Anything I need to ask at my appointment

[Gizzy Kelly]

Lara

Hope you dont mind me asking but how do you get cover on Bupa for fertility issues??

Carnet I was go down there anyway and hope they can fit you in? they muct have a record of it somewhere otherwise where did you get the date??. It is so bloody frustrating all this waiting. My next app is not until march... wait wait bloody wait.

I need a chill pill.

Giz xxx

 

[Lara_M]

Keep harassing them on the phone! Understand your frustration entirely!!

 

[Lara_M]

Lara

Hope you dont mind me asking but how do you get cover on Bupa for fertility issues??

Carnet I was go down there anyway and hope they can fit you in? they muct have a record of it somewhere otherwise where did you get the date??. It is so bloody frustrating all this waiting. My next app is not until march... wait wait bloody wait.

I need a chill pill.

Giz xxx

Hey Kelly

I have always had bupa cover, but they dont cover fertility issues. However, they DO cover multiple miscarriage investigations.
So as soon as I had my third miscarriage (1 mc at 11 weeks followed by two chemical pregs) I got on to bupa in a shot!
My lovely gynae has arranged the investigation but the great thing about this is whilst having the advise and investigations for the miscarriages she is also able to tell me the way forward in the meantime in terms of fertility. So we used the first appointment to cover the way forward in terms of bloodwork and scans and HSGs, but we also discussed clomid and ttc
This cycle I am natural (my first after my chemical in nov) and I am on aspirin (after ovulation) and 5mg (v high dose) folic acid. Should I fall preg next week then she will give me progesterone suppositories. So I am lucky that she is being so accomodating when bupa are technically putting me with her purely for miscarriage investigations. The whole insurance thing is so unfair. I have been paying bupa premiums for years and after my second mc the guy on the end of the phone said to me, "give us a call back after you have a third mc!!"
I was like "What???" I knew what he meant but its all just a farce really.

x x x

 

[CARNAT22]

Ladies,

I have to take it all back.

I am down for a scan tomorrow at 4.30pm (I am in 'the book'). They send the book from clinic 1 to clinic 3 each day so when I go tomorrow I tell them I am a referral from clinic 1 and they'll find my name in a folder somewhere... Very high tech LOL!

 

[Lara_M]

Woop woop! thank goodness for that Carnat! We aer moving forward!!! x

 

[CARNAT22]

Hey Kelly

I have always had bupa cover, but they dont cover fertility issues. However, they DO cover multiple miscarriage investigations.
So as soon as I had my third miscarriage (1 mc at 11 weeks followed by two chemical pregs) I got on to bupa in a shot!
My lovely gynae has arranged the investigation but the great thing about this is whilst having the advise and investigations for the miscarriages she is also able to tell me the way forward in the meantime in terms of fertility. So we used the first appointment to cover the way forward in terms of bloodwork and scans and HSGs, but we also discussed clomid and ttc
This cycle I am natural (my first after my chemical in nov) and I am on aspirin (after ovulation) and 5mg (v high dose) folic acid. Should I fall preg next week then she will give me progesterone suppositories. So I am lucky that she is being so accomodating when bupa are technically putting me with her purely for miscarriage investigations. The whole insurance thing is so unfair. I have been paying bupa premiums for years and after my second mc the guy on the end of the phone said to me, "give us a call back after you have a third mc!!"
I was like "What???" I knew what he meant but its all just a farce really.

x x x

Jeez Lara,

The Bupa guy sounds like an a-hole

Do you mind me asking who advised you to take Asprin and high dose of FA?

I have been advised until they have my results not to self medicate (for example I can carry on taking my normal dose of FA but should not up it at all)

I also asked about baby Asprin and the Dr said that if I have blood issues Asprin alone will not work??

I assume you've had your blood test results etc?

xxxxx

 

[CARNAT22]

Lara

Hope you dont mind me asking but how do you get cover on Bupa for fertility issues??

Carnet I was go down there anyway and hope they can fit you in? they muct have a record of it somewhere otherwise where did you get the date??. It is so bloody frustrating all this waiting. My next app is not until march... wait wait bloody wait.

I need a chill pill.

Giz xxx

I am not a patient person Giz, but I am learning lots of lessons in patience through-out this whole TTC battle

xxxxxxx

 

[Lara_M]

Jeez Lara,

The Bupa guy sounds like an a-hole

Do you mind me asking who advised you to take Asprin and high dose of FA?

I have been advised until they have my results not to self medicate (for example I can carry on taking my normal dose of FA but should not up it at all)

I also asked about baby Asprin and the Dr said that if I have blood issues Asprin alone will not work??

I assume you've had your blood test results etc?

xxxxx[/QUOTE]

Dont mind you asking anything, not at all. I can only tell you what my specialist says. Its very clear from my research that different docs have different advice, so I guess you have to trust your specialist, and thats all I can do really.

But to answer your q's. the folic acid seemed to be a no brainer. My fertility gynae mentioned that she was prescribing me 5mg and I said why? She said that research has shown that this higher dose has proven to reduce the chance of miscarriage when taken preconceptually. She also mentioend that although we only need a lesser amount, that some women just dont absorb it properly hence they like to top it right up. I asked if there were any cons to doing that, she said no.

On to the aspirin. She then said I was to also go on to aspirin as soon as I conceive. This is to prevent clotting. Also, slightly surpresses immune response to the pregnancy. I immediately said "but my clotting result was negative". She said it didnt matter, that it still reduced miscarriage rate and improved my chances of successful implantation. I will add at this point, it was NOT prescribed for me to take all the time. It was meant just for as soon as I got a positive preg test. However, when I knew for sure I had ovulated I rang her and said can I take the baby aspirin now and she said "well it won't hurt so yes".

If I am not pg then I will stop taking aspirin as I have not been advised to do this constantly. You must be careful if you have any known history of problems clotting. There is a small risk of internal bleeding, but my gynae did not seem concerned about this at all in my situation. She said, that some studies have shown that in fact everyone could benefit from a daily 75mg of aspirin, for the prevention of heart attacks and strokes. I plan to ask her once again at my next appointment about the aspirin though as I would be quite keen to know if there is any type of testing i can have which would show if aspirin could be a bad idea for me.

As for blood tests, I was negative for the clotting, but still prescribed aspirin. I didnt have any bloods that were relevent to folic acid. I am due a heap load more blood tests next week if i am not pg. And my original bloods were the standard Day 2 and day 21 bloods.

Does that help at all. I would be keen to know what info you were told, why were you advised not to have the high dose folic acid. There didnt seem to be any down side to that at all so I was told, based on the fact that exess folic acid passes through us in our urine

Also - could you tell me exactly what blood work they have done are doing for you so far? Wouldbe good to have the comparison? x x x

 

[CARNAT22]

Dont mind you asking anything, not at all. I can only tell you what my specialist says. Its very clear from my research that different docs have different advice, so I guess you have to trust your specialist, and thats all I can do really.

But to answer your q's. the folic acid seemed to be a no brainer. My fertility gynae mentioned that she was prescribing me 5mg and I said why? She said that research has shown that this higher dose has proven to reduce the chance of miscarriage when taken preconceptually. She also mentioend that although we only need a lesser amount, that some women just dont absorb it properly hence they like to top it right up. I asked if there were any cons to doing that, she said no.

On to the aspirin. She then said I was to also go on to aspirin as soon as I conceive. This is to prevent clotting. Also, slightly surpresses immune response to the pregnancy. I immediately said "but my clotting result was negative". She said it didnt matter, that it still reduced miscarriage rate and improved my chances of successful implantation. I will add at this point, it was NOT prescribed for me to take all the time. It was meant just for as soon as I got a positive preg test. However, when I knew for sure I had ovulated I rang her and said can I take the baby aspirin now and she said "well it won't hurt so yes".

If I am not pg then I will stop taking aspirin as I have not been advised to do this constantly. You must be careful if you have any known history of problems clotting. There is a small risk of internal bleeding, but my gynae did not seem concerned about this at all in my situation. She said, that some studies have shown that in fact everyone could benefit from a daily 75mg of aspirin, for the prevention of heart attacks and strokes. I plan to ask her once again at my next appointment about the aspirin though as I would be quite keen to know if there is any type of testing i can have which would show if aspirin could be a bad idea for me.

As for blood tests, I was negative for the clotting, but still prescribed aspirin. I didnt have any bloods that were relevent to folic acid. I am due a heap load more blood tests next week if i am not pg. And my original bloods were the standard Day 2 and day 21 bloods.

Does that help at all. I would be keen to know what info you were told, why were you advised not to have the high dose folic acid. There didnt seem to be any down side to that at all so I was told, based on the fact that exess folic acid passes through us in our urine

Also - could you tell me exactly what blood work they have done are doing for you so far? Wouldbe good to have the comparison? x x x

Wowser - this is all so insightful.

One of thing I would be interested to hear (and if you don't mind) is what your history is? How many losses have you had? I know you have mentioned your chemical pregnancies? Also if it is not too cheeky - how old are you?

You are the first person I have come across with a similar sort of history....

I think I'll def look into upping my FA, I currently just take the bog standard 400mg? I wonder what I can go up to?

I was too late for CD2 bloods on Friday but what I did have was the clotting test and also all the genetic / chromosome testing they do - not sure what exactly that is though? I was in too much of a tizz to ask

I believe one of the things the CD2 test will test is my Thyroid - not sure what else?

No mention of needing 21 day bloods from me though?

I know we're all different but it is nice to "meet" someone who kind of knows what I am going through.

My Dr was adamant that I should not change anything I am doing at present - the tests are designed to see where we are at now and if I start taking Asprin then it could make some of my blood samples invalid (and therefore pointless)

I kind of agree and that is why I am OK to wait.

In the meantime I plan to get myself healthy through diet and exercise. I am eating lots of rocket and radishes - which are high is FA . I am not overweight or anything just trying to lose those few Xmas lbs...

My one issue is that I am pretty stressed out and am keen to explore some ways of keeping myself calm and collected !!

xxxxxxxxxx

 

[Lara_M]

Well I lost my first baby 10 years ago when I was 20. That pregnancy wasn't planned. I got to 11 weeks. Had a D&C.

Then with my partner I had two chemical pregnancies last year. One in Jan and one in Nov. Both around the 5 week mark.

I was 30 in October.

You can go to 5mg folic acid, that seems to be the prescribled amount, so over 10 times the shop bought amount.

You are defintely right not to be self medicating aspirin. Find out what your current blood says first.

For stress I would recommend exercise. Defintely. And thats really good for our hormones too.

also, reflexology. I have just started that and I love it. For stress and for trying to get me pregnant. I have a session tonight in fact.

You are so right, taking care of yourself is the best thing to do, eat really well, exercise moderately and also chill and relax. Take time to deep breathe. I had no idea how much I tended to dash about and that my pulse was actually racing all the time. Breathing slowly and deeply for ten minutes a day whilst in a quiet room with some candles on seems to have actually lowered my BP!!!

LEts keep in touch, there will be lots more to compare. x x

 

[CARNAT22]

Well I lost my first baby 10 years ago when I was 20. That pregnancy wasn't planned. I got to 11 weeks. Had a D&C.

Then with my partner I had two chemical pregnancies last year. One in Jan and one in Nov. Both around the 5 week mark.

I was 30 in October.

You can go to 5mg folic acid, that seems to be the prescribled amount, so over 10 times the shop bought amount.

You are defintely right not to be self medicating aspirin. Find out what your current blood says first.

For stress I would recommend exercise. Defintely. And thats really good for our hormones too.

also, reflexology. I have just started that and I love it. For stress and for trying to get me pregnant. I have a session tonight in fact.

You are so right, taking care of yourself is the best thing to do, eat really well, exercise moderately and also chill and relax. Take time to deep breathe. I had no idea how much I tended to dash about and that my pulse was actually racing all the time. Breathing slowly and deeply for ten minutes a day whilst in a quiet room with some candles on seems to have actually lowered my BP!!!

LEts keep in touch, there will be lots more to compare. x x

Thanks you hun!

Yep we're def pretty similar. I am a little older (32 in June - eeek!!) and I had 3 losses in a row. As with you though the last two were early.....

I know this sounds really thick but have you been given super strength FA? Or are you popping 10 of those little babies a day?

I have my scan tomorrow [have had plenty of those before though!] so I need to feign a headache to leave work early.... naughty me!

If I don't get prenant this month then I am back for another blood test on CD2... Then I should have some answers!!

It's nuts hey? This time last year I was still on the pill???

xxxxxxxxx

 

[Lara_M]

Whole thing is totally nuts. And I have become so consumed in it, which I am sure makes me more stressed!

I dont pop 10 folic acids a day! lol The gynae gave me 5mg tablets on prescription. It would be a bit of a pain to have 10 a day.... x x

 

[CARNAT22]

Whole thing is totally nuts. And I have become so consumed in it, which I am sure makes me more stressed!

I dont pop 10 folic acids a day! lol The gynae gave me 5mg tablets on prescription. It would be a bit of a pain to have 10 a day.... x x

See I told you it was a silly question

TTC is horrid! 2ww is the worst..... I seem to be wishing my life away at the moment as I just want to skip forward from conception to testing day LOL!

xxxxxxxx

 

[Lara_M]

I know!
One thing I am hoping is that your clinic have asked you to call straight away if you do fall this month.

If i fall pg in the next few days I have to call immediately, at which point I will start progesterone suppositories. Not saying that thats what they would advise you, BUT if they immediately do blood work then they might suggest that. Also, if you fall then they might at that point recommend trying a baby aspirin?

x

 

[CARNAT22]

I know!
One thing I am hoping is that your clinic have asked you to call straight away if you do fall this month.

If i fall pg in the next few days I have to call immediately, at which point I will start progesterone suppositories. Not saying that thats what they would advise you, BUT if they immediately do blood work then they might suggest that. Also, if you fall then they might at that point recommend trying a baby aspirin?

x

Dr told us to carry on TTC!

I have two numbers to call if I do get a BFP before my next appointment and the Dr said they'll get me back in if I do get preggers. Dr didn't say what they will do but said there are 'things' they can do if pregnancy occurs before my results are in..... Scary!!!

We tend to get pregnant OK (I am in my 3rd cycle with no BFP which is the longest since May LOL) so fingers crossed!

Some of my blood work is going to take 4-6 weeks [some of the genetics testing] Also I can't have my CD2 bloods done yet as I was in CD5 when I went on Friday.

We'll see hey?

There are so many possibilites at the moment.

Has it been mentioned to you at any point that IVF may be needed in the future?

xxxxxxxxx