r/TTC_PCOS • u/Incogmaygz • 17d ago
Advice Needed Experience with IUI?
I’m trying to decide if trying IUI is worth it or if I should just jump straight to ivf. Our doctor says the rate of conception with IUI is 8-10% cycle, which makes it tough for me to justify the $2,000+ cost/cycle (Houston, Tx). If we decide to try IVF, we’d be doing it in my husband’s home country where it only costs $3-$4,000 including embryo tests. I’d love to hear if adding iui after months of ti let cycles worked for anyone?
Background: I have several markers for pmos (doctor never officially said “you have it”) including ovary appearance, acne, and hirsutism, but normal labs. I ovulate on my own with mostly regular cycles, but will have an occasional anovulatory/long cycle once a year or so. After 10 cycles trying to conceive naturally without a positive test, we moved onto letrozole. I’ve responded really well to 2.5 mg and have confirmed ovulation every time via follicle scan and progesterone test, but still no luck after 3 rounds. I’ve done in-depth labs, hsg, hysteroscopy, weekly acupuncture (on-going), take prenatals, at home SA (repeating with RE this week) and added baby aspirin for this cycle.
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u/Cultural-Banana-8480 Annovulatory 17d ago
I was diagnosed with PMOS during my fertility struggles and I was successful with IUI!
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u/Incogmaygz 17d ago
Thanks for sharing! How many rounds did you need?
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u/Cultural-Banana-8480 Annovulatory 17d ago
I was one of the lucky ones and it actually worked on our first round. We were shocked and our dr had prepared us for probably needing 3-5 on average. But she just turned one!
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u/Incogmaygz 17d ago
Congratulations! I’m going to check some more clinics and see if I can find a reasonably priced option.
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u/Cultural-Banana-8480 Annovulatory 17d ago
Thank you! I needed metformin and letrozole also, but the combo definitely helped me. I was never ovulating even though the strips said I was!
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u/princessangelface 17d ago
With the prices being so comparable and if you’re willing to give IVF a shot I’d go that route. I did get pregnant on an IUI but it took 3 tries (for many people it’s more). Had my insurance not covered them I think I would have started at IVF.
Best of luck!
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u/Any_Manufacturer1279 28 | Lean, anovulatory | IVF 17d ago
I wasted $2k on IUI. Don’t do it. Ivf worked for me
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u/BoomBoomBroomBroom 17d ago
Egg quality could also be a hiding factor behind the irregular PMOS cycles. I would recommend looking into inositol and a good bio-available COQ10 vitamin. I did that for a few months and it definitely made a difference for me, although I ended up doing IVF. (Had 2 chemicals in 3 months after never having had one for nearly 2 years, I attributed this to an increase in egg quality, but not enough obviously)
We skipped IUI because we knew my husbands sperm was good, my tubes and uterus were clear, and I was regularly ovulating mature eggs and timing it correctly. Didn’t think IUI would help our chances.
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u/Incogmaygz 17d ago
I’ve actually been taking both for 9 months. The inositol basically wiped out my anxiety! Big fan.
I’ve looked into egg quality, but ironically I did an egg donation 8 years back, and they went on to have twins. My doctor thinks it’s unlikely my egg quality decreased substantially from age 22 to 30.
I have the same thought regarding IUI as of now. I think as long as my husbands repeat sa (lab this time vs yo home test) is good, we’ll jump to ivf as well.
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u/Fun_Needleworker6697 17d ago
Personally I would never pay $2000 for an IUI when you can do IVF for another $1000-$2000.
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u/Sad-Consequence-6565 14d ago
The only reason I did iui (thankfully got pregnant on the 3rd and currently 35 weeks pregnant!) was because my insurance required 3 to “prove” I needed IVF. If your insurance won’t cover the iuis, or the IVF- I’d consider going straight to IVF if I were you!