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Hi! Thanks for posting this!! I am going in for an IUI next week. It will be my first. I asked the doc if was painful, and he said no. He said I do not need to take advil or anything like that prior to the procedure. He said its much more comfortable than an hsg. I would like to hear if this is true from some of the women who have had an IUI??

Hi there - I recently just completed four cycles of IUI. I am from Australia so I'm not familiar with your terms (ie advil, hsg??). But anyway, it is not painful at all. I found the injections, scans and ovulation testing a breeze - and the actual insemmination is only slightly (if at all) uncomfortable. The hardest part is running off for scans and blood tests every second day prior to insemmination - then the anxious wait afterwards (as we all have). I cannot point you to a website either, but does the clinic produce a booklet that explains everything? Otherwise - just google IVF clinics in your state/area and they should have information on IUI. Can I ask why you are considering this (as opposed to natural conception or even IVF directly? Then perhaps I can help you with some questions you need to be asking - it is only suitable for certain fertility problems. Good luck

Hi Cee Bee. I forget at the moment what hsg stands for (its some long medical/technical term), but its when you have them x-ray your tubes. I am having IUI because I have pcos, and am on clomid. The clomid "drys" me up a bit, so my cm is not what it should be to get pg. My doc says it is easier to get pg with IUI when taking clomid. Hope it works. What are those scans you are doing prior to the procedure? My doc did not schedule me for any scans??

Hi KellyN...not sure what the procedure is in the US, but mine was : inject daily with FSh (Follicle stimulating hormose) from about day 3 of your period. Then around day 10 they do an ultrasound scan (vaginal) to see how many (if any) follicles have been produced and what size they are. If too many (this didnt happen to me) they will cancel the cycle to avoid you having triplets or whatever. But if not enough or not big enough, you continue with injections for a few more days, then they scan again. When one (max two) follicles are at 18mm or larger, then they induce ovulation (or you test for natural ovulation). Then, at the right time, they inseminate. Having said all that, perhaps they won't be scanning because maybe you are not having the follicle stimulating hormones - so they don't need to monitor your follicles?? Hope this helps - are you having drugs to produce follicles?

Wow! They really've got you covered in Australia! I am on ovulation medication. The docs over here usually start you out with a prescription of clomid. You take it for 5 days starting on day 3 or 5. Then 4 days after your last pill, they will do an ultrasound, which I think is the scan for follicles that you mentioned, to look for follicles and measure them. If you don't respond to the clomid, they will try other medications, either oral meds or some sort of injection, like what you are doing. That sounds really neat how they do it over there. Advil is a popular over-the counter pain medication. Did you take anything for your IUIs for pain?? Did you get any cramping afterward??

Yeh, it was all really well organised and monitored - but like I said, kind of a pain in the butt as you are at the clinic every second day - but it's all good. No, I didn't need to take anything for pain - it really isn't that bad. The actual insemmination is just mildly uncomfortable. There can be some mild cramping afterwards - but mine was always very mild and no need at all for pain killers in the entire 4 months of trying. I was unsuccesful so about to launch into IVF. Funnily enough (well not funny really) we have just done further tests on DH sperm and discovered the problem may lie with him - so IUI would never have worked for me - we needed IVF all along. But when we didn;t know what the problem was, we thought we would give IUI a shot before going straight to IVF (less expensive also). Is it expensive in the US??

Hi Kelly N and cee bee. I'm in Canada so we have 3 countries here. I was told i am fine. i did a monitoring cycle and i seemed to do all well myself, ovulated etc, did all the scans like ceebee talked about, day 3, 10, 12 ultrasounds and bloodwork, hsg dye test and a progesterone on day 21. Had the review with doc and they said his sperm count was ok but lower on the motility side but from reasearch he has more than enough apparently for iui. Doc wants us to try 3 more cycles naturally and if nothing than try iui and if nothing then probably ivf but i dont think i will go to ivf. We havent talked about it but the cost factor i just dont think we can do it (unless covered by insureance and i dont know yet but very much doubt it.) I got af today so i'm sad but u know, not as sad and crying as all the other months. This was 8 or 9 months trying so far and i'm 39 so time is really of the essence now. The doc is also going to do a post coital test this month after ovulation but i think we are away so it might have to wait until next month. It just depends what day i ovulate on. I am not a regular cycle 25-28 days but ovulate either day 12 or 13 usually. I thought i had some problem because i am so dry all the time but doc doesnt seem to be too worrid about that since all my hormones came back ok.

Hi Ladies -- Thanks for your info. I'm new to IF and gearing up for IUI (with Clomid). I'm 38 so the clock is ticking. DH and I both had work ups. I'm not ovulating on my own [which I knew -- no AF since coming off BC last Fall] and have PCOS; DH's numbers are okay "raw" but not once they've been cleaned (TMI?) so doc recommended Clomid+IUI. I had a bunch of travel lined up (summer and early fall) so for now I'm working on my weight and PCOS issues. I'm a bit mad at my regular doc -- I went in April and said "no AF" and she said give it a few more months before we send you on to an RE. RE new right away something was amiss, plus there were all the lovely tests to take. As the timing has worked out we won't start Clomid cylces until the Fall (Sept/Oct). At 38+ I feel like every month counts! And now after having done more reading and research I find that not every cycle is appropriate for the IUI part -- no follies, too few follies, too many follies. <ugh> So any info and/or suggestions appreciated. good luck to all.

And I gues a question for those of you taking off frequently for tests and scans. How do you explain it at work? I'm not really keen to share details with my (male) manager, or the somewhat chatty HR person. Do you just say "medical tests" or "personal business" or something else? Cheers.

from wanna b- my clinic is not far from work and most things take not too long to do. ie: ultrasounds and bloodwork so i'm ok. You could try and book at the end of the day and take an hour off here and there and if they arent able to question dont say anything. I didnt know that not all cycles were ok for iui so thanx for that tidbit. Doc didnt say much, i guess he will get into more of it if/when we get to that point. I'm still hoping maybe his test wasnt quite accurrate for whatever reason and we can still do this. I just called the clinic and re start my monitoring ultrasound (ugh i hate all that water) and bloodwork day 3 for sunday. It will make me late for church but day 3 is day 3 .

Hi Everyone! Cdd Bee, good luck with your IVF. That is VERY expensive here in the US. We may start considering adoption if I have to do IVF, because my insurance doesn't cover it. IUI is pretty reasonably priced, so hopefully this will work for me. CambridgeKate, I too have pcos, and sounds like I am on the same stuff you are on. I am taking avandia for the pcos, then doing clomid, iui, hcg shot, and after ovulation I will take prometrium until af. Wanna be, I feel for you having to explain all of this to your boss, but that's the route I took. I just told her the truth and we found out I have pcos, and now they put me on meds, and are monitoring me regularly. Now I just tell her that I'm going to have "unsepakable things" done to me today, and she knows right away what I am talking about. Your boss is a man, but he should understand, especially if he has a wife and/or kids. BTW, I am 36, so also feel time beginning to slip away. I just keep thinking of my mom who had her last baby at 42, and it helps me cope.

Oops! I miss typed your name Cee Bee. Sorry!

Damn, I just wrote the longest post and my computer went bung and I lost it.....anyway I have just turned 40 (2 weeks ago) and we are ttc for first - so I know what you mean by every month counts. Sounds like we are all similar age group. Are you guys trying for first or second or ???? Anyway, to Cambridge Kate - like WannaB, my work was also close to my clinic and I made sure that I had my scans and blood tests etc first thing in the morning, so that generally I could be back at work in time. I know your boss should be understanding, but sometimes we just don't want everyone knowing our business - that's how I felt anyway. One piece of advice I would offer to everyone about to undertake fertility treatment of whatever kind....limit the amount of people you tell!!! I had told a lot of my friends and family what I was going through, but I realised later that I shouldn't have been so open - because as much as they were all just trying to help and keep interested, my private business suddenly became up for public knowledge. Friends or family would call on the day they knew I would be having the pg test to find out if I was pg. IF I WAS, I would have wanted some time for me & DH to get used to the idea before we told everyone. So, I don't mean to sound negative and complain, but it's a double-edged sword, you want people to know so that they can understand your moods, absence from work, inability to be able to "catch up" or why you have less $$ to spend on going out - whatever,,,,,but they then want to know all the details. My boss knew I was trying...and knew I was doing "something" and one day she asked me what procedure I was taking, so I told her - IUI - suddenly she wanted to give me her advice and opinion....and i had to tell her that although I was happy to tell her what I was doing, it was not up for discussion. That's the thing, once you tell people, they think it is their invitiation to be involved. If we were just trying naturally and tell our friends, we don't get asked "did you have sex last night" or "are you pregnant yet" People just leave you alone until you tell them the good news (hopefully) but not with this - anyway - sorry for rambling but that is my advice.

Good luck....

oops sorry for that long rambling post...but you might thank me later.....but just one other quick thing - to Cambridge Kate again - you should find most cylces will be suitable for IUI. I did 4 cycles and only one was cancelled. Generally if they know you ovulate then there shouldn't be a problem. And if there is, then they should give you the follicle stimulating hormone and monitor a bit closely. But they will know what they are doing and usually after the first month they will have you sussed and should be all fine....

from wanna be - thanx for your advise and i think that is priceless. I have also heard about that and will advise hubby too if we end up with the iui route. At the time i think we will try until xmas and then if nothing we will start with iui for a few rounds but then i really dont think i want to invest in invitro. Here it would be about $10,000 a try and we just dont have that kind of money.

Oh my god - $10,000 per try for IVF??? I thought it was expensive here at around $1500 (and i'm pretty sure that includes the drugs - but yet to do first to be sure). Because we just found out DH has poor sperm quality (hate saying that - dont like to 'blame' anyone) we have to do ICSI (which is where they inject a sperm into the egg) it will cost us an extra $600 per try. So we are looking at around $2000. You guys should come to Oz for IVF (but probably not covered by our system???). Can I ask how much IUI is in the US? Here it is under $300 including all drugs and tests.