MFI and IUI Veterans...

FLY106

Hello,

 My DH and I have been trying to conceive since July 2012. After a few months of trying with no luck my GYN suggested DH get a SA. That is when we found out he sufferred from unexplained low count (under 1 million), motility and morphology. He started seeing an urologist who prescribed Clomid for 3 months. He got tested after that but his count only improved by 100,000. Dr suggested we visit RE. On our first visit, RE said that going by his numbers, IVF would be our only option. Nonetheless, he prescribed him Femara for another 3 months to see if his numbers would improve. 3 months later, his count had skyrocketted to 10M and motility had improved a bit. RE said, that with those new numbers, we were now candidates for IUI. We were ecstatic!!!!

Getting ready for IUI, RE prescribed me 50 mg of Femara for 5 days and told DH to continue to take it too and add Fertility Blend to improve his motility. On my first US, RE told me I had a few follies but that they hadn't grown to desired size (only 10mm). He decided to change from Femara to 100mg of Clomid for 5 days. On my second US, I had 5 follies measuring 16mm (2), 18mm, 20mm and 25mm. Trigger shot (Novarel) was scheduled for the next day at night and IUI 2 days later (early morning, more or less 36 hours). 

On IUI day, DH had SA and RE told us before IUI that although his count had improved to 15M, his motility had lowered. They were able to boost it a little after the wash but according to him "if for some reason we had to do IUI again, he'd recommend less days of abstinence". I already had a bad feeling but was a bit hopeful because of the count, the boost and my 4 mature follies. 

On our TWW, I started using progesterone 3 days post IUI,  once a day for 10 days. I had every symptom imaginable. Being my first time, I really thought what I had were good signs. 2 days before I was supposed to test, AF showed it's ugly face in all it's glory.  I was CRUSHED!!!! I already knew that IUI usually doesn't work the first time and that my DH lowered motility might be a bad sign but DAMN!!

So... we really want to get pregnant. I'm 35, DH is 33, so we automatically decided to give it another go. Had IUI #2 on April 8th. Don't know what to think about our chances this time. Everything's been so different than the first (maybe that should be a good thing since last time it didn't work). I was given 100mg of Clomid again and on my first US, I had 3 follies on my right ovary (13,14 and 20mm), a whole bunch of small ones on my left. RE kept talking about my 20mm and prescribed trigger shot for the next morning. IUI to be done the following day. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed with the sizes. I took the trigger shot, had no symptoms (unlike the first time). IUI day DH had another SA and all his numbers had lowered. He went from having 15M last time to 7M. Motility with the boost didn't improve much. The only thing that had improved a little was the morphology. We kind of knew count was gonna be less because we only had 3 days of abstinence (RE recommended) but didn't think it was gonna be that much. Right before our procedure Dr discussed his results and said that numbers were low but that was the reason why we were having IUI in the first place. According to him, it only takes 1. After checking everything on the US, he said I still hadn't ovulated (last time, I already had) and recommended we BD that night to give us an extra boost.

I'm sorry this is so long, I've tried to describe our situation as best as I could...I guess I'm just looking to share info and experiences with ladies who can relate and have shared our journey when it comes to MFI and IUI. What do u think? Are we wasting our time and having false hope with these numbers? What could be causing this? Any tips, ideas, hope?

I'm trying to stay positive, but find myself thinking our chances are really low more so this time than last 

J&D2007

Unfortunately the chances of iui success are generally less than 20%. Probably even a little less with MFI. Generally, the only way to improve your odds would be to move directly to ovf with icsi. Just depends on how much of a hurry you are in. You could try more iuis knowing the success rate will be low and hope for the best or you can go right to Ivf to hopefully increase your odds. The month after month of overthinking and anxiety and letdown can be very hard.

FLY106

J&D2007 said:

Unfortunately the chances of iui success are generally less than 20%. Probably even a little less with MFI. Generally, the only way to improve your odds would be to move directly to ovf with icsi. Just depends on how much of a hurry you are in. You could try more iuis knowing the success rate will be low and hope for the best or you can go right to Ivf to hopefully increase your odds. The month after month of overthinking and anxiety and letdown can be very hard.

We have considered that. I'm almost 36 so time is of the essence. I guess I'm more confused because RE said we were now candidates for IUI and has gone ahead with both IUI even after my DH' s SA results. I know IVF has a higher success rate but $11,000 out of pocket is a lot of money. Our pockets have suffered from the IUI process. Don't know where we'd get $11,000 right now. It is a risk I'd be willing to take if that would get us our child but knowing there are other less expensive options we can consider (according to RE), I'd like to exhaust them before moving on to the most expensive one. All of it is confusing....

J&D2007

FLY106 said:

J&D2007 said:

Unfortunately the chances of iui success are generally less than 20%. Probably even a little less with MFI. Generally, the only way to improve your odds would be to move directly to ovf with icsi. Just depends on how much of a hurry you are in. You could try more iuis knowing the success rate will be low and hope for the best or you can go right to Ivf to hopefully increase your odds. The month after month of overthinking and anxiety and letdown can be very hard.

We have considered that. I'm almost 36 so time is of the essence. I guess I'm more confused because RE said we were now candidates for IUI and has gone ahead with both IUI even after my DH' s SA results. I know IVF has a higher success rate but $11,000 out of pocket is a lot of money. Our pockets have suffered from the IUI process. Don't know where we'd get $11,000 right now. It is a risk I'd be willing to take if that would get us our child but knowing there are other less expensive options we can consider (according to RE), I'd like to exhaust them before moving on to the most expensive one. All of it is confusing....

Definitely understandable. You'll know when or if you want to move on when the time is right. Good luck.

ladyteach0505

Sending good vibes to you.

I remember the shock of the MFI diagnosis. I have Endo and so we just assumed it was me. We tried supplements, and DH's sperm got worse. At least you guys have seen marked improvement.

As another poster said, IUI has been described to me as helping to "level the playing field" in terms of having a more normal chance that every other couple has every month. My DH's twin and his wife had unexplained IF and got pregnant after three rounds. She would have started IUI w injections had the third round of Femara not worked. On the other hand we skipped IUI entirely because we knew it was a shot in the dark with DH's numbers. It was so so stressful to figure out the emotions and logistics financially. That said, we just started banking my paycheck for a year. Fortunately we live In a tiny house and were able to live one income. If we hadn't been we honestly would have taken out a loan.

It's a personal choice. Good luck.

gsancho

It's always a personal decision for everyone whether they want to continue with IUI or dive into IVF.  There's just so many factors to consider and everyone's situation is so different.  For me, we had to pay a good amount out of pocket for the medicated IUIs, so I didn't want to keep spending money on them if they didn't work and we instead saved up for IVF.  But I've seen some people with better insurance who just keep trying with IUIs.  I think most REs say after 3 or 4 IUIs, the chances of success with the same treatment are lower.  

Has your DH considered seeing a urologist that specializes in fertility issues?  He may have something he could prescribe to improve the count?  I remember on the Trouble Trying to Conceive board, some couples saw better numbers after seeing a urologist.  Otherwise, I would personally recommend to save a bit and consider IVF after a set number of IUIs.

iheartpancake

My husband and I suffered from unexplained infertility. We went through five rounds of IUI as well as every test under the sun with no luck. Doing that procedure over and over again can definitely mess with your head! We ended up moving on to an RE for more in depth testing and eventually our first round of IVF. As we were going through all of this, coincidentally, my best friend was as well. We were lucky enough to have insurance that covered almost the entire process, but she did not. They covered absolutely nothing of any of her IUIs or previous treatments. When it came time for them to do IVF she reached out to anyone and everyone for help. There are actually foundations for this sort of thing which can help offset the costs. It was a few month process for her to be approved by the place she went through, but she did eventually get accepted! They paid for nine of the twelve thousand dollars. If/when you start to consider IVF, definitely look into this sort of thing! She found them just by googling. They also covered 3 years of embryo freezing so she has eight frozen right now. I wish you nothing but luck! Try not to let all the crazy hormones and everything you're going through get to you too much and try not to blame yourself! It's a difficult time, but you'll make it through

ladyteach0505

I would also add that there are few medications covered by First Steps for a discount.  I didn't think DH and I would qualify because we both have decent full-time jobs, but we ended up getting 25% off.  The list is limited, so I would be specific in asking my RE (if you would choose to go this route) if the medicines provided for by the First Steps discount are ones you could try.

I know you came looking for positive feedback about IUI, but I do hope you'll find some of our IVF stories encouraging in terms of surviving the financial situation if you would want to try IVF at some point.  It is so overwhelming at first, but honestly, somehow these things come together one way or another.

FLY106

Thank you ladies!!! I will def take into consideration all of your advice. 

FLY106

@iheartpancake... do u know any of the foundation's names? 

iheartpancake

I texted my friend but she hasn't responded. I am pretty sure she went through this one:

https://www.gordongiftoflife.org

I couldn't tell you the list she had, I know she sent out over fifty letters. I don't even know if she'd remember half of them at this point (she's 31 weeks). If you just google infertility assistance foundations you should be able to come up with quite a few! Just don't give up! I was absolutely done with infertility treatments after our first IVF, and I mean done, but it ended up working out for us that first time. Just keep trying anything and everything!

Evvi121515

Are those post wash numbers? If so... I think you have a pretty decent chance with iui. We had 3 million post wash and it worked first try, but ended in M/C. Second and third try were only 1 million post wash, bfn. Honestly I wouldn't do more than 3 iui's.. But it's definitely possible that it could work. We eventually did IVF anyways so I do wonder if we would have saved a bunch of time going straight to ivf.. Tough decisions.

TLooney17

We had a similar experience with MFI and iui's. We were able to improve my Dh's numbers with clomid and supplements, but unfortunately after being washed his numbers pretty much went to crap again. We did two iui's, and we were advised to move to ivf. Yes ivf is more expensive, but it is less expensive than spending a ton on iui's with little chance and then having to move to ivf anyway. Honestly, I was glad that we tried the 2 iui's, because it got me to the place where I was emotionally ready to move to ivf. We ended up doing ivf with icsi and were blessed to get pregnant on the first round. Ivf also gives you the possible benefit of frozen embryos if you think you want more than one.

Good luck to you! Honestly, I think that making the decisions is the hardest part.

MiromiM

Hello. We did 2-3 rounds of clomid (I can't even remember anymore), 2 rounds of IUI, and then made the leap to IVF this summer. What I would suggest is getting another opinion. When we transferred to our current doctor she was surprised someone had even suggested IUIs because the morphology was so poor. Not doing ICIS wasn't even an option. I will say a few things about IVF 1) there are payment plans 2) it has a better success rate 3) it takes a long time to gear up. I was on birth control for two months to regulate my cycle before I even started fertility drugs 4)It is much more involved than IUI. There's tons of medications, injections, and doctor's appointments. Don't get me wrong, for us it was completely worth it and I would do it again in a heartbeat if I had to.

smilormarie

Sorry you're dealing with this. At 33, being perfectly healthy, unexplained infertility, normal sperm count and motility, it still took us 5 tries with IUI to conceive, and even then, I think it was because I finally let them try me on clomid. It's hard to find facts and figures on success of IUI since fertility clinics aren't required to report on those cases. My gut tells me you guys may want to move right to IVF where swimming won't be a factor it where you could benefit from Intracytoplasmic Sperm injection. I'm not usually one to recommend jumping to the most high tech procedures to conceive but it sounds like although clomid was helping your husband, the timing just never matched up. Good luck whatever you decide. And also, since so many of us had questions about our chances at success with IUI, I created an anonymous survey, if you're interested. Good luck! HTTPS://Www.surveymonkey.com/s/8ZBHFST