Long term ttc ... officially ...

I guess I can say I am officially long term ttc now as I have been ttc for 12 months ...

just got af this morning and the pain is the worst since a long time, really bad nausea as well for the first time ...

the frustration is that i have seen a few different gps and ran numerous blood tests and one ultrasound and the conclusion is that "there is nothing wrong with you" ... well ... then what should i do? They told me to relax, dont stress about work, take lots of holidays ... but thats not practical, work is as stressful as it normally is, and no one can just kee taking holidays ....

i have also seen antonia ruhl ... she saw me a few times and also thought that i was fine ... i guess next thing to rule out is my hubby ... we did run a home test for him before and he appeared normal. i am going to get him to officially check up as well, but i have a feeling that the problem is not there. i dont know where the problem is but its frustrating ...

I wish someone could tell me what to do :wall: ... although i have done well this time, at least i didnt cry ...

anyway hope you girls have much better luck than me ...

Oh hun here is a big hug for you :comfort: I am so sorry to hear AF turned up for you she is such a witch. It wouldn't hurt for your DH to go and get a sperm analysis done, at least you could rule out that being a factor if it came back ok. Have you tried anything like acupunture or herbal remedies? Perhaps worth a try. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be to not have any answers.

thanks girl ... i havent tried acupuncture or herbs! i really would like to try but again dont know anyone good ... saw a few of them before I started ttc because I always had problem with irregular af and period pain, but never seemed to have improved ...

To this day I still think there is something wrong with me somewhere but the fact that one of the gps politely asked me whether I have psychiatric problems in my family history makes me wonder whether I do have psychiatric problems ....

ktgirl ... i must thank you for the inspirations ... I just searched around on bellybelly and booked in to see Annalise for acupuncture ... i hope this time i am onto something good ...!

thanks again

hey there it sounds like u are on the right track though. me and my df waited 12 months before we did anything and now realise the sooner u get things rolling the better as sometimes it takes months to start treatments ( provided u need any ) and to get into appointments. we had to see 3 gp's til we found one who was willing to send us to a fertility specialist, that was mainly based on age, but u are young also and some docs dont take it seriously until you hit your 30's so my advice is to be persistant yes you will hit walls BUT if you want that bub bad enough you will do anything, get your partners hormones tested and sperm, we did this and found out it was surprisingly him all along! also premature ejaculation can be the problem, my DF's urologist told us that, and well, fixed it! and also put your man on "menevit" i swear buy it! its relatively new but DF' was taking it and 3 months later we got pregnant naturally! first step see a fertility specialist! and get your man tested at GP, also the fertility monitor is great, man ive tried everything! i did maybe baby temps, opks, CM charting BUT the only thing that worked, was the fertility monitor in conjunction with opk;s and menevit walla! first month it said i ovulated i got knocked up! i also suggest jumping in the LTTTC and assisted conception forum, i went into there and those ladies know EVERYTHING! i wasnt undergoing AC but they were very welcoming as i was on the way to starting! PM me if you want anymore info! good luck!

I am glad to hear you have booked in to get some acupunture. I would give everything a try. If your GP is not willing to give you a referral to see a FS I would go and get another opinion. I went to a few GPs who refused to start tests for me even though we had been trying unsucessfully, I had irregular periods (100 days and over at times) showed other symptoms for PCOS and my sister also has PCOS, and they just said to wait a bit longer. I just had to find the right GP who would do the tests and who diagnosed my PCOS and gave me a referral for a FS.

Keep your chin up (as hard as it is at times) Keeping a positive attitude will help heaps.

A little quote I used to love while trying to fall pregnant and having loads of trouble is "Never let yesterdays dissapointments overshadow tomorrows dreams" and I used to try and remind myself of that. Every failed cycle is one closed to 'the one'.

:hug: So sorry secretmission that this is so hard for you.. I can fully understand though.. After 12 months I started to get edgy and saw my GP for some tests.. it would seem that your GP doesn't want to help with that so you go to another GP tell them that you want a referral to ...... (An FS or a clinic in your area that you've checked out) An FS will put you through a heap of tests anyway so I wouldn't worry about getting your Dr to order them.. Painful periods could be endometriosis which can be a problem TTC but can only really be confirmed with a Laparoscopy... I had that and I didn't even have AF period pain... I would encourage you to push for a specialist appointment together with acupuncture or naturopathy or both as you never know what they will find and it all seems to take a long time and the sooner you get started the sooner you can have some answers.. i'm now over 2 years TTC and we are about to start IVF for the first time... sorry if that was a bit full on.. But I hate to see someone go through the same frustrations I have... good luck Hun... I hope you have sucess soon...:pray:

Get Hubbie checked. There are various reasons why his sperm may be the cause. My DH and I both got tested at the same time. My results came back as A-OK for ovulation & hormones etc. DH results came back with not great count, morphology, or motility, but not terrible either.

The results for anti-sperm anti-bodies was through the roof. Basically this means that DH's body thinks that sperm is an infection or something foreign that needs to be destroyed. After we found that out our next step was a referral to a fertility specialist who was known for his work with male infertility factor rather than female infertility.

I would strongly recommend your get DH checked out properly. A home kit....hmmm, not sure you will get anything accurate from that. The costs involved are minimal (as far as I am concerned) for the peace of mind and to rule out DH as the infertility factor.

DH will need a referral form your GP and it is then as simple as... well, you know...some private time and a specimen jar. :-) A tad embarassing, but no needles and blood tests etc. I tell ya - the men get it easy in this life.

Good luck and I hope you find your answers soon.

Thanks to all you girls ... thanks so much for the support!

I went to see another gp today because I have massive amount of blood and it's really so painful this time and so nausious ... but unsuccessful in getting a referral and gp thought other than an early miscarriage, can't think of anything else.

But you are right, I will keep trying to get a referral in conjunction with the acupuncture. It seems crazy that the gp's are unwilling to refer us when we would like to get a bit more understanding of our own body!

we went through a lot of test and then finally we had a genetic test. just a blood test nothing to serious and it showed that my dh had a chromosone (sp) imbalance. so that explained heaps this is not our only problem i also have a few drama's but it is defiantly worth checking.

Sorry to hear you are having such a crappy time of things. It must be soooo frustrating to not be getting any answers.

I'm glad to hear you are checking into alternative therapy now.

My own experience was 4unsuccessful goes at IVf then we went on natural therapies for a while before trying it again with success. I would reccomend a naturopath as well. We had male factor infertility but were treated with various suppliments. We also reduced our chemical exposure in the home and our diet and I did a lot of "mental cleansing", positive thinking regimes etc. I swear it was these things that made a difference to the next lot of IVF we did.

Wishing you the best of luck with your journey and hoping it's very short :)

hey 21andttc#1 ... I just noticed that I asked a question that you seem to have answered ... I am going to get hubby to try menevit straight away! Thanks!!

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hey there it sounds like u are on the right track though. me and my df waited 12 months before we did anything and now realise the sooner u get things rolling the better as sometimes it takes months to start treatments ( provided u need any ) and to get into appointments. we had to see 3 gp's til we found one who was willing to send us to a fertility specialist, that was mainly based on age, but u are young also and some docs dont take it seriously until you hit your 30's so my advice is to be persistant yes you will hit walls BUT if you want that bub bad enough you will do anything, get your partners hormones tested and sperm, we did this and found out it was surprisingly him all along! also premature ejaculation can be the problem, my DF's urologist told us that, and well, fixed it! and also put your man on "menevit" i swear buy it! its relatively new but DF' was taking it and 3 months later we got pregnant naturally! first step see a fertility specialist! and get your man tested at GP, also the fertility monitor is great, man ive tried everything! i did maybe baby temps, opks, CM charting BUT the only thing that worked, was the fertility monitor in conjunction with opk;s and menevit walla! first month it said i ovulated i got knocked up! i also suggest jumping in the LTTTC and assisted conception forum, i went into there and those ladies know EVERYTHING! i wasnt undergoing AC but they were very welcoming as i was on the way to starting! PM me if you want anymore info! good luck!

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Hi Ladies,
Hope you don't mind me joining in. I'm new here. My husband and I have been trying to have a baby for two and a half years. I'm 34 and he's 40 (I know its getting late!) but I always beleived that it would happen eventually and we've lost a lot of time. I don't know what to do next? I've read about monitoring ovulation, charting temperatures etc but am pretty lost. Do I see a doc first or do I simply start monitoring my ovulation? Any help would be much appreciated.
Thank you all.

welcome !!

i am certainly no expert, but i'd immediately book in gp (both u and hubby) and request for bloodtest for both of you and sperm test for hubby!!

i was like u and wasted so much time! tell gp that you have been trying for 2.5 years and you'd like a referral to FS immediately (even before you get results back). as soon as you get a referral, call to book a time right away! This is no joke, but usually it takes more than 3 months to even get an appointment to see the FS.

If i could wind the time back, i would put hubby on Menevit (apparently a very good multi-vitamin for men), buy fertility monitor (apparently much more accurate and precise than opk, charting, saliva scope ... etc) and BD close to Ovulation time based on the fertility monitor .... I wish I did this 12 months ago ....

Anyway ... best of luck to you and I am sure you will get heaps of advice from all the lovely ladies here, but, first thing is book in a GP and order tests/ask for referral immediately, because you can do all the monitoring or vitamins or whatever concurrently ... that doesn't interfere your appt with the gp ... Good Luck!!

Thanks so much for responding. We did do preliminary tests last year - my blood tests and his sperm tests.They were ok but these were done in Asia. So we might have to redo them again. We've only moved to Australia last year so we don't know much about how to go about things here.

Thanks again. I will book in that appointment with the GP immediately.

For your information, if you are really keen, call every single doctor on:
Melbourne IVF | IVF Overview - MIVF Staff

and see who has an earlier appointment to see you and ask your gp to write up a referral for that doctor. Another lady here gave me this advice and we called around today and managed to get an appointment for late march which is really not that far away considering how booked FS normally are.

MIVF has a policy to see people within 14 days so try your luck you might get someone who is willing to see you quickly.

One lady here also mentioned that her FS at MIVF would only trust the semen analysis done at royal woman hospital's andrology department, so while you are at the gp, you might as well ask to be referred there for your hubby's test - save having to re-do ...

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Thanks so much for responding. We did do preliminary tests last year - my blood tests and his sperm tests.They were ok but these were done in Asia. So we might have to redo them again. We've only moved to Australia last year so we don't know much about how to go about things here.

Thanks again. I will book in that appointment with the GP immediately.

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Thanks Secret Mission for being so helpful. We are in Brisbane. Have heard of a few good fertility clinics here. IVF is very expensive, isn't it? BTW we are not covered by Medicare, we have private health insurance and don't think they cover any infertility investigation and treatment. I do hope we will get lucky with a little help from a friendly GP. Will keep you updated!

Silly me ... I just assumed you are in vic :P

If you don't get many replies here, post a new thread and ask for good Brissy FS ... I am sure a lot of ladies here would be able to help :) Good luck :)

I think you are right ... private doesn't cover infertility issues, call them to double check!

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Thanks Secret Mission for being so helpful. We are in Brisbane. Have heard of a few good fertility clinics here. IVF is very expensive, isn't it? BTW we are not covered by Medicare, we have private health insurance and don't think they cover any infertility investigation and treatment. I do hope we will get lucky with a little help from a friendly GP. Will keep you updated!

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