How many injectibles cycles before moving on?

[bottleored]

I know I'm getting ahead of myself because I've only done one cycle of injectibles, but I'm a planner .....

I know with Clomid, my RE wouldn't do more than 6 cycles.

After how many unsuccessful injectibles cycles did you pursue other avenues? I'm assuming my next step would be IVF, but there could be other options I suppose.

Thanks!

[Scooter]

Caroline, we did 3 IUIs with clomid, and 2 with letrozole, so our plan is only ONE injectible cycle (this current cycle) before moving on. 5-6 IUIs seems pretty standard, although you can continue if you want. I think it just depends on the Dr & your specific case.

[angelgirl8]

we had planned on doing 3 injectible cycles (with IUI) after our 3 clomid/IUI cycles. however, after the first injectibles cycle, i overproduced eggs and they didn't want to worry about higher-order multiples. funny (not funny) considering even with all the eggs, i didn't get pregnant.

because of the overstimulation, we just moved on after one cycle. hope that sort of answers your question!

[bottleored]

Thanks angelgirl and scooter. I guess I figured that it would depend on how each cycle went anyway. Seems people either move on fast as a result of the first try or are pretty successful early on.

More replies most welcome!

[HthrStarr]

We originally planned on 6, but got pregnant on #5

[melissafromnc]

At a RESOLVE conference last year an RE panel with docs from the best clinics around (and I think there were 4 REs on this panel) was basically this question but it was how many cycles of everything.

The consensus was 3 cycles of anything (3 of clomid, 3 of injectibles, 3 ivf) was a reasonable plan. They felt that the most pregnancies happened within the first 3 cycles of any one kind.

That being said if you get info from one cycle that leads you to believe another type might be better then you should switch.

Also keep in mind that iuis aren't the most effective way to get pregnant if you're over 35. Many people I know in that category recommend moving to ivf fairly quickly than if you're younger. It depends on your RE's stats but in general the success rates for iuis are around 10-15% for any given cycle and can be up to 50% for ivf.

[amygrrl]

we skipped injectibles all together. went straight from clomid to IVF due to concerns about producing too many eggs on injectibles and then having to cancel the cycle b/c of the risks of high order multiples.

[Bernie]

Like angelgirl, we were planning on doing 3 injectible + IUI cycles after our 3 failed clomid + IUI cycles - but I overstimulated on the first cycle so they cancelled the cycle (no IUI) and suggested that I move on to IVF.

[angelgirl8]

bernie...we really do have way too many similarities!

[bottleored]

Thanks so much for your insight ladies! Sounds like many women produce too many follicles and get cancelled. I asked the u/s tech what constitutes 'over stimulated' and she said if they start seeing 20 follies on each side :eek: I can see why you'd want to cancel. So far I don't seem to produce more than a few. This month it looks like two - fingers crossed!

melissa very interesting about 3 times being the optimal test for any intervention.

[teendoc]

At my age, I wouldn't waste time with injectables.

[bottleored]

Thanks again for answering my question ladies!

Happy to report my answer is 2 cycles - BFP this cycle!

[Twylla]

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!