NHS Clomid Failed now IUI

[DisneyGirl2387]

Hi all,
Long time reader first time poster! Eek!
A bit of backstory....

My DH and I have been ttc #1 for 26 long months. Im 32 years old. Test results showed that my Progesterone is less than 30mnol so it seems I do not ovulate on my own (despite always getting positive OPKs each month). Had a HyCoSy (which was all fine) and was given 6 months of clomid. DH all fine on his front!

I was very lucky to get regular scans and blood tests etc during my first month on clomid which showed I did ovulate. Yippee!

However flash forward 6 months and not a whiff of a BFP. I'm not entirely convinced clomid worked each month as my cycles ranged from 24 -30 days.

So back to the consultant to review next steps. My CCG states we can have 3 cycles of IUI and 1 cycle of IVF. If we go straight for IVF then we will forfeit our goes at IUI.

So... we have decided to go for our 3 goes of IUI. It will be medicated cycles using clomid and Menopur. This is standard procedure in my hospital. It will be carried out on alternate months, one month on one month off. Our next appointment is mid January and we are hoping to start in February.

Anyway I have trawled through post after post on MN and I can't find much info on this. Has anyone been in a similar situation to me? Did you skip the IUI due to a low chance of it actually working? Any info positive or negative will be greatly received.

A massive thank you for reading my post! X

[Anaesthetist83]

We decided to skip the IUI after 6 rounds of clomid/letrozole. I had turned 35 (now 36) and husband 40. There were logistical challenges in terms of timing of IUI due to opening times of clinic and some equipment problems and their honest estimate of how long 3 attempts would take was a year. So in May we decided to go straight for IVF. Started treatment in July. Due to OHSS, we had to delay our transfer, but am now 5 weeks pregnant

[DisneyGirl2387]

Thank you for your reply! Yes I didn't think about opening times etc, I will ask on next appointment how long realistically it should take with all this one month on off business. I think I was just taken aback at last appointment as I thought it would be straight to IVF. Congratulations on your pregnancy! What lovely news to bring in 2020.

[Anaesthetist83]

Early days so trying not to get too excited - but thanks!

Our NHS clinic had capacity issues for IUI so you could phone on day 1 and not be able to start that month.

We decided that the benefit of IUI over an ovulating cycle on letrozole was very minimal.... but it might have worked. Who knows.

Don’t think you would really go back from IVF to IUI so we didn’t concern ourselves with losing that funding.

Another (very optimistic) thought is that is this pregnancy is successful, we now have 2 frozen embryos - so if decide to try for a sibling, the cost of a frozen transfer is fairly minimal, compared to going through a full cycle. Lots of ifs in this paragraph!!!

Depending on the wait for IVF in your area, you can sign up for IUI and be referred at the same time. If there is a wait for IVF, you can be trying IUI whilst you wait. There wasn’t a wait in our area so we didn’t bother

[TwistedAnkle]

I had a bad experience with clomid on the nhs and ended up losing and ovary. I went private and have had a gorgeous baby with iui. Wishing you luck x

[EnglishRain]

Don't know about IUI, but have done clomid. I felt like the more cycles I did the less effective it was, my blood tests were coming back more and more borderline and cycles quite short compared to when I started on the clomid. I had also read that clomid has a cumulative effect so was quite annoyed it seemed to become less effective for me.

I had ended up having an extra month of clomid in the cupboard and decided to use it four or five months after I'd had the last one. Lo and behold, got a BFP! Only 11 weeks at the minute but all is good so far. Posting more because I don't think a break from clomid is a bad thing, certainly seemed to help me, so may be worth a shot with the clomid and IUI.

[DisneyGirl2387]

TwistedAnkle I'm sorry to hear about your horrid experience with clomid, that must have been awful. Its nice to hear some positive IUI stories so thank you for sharing xx

Anaesthetic83 Good idea about asking to be put on the IVF waiting list as we try the IUI. I guess I'll try the one cycle and see how it goes with waiting times etc. Its very hard to be hopeful with such low percentages. I know I have to be realistic. I'm glad to hear about your two little frosties, I really hope everything works out for you and you get the lovely family you're hoping for. It's nice to hear good news within all of this infertility doom and gloom.

[DisneyGirl2387]

@EnglishRain Congratulations on your BFP. Yay! Yes, I just didn't think clomid was working everyone else seemed to get pregnant within the first few months. It suddenly dawned on me month 5 it just wasn't going to work. Maybe a break will do my body some good and kickstart my lazy ovaries into some action. Well fingers crossed anyway!

[EndlessDaysOfRain]

Sounds very similar to my journey!
All tests, HyCoSy, pcos, 6 months Clomid that failed and now offered 3 IUI and 2 IVF. Same as you that if we go straight for IVF, we lose our IUI. We've decided to go ahead with IUI as it's funded.
I have CF in the family so had to be sent for genetic testing before we start IUI treatment, so just waiting for those to come back before we can start. Hoping it'll be around Feb time too!
Good luck x

[DisneyGirl2387]

@EndlessDaysOfRain
Oh, good luck with your CF results. What a extra worrying step you've had to go through. Hope it all turns out ok. Yes, it sounds like we are very similar. Please keep me posted with your journey, it is good to chat to someone who knows how it all feels. Wishing you lots of luck. Happy New Year x

[SuperMoonIsKeepingMeUpToo]

Long time ago now but our first and only fertility treatment was IUI and resulted in our 17-year-old twins. We wouldn't have had any treatment funded and decided to give IUI a few goes before embarking on IVF and all the invasiveness that incurs. I was 33 so no mad rush. Good luck, OP. I don't think you ever really get over the pain of infertility, and I can definitely feel your pain.

[DisneyGirl2387]

@SuperMoonIsKeepingMeUpToo What great news, twins on your first IUI. Amazing! Thank you for sharing your experience. Infertility sure is a long lonely struggle and has definitely changed me. Thank you for your good luck wishes!

[SallyPS]

Currently on clomid cycle day 5-9 . has anyone taken the stair step approach before? I thought you could only ovulate 1 time per cycle ?