IVF vs IUI ?
Hi,
Hope you gals don't mind me posting here... I was wondering if anyone went through some medicated IF treatment cycles (such as Clomid) then switched to IVF without going through IUI ?
For those of you who had IVF, would you mind telling me if you, personally, found the whole process quite invasive?
DH and I fall under the unexplained IF category, and are debating between the IUI or IVF route. The decision is up to us, but our RE was more inclined towards the IVF treatment (simply to learn more about the reasons of our failures).
DH and I are making a list of pros and
cons: we'd need to compare the rate of success, the risk of multiples,
the cost (no insurance coverage but enough savings), and the
invasiveness factor. Anything else we should take into account?
TIA !
Re: IVF vs IUI ?
I don't have any experience with this, but I wanted to say good luck with your decision!!!
"Oh come on Gromit, a bit more, you know... alluring!!"
We skipped IUI's for a few reasons-
1) No MF issues
2) I have endometriosis, which is far more successful with IVF then IUI...basically our chances increased minimally with IUI, substantially with IVF
3) Cost - we had zero coverage. One IUI (it would have been with injectibles) was going to average about $2500. Do three and we're up to almost $8K. We weren't willing to spend that much for a slight chance.
4) We would not selectively reduce, so we preferred to not ever be in that situation...and IVF gave us the best control over that.
As far as the IVF process being invasive...hmmm. I don't think I found it anymore invasive than any other procedure. There are more ultrasounds and more bloodwork, but the dance was very similar in that regard.
I did find it to be hard, though. It's a roller coaster, anything can go wrong at any minute and that was difficult. I think mainly because there is so much at stake. It costs so much for that one chance, and there is no guarantee you'll make it to the egg retreival, let alone get pregnant. So that part is mentally hard. I also think the fact that it's the last option makes it much more difficult than other cycles. As in, there aren't any other options past IVF (for fertility treatments). So if we were again unsuccesful, we didn't have anything else to try. That was a constant worry.
Physically, it's hard as well but manageable. The shots hurt. Your ovaries get huge and that starts to ache pretty bad - even mine and I only got 5 freaking eggs. It was a lot harder on DH than I think he expected. My shots were all intramuscular, so he had to give them to me (I did my stomach shots but I can't reach my ass). That was hard on him. It wasn't until after the cycle that I realized how hard it all was on him.
For me, the egg retrieval was nothing. I didn't have any cramping or issues after at all. Transfer was a piece of cake. The end result was obviously worth it. Good luck!
We were unexsplained as well but we decided on doing an IUI or two first. Our thought was this IVF was a little out of our leauge in terms of money without dipping into a savings account that we would have incurred penalties on. By doing two IUIs we felt we could still afford one round IVF if it came to that. There is a GREAT article on skiping IUIs. Let me see if I can find it for you.
PS You are 100% welcome on this board! T-ttc/IF sucks and lots of the moms on this board know that, and can relate. Not to mention help with any questions you might have.
Here is the article I was talking about. It really helped DH and I decide. What ever method you chose I will be sending you lots of baby dust your way!
ETA: Haha forgot to give you the link!
https://www.slate.com/id/2178377/fr/rss/
I've done both. When TTC #1 we did IUI w/injectibles after not responding to Clomid. Took 3 IUI cycles to get BFP and I over-responded to the meds 2 of the 3 times (produced waaaaay too many eggs). Because I don't ovulate on Clomid or Femara, but over-respond to injectible meds (Follistim) we decided to go straight to IVF this time around to not only increase our chances of success, but decrease our chances of multiples since we only want one more baby.
The cost of IVF is huge compared to IUI especially if you're able to do IUI with Clomid or Femara since those drugs are cheap. The IVF drugs and procedures add up to big $ out of pocket. Your risk of multiples on IVF is very low if you make it that (we implanted only one embryo). Your risk of multiples on IUI depends a lot on the type of drugs (pretty low on Clomid, Femara, higher on injectibles) you take and how your body responds. Our RE also (only somewhat jokingly) said that the cost of IVF is nothing compared to raising more children if you get pregnant with twins and only wanted one.
For me, the main difference between the two in terms of invasive procedures is the egg retrieval. The actual transfer experience was pretty much identical to the IUI for me. The retrieval was done under anesthesia and I did have some discomfort for a couple days following that. There are also a ton of appointments with IVF to see how you're responding to the meds. I went in at least every other day once I start the meds and sometimes every day. IVF was also really hard on me mentally/emotionally and I don't really know why because it was somewhat similar to what we did before. It just seemed like such a huge step even though DH, our RE, and I all agreed it was the best course of treatment this time around. That is one reason I might start with the IUI if I were you - especially if you're ovulating on clomid, know your tubes are clear, DH's SA was good, etc.. I'd probably want to try at least one or two IUIs using clomid with a trigger shot before moving on to IVF. With TTC #1 I definitely needed to have that progression before being mentally/emotionally ready to move on to the next step.
I ramble and don't know if that helps at all, but am happy to answer if you have any other questions.
I did about 8-10 IUIs and 5 IVFs. JLK just started crying but I will write more later. Both DH and I are super open about all of it if you have questions by the way...
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DH and I were given no reason for our infertility. We had some insurance coverage for everything but IVF so we chose to do medicated cycles with IUI. We did 6 IUI cycles (one with two IUIs) before stopping treatment. We wanted to do IVF but did not have the money to do it.
As far as whether one is better than the other, I think most statistics are going to point to IVF. While it is more invasive, you have much more control over the situation. The success rates are better, because you can choose how many embryos to put back, and the rate of high order multiple births can be lower than IUI. It costs more and is more invasive though.
Good luck!
Thank you very much to everyone for sharing your experience (I'm sorry you had to go through them!) and for your opinions... They're very much helpful! I printed them out to share with my DH.
Again, thanks!