MFI Ladies Come In - XP from 3T

futurehuber

Hi ladies, I am a regular on 3T and have posted here a couple times.  I have a feeling I'll officially be intro'ing soon as I'm pretty sure IVF is on the horizon.  For now, hope you don't mind if I get your input on this post I did on 3T?  Thanks so much!

 

 

Hi ladies. So this is an update to my WW3TD from last week. Just got DH?s 3^rd SA results?as I feared, still not good.  =(  After three months of Fertility Blend, I was hoping for something a little better, but counts just went up a little.  His stats are: 9 mil count, 37% motility, 4% morph (well 47% per his uro?s lab, but my RE converts that to 4%). 

 

I?m trying to decide if I should do an IUI cycle starting tomorrow (CD3 is tomorrow).  RE said he wouldn?t suggest an IUI due to the 4% morph.  Morph was what he had the most concern about when I saw him at my consult in December (note that I switched to this new RE in December and haven?t done any treatments with him yet).

 

So at first I agreed that I should probably just not do it.  Save the time, money, 2ww stress, etc.  But I did ask them to find out about how much I might be billed under my new insurance & 50% coverage for IUIs.  OMG, they just called me back with that info and it would only be $150 OOP for the cycle!!  That is just crazy to me!  I spent at least $1K on my last IUI (still getting bills).  Oh, but I would have to pay for Clomid and my trigger too, but that?s not that bad.

 

So I?m torn.  I guess I?ll probably go forward with it since it?s so cheap?  Am I crazy with these numbers?  And those with MFI issues, does your RE focus on the morph issue like mine?  My last RE wasn?t really like that.

 

Thanks ladies!

katka512

Hello! We have MFI too - low everything. My RE hardly talked about morph. He said he generally isn't very concerned with it and focuses more on the other numbers. We've done two IUIs and are lucky to have insurance coverage. It didn't work for us, and we're moving on to ivf but I think it's worth a shot.  Our RE gave us a 10-18% chance of the IUI working, but we wanted to try it a couple times before getting more aggressive. Best of luck whatever you decide!

tptbabe

Are you guys seeing a urologist who specializes in MFI? (The fact that he uses the old scale as opposed to the Kruger scale kind of tipped me off that he might not be.) Do you have a reason for the MFI? (ie: has a varicocele or partial blockage been ruled out? How is his testesterone?) There are a few other treatments other than supplements that you guys can try, so I wouldn't give up on that just yet.

My REs cutoff for morphology is technically 4%; however, they don't generally do a number for morphology readings at our office (just a description of issues). So morphology isn't necessarily a huge deal when it comes to MFI. (Yes, it can be, but it doesn't automatically spell a death sentence.)

That all being said, we did one IUI cycle to see how I would respond to ovulation stimulation. (We did injects so that it would be closer to what an IVF cycle would be like, since it's pretty much inevitable for us.) We learned alot about my cycle from it, and I think that it was definitely worth the money! If it's only going to be $150 OOP, it's definitely worth a shot! I'd see about using injectables too, so that if you do move on to IVF, you'll have a better idea of what you're getting into (if you haven't already done injects yet).

JSM0801

It's a tough call, and I think you have to do what you feel comfortable with. I would be more concerned with the 9 mill over the morph, but what do I know. Many dr.s don't recommend doing iui if the count is less than 10 mill. I would be concerned that YH is low in all three areas though. RE's are usually pretty realistic about the small % of success in this situation. We didn't feel like we wanted to waste the time, $ or emotional and physical stress and pain of it all just to end up doing ivf anyway. Not to be a downer, but ivf is much more successful than iui, especially in cases of MFI. So, our decision was to take the bull by the horns and jump in full force. I am so happy with our decision, because ivf is not always a quick fix and can be a long road too. I am glad we didn't waste the time with the iui's, but if you are ok with the likelihood of a disappointment and feel like you aren't ready to jump into ivf, then you have no reason not to go for it, especially if it's that cheap for you! Do what your gut tells you. GL!

htn1763

My RE was only slightly concerned with our 2% morph. However, if our numbers didn't get over 10mil (our first SA was 6, second 30) we were going straight to ivf. In the end we have to do ivf anyway and we wasted a lot of time and $$. Hindsight is 20/20 though. 

Gr8te

My RE is considered to be one of the top 1% of REs nationally and he said it's very difficult for abnormally shaped sperm to fertilize an egg. With that said, 4% morph is now considered normal. Also, is 9 mil before or after the wash? I was told we needed at least 8 mil after wash to have a good shot at IUI. We only had 1.5 mil after wash, but my DH's count and motility improved to normal a couple months before our IVF cycle.?. I'm still glad we moved forward with IVF instead of IUI. Eleven of our embies/blasts arrested and they now think we are dealing with sperm DNA fragmentation too.

GL

nicolecoy

I just got my first IUI last Thursday so I have no idea if it worked but my hubby's morph is 4 on the Kruger scale but his count is 20 mil. My insurance does not pay for anything to try and get me pg but thankfully an IUI cycle is only 400.00 plus any meds so not to bad and a no help IVF cycle is 4600.00 which is alot out of pocket for me. I'd say try one or two IUI cycles I mean for you it's pretty cheap and couldn't hurt to try. I've read many success stories with low morph and first time iui success. Good luck!

futurehuber

tptbabe:

Are you guys seeing a urologist who specializes in MFI? (The fact that he uses the old scale as opposed to the Kruger scale kind of tipped me off that he might not be.) Do you have a reason for the MFI? (ie: has a varicocele or partial blockage been ruled out? How is his testesterone?) There are a few other treatments other than supplements that you guys can try, so I wouldn't give up on that just yet.

My REs cutoff for morphology is technically 4%; however, they don't generally do a number for morphology readings at our office (just a description of issues). So morphology isn't necessarily a huge deal when it comes to MFI. (Yes, it can be, but it doesn't automatically spell a death sentence.)

That all being said, we did one IUI cycle to see how I would respond to ovulation stimulation. (We did injects so that it would be closer to what an IVF cycle would be like, since it's pretty much inevitable for us.) We learned alot about my cycle from it, and I think that it was definitely worth the money! If it's only going to be $150 OOP, it's definitely worth a shot! I'd see about using injectables too, so that if you do move on to IVF, you'll have a better idea of what you're getting into (if you haven't already done injects yet).

Hi there! Yes, I guess I don't have all the info for you guys. DH is in the process of seeing a uro who deals with infertility...or at least supposedly per our HMO GP who referred us.  The lab he had to take the SA to was through our HMO medical group and not necessarily the uro's preferred lab I'm assuming.  A prior SA he had done somewhere else also showed 4% (or it might have been 5%).  Anyhow, DH had a scrotal ultrasound last week and the tech didn't think she saw anything or much of anything (i.e. varicocele)...this was just the tech, so we can't be sure just yet.  DH has a follow up with the uro on Monday to go over the ultrasound and this last SA and we'll see what's up from there.  However in the meantime I was thinking, let's do an IUI while we wait to figure out his stuff and/or before moving on to IVF since we can't start it this cycle anyways. Oh and his testosterone is in normal range, just a little on the lower end of normal (340).  And good idea about the injects!  I'll have to ask about that.  And no, I haven't done them yet...only Clomid.  Thanks again for your help/info!

futurehuber

Gr8te:

My RE is considered to be one of the top 1% of REs nationally and he said it's very difficult for abnormally shaped sperm to fertilize an egg. With that said, 4% morph is now considered normal. Also, is 9 mil before or after the wash? I was told we needed at least 8 mil after wash to have a good shot at IUI. We only had 1.5 mil after wash, but my DH's count and motility improved to normal a couple months before our IVF cycle.?. I'm still glad we moved forward with IVF instead of IUI. Eleven of our embies/blasts arrested and they now think we are dealing with sperm DNA fragmentation too.

GL

Hi and thanks for your response! 9 mil is pre-wash, so pretty darn low. =(  We did a back-to-back IUI in Oct/Nov and it was 2 mil and 1.8 mil post-wash.  RE said less than 5% chance of it working.  I know our chances would be super low again here, but considering the low cost and the fact that we can't do IVF this cycle anyways, I'm thinking what the heck? Might as well?  Sorry to hear about your embies arresting and that you might be dealing with DNA frag.  Hope it works out for you asap, GL to you as well!!

futurehuber

nicolecoy:

I just got my first IUI last Thursday so I have no idea if it worked but my hubby's morph is 4 on the Kruger scale but his count is 20 mil. My insurance does not pay for anything to try and get me pg but thankfully an IUI cycle is only 400.00 plus any meds so not to bad and a no help IVF cycle is 4600.00 which is alot out of pocket for me. I'd say try one or two IUI cycles I mean for you it's pretty cheap and couldn't hurt to try. I've read many success stories with low morph and first time iui success. Good luck!

Thanks! GL with your IUI!!

futurehuber

And thanks to the other ladies for your responses!  Since we can't do IVF this cycle anyway, I think we might go ahead and try the IUI.  If we get a BFN...which I will definitely be bracing myself for...then we can hopefully do IVF next cycle. 

Thanks again and GL to you all!

LuClo

It couldn't really hurt to do. My only reservation was at the beginning of your post you were hesitant because of time, money, and emotional toll. It changed when you realized how cheap this IUI would be. Just don't forget that those other costs, like particularly the emotional one, are still there.  Whatever you decide will be right for you.  

Definitely make sure your uro specializes in MFI.  They're a little harder to find, but worth it.  A good uro can make the difference between IVF and conceiving naturally.  It's a pain in the ass because MFI is such a waiting game, but your certainly welcome to join us over here anytime you need support. 

conradtn

This whole post is making me worry about DH's 2% morph.  We're seeing the RE on 2/7, so I really want to talk to him about it.