# When do I come off Clomid and go for IVF/ICSI?



## Lou G (Jun 1, 2005)

Hi,

I'm on my third month of Clomid and am seriously considering going for private treatment as I am not convinced it will work for us.  My nurse has said that we will 'probably' need IVF/ICSI as my DH has low motility and morphology.  I have decided that I will make an appointment with a private clinic in the new year but I have a few questions:

1)  What happens at the initial consultation?
2)  Will it matter that Clomid will still be in my system?
3)  How long will it take from the initial consultation to starting the IVF process?

The clinic I will be attending is Cromwell Swansea.

TIA,

Louise x


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## ULTRA (Nov 8, 2005)

Hi Louise,

After you have contacted a private clinic they will send you info material on the IVF/ICSI process. We were sent a long medical questionare about our medical history etc. You should complete it and sent it in before the 1st consultation then the cons knows you already. S/he will discuss your situation and advise what is most appropriate treatment for you. S/he should also show you the statistics of success (take home baby rate) for the clinic for women of your age/med problem. You then pay your £150 consultation fee, go home and think about what you really want to do next.
In good private clinics you should be able to start as soon as you want and all the pre-lim tests have been done. To save costs you could approach your GP if he would do blood tests (Hepatitis B, C, HIV for both you and your partner plus rubella virus, FSH, LH, Oestradiol and Prolactin for you) for you on NHS.

Good luck with your treatment,

ULTRA


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## ☼♥ Minxy ♥☼ © (Jan 13, 2005)

Hi

Different clinics have different processes so it's difficult to really give you advice as the way your clinic works may be completely different from the way mine or someone else's does. The costs for the actual appt(s) and the treatment & tests may vary too. Some private clinics do also have a waiting list...you will need to discuss this with your consultant.

We're going privately & made an appt last month to see our consultant again to discuss starting IVF in January. With my past medical history (diagnosed endo 17yrs ago, bicornuate uterus, blood clotting disorder, 3 pgs - 1 sadly terminated 15yrs ago & 2 early mc's this year) plus the fact that I've been on clomid too for 6 months now....taking to boost as ovulate naturally & releasing 2 or 3 eggs every cycle...we decided enough was enough as we would've been ttc for just over 2 & half years by Jan. I was initially only prescribed clomid for 3mths to "boost" & we were to start IVF in October but we decided to give clomid another 3mths chance as far less invasive, stressful & cheaper !!

Only you can really make the decision when to stop with the clomid & move on to the next part of fertility treatment...the consultant can only advice you & offer their opinions.

At our appt last month, we fully discussed the IVF treatment & wrote a list of questions we wanted to ask the consultant...always helps in case anything gets missed. Consultant went through the whole process of IVF & gave us some leaflets showing the approx timescale from start to finish (basically the long or short protocol) & some other info. Since we've both already had numerous tests (I've had pretty much every blood test required already, several times !!) & DP's had sperm tests then the only ones we need are for HIV & Hep. We already know that IUI isn't an option (I've damaged sluggish tubes & been told no point by 2 fertility experts) & since DP's swimmers are excellent (quality & quantity) we don't feel the need for ICSI.

Our consultant offered to contact our GP recommending that we have the HIV & Hep tests done on NHS...but he also said we could go into any "walk in" clinic (many hospitals have a "sexual health" clinic) & get these tests done for free on NHS. He also said he's write to our GP to recommend that all the fertility drugs should be available to us on NHS prescription (which many GP's will do) so this cuts our costs by a fair bit & means we only have to pay for the actual treatment. As for having clomid in your system...I asked about this & he said it's not a problem at all.

We were not required to complete a long questionaire about our medical history (our consultant has years worth of this without us repeating it !!)...we did have to complete a standard form each which is the Child Welfare Form, asking basic questions about our medical history (about a page & half of easy yes/no questions), as well as giving details of the person we wished to have the treatment with (ie partner), how long we'd been in a relationship, did we live together, did we look after other children if none of our own, any convictions against children etc. We were also given a form each to give to our GP's asking them to complete the questionaire relating to our medical history & in their opinion whether suitable for IVF....

...there is great debate by the HFEA about these Child Welfare Forms which are a legal requriement (some see them as discriminating against those with fertility issues as if didn't have "problems" wouldn't need to fill these forms in & have GP's etc check us....anyway, that's a different post & I won't go off on a tangent !!)

That's pretty much it initially.....if we've got the £2500 cash to start in January then we will as I'd prefer not to leave it too long & run the risk of having more uterine adhesions (which they do for me fairly quickly) & possible endo return.

Anyway, wishing you lots of luck in your journey... 
Take care
Natasha


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## flowerpot (Jan 20, 2005)

thanks Natasha for that info, it certainly helped me.

Were seeing the nhs gynae again friday (or not if he will refer us onto fertility clinic without seeing us personally) and he is referring us onto the IVF unit.  I wondered how we found out about the private costs etc and what we would have to do so thats a great help!

xxxx


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## KerryB (Mar 7, 2005)

Thanks for the info Natasha.  We are waiting to go back and see Gp to begin our referral for IVF, my thinking being as we are NHS the quicker we get on the list the better, we can still keep trying in the mean time. Also considering paying for a private consultation to get a "plan" together as we're fed up with seeing different cons every time we go to the appointments! Might help get things moving.

K
xx


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## ☼♥ Minxy ♥☼ © (Jan 13, 2005)

Hi Kerry

We're on the NHS waiting list too...but its 2 years in our area of London & we're only about 6-8mths up the list so a way to go yet !! I wrongly assumed that they'd put us on the NHS list as soon as we had our first appt with consultant as with my medical history (prior to ttc & time spend ttc before referall) then I was already a higher candidate for IVF...but apparently we only got put on the list when our current consultant deemed we may require IVF which was only back in about April/May when I had my 4th hysteroscopy & after 2 early mc's !

Thankfully there is no waiting list at the private clinic we're at...just need to check our "baby fund" after xmas/new year to see how much we've got (we've both been trying to save £100-200 each month since about May so hopefully we should have enough !)

Good luck hun
Take care
Natasha


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## Lou G (Jun 1, 2005)

Thank you for all your comments - they were really helpful.

Have phoned the clinic this morning and have an appointment on 11th January.  It was the earliest one they had but I don't mind as I don't think I can face it before Xmas.  

My mum thinks it's too early to see a private consultant but I am worried about DH's motility and shape - what's the point of being on Clomid if we can't get PG anyway?

Sorry to be negative, I'm just having a really bad day.  Been sent home from work cos I am such a sobbing and hopeless mess,

Lou x


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## flowerpot (Jan 20, 2005)

Awww Lou, chin up hunny xxx


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## KerryB (Mar 7, 2005)

I know how hard it is Lou. Try and stay positive, as many of the girls have told me, your doing all the right things and it will happen when the time is right.  

Natasha....The wait up here for us is 3 years on NHS so the quicker we get on there the better. Unfortunately we can't afford to go private (house move last year stretched us a lot), but might keep it in mind if a windfall comes our way!

xx


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## samfree (Mar 20, 2005)

Hi MrsG

Stay positive my DH had poor motility & Morphology of only 4%.  We got pregnant on the 4th cycle of clomid

It can happen

I will keep everything crossedfor you, to be honest the month it happened was the month after my false positive.

It really made me calm down and not be so obsessed with trying to conceive.

Hope this helps

love 

samxx


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## gossips2 (Nov 22, 2005)

Hi Lou,
Try to stay strong we are all sending you strong vibes.   
Minxy......you amaze me...so informative and supportive yet again.What would fertility friends do without you?
Hoping you gather enough funds,Father Christmas may bring you some good pressies...fingers crossed!!  
Gossips


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