IUI with endometriosis?

[jwilly]

Hi ladies,

Posted this over in LTTTC but didnt get any bites, so I figured I would try here as well!

I hope this isn't too long winded.. Dh and I have been ttc for 2+ years now and are looking at trying a couple IUI cycles. We have been seeing an RE since June 2015, and I was originally referred by my family doc to investigate pelvic pain that I had been suffering from for years. It was very early in our ttc journey but we did all preliminary tests which came back normal. This spring I was sent again for an HSG to confirm that my tubes were open, and this time around my right tube appeared blocked. I have always suspected that my cycle related pain was from endometriosis, and when my HSG showed a blocked tube I felt fairly certain that something was going on. When I asked my RE about doing a lap before starting with IUI (with one blocked tube now) she flat out asked me "do you want to get rid of the pain or do you want a baby?" I told her yes I can obviously deal with the pain, but I was under the assumption that during a laparoscopy some adhesions could be cleared to make it easier to conceive. She told me that it wont make a difference.

I guess my question is- is this true?? It seems to go against any research I had done, but I also dont want to rely on Dr. Google. Just looking for others experiences/others suffering from endo that have gone ahead with IUI. We obviously want to give ourselves the best chance possible.

Thanks!

 

[amy8686]

I also have one tube blocked and we suspect endometriosis, but my doctor didn't recommend trying to remove it. He thought my chances were better seeing what happened with a couple of IUI's and then moving to IVF.

In my case, we discovered from a few rounds of IUI's that I seem to ovulate more often on the blocked side. Even when we did injectables and I had something like 11 eggs, there were only a couple on the open side, and they were less mature.

So the IUI process was informative, at least. I'm happy with the path we took (IUI and then IVF), as opposed to trying to find and remove the endo, since that wouldn't have guaranteed results and I'm pretty burned out on medical procedures.

 

[dogmommy]

In my experience I had endometriosis growing on my ovaries and a hydrosalpinx caused by a blocked tube. My RE told me little to no chance on ttc on our own. When I asked about iui he said he would not recommend iui to any one with endometriosis. I ended up having to do a lap as a hydrosalpinx can cause higher miscarriage rates. We tried timed intercourse with a trigger shot to guarantee ovulation. Unfortunately didn't work after three months and we ultimately conceived with ivf. Your situation is different but my opinion I would go for another opinion unless you have funds/time for iuis.

 

[jwilly]

Thanks for the replies ladies. Im not holding out a lot of hope for IUI-I'm just not sure that it is something that is going to work in our situation and I have been questioning whether we should even try from the beginning. But where we live we get 3 funded IUI cycles. This only includes the procedure itself, no meds (which we dont have insurance to cover). So although less expensive than it could be, it is still a fair amount of money. Our consult at the clinic is on Wednesday, and I am hoping that our appointment will be with one of the other doctors at the clinic. I think my Dr just takes the typical steps, regardless of each patient's situation. Maybe some fresh eyes would be good

 

[MKaykes]

I had an investigative lap done after about 19 months TTC and they found endo (I never had any symptoms). It was cleared, no blocked tubes. 4 IUIs without any luck. I don't know how much IUI can help with endo related fertility issues, other than upping chance by producing multiple eggs each cycle with meds and timing the IUI.

Best of luck to you, I hope something works out soon!

 

[jwilly]

Mkaykes, this helped ease my mind a bit. I guess I felt that we weren't giving ourselves the best chance possible. We will try a few cycles of IUI then move on to IVF. Thank you! I hope so too.

 

[Sheece]

Hi Jwilly

Sorry I'm a bit late to the thread but I thought I'd give you my experience.

In January I had a lap & hsg for suspected endo. They cleared me out (I had stage 3 / 4 endo) and they said I had a blocked tube.

My doctor recommended we do 2 rounds of IUI and then IVF but AFTER I had the lap. I didn't have much pain from the endo but the lap was necessary because you just don't know where the scarring is, it could affect implantation etc in some cases. I'm sure it also has no effect on conceiving in other cases though, it's different for everyone.

On my second cycle after the lap, I conceived, and from the side of my blocked tube. I read that sometimes during a hsg the tube can appear blocked from the "trauma" of the procedure, but it isn't really. Seems to be the case for me anyway. Sadly we miscarried and I've just started our IUI cycle.

Long story short, I know the lap definitely helped me (we had been trying a year before that and had one very early m/c at 4 weeks then nothing at all). If you are doubtful about things I would definitely recommend a second opinion. There's no harm getting more advice I wouldn't think. Maybe even an ultrasound? Mine was first picked up on an internal ultrasound. They can't tell you definitely but they can see possible areas of scarring, then they refer you to see about a laparoscopy (im my experience anyway).

Good luck!

 

[jwilly]

Hi Sheece!

Thanks, this is super informative! It sounds like we are in somewhat similar situations, and I totally felt that a lap should be done before starting IUI. I've had a few ultrasounds, but nothing conclusive was found.

So sorry for your loss. Good luck this cycle!