A few months ago I found a fantastic gp (ex ob-gyn) who did a few tests for me and gave me the upsetting diagnoses of secondary infertility. She offered me a refferal to a FS, and j said we would continue trying naturally for a little longer and then perhaps take her up on that offer. That was at 12 months ttc, we are now entering our 14th. The only deterant of seeing a FS has (unfortunately) been the finacial aspect. So in general, how much has it cost you to see a FS. How long have you been seeing them and how often? What tests did they do and what did it all cost? What medications were you prescribed and how much did they cost? What are the benefits of being a concession card holder (I am) with treatments/meds etc? What did you get back from Medicare?
Df and I are just trying to work out a general estimate of what a FS will set us back, and if we will go down that path or keep trying as we have been. Thanks in advance
I went back in Feb, the initial consultation was $180, he did 2 blood test when i was there – one was covered by Medicare, the other one was not, i think that one was $60 it was a new one which established my AMH level which indicated your ovarian reserve ( mine was way too low, but i think you know that) i also was given 2 referrals one for my DH to get his swimmers tested $130 and i had to get a pelvic u/s and a HyCoSy done ( to check if you have blocked tubes and stuff) which was $499, after i had all the results i took them all back to the FS and as it was my second visit it was “only” $100 this time, i cannot remember how much i got back from Medicare but it was only a fraction in any case... i was also told to consider IFV which is about $ 8K ab-front but you get quite a bit back for some reason this FS did not mention IUI as i know it would be cheaper...
This is where i left it all in reg to the FS, as i decided to go down the Ch Dr path which i know is the right thing for me in my situation...
Hope that helps, all the best with it all hun i know it can be quite confronting, one bit of advice – no matter what the outcome will be – never give up hope !
Shiiiite...the one my doc deff said I need to get is the HyCoSy thing, as I got PID from my d&c and she's worried about fallopian scarring and blockage....but $500 is wayyyy out of our immediate price range. I bloody hate ttc; damned if you do, dammed if you don't We have also been considering tcm as an alternitive, as well as just trying clomid for a 5 or so months to see if maybe that is all the help we need. It really pains me that money is what is holding us back with ttc atm, I mean, we can afford a baby, otherwise we would not be trying, but big bulky costs like that, at this point, is not realistic for us
Any time PZ, just PM me if you have any other questions.
I agree the FS is a very expensive exercise – one which only caused me anguish and no real answers. But that is just my situation.
The Ch Dr path is the way to go for me and i can only highly recommend it as it is only $65 for a weekly acupuncture session and $30 dollars for one weeks of herbs... still pricy but a bargain compare to IVF if you know what i mean, and i my case i got my BFP in the 1 month taking the herbs and was told it was Twins ! so i know it works...just a shame that nature had different plans and it was not meant to be this time...but once i have my AF black i know one thing ...i will be straight back to my little Ch Guy so he can work his magic again with his herbs.
PZ and Gecko,
Thought I would also mention I've started reading 'The Fertility Diet' interesting reading. The books suggests that cells pick up on our thoughts. The Action Plan for that particular chapter notes 'think some inspiring, baby-making thoughts for your cells to eardrop on'.
Also, I've also been told that the Cohens Diet leads to high fertility. However, the 'program' is a bit pricey.
Personally, I prefer TCM (natural medicine) to assist as opposed to medical interventions. I guess TCM and the like get to the root cause of delays in becoming pregnant.
Sorry, if it's a bit off topic PZ trying to find/suggest alternate methods to assist that reduce the cost of seeing a FS.
Don't apologize at all cbg; I am a very grassroots type person myself. Only reason I feel like I should be seeing a FS is because of the PID which I am terrified has scarred or blocked up my tubes, and my doc said I'd need a refferal to a FS to get that checked, as the pelvic u/s I had was not detailed enough, and that they might need to go inside me and have a squizz lol
But yeah, huge fan of tcm over here, have heard fantastic things.
Gecko, interesting you mention getting checked out to put your mind at ease. I mentioned to the TCM about family history and he said that seed has been planted and western medicine tests would be able to remove any doubts.
Perhaps PZ you could imagine your healthy tubes in the interim. I get thoughts of a water park with the big slide and all the water running down freely with no blockages &/or damage. Take away you doubts and replace them with 'healthy' ones so that you cells eardrops on them
I'm booked to see my OB again in late July to get a referral for that ultrasound to see if there's any blockages. Am hoping the TCM will do the trick before then tho cos we won't have the money! :/
I'm not sure TCM take much notice of western tests tbh. I told my herbalist on Wednesday that DH's SA came back fine, and he said he'd probably have a different opinion and would like to see us both. Unfortunately we can't afford for DH to see him as well. I do know the TCM could help DH tho, even tho his SA was good. There are other aspects that I'm sure affect things which I know the TCM could address. Oh well.
As for FS experience.. I've not had anything more than seeing my OB/Gyn for my PCOS and using metformin to fall pg with DS. You can hear good and bad about FS.. some people experience great success with them, others wouldnt' wish the experience on anyone as it can be very cold & clinical.
I really hope you don't need to go down that path PZ Unfortunately TCM adds up very quickly.. mine costs me $300 a cycle. And even regular acupuncture can add up.. at $40 a visit. But as someone else said, it's less than some of the hefty costs of some western treatments.
Speaking from the other side of the fence I think that if you find a FS that you're comfortable with, its well worth seeing him/her.
My issues are far too huge to briefly explain in your thread here ( a few novels worth, lol) but I had secondary infertility due to an undetected PID that I caught from my emergency c/s from having DS.
I've done everything you can imagine over 8 years of TTC #2, the TM/herbs/acucpuncture is brilliant & well worth starting on - make sure you see a naturopath that specialises in fertility issues
Back to the FS though - if you do have or have had PID, I would definately suggest seeing one - even for a consultation & you can decide from there where you want to go.
From my experience, the first few things they will do is check your husbands sperm, book you in for a laparoscopy (which is free if you're a public patient, although you'll have to go on a waiting list which can be anything up to 12 months long) - and the HyCoSy.
From memory, when I had the HyCoSy done, it was closer to the $300 mark, but that was about 18 months ago... I also got the majority back on medicare, but things there have changed in regards to what you get back
If you know you can't afford everything all at once, I would still make the appointment to see a FS (Initial consult will prob be around $200 of which you'll get about $65 back?) - and if nothing else, get him/her to put you on a waiting list for the lap.
That will get you started - perhaps you can do the natural medicine/diets/therapy during the waiting period for having the lap done.
They may not do the HyCoSy if you book in for a lap, as they can run the dye through your tubes whilst doing the surgery - they've done this for me a few times.
Good luck - its an overwhelming journey to start with, but once you fill yourself up with info, you can find a path that you choose to be the right one for you
I'm not in Victoria, but there is a stack of BB girls who are who have seen some wonderful FS's if you need a place to start
Thankyou very much Holly. My main concern (only one really) is blockage/scarring of the tubes. Tbh we wouldn't really waste time with dfs semen until we had exhausted all other avenues, as he is 19 and very healthy, and we concieved the first month of trying (hence the secondary infertility). It was after my d&c that I got pid and stuff got messy. I still think we will go the FS route initially to find out about my tubes etc. May need to save a few months for it though, once we get the ball rolling I want to be able to have the necessary tests etc.
PZ, We started off seeing a GP, who sent DH off for a semen analysis, even though he was DD's father, young fit etc, i think they will still request one. We never had to pay for these (first one came back a bit iffy, 2nd came back with no problems) I think they are all done/paid for through medicare.
Once we went to our FS. (We are in QLD btw) our first visit was $180. He wanted a lap done, which he booked me in for privately for 2 weeks later. His booking fee was $200. His fee for the Lap, D&C and Dye was $572.30, obviously keeping in mind that every specialist will have a difference in pricing. On top of this, we had the anaethetist ($626.40 after the $200 pay early discount) the assistant to our FS ($99.13) and pathology ($146.70) My bed and theatre fees for the 1 day were $1014. I had an ultrasound done when we saw the GP which was around the $200 mark i think. Our FS visits were around the $140 mark, but once we paid for our Initial Admin fee to the IVF group ( $185) we didnt have to pay for our visits to him, until we got the +ve result, then i had 2 visits to him, before we had to change to another OB as he was retiring
Just checked my book i wrote everything in, and he also did an ultrasound before we started our IVF cycle that cost $150. Our wait list for the FS was somewhere around 6-8 weeks i think? But that was only due to us trying to work in around DH's roster and the fact that the FS was going on holidays for a couple of weeks.
Now, after my Lap, I was put on Synarel (a horrible nasty nose spray) which is around $100 per bottle, but due to my being diagnosed with endometriosis, our FS was able to get a number from medicare for us to have it for around $30 per bottle. Initially we were going to go on clomid, but once i had the lap, he said we would need to go to IVF, so I can't help you with any other drugs on that front. I don't think you will get anything back from medicare with medications. We were extremely fortunate that our PHI pays out on prescription meds if they cost you more than $100. It may pay to look at one of the cheap chemist places, like Chemist Warehouse for Clomid etc.. you can definately save some money through them. I got 2 of my 3 medications through them straight after our IVF embie transfer, and it cost me less than our local chemist charged me for just 1 of them when i ran out a couple of weeks later.
Ok, I'm not sure if i have helped with any questions? Being that you are in Melbourne, some girls might know of someone great that you can see?
Could you maybe start with finding someone who has some knowledge with clomid and try a few cycles before moving on to more costly options?
Even if you have to go on a public waiting list, it would be far better to get on there now, then wait another 12 months to start looking. That would be 12 months that you could have been on the waiting list IYKWIM? There's nothing to say that you might just catch that eggie while you are on a list don't forget.
Is it in Melbourne or Sydney that I have heard there is a public list for FS and IVF? I'm sure I have seen some girls mention it on here? Still costs you some money, but i think it may be quite a bit cheaper than going fully private?
If my post seems all over the place, I apologise.. I am in the middle of making a huge mess in the kitchen and other family stuff, but saw you were on line and wanted to post something in reply to you.
PumpkinZulu Have you found a good GP your happy with? If so they can run alot of tests before seeing a specialist. Blood tests run from specialists mean you have to pay for them where as if a GP orders them you wont have to pay. These are for preliminary tests obviously and GPs can not order some tests you have to be a specialist. Maybe see your GP and get your E2, Progesterone etc done and your DP a SA. As other then your appointment cost it shouldn't cost you anything. A FS you will have to pay for these exact same tests. Although a GP wont be able to order you them all just some of the more obvious ones. It shouold cut costs back however.
Once you have the tests then you could take them and see a Gyno or FS. If you can't afford a HSG to check your tubes then you can have a lap and dye through a public hospital which wont cost you anything except your consultation fee. But you would be looking t a wait of 3-6months probably. It might be worth asking a Gyno or FS for one as really a lap and dye is the only way to diagnose PID for sure and see the severity of it. PID generally occurs after an infection is left to long such as from a D&C, STD, birth etc. I too have/had PID which was active for years before diagnosis caused from prolonged ruptured membranes for a month before birth. My friend had untreated clymidia for 3years and never got PID. From my nursing it seems the only true way to diagnose it is from a laparoscopy and go in and have a look. Drs often diagnose it from temps and abdo pain but you can not be 100% sure without having a look inside so chances are you don't have PID. I personally would want them to have a look inside and find out for sure and flush your tubes whilst they are there.
Have you been treated for PID? When I was it was a few days in hospital on IV antibiotics followed by 3weeks of intense oral antobiotics. Just asking as I know often they only prescribe a single course which is not enough to treat it.
I didn't know that you had to have a lap to diagnose PID. I jad a m/c at 5 weeks about 3 or 4 months after a d&c for another m/c. The d&c is what caused the infections I got. Went in to hospital, they took a whole lot of blood and swabs and clots/tissue etc, and sent me a letter with my results saying I had a group g strep infection and PID. I went on a strong course of antibiotics and that was that. I jad high temps/fever and abdo pain, and then the m/c. I'm a bit concerned now as that was what the diagnoses was, but I didn't have a lap. Would I be able to request one publically (don't mind about the wait) through my gp do you think? Thankyou everyone for the info, it is all extremely helpful.
Plenty of PID is diagnosed just from assessment of the signs and symptoms in drs surgerys and ED departments but often they are wrong. Lots of things can cause similar signs such as endo, m/c, IBS etc The only sure way to be sure is through a laparoscopy and lots of people with no symptoms who have laps for reasons like infertility find out they do have PID.
Unfortunately a GP can not do a lap you would need a gyno to do it. So you would need to see a Gyno and they would then decide if you need one and put you on a waiting list at a public hospital if you have no private health insurance. That way you would pay for the consultation with him/her (prob around $150 give or take a bit before medicare rebate) but not a hospital fee. I got in within 3weeks but worked with the Dr otherwise it would have been around a 3-6month wait. I also didn't ask for it he recommended it as we had been ttc 12months and had a m/c and ectopic pregnancy and knew I had PID and endo from my ectopic surgery.
Seeing a FS, lay it on me.
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We have also been considering tcm as an alternitive, as well as just trying clomid for a 5 or so months to see if maybe that is all the help we need. It really pains me that money is what is holding us back with ttc atm, I mean, we can afford a baby, otherwise we would not be trying, but big bulky costs like that, at this point, is not realistic for us 
lol
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