Who has had success with IUI, and if you did, how many times did you do it?

[Anonymous]

I'm 38, DH is 30. We've receive a diagnosis of unexplained secondary infertility. We are at GW. Doctor is recommending for me to go straight to IVF, given my age. I really don't think we can afford it, so want to try IUI. She said there was only a 3 to 6% chance of me conceiving that way.

I know there's people here who have had successful UIUs. If so, how many did you do before success?

[Anonymous]

We have the same diagnosis. We are both 33.
In happy to say that my last IUI worked, I'm only 18 dpIUI though, so not in the clear yet. This was our 6th IUI. We used all injectables.
My insurance covered up to 6 IUI's, so we were exhausting all of those before going on to IVF (and paying out of pocket).
This last IUI we increased all my meds and I responded really well. I don't think most people try IUI's as many times as we did. If you're paying out of pocket for everything I would suggest going straight to injectables for a month or two. Clomid did nothing for me.

Good luck in whatever you choose to do.

[Anonymous]

We were successful with our second IUI attempt. Like the previous poster, insurance covered up to 6 IUIs so it made sense for us. First one was with Clomid; second successful one was with Clomid and one dose of 75 Bravelle injectible. 26 weeks pregnant. We have the same diagnosis, but I'm 35, and DH is 44.

[Anonymous]

I'm now six weeks pregnant after my third IUI (all with Clomid). My diagnosis is infertility due to having lost a fallopian tube (after ectopic). I am 32, husband is 40. In my situation, IVF is usually more successful, but given my age, my RE felt we had plenty of time to try less-invasive (and less expensive) options. Had the last IUI not worked, we would have probably done a few more with injectables before moving to IVF.

In your situation, I'd think carefully about the costs/benefits of IUI vs. IVF. With that low of a projected success rate, you will likely need to try multiple IUIs, which could cost up to $6000-8000, depending on meds. For that money, I'd probably look into mini-IVF or doing IVF abroad, since I think your success rate per cycle would be much higher. Just my two cents though.

[Anonymous]

Does your insurance cover IUIs and not IVF? If it covers neither, I'd go straight to IVF. I did 3 IUIs, and none worked.

[Anonymous]

With a dx of unexplained like myself I wouldn't waste time on IUIs. I was at GWU as well and did 2 natural timed intercourse cycle with trigger and 4 natural cycle IUIs with trigger. All BFN. My Doc at the time wouldn't recommend drugs for me because on my natural cycle everything lined up perfectly (follie size; estrogen; lining etc.). Injectables weren't covered by my insurance and my GWU RE and actually another RE I saw in NJ for a consult both did not recommend clomid for me. Ended up switching clinics to SGFC and did a timed intercourse cycle with clomid and FSH - in truth - results were very similar parameter wise to what I achieved naturally (size of follie, lining was a bit less, and estrogen was way higher than it probably should be) - BFN. Moved on to IVF. First cycle BFN after transferring two great blasts. Second cycle got a bFP on what appeared to be a terrible cycle. Main difference was we did an endometrial scratching which I think maybe all that I really needed.

If an RE won't do an endometrial scratching for you get an OBGYN to do one. I know a few people who got pregnant naturally a few cycles after doing that (all who were diagnosed with unexplained infertility).

[Anonymous]

If insurance covers and you aren't forced to do IUI first, try IVF.

However, our insurance covers nothing so anything we do is out of pocket. We are secondary infertile (both 36) as well, and due to some other medical issues, I refuse to put my body through all that is required for an IVF.

We got pregnant on our second IUI, but I miscarried at 9 weeks. I am in the 2ww for IUI #3. My body seems to be operating properly without much help - we only did monitoring and the trigger shot. My best guess on what is actually wrong is that my lady parts at now practically upside down in my body and it makes it really hard for sperm to meet egg. My doc actually said the sperm needed GPS while he was performing the last IUI. Perfect ;P

[Anonymous]

1 IUI for #1, 6 IUIs for #2. we also had 3 failed IVFs.

[Anonymous]

I did one IUI and was successful (and totally shocked) on the first try. Tamoxifen plus trigger shot. I was a few weeks short of 38 at the time. Unexplained infertility. I had assumed we would do a few rounds of IUI and then move to IVF.

[Anonymous]

Did any of you who had IUI with injectibles get pregnant with multiples? OP here, my doc at GW said they don't generally do injectibles anymore because of the increased risk of multiples.

I'm not sure what my insurance is going to pay. I've had Empire BC/BS through my employer for ages, but due to rising costs, they've dropped BC/BS and we are having Cigna next year. I'm not sure what their coverage will be. With BC/BS, I would have been responsible for a 10% copay for IUI or IVF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did any of you who had IUI with injectibles get pregnant with multiples? OP here, my doc at GW said they don't generally do injectibles anymore because of the increased risk of multiples.

I'm not sure what my insurance is going to pay. I've had Empire BC/BS through my employer for ages, but due to rising costs, they've dropped BC/BS and we are having Cigna next year. I'm not sure what their coverage will be. With BC/BS, I would have been responsible for a 10% copay for IUI or IVF.

I used injectables and am pregnant with a singleton.

[Anonymous]

Unexplained secondary infertility as well. We did 3 IUIs, got pregnant on the third with a singleton. I used clomid all three times, but with progressive extra boosts from injectables each time. My insurance didn't cover IUI or IVF (but fortunately covered most of the meds), but SG has a program where it is $1600 for one complete IUI, versus the $10K plus for one IVF or the $20kplus for the shared risk program. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Who are you all seeing at GW? I saw Dr. Dayal for an IUI (didn't work & I had a question about timing of the procedure), but she's gone now.

[Anonymous]

I saw Gindoff at GWU. GWU times IUI's earlier than Shady Grove. I can't remember exactly but 18-24 hours post trigger comes to mind for some reason.

[Anonymous]

At 36 with unexplained (but low motility and morphology), first IUI (clomid + trigger) was a chemical, second (clomid + trigger) was a BFN, third IUI (clomid + gonal f + trigger) was a singleton that unfortunately ended in a 24 week loss. We're about to start trying again and I'm now 37 and thinking hard about going straight to IVF.