Blind IUI or Ultrasound guided IUI ?

ddvj79

I have been reading up on some IUI research & came across some information that was new to me. - Apparently there is such a thing as ultrasound guided IUIs and the success rates for those is higher than blind IUIs. I have had only blind IUIs so far, was wondering what the general experience was ? - Also I read another paper which said that in clinical trials, the IUIs done within 90 mins of the sperm collection & washing had significantly higher success rates. Did any of you have this kind of timeline & what was the result ? Thanks, D.

BunnyBerry

No experience with it yet, but I just wanted to say thanks for bringing up these points - I will definitely add them to my question list for our consult next week!

pmpknbride

All of mine have been blind and scheduled for 90 minutes after wash, but generally I do not get seen right on time...mine have all been bfn, so who knows lol

jencity9

Wow.. They always schedule our IUIs for 3 hours after the wash and are usually late! I've always wondered if that's why it hasn't worked lol. Last time they were 1 1/2 hours late!!

Rachaeleigh

I've only had 1 blind IUI. It was scheduled for about an hour after wash and it was a bfn

MissEm15

I've had two blind IUI's... the first was BFN, the second was BFP(early loss). Both times DH went in at 7am and I went back at 8:30. They probably completed IUI by 8:45am.

I'm wonering for the people who came back 3 or more hours later, if their IUI was 24 hours after trigger? Our IUI's were always 36 hours after, which I've read is better also.

jessimi06

All our iuis were blind and were one hour after sample drop off (they worked really hard to able sure they were on time if not a few minutes early).

Sewfie

ddvj79? We're getting ready for our first IUI (maybe next week, if all goes well). 

sundaybrunch

I just had my first IUI last week so I'm pretty inexperienced still but the 3 hour lag between sample submission and IUI seems questionable to me.  I'd be very interested to see the success rates from those offices.  I say that because my RE stressed the importance of getting the sample to the lab within 45 minutes (DH did it at home) and the IUI was completed within 30 minutes of drop off.  Every office is different though so maybe mine is overly cautious, which I'm fine with.

ddvj79

Hi Folks,

I will compile the list of articles and post them here tonight.
So I sent mail to my RE asking about this & she said its not the standard of care but they would be open to trying an ultrasound guided one this time.

My last 2 IUIs were with a different RE 

 IUI #1 was done like 5 hrs after the sample was collected

IUI #2 was done 3.5-4 hrs after the sample was collected

The IUI#2 was a  bit unnerving. I was on follistim for a day but barely had 1 mature follicle at trigger, then I had a "baby nurse" assigned & she struggled getting my cervix after about 3 tries she got an RE & she got the cervix in the first try. Then the nurse asks the RE "Are you going to put the whole thing in ?" (about the sample), the RE then says yes, its premeasured and you have to put the whole thing in & the nurse apparently didn't know.

All this stuff from IUI#2 got me to do a lot more research. I will post every useful bit of information I have here tonight once I get home.

Sewfie

ddvj79

That second IUI sounds awful. It sounds like your new RE is good though.  FX for you.

ddvj79

As promised, here is the main link that summarizes and has links to the original journal articles regarding IUI success rates :

https://sites.google.com/site/miscarriageresearch/iui-success-rates

This one interested me because I am one of those poor responders :
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19394605

I am Indian & turns out my RE has published a paper on Indian women being poor responders, trying to get a hold of that article as well. Will post the link if I find a copy of it online.

I also found a bunch of stuff on the Mayo clinic site that I forgot to bookmark  but worth looking around :
https://www.mayoclinic.org/

Sewfie

Thank you again!

Alicia_R1

My first IUI was blind the other guided, neither worked.  The 2nd took longer and was slightly more painful

We would drop the sample off and then come back 90 min to 2 hours later.  it usually ended up being closer to 90 minutes that we had the IUI after dropping it off.

sundaybrunch

Thanks for the articles @ddvj79!  I am definitely going to follow the tips on how to increase success!  For those ladies who have a delay of over 90 minutes between sample collection and IUI the first bullet is something you might want to discuss with your RE.

How to Increase IUI Success Rates

• Perform IUI within 90 minutes of sperm collection: boosts success rate from 7% to 99% (small study)
  
• Minimize abstinence period before sperm collection to 2 days or less: boosts IUI success rate from 3% to 14%
• Try progesterone luteal phase support: boosts IUI success rate from 14% to 24%, 13% to 21%, 6% to 19%
• Perform IUI on a full bladder: boosts success rate from 7% to 14%
• Perform IUI using ultrasound guidance: boosts success rate from 14% to 23%
• Perform two IUI's during the same cycle: boosts success rate from 11% to 16%
• Prewash the IUI catheter: boosts success rate from 15% to 22%

ddvj79

Gosh, I'm an idiot & sometimes remember the weirdest things out of desperation to get that highly elusive BFP...I remember my PCP telling me sometime in 2006/2007 (when we were trying NOT to get pregnant & I had a sinus infection) that if you are sick or on antibiotics to be extra careful as it increases the chances of you getting preggers & sure enough I did but that didn't pan out anyways. I mentioned this to this other lady on babycenter when she was sick &  very worried that she was sick as a reassurance. So then her IUI continued per schedule (just last month or March of this year BTW) ! She ended up getting her BFP after trying for atlease a couple years & she's having twins too! 

Out of the blue, I remembered this on my drive back to work today from the acupuncturist & first thought in my head - maybe I should find a kid who is sick and get those germs...but where do I find a kid with the sniffles ?

I thought since we're looking into how to increase IUI success rates, you guys here would appreciate my truly "brilliant" idea