer tends to lean more toward yes. I have very mild endometriosis that they found in a LAP last december, but even though it was cleaned out, my pain never really changed.

You may want to ask the FS what he/she thinks the next steps for you should be based on your history, and what tests they'll want to run or re-run. Also, you could ask about success rates of that particular facilities for various procedures: IUI, IVF, etc. Also, in the future, get then to explain all procedures completely to you. Ex: My previous FS would have done the insemination part of an IUI cycle no matter what, costing us $500-1000 more (our insurance doesn't pay), but my current one tests CM with a PCT and confirms if you need it or not (clomid can dry up CM), luckily this month we saved the money because my CM was fine =)

Hope some of that helped. I'll try to think of more questions.

 

[lovie]

thank you so much for the advice phoenixrose, what a beutifull name!

i think that there is no choice with clinics here, im in sweden and its all at one clinic in this area i think. maybe i will ask how many cyclesof ivf are funded if needed, i think its 3 egg retrivals and 9 implantations.

good luck to you