# Medicated v Natural IUI



## dyketastic (Nov 21, 2008)

Hey all

We had our follow up appointment with the consultant today and are starting on our first IUI next cycle.  After spending far too much time on google and speaking to a friend that has had both medicated and natural IUI's i was pretty sure i wanted to go straight to medicated.  After speaking to the consultant he was suggesting to do at least 1 natural cycle first to see how i get on.  I will still be doing the trigger shot but no clomid etc etc.  My cycle is 26 - 36 days

Your thoughts and experiences please?

Thanks
D x


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## Misspie (Feb 1, 2009)

Hi there, 

Our clinic/gp have recommended to have at least 3/4 natural IUI's. I'm still weighing everything up at the mo and i dependant on personal circumstances eg ovulations/psco etc etc


Be good to hear what others have been recommended!?

L
xx


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## leoaimee (Jun 3, 2008)

hi 

my three IUIs were all unmedicated and i was lucky and got a BFP, if you dont have fert issues i think natural is just as effective.  

i would also shy away from trigger shots .... i know so many clinics that have tried to trigger early because it fits with their protocol, and when they want to timetable the insemination rather than when the egg is ready.

if you use either OPK or have your follie scanned in the run up to ovulation you will clearly be able to detect the best time to do and insemination.

but i know that lots of other people on here tried IUIs either at home and didnt find them effective.  you just got to do what feels comfortable and right for you.

but i would really try and trust your body and go with it as much as possible.  easier said than done, but good practise for when youre pregnant!

good luck!

ax


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## mintyfaglady (Aug 25, 2007)

Our clinic wanted us to do 6 'natural' IUIs before moving on to medicated(!) - HFEA guidelines apparently. We'd already had a year of failure with a KD at home, but went along with it anyway. If your clinic is closed at all over the weekend, beware of getting talked into postponing the insem for too long - we opted to cancel a couple of cycles because of this, rather than insem 50 hours or so after ovulation. If they're using a trigger shot with you, you probably won't have this problem though.

We moved on to medicated cycles (injects) after 5 'natural' and did 2 of those with no joy either before deciding the costs were so great we may as well move on to IVF.

The doctors never found any explanation why I didn't get pregnant from any of the home insems or IUIs I did. My hormone levels all checked out ok (up to starting IVF), my tubes were clear and I appeared to ovulate on my own very regularly.

If I had to go back in time and do it all again, I wouldn't rule out trying naturally - it can certainly work and its cheaper, less invasive and so on, but I'm not sure I'd wait for so long before moving on to something more pro-active, mostly because of financial and age reasons, i.e. if I was loaded and young I might be more inclined to 'let nature take its course'. Having to make medical decisions based on non-medical factors is not ideal.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Minty
xxx


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## bagpuss1 (Feb 26, 2005)

Hi Guys,

When we were succesfull (with Edie) it was on our fourth atempt at IUI. That particular one was unmedicated, we had tried a trigger shot on our first attempt as it looked like I was on course for ovulating over the weekend (clinic was closed) it didnt work and I ended up ovulating over the weekend anyway! 

We did think about medicated when we started trying for a sibling last year but didnt really want to run the risk of a multiple birth so opted for unmedicated- we ended up having 3 attempts before we split up- not sure where we would have gone from there- probably IVF as we had a limited supply of sibling sperm- its not an issue now any way.

Kerry and Edie


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## TerriWW (Mar 8, 2007)

Hi 

I think you need to look at your finances and the amount of sperm available to you. If neither of these are limiting factors, then maybe do 1 or 2 natural cycles. But I definitely wouldn't do more than that. There is about a 1 in 6 chance of IUIs working (apparently) which isn't great odds. Doing a medicated cycle with injectable FSH to increase your follicles to 2 or 3 just ups your chances as there are 2 to 3 times more targets for the sperm. So your chances are definitely increased.

One thing I would say is dont use clomid. Dont let them try and convince you to either! I had 6 natural IUIs at our clinic before moving onto FSH and our clinic would not let me use clomid. They said clomid was for people with ovulation issues and problems and it would help people with these issues, BUt it does thin your lining. I've seen people's lining really go down hill after a few months of clomid treatment. So I'd dfintely go from natural to FSH injectables.

I got pregnant on my 8th IUI, which was my second medicated one after 6 natural. I had about 3 follicles - just the one baby!  

Good luck 

Terri


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## MandMtb (Mar 6, 2009)

I have found this thread really helpful so thanks!

I want to have natural IUI, and will stick to this decision initially for the first few attempts, but change to medicated if not successful.

S x x x


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## dyketastic (Nov 21, 2008)

Hey

Thanks for all your answers.  We have decided to do at least the first cycle unmedicated and decide from there.  We saw the nurses this morning so fingers crossed should be ready to go next month


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## MandMtb (Mar 6, 2009)

Good luck with your treatment for next months cycle *fingers crossed* x x x


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## leoaimee (Jun 3, 2008)

good luck!


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## dyketastic (Nov 21, 2008)

Thanks.  Just want to get started now


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## lesbo_mum (Dec 22, 2008)

good luck!


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