Tell me about IUI

[spiralqueen]

Fertility clinic have advised me that it is likely that my only option of another DC will be IUI. Can those of you that have had it tell me about your experiences?

(I'm 46, ttc #2, had DD 22mths ago which came as something of a shock as we weren't actively ttc at the time as we thought I was past it)

bump

Hi,

Not sure what you would like to know. I have had two cycles of IUI and didn't find it too traumatic. As far as I remember you have five days of injections at the beginning of your cycle. I didn't find the jabs too painful and didn't suffer any side effects. The hospital gave me an auto injector so was able to do the jabs without too much fuss. You have to go in for a couple of scans so that they can monitor the growth of the eggs and the thickness of the lining of the womb. On one cycle I ovulated naturally (was told to test with one of those home test kits) and on the other I had a trigger shot (that was a bit painful but not too awful)as the eggs had reached the correct size and no sign of ovulation. The part where they put the sperm in is a bit undignified but actually not as uncomfortable as a smear test. The waiting is hard...

I was a bit downhearted on the first attempt as I didn't respond as they would have liked (only one egg) but was reassured this was quite normal. Had more drugs for the second round but still no pregnancy. I actually got pregnant during a 'rest cycle' the following month. The fertility nurse said it is possible that the fertility drugs could have kickstarted my body into action! No idea if this is true or not but I know have a lovely baby boy! Oh, and I am not that young either!

Good luck with it all

HTH

I've had IUI, and successfully conceived dd on the 4th attempt.

Will you be taking fertility drugs in advance of the proceedure? Do you have any idea what your FSH number is?

Is it a private fertility clinic or NHS?

Alittlebit Thanks that's useful info - completely new to it so really wanted to know what's involved and how well it went.

Earlybird No idea what my FSH is. Consultant is waiting for results of hycosy before discussing it further. I suspect they would probably put me on fertility drugs (he quoted £1000 per attempt so I guess that would mean fertility drugs?) It's an NHS fertility clinic.

Argh - just composed long/thoughful reply, and my computer crashed!

I would definitely get them to test for FSH (it varies month to month, but trends higher as women age). My consultant (private clinic) had me wait several months before proceeding with treatment. He advised that unless my FSH number was within a certain range, treatment would almost certainly fail. He said it was wise not to waste money on drugs and best not to put myself through the process (emotionally, physically and financially) if my body was not in a place where it could respond to treatment.

Have they explained why they are suggesting IUI and not IVF? Get them to show you statistics for success rates for the treatments, and also ask to see success rates for your clinic. Pay special attention to numbers for women your age.

I had treatment 5 years ago, and I'm sure science has moved on since then. But, I was advised that IUI/IVF success rates for women over 45 were miniscule and told that my best chance of success was to use an egg donor. Would you consider that?

Earlybird don't you just love computers?

They have tested for FSH and although I wasn't told the number the consultant was happy with it. He was proposing IUI over IVF as the success rate was much higher - he put my chances at 10% with IUI which he felt was about the same as the chance of conceiving naturally. He thought IVF was futile.

We wouldn't consider an egg donor if we can't have our own child. We are very lucky to have our DD and with such a shortage of egg donors it wouldn't be right to deprive another couple of perhaps their only chance to have their first child so that we could have a second.