Poll: How many days did you take off work for (A) Gonal + IUI or (B) IVF

[Anonymous]

I need to decide what to do, and right now my choices are (A) Gonal + IUI or (B) IVF. I've heard that side effects vary, but approximately how many days of work did you have to miss because you felt naueous, bloated, in pain, etc.

I'm trying to figure out if gonal+IUI is really much easier on your body, or are they both about the same in terms of time off work?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

with ivf you will need to take at least 2 days off--for egg retrieval and embryo transfer if they fall on weekdays.
you may even be advised to take 24 hr rest after the transfer. so if that happens at 3 pm on tuesday, you will not be able to go to work on wed.

i did not take any time off for my medicated IUIs. just had to be out of the office a couple of hrs for the insemination.

[Anonymous]

with ivf you will need to take at least 2 days off--for egg retrieval and embryo transfer if they fall on weekdays.
you may even be advised to take 24 hr rest after the transfer. so if that happens at 3 pm on tuesday, you will not be able to go to work on wed. also i was usually okay to go to work the day after the retrieval.

i did not take any time off for my medicated IUIs. just had to be out of the office a couple of hrs for the insemination.

i did not need to take time off because of the way the meds made me feel.

[Anonymous]

For an IVF cycle at Shady Grove, I took off two days for retrieval (one day for the actual retrieval plus the following day b/c I wasn't feeling well), and 1.5 days for the transfer. SG requires 24 hours of bedrest following transfer. I can work from home so it wasn't a big deal for me. I did not take off any time for my IUI cycles. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

For IUI, just the time I needed to go to the appointment, which when I could get an appointment in the D.C. office near my office was about 45 minutes total (including walking to and from my office). I did have to take off a few mornings when I had to go to Rockville and got a sucky late morning time. For IVF, you'll probably want to take the day of the retrieval off because of the anesthesia, and the day of the transfer.

[Anonymous]

Oh, PP here, Gonal + IUI is generally easier on your body than IVF, although it depends on which IVF protocol you're on. But SG usually starts with a lupron IVF, and the lupron for me was just awful.

[Anonymous]

I did IUIs and everything for an IVF but the retrieval and transfer (it was canceled due to too few eggs, so essentially converted to IUI).

I did not need to take any time off due to feeling bad or bloated or anything.

Don't make your decision based on time off issued. The actual time off is extremely limited with either procedure. People with the flu or volley ball injuries or whatever are going to take way more time off than you are.

I think the odds of success are better with IVF. So, I'd say go for it and get it overwith.

[Anonymous]

4 IVFs - 1 day off at retrieval and 1 day with transfer each time - never felt too bad to work. Good luck!