How many iuis can one take? Should we throw in the towel?

[tulipa8]

Hello all, hoping to hear about your experiences so maybe I can learn a thing or two from them.

Just confirmed 3rd failed iui by beta. Spotting started also today. I knew I was out though a few days ago.

We’re on a list for funded ivf but that’s months of not >1 year away. We can’t afford to do it privately without going into debt and DH won’t do that as long as we have the funded option available. I’m 36. Mild DOR and hubby has poor motility. I also think I maybe have endo (heavy painful periods for years, infertility) but my doc doesn’t agree, as I don’t have issues with cysts or fibroids.

Anyway, we’re at the point now where we need to decide if we want to keep going with these iuis or just wait for ivf. Doc wants us to continue with iuis. She feels that based on our testing this should be working for us. The iuis are around $600 a pop, which is not nothing. More concerning is that they take a lot out of me emotionally- the meds, the time, the intensity of monitoring, the hope, the disappointment. I feel as though I’m getting farther away from myself during this process.

Wondering if you can share your stories with me. Did you keep going with iuis and ultimately have success? Did you throw in the towel with iuis and do the ivf with no regrets? And if so, after how many?

Thanks so much, and good thoughts out to all of you.

[MajaFlower]

Secondary unexplained infertility. 4 clomid and IUIs, all failed, not even a flicker on the FRER... my doc suggested IVF. We moved on to IVF, one round, one fresh transfer was all it took. No regret moving on to IVF from our end.

No right answer here, I’d say go with what you are comfortable with.

Good luck!

[tulipa8 in reply to MajaFlower]

Thank you for sharing! I love that you had no regrets and am so happy for you 😌

[Ivfgotadream]

Personally I would move on to IVF as we were told we had to factor in at least 10 rounds of IUI to have to the same success rate as one cycle of IVF

IVF and affordability is always a controversial one - if you sat down with a spreadsheet and factored in what it would cost if you had a baby - ie the childcare what would that cost look like per month? Or the cost of giving up a salary for one of you to be a stay at home parent? That’s what we did. Full time childminder is £850 per month where I live. A nursery is more like £1200 (a lot more if you are in London). If the lowest earner was to be a stay at home parent that would cost us £1300 a month. My parents advised us to “live” like we had a child to pay for for 12 months - we did - and found ourselves with £12k which was enough to find IVF.

We then took out a personal loan of £13.5k when the first couple of cycles didn’t work (which covered 3 rounds of natural modified IVF which is cheaper ) which costs £275 a month over 5 years and so also considerably cheaper than raising a child

[tulipa8 in reply to Ivfgotadream]

Thank you for your reply! What is natural modified IVF and what are its advantages (except for the price) ??

[Ivfgotadream in reply to tulipa8]

It’s very low dose stims - only every other day but daily estrogen/clomid type tablets from cycle day 3 only. Benefits for me was much much higher quality eggs. We went from 30% fertilisation with “normal IVF” with ICSI over 28 eggs but only 4 average blastocysts to 9 eggs on 2 cycles of natural modified 100% fertilised and 2 of them I’m currently pregnant with twins with and 2 more frozen

[Jen999999]

At 36 with DOR time isn't on your side. I would go straight to IVF even if I had to go into debt to do it.

[leenad]

We had 4 IUI's and we wanted to try it again but my doctor suggested that we go see a fertility specialist and so we did it. I'm familiar with the path that you are going through. It is devastating and heartbreaking each month knowing that this month wasn't it. Our 2nd IVF was a success. Ours was a Male factor. Husband has poor morphology. Even if we kept going with IUI, it wouldn't be a success.

Plus we didn’t have enough money for IVF at home so we had to go abroad. It was causing additional stress only in the beginning. The best countries for IVF abroad are Cyprus, Czech republic and Ukraine. We’ve chosen Ukraine. Even when the first cycle didn’t work out we somehow knew we would get pregnant soon. And a miracle did happen. So our tries took about 5 months, it’s not that much, and I am definitely happy with switching to IVF.

Wishing you and your husband the best of luck!

[tulipa8 in reply to leenad]

Thank you for this. And big congrats to you x How did you keep up morale through the 2 rounds of ivf? Any advice for us?

[leenad in reply to tulipa8]

It was tough but our doctor at btc was awesome. She suggested that the second time we should do things a little differently. Our manager was really helpful. And the support from our friends and family kept us going. Also we wanted a second child for our son so we couldn't give up just yet no matter what we have to do. Wish we went straight to IVF sooner if we had known that our IUI's was just a waste. But everyone has their stories and hope this next try work out for you!

[tulipa8 in reply to leenad]

thank you 🙏

[Positivevibe]

Hello tulipa8. I did 4 IUIs , unfortunately did not work. I am 32 and there have been no identified issues with me. But it still did not work. Then eventually I decided to move over to IVF as I was spending a lot also on IUI everytime with the meds, sperm ( as I am a single woman) , travel etc. you could try a couple of more times and then decide on what you could next. Hope this helps.

[Chel91]

Hi, I did roughly 8 ovulation inductions, some with IUI and some without. Unfortunately, it didn't work and I think after 3 or 4 and no BFP I pretty much knew something wasn't right since I had 2 to 3 follicles each time. It took a lot out of me and I wish I had stopped sooner, just the jump to IVF was scary to me at that time.

Unfortunately, my first 2 IVF transfers failed, so I'm still waiting. Never thought it would be this hard. With mild DOR my advice would be not to wait too long as it's not guaranteed to work first time xxx

[ADC2019]

I had 6 iuis, on the 3rd I got bfp but MC @ 11wks. Now doing ivf. In hindsight i should have researched my options and statistics for women my age more and would have probably gone straight to ivf. I started this process over 3years ago and feel like I've wasted a lot of time and my AMH has decreased. Everyone is different though x

[Twiglet2]

We had 6- 3 natural and 3 medicated. With hindsight I wished I had moved to IVF sooner but if that’s not an option for you I don’t see the harm in continuing with the IUIs in the mean time. However if you were going to do another 3 or 4 IUIs perhaps cost wise you could just have one go at IVF instead?

IUI Does have lower success rate than IVF but higher success rates than not trying at all I guess So depends if you are set waiting for the NHS either way. Lots of luck to you! 🤗

[alockie]

From what I have read, dosc usually recommend having max 5 IUIs for ladies who are 35, for older ones - max 3 IUIs. If the treatment does not work, they usually recommend considering having IVF. Myself I know w few ladies who had 1st time success with IVF clinics in Europe (Poland and Cyprus) cos they offer more pocket-friendly prices.