New to the IF board, IVF in May

MagicMikki · April 2016

Hi all!

I have been a Bump member for a few years, and am most active in a private group. However, I have been lurking on the IF board for a long time, and have started lurking more and more over the last few months, so I wanted to introduce myself.

My husband and I have been TTC for about 3 years, since March 2013, with zero success. We first went to an RE in August 2014, after my husband was diagnosed with MFI (low count, motility, and morph). We had 7 attempted medicated IUI cycles - 4 Bravelle, 1 Clomid, and 2 Femara + Bravelle, between February 2015 and October 2015. Out of the 7 cycles, 2 were cancelled and we were only able to actually follow through with 5 IUIs. All ended in BFNs. In October, my husband's urologist prescribed him Clomid to help improve sperm quality, and we learned in January that it didn't do a damn thing, and it wasn't even prescribed correctly. We realized early on that it wasn't prescribed correctly after consulting Dr. Google (we've become Master Googlers over the last few years!) and after connecting with our RE. Also, my husband's latest SA result came with a 0.5% morph, lower motility than before, and a count under 20mil. We were no longer even candidates for IUI. It was depressing to hear because, after 5 failed IUIs, we don't learn from our mistakes and wanted to try again.

We took some time to really think about our next steps to start making the most out of our time and money. In January, we decided we've hit rock bottom emotionally, and realized that the financial burden of IVF will be worth it (we are OOP for IVF). I promptly called the RE's office, we attended the required IVF seminar, and discussed our options with the RE. We had to complete all the testing over again, as it had been 1.5 years since we'd had the full work up. My husband has had 9 SAs done over the last 2 years and they bounced between getting worse and staying the same, but the results never brought him up into the "normal" range.

We will be doing IVF+ICSI in May. I started BCP a couple weeks ago and my stim start date is May 18. I will have a short break of BCP toward the end of April, and it's a long, frustrating story as to why I'm on BCP for so long prior to the actual cycle. Our nurse consult date is April 27th, where we will write a check out to our RE for her brand new car the clinic for their highly skilled services and cross our fingers!

Anyway, I have met some INCREDIBLE and strong people along this journey and am excited to meet more! I have noticed that this group is a tight-knit, knowledgeable, supportive group, and I really hope to be a supportive contributor, as well!

tl;dr - TTC 3 years. Many failed IUIs. IVF in May. Impatiently waiting.

meli123k · April 2016

Welcome! Wishing you the best of luck with your upcoming IVF and I hope your stay here will be short!

cmm012 · April 2016

Welcome! I hope your IVF goes smoothly. Please consider joining the April/May IVF group. The ladies there are top notch and very helpful. I am also planning IVF in May. Hope to see more of you here (for a short time).

MagicMikki · April 2016

Thanks, ladies! I will most definitely be joining the April/May IVF group. I read through as many posts as I could over the last few days, and it is a little intimidating... I will hop on over and make an intro there! :-)

wifeinraleigh28 · April 2016

Welcome @MagicMikki! I'm so sorry it's been such a long, hard journey for you. LOL about writing a check to your RE for her brand new car. SERIOUSLY

We wanted so badly to move to IVF right away after our 2nd failed IUI because, like you, we have MFI and have been told that our chances of conceiving through IUI are quite slim (between 5-10%) and we wanted to limit our disappointment. Turns out we have to wait until June so that we can (hopefully) participate in a clinical trial that will alleviate a good chunk of the cost. So we're doing one more IUI in the mean time. I was hoping to be on the April/May IVF train along with you but I guess June isn't so far away! Best of luck to you. I sincerely hope this will be the end of your journey!!

Monica54321 · April 2016

@MagicMikki - Welcome to the group, but sorry you are here! Looks like you've already been through so much. FX for your IVF cycle!

msirni0 · April 2016

Welcome welcome welcome! Sorry you have to be here. I hope IVF is just what you need! I have a friend who's DH had severe MFI and their first IVF cycle was successful, so have faith! hope your visit here is short and sweet

LadyMillil · April 2016

Hey girl!

mrshegs · April 2016

Welcome @MagicMikki! Here's to a smooth IVF process for you!

twomommiestobe · April 2016

Hey girl! My ivf month club was a lifesaver! Feel free to ask them any questions and just jump in when you can. It can seem overwhelming and a lot to keep up with, but just do what you can and enjoy the ride. The end weeks were the best as we were all counting down to beta day!!!

LeanneB82 · April 2016

Welcome @MagicMikki! I am in the middle of my first IVF cycle and will transfer our frozen embryos on Friday. We have friends with MFI and their first attempt at IVF with ICSI was successful also as a PP mentioned. Hoping this works quickly for you!

kjones202 · April 2016

Good luck to you @MagicMikki! May this IVF cycle be your first and last.

We just had a meeting with our RE yesterday and we are starting a cocktail of antioxidant vitamins - for 90 days....before our next fresh IVF cycle. So I join you in "impatiently waiting."

lizmb-2 · April 2016

@MagicMikki good luck with your cycle! Sending you good vibes

MagicMikki · April 2016

You all are absolutely amazing, thank you for the warm welcoming comments!

@wifeinraleigh, that is AWESOME that you may be able to participate in a trial to help alleviate some of the costs! I looked up and down for clinical trials in my area for which we might qualify, but there are none. (I'm in MN.) Unfortunately, it's OOP for us, I guess. Boo. I did have some coverage for IUIs, which was the only reason we even bothered with so many, but we were still mostly OOP for meds, which was the expensive part! (We did 4 rounds of injectables, and then bumped 2 other IUI cycles with injectables.)

@LeanneB82, good luck with your FET on Friday!! Only a few more days!

And I'm so happy to hear that so many people have had or know someone who has had great success with IVF and severe MFI. I do have two children from a previous marriage and my innards had no trouble implanting and carrying (granted, I was pregnant with my last child 8 years ago!), so we are hopeful that the IVF + ICSI will take care of our challenge and then my body will be able to follow through with what it's supposed to do!

@kjones202, my RE did not mention anything about antioxidants! I wish I would have known about that.. I take the usual prenatal, CoQ10 (200mg/day), Vitamin D (2000mg/day), and magnesium (for my migraines... Can no longer be on my migraine med). But that's it for now.

Anyway, thanks again for all the warm welcomes! And a shoutout to my lovely @LadyMillil and @twomommiestobe! When I saw that you both were active up in this joint, I knew it was the place for me!

msirni0 · April 2016

@wifeinraleigh28 looks like we will be cycle buddies! I'll start BCP next month and will probably be doing my first IVF cycle in June!

wifeinraleigh28 · April 2016

@MagicMikki I do consider myself lucky to have the chance to participate in a clinical trial! I do still have to go through screening and there's always a chance I could be denied. My clinic said that about 1/3 of the people they submit for the trial get denied. Hopefully that won't be me! If we're denied, we will also be completely OOP for IVF. I'm willing to do whatever it takes though. What were your injectables for your IUIs? I took follistim 125iu. My RE decided to put me straight on injectables instead of starting with oral meds, as he said with MFI they have a higher success rate. Guess I'll be giving it one more shot!

@msirni0 If my IUI next month is unsuccessful, I hope to see you on a June IVF board!

MagicMikki · April 2016

wifeinraleigh28 said:

@MagicMikki I do consider myself lucky to have the chance to participate in a clinical trial! I do still have to go through screening and there's always a chance I could be denied. My clinic said that about 1/3 of the people they submit for the trial get denied. Hopefully that won't be me! If we're denied, we will also be completely OOP for IVF. I'm willing to do whatever it takes though. What were your injectables for your IUIs? I took follistim 125iu. My RE decided to put me straight on injectables instead of starting with oral meds, as he said with MFI they have a higher success rate. Guess I'll be giving it one more shot!

@msirni0 If my IUI next month is unsuccessful, I hope to see you on a June IVF board!

That's really exciting, @wifeinraleigh28! I will really be thinking of you and hoping that you are not one of the denied applicants! The cost of IVF is such rape, it makes me so angry. The United States has the HIGHEST out of pocket infertility costs in the world. I just wrapped up working with my employer to advocate for 6 weeks paid parental leave (will be effective July 1!! Yey!!) and now I am working with my employer to have more infertility coverage so that IVF is covered. I will likely never be able to benefit from it, as I'm Union and we on two-year contracts, so at best, it would be effective July 1, 2017. Maybe for another baby in the future, or something! I have two older school age children from a previous marriage, so my older two plus a baby with my now-husband might be it for us, or maybe with additional IF coverage in the future, I might get baby fever!

I used Bravelle because it was one of the only covered injectables, covered at 60%. Was still about $1,000 OOP even at 60% coverage, for the relatively small dose. I was taking 150iu/day for 10-11 days. With that dose, I was recruiting 2, sometimes 3 follicles, but then each time, I was only producing 1 follicle to maturity, so it was very frustrating. We couldn't keep up with paying that much money for only getting one follicle. With our severe MFI, our goal was to have 2-3 (or even 4) mature follicles, and it never worked out. We ended up switching to Clomid for one cycle (thinned my lining) and then Femara for two cycles, and bumped with a few days of Bravelle. In those cycles, I again recruited several follicles, but STILL only got 1 mature one!! Gaahh!!

Because of my low response to a moderate dose (moderate for IUI, that is), my RE is willing to go up to 400/day of Follistim, but I'm not sure I'll require that much. I'm bummed that Bravelle has been pulled from the shelves for the next year because that is covered! Lol!

wifeinraleigh28 · April 2016

Wow, @MagicMikki, I can't even believe the cost of your injectable meds even with insurance coverage! I actually just refilled all my meds for IUI #3. We're keeping everything the same since I had a good response the previous 2 times. For 5 cartridges of follistim, 3 syringes of ganirelix, and an ovidrel trigger shot, the total only came to $210. I think it was the same the previous 2 times as well. And 16 progesterone suppositories was only $56, though that is without insurance coverage for those so I"m guessing it's just a cheap medication. I'm floored that you had to pay $1k for bravelle

I hope you have more success and produce more follies with follistim!

lizmb-2 · April 2016

I totally agree with how crazy the cost is. My husband and I are both public school teachers and our insurance does not cover ANY of this whole process except my first ultrasound before we scheduled our IVF appointment. So all together we have to pay close to $17,000 out of pocket

MagicMikki · April 2016

@wifeinraleigh28, yes! It is insane! I thought there was no way that my OOP responsibility was still nearly $1,000 at 60% coverage! We only have one pharmacy in my entire area that provides infertility meds, so I have to go there at their negotiated rate. Sucks. No competition. I considered ordering from a mail-order pharmacy but when and if you need meds and at what dose was always up in the air and we didn't want to risk relying on a mail-order pharmacy. In hindsight, it might have been cheaper to just do it anyway and risk having all the leftovers. (When I had monitoring for my IUIs, the nurse would tell me how many more days of meds I'd need and at what dose. I could quickly run to the pharmacy and pick it up as needed. That luxury is not available when using a mail-order!)

@LizMB, I am a public employee, too (not as a teacher.. I work for state govt) and we have pretty darn good medical benefits but when it comes to the "extras" like this, VERY STINGY! You know... Taxpayer dollars, and all! (Ugh.)

wifeinraleigh28 · April 2016

@MagicMikki Hmmm... my clinic only gave me the option to buy from a mail order pharmacy. I actually had to order from two different pharmacies: Prime Therapeutics (for all the injectables) and Freedom Fertility (for progesterone suppositories). I wonder if this is why my meds were so much cheaper. They deliver as early as the very next day so it hasn't even been an issue, but I've always gotten more medication than I actually need. I can understand the convenience of just stopping by a local pharmacy though. I don't even know if we have one here since I wasn't given that option.

MagicMikki · April 2016

@wifeinraleigh28, I'm so happy to hear how quickly they deliver from Freedom! I have heard from others that they're really good to work with. I browsed their website and even just one box of Follistim seemed super expensive! But I don't have experience with Follistim so I'm not sure if it was normal. I looked like a box of 900iu was going to be over $2,000! Whhhhat! Is this normal!? To get that much Bravelle, it would be less than $1,000. *reallywishingBravellewasstillavailable!!*

wifeinraleigh28 · April 2016

Omg!!! @MagicMikki we are going to completely drain our savings doing IVF, unless I get that darn clinical trial. I think prime therapeutics is cheaper because it's through our insurance but since we don't get IVF coverage I guess we probably wouldn't be able to order meds from them. Hang in there. Too bad bravelle isn't available

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