Fertility Friends Support Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

Fertility & Gynaecology Acadamy (Amin Gorgy) : Part 19

133K views 1K replies 67 participants last post by  Juls78 
#1 ·
New home ladies!

Sue ^hugme^
 
#2 ·
bookmarking  :)
 
#3 ·
marking
 
#4 ·
^daisy^
 
#7 ·
Suitcase - you had your babies! I hope you are all well. Congratulations.  ^hugme^
 
#8 ·
Bookmarking and big congrats suitcase  :) :) :)
 
#9 ·
Hello Ladies

We have our follow up consultation tomorrow morning to go through our test results, I already know that there are a few problems which Agate has very kindly interpreted for me.

We are aready committed to have our 2nd DE cycle in Spain at the end of April with transfer around the 3rd May as it was at a vastly reduced cost because of a clinic mess up on our 1st attempt in February so can't change these dates otherwise we will pay £5k more for the cycle and getting my husband to find time in his diary to "do his sample" is not very easy as he travels overseas a lot for work.

I have tested positive for hidden C albeit at a low level plus have high TNF (38.6) and high CD19+/CD5+ of 17 and I am hoping that Dr G can give me a treatment plan that can allow us to still go ahead with our cycle.....to say I am stressing out over this is an understatement!

My question is if he prescrbes 25 days of antibiotics I won't be able to re-test as I will be on medication to stop me having a period and as I am scared of having a "humira flare" I don't want to take humira and wondered whether he might give me something else instead.....has anyone else had to have treatment whilst being committed to an IVF or DE cycle so the dates are firmly fixed?

H

 
#11 ·
Hello ladies,

just bookmarking to keep abreast of whats going on at FGA, I'm back there in June. I hope they have some more staff when I go back, I had enough problems - well more little niggles really, last time I went.

Good luck to you all, I hope your dreams come true  ^reiki^

Cozy
:)
 
#12 ·
Suitcase - many congrats and well done  :)

Helana - from what I've read on here, several clinics give Hidden C ladies ABs to take throughout their cycle - so that could be an option for you.  As far as TNFa / Humira goes - I've checked my notes and Dr G told me that H will address issues with i) the environment, and ii) the eggs.  If he thinks you need it for your eggs then ideally you would also allow about three natural cycles to 'ovulate out' the damaged eggs.  If he thinks it's only the environment that needs treating then he said it's ok to take H at the start of stimms.  I went to see him just days before starting stimms - my TNFa was borderline (29.9 or 29.7) and in my case (environment issue only, not egg issue) he believed that ILs would bring it down.

Good luck with your cycle  ^pray^ ^pray^ ^pray^

 
#13 ·
Hi KDB

I was hoping that I would  be able to have the antiobiotics whilst on my cycle so that's a relief.

I guess as I am using donor eggs that I just need to ask Dr G about how high TNF could affect the uterine environment but am a bit worried he will get annoyed with me if I start saying that I don't want to do humira if that is the best thing to take - so did you take humira plus intralipids or just intralipids?

Sorry for asking so many questions!  Its taken me ages to get my head round all of this!

xH
 
#14 ·
Helena: if you look on the FAQ under chlamydia there is a section on the antiBs that serum have given to other ladies during their IVF cycle, and crucially, according to serum, for the first 12 weeks of pg... according to what the serum girls have been saying, Penny seems to think that approach is probably more successful for ladies who have probably acquired chlamydia decades ago than giving the antibs in advance of treatment... you might want to check in with the serum ladies to see what the latest antiB recommendations are for in-cycle treatment but I think its similar to what I put in the FAQ... but serum do seem to keep evolving their treatment.  my strong instinct is to follow their advice for taking antiBs right up to 12 weeks... I would push for that if you can... otherwise, if something does go wrong you will be left wondering 'if only I'd had the antiBs' etc.

Bling: I think it was you who was asking about immunes at serum on the closed thread?  maybe I'm muddling up names... but whoever it was who wanted to know...  so far as I know... they offer LIT (but with a very strong bias towards paternal and only to a small subset of patients who they really think need it), they offer steroids (seem to favour steroid drips rather than orals)and clexane and will give intralipids (and Px intralipids for you to sort out administration of back home) - they can arrange chicago-type immune testing through a lab in athens as well as all the normal tests like thrombophilia panels, hormones etc - I don't THINK they regard themselves as immune experts but can refer you to a greek immune doc e.g., Dr Nodares, for immune testing, interpretation of tests and coming up with an immune treatment plan... I haven't heard much about him except that he favours a very gentle approach to immunes - low doses of steroids, no humira and high doses of resveratrol (supplement) - so POSSIBLY a very different direction to immune treatment from Dr G.  they also seem to liaise well with dr G for ladies who are having their immunes with him but are doing the IVF side over in athens, particularly for DE.  Serum's particular bias is that they seem to feel that lots of immune issues are caused by underlying resurgent bacterial or viral infections so they favour a lot of antibiotics and sometimes antivirals.... that's what I've gathered... but of course I may not know the whole picture.  My guess would be that they can help a lot of ladies from the outset, but probably if you want an immune diagnosis, you'd be thinking about seeing an immune doc first/as well - assuming immune issues are a probability/possibility.    Penny is a very warm person which feels nice and gives you confidence... although their antibiotic/antiviral treatment is possibly even less accepted by the conventional IVF docs than ivig/ils/humira immunology treatment, if you see what I mean...the clinic is quite small, but can be very busy and I guess maybe a bit 'informal' compared to UK clinics.  its probably worth asking the ladies on the serum thread for more info?
 
#15 ·
Agate - That's really great info, I think I will push Dr G for that as like you said, its likely from my hidden c level that the infection was acquired years ago.  Do you know whether I should take the schedule of antibiotic list that you have put on the facts for ladies at Serum with me to my consult or will Dr G know what combination of antibiotics to prescibe if I am taking them during my cycle rather than attempting to clear it and then retest as I believe the combo/schedule is different?

x
 
#16 ·
Just bookmarking- congrats on the birth of your gorgeous boys suitcase of dreams!xxxx
 
#17 ·
Bookmarking ladies so I don't loose you  :)

Suitcase congratulations on the birth of your baby boys  ^hugme^ xx
 
#18 ·
Hi Girls, I'm a lurker but decided to post after reading your posts and after my appt with Dr G.

Me and DH had an initial consultation and the level II tests done on Monday. Before the appt I read up about everything on this site and in Dr Beer's book, to make sure that we knew exactly what tests we wanted to have done. I worked out that they came to £1300 including the consultation fee. We ended up having the chromosome tests done as well, becasue we couldn't get them on NHS, so paid £2000 instead, including consultation. Dr G wanted us to have even more done - the infection tests clamydia etc, but I told him me and DH had only ever had one sexual partner - each other - so did we really need these tests? He didn't say anything and didn't mention these tests again.

I mentioned to Dr G that I was unwilling to have IVIG or LIT so would there be any point in me having the tests that require these for treatment. He became very defensive and rude, saying that me and DH have sex so what is so different about exchanging blood? When I treid to ask for more information about anything or further clarification, he again became very abrupt and was not very friendly at all. 

Anyway, the consultation lasted about 40 minutes and during this time his mobile rang three times. He had a conversation with someone for about 5 minutes, and I was annoyed because we were paying for his time! He did apologise for it. 

I think that Dr G needs to work on his people skills and be more sympathetic. We have never dealt with a private clinic before, so maybe that is how they all are - only concerned about making as much money from people as they can, without providing a high standard of care. Our NHS consultant was brilliant - he was so caring and explained everything in detail, and he was always telling us how he wanted it to be successful for us.

My advice for other ladies that are going to see Dr G is to be clued up before-hand about all the tests they want to have, why they need them and question everything that you feel unsure about before agreeing to have anything done.



 
#19 ·
Sorry, forgot to ask in the above post- what is the Penny at Serum's immune protocol? I've read a few girls mentioning it and wondering what it was?
 
#20 ·
bookmarking girls  :)
 
#21 ·
Suitcase-congratulations on your wonderful news!!!!

Diane x
 
#22 ·
Miriam, penny tailor her protocol to the individual case I was given doxycline until test day (with a baby friendly antibiotic reocmmended for afterwards), an anti-viral-Valtrex aswell as 32mg methyl prednisolone and intralipids and resveratrol. She arranges IVIG via the local Greek hospital if people want that and I know some have had paternal LIT with her.

Diane x
 
#23 ·
helana74 said:
Agate - That's really great info, I think I will push Dr G for that as like you said, its likely from my hidden c level that the infection was acquired years ago. Do you know whether I should take the schedule of antibiotic list that you have put on the facts for ladies at Serum with me to my consult or will Dr G know what combination of antibiotics to prescibe if I am taking them during my cycle rather than attempting to clear it and then retest as I believe the combo/schedule is different?

x
the latest info I have is in the FAQ - I don't know what Dr G's position is... but I get the impression that he's position keeps evolving too! I'd check in with the serum girls and double check what serum's latest position is and then see what Dr G says - hopefully they won't be too far apart and then you won't be worrying whether to try and push Dr G to give you what serum are suggesting.

Miriam said:
Sorry, forgot to ask in the above post- what is the Penny at Serum's immune protocol? I've read a few girls mentioning it and wondering what it was?
Penny is the lady in charge of IVF at serum clinic in athens. She doesn't have a specific immune protocol as such... she does prescribe antibiotics (and sometimes antivirals) where she thinks they might be causing fertility problems... I've tried to explain what she does in my post further up the page.
 
#24 ·
Hiya
I have my blood test results! Hmm trying to work out what they mean, quite a few are highlighted!  Is anyone able to help? Still shocked about the hidden c!
(I still have the karoytyping and DQ Alpha to get back then I will book my appt with DrG)

Name                Result
50:1                  11.5 (Has been highlighted)
25:1                  7.2
12.5:1                4.9
IgG conc 12.5 50:1    5.5 (Has been highlighted)
IgG conc 12.5 25:1    5.3
IgG conc 6.25 50:1    7.8 (Has been highlighted)
IgG conc 6.25 25:1    9.1
CD3                  75.3
CD19                8.4
CD56                14.2 (Has been highlighted)
CD19+ CELLS,CD5+    7.1

NK assy w/Intralipid
50:1 w/Intralipid 1.5mg/ml    8.5 (Has been highlighted)
25.1 w/Intralipid 1.5mg/ml    2.6

TNF-a:IL 10(CD3+CD4+) 46
IFN-G:IL-10(CD3+CD4+)12.3

Factor II, factor v leiden : Negative
MTHFR gene mutation: positive (Heterozygous) for the c677T mutation

Chlamydia Positive (9,3 x 10³ copies/ug DNA)

Many thanks x
 
#25 ·
Ansjer said:
Hiya
I have my blood test results! Hmm trying to work out what they mean, quite a few are highlighted! Is anyone able to help? Still shocked about the hidden c!
(I still have the karoytyping and DQ Alpha to get back then I will book my appt with DrG)

Name Result
50:1 11.5 (Has been highlighted) ***good!***
25:1 7.2
12.5:1 4.9
IgG conc 12.5 50:1 5.5 (Has been highlighted) ***comes down with ivig in the test tube but its probably not relevant because it was already ok***
IgG conc 12.5 25:1 5.3
IgG conc 6.25 50:1 7.8 (Has been highlighted)
IgG conc 6.25 25:1 9.1
CD3 75.3
CD19 8.4
CD56 14.2 (Has been highlighted) ***slightly high relative concentration of NKs - but at least they aren't very high killing power - see above***
CD19+ CELLS,CD5+ 7.1

NK assy w/Intralipid
50:1 w/Intralipid 1.5mg/ml 8.5 (Has been highlighted) ***NKa comes down with intralipid in the test tube too - but it was already normal to begin with***
25.1 w/Intralipid 1.5mg/ml 2.6

TNF-a:IL 10(CD3+CD4+) 46 ***pretty high - think Dr G will say 2 shots of humira then a retest... I think it'd be good to try and work out why its high though to see if its something you can address - maybe your C will be positive? maybe you should get your vit D levels checked? maybe you should ask your GP to screen you for RA and lupus - see level 1s in the FAQ - just because if you know why your TNFa is high, it might be something you can fix independently of humira ***
IFN-G:IL-10(CD3+CD4+)12.3

Factor II, factor v leiden : Negative
MTHFR gene mutation: positive (Heterozygous) for the c677T mutation *** a minor clotting issue - Dr G will probably suggest 40mg clexane - but read up in the Thrombophilia section of the FAQ about folic acid and B vits ***

Chlamydia Positive (9,3 x 10³ copies/ug DNA) *** oh - right... maybe that's the reason for the high TNFa ratio and maybe it will come down if you treat with antibiotics - have a read of the chlamydia section of the FAQ - its a low level though, so it MIGHT mean that you were exposed to it decades ago - but its probably better if your DH takes antiBs in case he has it - I'd still probably check your vit D levels if you can in case you would benefit from extra vit D... you might also want to read the supplements section re omega 3 fish oils and resveratrol?***

Many thanks x
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top