How many IUI's before IVF?

aimsthequeen · June 2013

We've done two Clomid cycles without IUI and two with IUI. I know two IUI's isn't that many but I am so ready to move on to IVF. I just don't believe that IUI is going to work for us. How many cycles have people done before moving on to IVF. I am thinking one more... is 3 too few?

vpine · June 2013

I suggest trying injects/IUI before moving to IVF - injects have slightly higher success rates than clomid, good luck.

twistsandturnsto2 · June 2013

What is your DX? That might help us give advice.

NJHopeful · June 2013

My Re's plan is to do 3 before moving to Ivf. Hopfully the first one in July works, but it seems it never works on the first try!

mmhopeful · June 2013

My insurance required 3 IUI's before covering one IVF. (Remember after age 40 there is no coverage.) Talk to your dr though about your specific diagnosis. Think also about a lifetime use of clomid being only for 6 cycles and with strict monitoring so it doesn't thin your lining and create other issues. Good luck!

whoberry · June 2013

What is your diagnosis? We are unexplained and did 3 total IUIs before moving on to IVF. But as you can see from my siggy we did 13 treatment cycles before moving on. Lots of femara or clomid + TI cycles and a hybrid injects cycle too. We never did an injects only cycle b/c of the expense. We preferred to put the $ towards IVF. Good luck with your decision.

ky29 · June 2013

Like others have said, it depends on your diagnosis. We are MFI. He was going to do a couple natural IUIs, then a couple medicated IUIs before moving to IVF. However, that all depended on his post-wash counts.

When we are ready to go back to the RE in a couple months, I'm going to suggest skipping the natural IUIs and trying a lightly medicated IUI to hopefully increase our chances. We will probably do three before moving on.

Twinkie0612 · June 2013

We did 4 IUIs, 1 with my OB/GYN and 3 with my RE. Only 2 of the 3 with my RE were medicated. We didn't do injects with IUI.

Twinkie0612 · June 2013

vpine:
I suggest trying injects/IUI before moving to IVF - injects have slightly higher success rates than clomid, good luck.

I think this really depends on your diagnosis. Both REs I saw recommended moving on to IVF for us after 3 clomid + IUIs. We are "mostly" unexplained and are OOP. Both felt that the money spent on injects + IUI would be better put towards IVF, since the success rates are so much higher.

MrsSJE2011 · June 2013

vpine:
I suggest trying injects/IUI before moving to IVF - injects have slightly higher success rates than clomid, good luck.

This. We only did two due to MFI, but my RE said he always likes to do an injects IUI before moving on to IVF as it also gives him a good idea of how you are going to respond to injects before going all in with IVF so that he can best anticipate the right protocol and starting doses for you. I don't think it is coincidental that he has the lowest IVF cycle cancellation rate in a 10+ RE practice!

bethleean · June 2013

Jessieann1020:
NJHopeful:
My Re's plan is to do 3 before moving to Ivf. Hopfully the first one in July works, but it seems it never works on the first try!

We are doing our first in July too!! I should be CD1 Saturday.

I start my first round of clomid on Saturday too! My doc is combining clomid with injectables and IUI. Again its probably based on your specific problems as other ladies have said. My problem is that my eggs don't mature before ovulation so DH's little swimmers can't fertilize them. Im hoping that this treatment works out. I wish you all the best of luck and plenty of baby dust! Lets go July...ladies lookin' for a BFP!

KTdid81 · June 2013

Our RE recommended that we do 3 rounds of IUI before moving to IVF.....but he said that we can do as many as we want. We are on our 3rd now, but if it works, it sure is a lot less money then IVF.

We are using Femara and consistently have at least 2 follies each time. Our RE said that using injectables wouldn't help our odds enough considering it's an extra $800 per month. Since we have 2 follies every time, adding injectables would just mean that that we might have 1 or 2 more....but that is just a maybe. So if we can be on meds that cost $9 a month and still produce 2 follies each time, then no need for injectables.

lin681 · June 2013

We did 2 IUIs w clomid then I had a lap then we did 2 more IUIs. We are starting our IVF cycle tomorrow!

katib77 · June 2013

With our mild MFI and my LPD my RE recommended doing four IUIs because he said 80% of people that are candidates for IUI (ie can be brought fully to ovulation and have enough sperm for IUI) get PG within the first four. And those 20% that don't get PG in that first four don't seem to have better chances by doing more.

That said, we did land in that percentage since we got PG on our fourth IUI but had a c/p m/c. So instead of moving on to IVF after our fourth he said he was fine with continuing a few more IUIs since we'd shown that everything happened as it was supposed to (sperm met egg, I was able to implant, etc) but that I just came down on the side of the odds for my age of 35, that 30% of pregnancies will end in m/c. We finished our fifth IUI a few weeks ago and agreed that while we could do another one or two, we'd rather move on to IVF due to success rate and money concerns.

chickyclg · June 2013

We are doing only 1 IUI cycle, but it is based on our diagnosis. Our RE doesn't think we should waste the money since we are OOP and our chances are so low with IUI.

GermanGirl2007 · June 2013

Twinkie0612:
vpine:
I suggest trying injects/IUI before moving to IVF - injects have slightly higher success rates than clomid, good luck.

I think this really depends on your diagnosis. Both REs I saw recommended moving on to IVF for us after 3 clomid + IUIs. We are "mostly" unexplained and are OOP. Both felt that the money spent on injects + IUI would be better put towards IVF, since the success rates are so much higher.

All of this. We are not doing injects per the recommendation of my RE. We did 4 IUI's, and are moving on to IVF (hopefully) this cycle.

NJHopeful · June 2013

We are OOP for EVERYTHING too! Did your doc say you could skip over the IUIs and go right to IVF? We will give it 2-3 tries

Neesey · June 2013

katib77:
With our mild MFI and my LPD my RE recommended doing four IUIs because he said 80% of people that are candidates for IUI (ie can be brought fully to ovulation and have enough sperm for IUI) get PG within the first four. And those 20% that don't get PG in that first four don't seem to have better chances by doing more.

We were lucky on IUI # 4....twice but unlucky in that they didn't stick. Since we got a bfp on a IUI cycle, we knew we could connect and implant so we were willing to go more. We have done a total of 8 IUIs but hopefully we are moving on to IVF after my next AF.

Akiesha · June 2013

My RE reccomends 3 IUI's and then IVF. I would say whatever your insurance will cover if you're not 100% OOP. We are doing 3 then looking into IVF, I will discuss another IUI with injects.

ufsandra85 · June 2013

my insurance doesnt pay for ivf but i only have to pay 110 for iui so i am on #4 with femara and menopur. i will do 8 until we think about something else. we did 4 medicated cycles before iui.

wearebirds · June 2013

We're jumping straight into injects. Since we're unexplained, my RE doesn't see any point in wasting time and money on lesser treatments when there are certain barriers that "could be" the issue. He recommends 3 before moving on, but I think we'd try one extra, then talk about IVF. I'm praying we don't have to go there.

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How many IUI's before IVF?

Re: How many IUI's before IVF?

IF, 5 losses, 1 son, 1 on the way.

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