How many days did you take FSH shots before IUI?

[keltank]

Hi:  This is my first round of FSH injections.  I am on day 8 and my follicles did not grow much from my day 3 baseline.  How long did it take you for your follicles to mature?   I have been on 41 units? and will probably increase the daily dosage in a couple days.  

Thanks!

[keltank]

Hi Suchi2011:  I am sorry it did not take either.  We all know how hard this is.  It's a constant emotional roller coaster.  

If your lining was thin (I think that's what you meant), the embryo may not have had enough nourishment to implant.  

2 things you could ask your RE about:  1.)  Taking progesterone right away after the IUI

2.)  Discuss IVF with him.  I am not over 40, but my doctor said if I was over 35 he would start me with IVF.  Not sure what your insurance covers though.

Good luck!!

[BeeHappy76]

I am sorry your first cycle didn't take. My doc told me that even if everything is perfect, iui still only has about a 20% chance of success each cycle. There are lots of things that need to be lined up perfectly for it to work. Even with IVF when they harvest the eggs and put the sperm right there to fertilize them, only a certain percentage get fertilized. Then when they put the fertilized eggs back in, there is only about a 50% chance that they will implant. With IUI you might have one or a few eggs, but there is still a chance that they will not fertilize, and even if they fertilize, they may not implant.

It took me 4 tries on injectables (although I was not doing iui each time) to get pregnant. My RE had said that I should try at least 6 cycles injectables before moving to ivf. There are definitely a bunch of women on this forum over 40 who are trying IUI. If time is of the essence, some women choose to move to IVF more quickly, because it has higher pregnancy rates per cycle. Best of luck to you.

[suchi2011]

I am 41 and had my first IUI , i was on folliripe 5 mg per day and my follicles grew too fast and endometrium didn't grow according to that for which i was on tablets , finally iui was done but it failed....when everything was timed well, why does a well timed IUI fail ? Is doing IUI after 40 a good decision ?

[BeeHappy76]

The first time I did 75 for 6 days and did not respond at all. They upped it to 150 on day 7 and the response was much better - did 150 for 7 days before trigger. Next 2 cycles I did 150, and RE said response was great. But I was only getting 1 mature foll each time and not getting pregnant. He said we could try a higher dose to try for more follicles, because chance of pregnancy increases if you have more than one. 4th cycle they started me at 225, I was ready to trigger after 6 days, still only had 1 foll but that is when I got BFP!

I hope they won't cancel you after all of the hard work and emotional investment to do the shots. Sometimes I feel like for them it is just another cycle, and they don't understand the emotional investment that goes into each cycle (not to mention financial investment). Best of luck to you.

[keltank]

Hi BeeHappy:

I was wondering what your dosage was that 1st time you did FSH shots?   I did 41 units for 7 days and then 75 units now.  It's day 13 and my follicles are not mature.     I know you said your first round you triggered on day 16.  I am hoping I am like you.  My dr. might cancel me and start over though.  So upset.    

Thanks

[keltank]

Thank you Tracie.   Good luck with your cycle.   I just took one of my shots and I felt like nothing came out.  So I did it again.  I hope I did not overdo it.    But if you are taking 200, I am only taking 75.    

I hope this works for you!    This is my last IUI before IVF!

[Celeste9]

I just started Folistim 200 ui,on 2/5 day 3 of cycle. I am trying to produce more egss to increase my chances. I am 41 with 3 m/c's. I have no idea what to expect, I have heard that IUI does not work very often the 1st try, your body needs to adjust. I wish you all the best, my symptoms are starting to kick in and go to RE tmw to see where I am.
All the Best, Tracie

[keltank]

Congrats BeeHappy!   So exciting to finally get a BFP!  I hope this works out for you!!   I really appreciate your story.    I have a better idea of what to expect now.    Do you have PCOS by the way?    And did you do IUI with your trigger shots?

[BeeHappy76]

I did 4 rounds of FSH injectables (gonal-f) before getting BFP last month (yay!). The 1st time I was not responding well to the initial dose so they upped it half-way through. I ended up doing 13 days of injections (trigger CD16) that cycle. The next 2 cycles they started me at the higher dose and I had 9 days of injections each time (trigger on CD12). The last time they upped my dose again to try for more follicles. I only did 6 days of injections and triggered on CD10. The higher dose did not get me more follicles - I still only had 1 mature follicle - but that was the month I got BFP! Each time they had me trigger when I had a mature foll 18-20 mm.

Best of luck to you!!

[keltank]

Hi:  Thanks for responding!    I started the FSH shots on day 3.   I am day 8 of my cycle, so after tonight's shot (2/5/11), I will have taken 6 shots).  What was your dosage each day?    And I am assuming you are referring to 10 days of shots?

Where are you in your process?

Thank you!!!

[keltank]

Hi:  Thank you for responding!  it is good to at least have an average to think about    When I did Clomid/Ovidrel I ovulated on day 16 and it ended with a chemical pregnancy.   We tried that same clomid dosage and nothing happened.    So we moved on to injections and I of course am worried nothing will happen.   I have lots of follicles, but they were all like 9 mm.  I'll go Monday and hopefully they grow!    Where are you in your process?

Thanks!!

[Kricket212]

It can vary from person to person but I think about 10 is average.  How many did they have growing around 15, 16 because those will be the mature ones the smaller ones wont be really very helpful for IUI at this point.  It is however good you have many follies, you know you are fertile. The more the better.

[Heather5]

I never did a full injectable round for IUI, but I did for IVF, and it took 10 days to get all the follicles mature. Are you on cycle day 8 or day 8 of stims?