[hellokitty]

Hi All,

I needed some advice/suggestions on my situation. Here is my story: In October 2007 we found out that my husband has non-obstructive azoospermia which means he has testicular failure. Unfortunately when the Dr. tried to find sperm for an ICSI cycle, he couldn't find anything so we went ahead and did our first ICSI cycle with donor sperm as back-up. I had 5 embryos implanted in me and they were all grade A from what the Dr. had told us. They were 8-celled Grade A embryos. We did our cycle in India so there is not any limit on how many embryos we can put back. Unfortunately, that cycle ended in a . I was pretty surprised because I am healthy (no known issues yet) and the donor sperm was healthy and we did get good embryos. Now I am questioning my own body! All hormone levels are fine. I did produce 14 eggs, 10 were fertilized and the 5 best ones were implanted. I found out on June 14th that my beta was negative. We came back to the states and are now thinking of our next step. I did meet with an RE here and he suggested that we try IUI with donor sperm before doing another IVF round especially if my hormone levels are normal and i don't have a problem ovulating. I am scheduled to get an HSG soon as well before proceeding with an IUI. My question is should I do my first IUI wiht injectables or clomid? I ovulate on my own/normally. My RE says he wants to try 3 cycles of IUI with just clomid and see what happens. I think he starts off with the standard 50 mg dosage and if that doesn't work, he moves you up for the next cycle. I personally have not heard of any success stories on 50mg of clomid for first IUI. I am using donor sperm so it will be healthy so maybe there is a better chance but I don't know? Would you suggest I try his protocol of 3 IUIs with clomid and then moving forward with 3 IUIs with injectables? I would have no hesitation doing clomid first but I was just a little concerned because none of the 5 healthy embryos implanted in my first IVF round. When I asked the dr he said that even in a perfect IVF cycle (like we had), its still only a 40% chance of being a success. He told me not to start thinking that something is wrong with me etc. but I can't help it. I know injectables are more expensive too. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try 3 cycles with clomid and then think about injectables. Any advice? SORRY this is soooo long but I need ya'lls expertise Oh and I am 32 years old! THANKS SO MUCH!

[AmyK]

Just my opinion...If you can do the injectibles (cost wise) I would. You will be spending so much money for the donor sperm, I think giving you the best chance is the best. There are success stories with the clomid at that level and if you are ovulating on your own I am sure it would be fine. I just moved up to injectibles and I liked it so much better. I certainly wish I would have gone to them sooner/first.

I am sorry for your BFN but I wish you the best of luck with your upcoming IUI cycle...whatever drug you choose.

[MustangSally]

I agree - go with the injectable if you can afford it. I haven't been on them (yet) but I am anti-clomid because it has made my lining get thinner each cycle. Might not be the case for other girls on here but that is what is happening to me. I have heard that injectables do not thin your lining.

Good luck!

[hellokitty]

Thank you AMY! Good luck on your cycle-I pray you get your !

What is Gonal-F-is it an injectable? How much do injectables run? I know it's more expensive so I am trying to see if I can try with clomid first but I also want to give it the best chance

[AmyK]

Yes, Gonal-f is an injectible. I was on 150iu/day. I had 3 300iu pens. That should have given me 6 days but they put a little extra in there and I was able to get out 7 days (the exact amount I needed). It was a little over $700. Alot more than clomid I know, but none of the side effects (thin lining, hot flashes, etc) I am sure he would not put you on as high of dose, I see most start out on 75iu. Also, a thing to ask about is a combo cycle. I have seen others on here combine clomid and injectibles (therefor using less of the expensive injectibles) I completely understand about the cost thing too. That's why I tried clomid first. I just responded better to the gonal...figures I would need the expensive stuff to get this body to do what it is suppose to do.

Good luck!!

[TeamH]

I'll keep you posted. I started out this cycle on Clomid 150 mg. and my doctor just put me on Follitism 75 mg. on CD13 due to small follicle size. I'll let you know if Follitism does the trick for me b/c my body has not responded that well to Clomid this cycle. Although last Clomid cycle I had two nice sized follies so not sure what happened this cycle.

I have PCOS and don't ovulate, so I am a bit different than you.

[Krista]

I agree with the others. If you can afford to do injectibles you should. There is more consistency in having good results, fewer side effects (mood swings, hot flashes etc.) and injectibles don't affect your uterine lining. I respond really well to clomid (5 follies this month) but my lining is getting thinner each month, which reduces the chance of success.

Good luck in what ever you decide!

[dimples]

I used clomid for a couple of cycles and like many of the other ladie it thinned my lining. My doc wanted to do injectables. Of course I am willing to do whatever it takes but the injectables are expensive and I would need a couple of months to save up the money to do it. So my RE suggested using tamoxifen. It is a drug for breast cancer but it does the same thing as clomid but doesn't thin one's lining. I also took estrace with it to increase my lining. My lining this month is 9.6 compared to 5.7 with the clomid. The tamoxifen might be an opition for you if injectables are too expensive. Hope the info helps=) Best of luck!

[socaintexas]

The injectibles are more expensive, but there is a lot of variation from pharmacy to pharmacy. There are some good threads on here about people's pharmacy preferences. I am using IVFmeds for my injectibles. My generic Repronex is $13 a via from them as opposed to $60 a vial. The regular shipping is around $35, but it can take up to 2 weeks to get here. That can be an inconvenience. However, you can pay an extra $50 and they will rush deliver it in 3 days. It still comes out to be a whole lot cheaper than some of the pharmacies around here.

[Baby4Gerbee]

Originally Posted by socaintexas

The injectibles are more expensive, but there is a lot of variation from pharmacy to pharmacy. There are some good threads on here about people's pharmacy preferences. I am using IVFmeds for my injectibles. My generic Repronex is $13 a via from them as opposed to $60 a vial. The regular shipping is around $35, but it can take up to 2 weeks to get here. That can be an inconvenience. However, you can pay an extra $50 and they will rush deliver it in 3 days. It still comes out to be a whole lot cheaper than some of the pharmacies around here.

.

I checked around and Walmart has a specialty pharmacy. They are pretty cheap too