Sorry if this is a bit of a long post but I could SO do with some friendly advice and speaking to some other CF women who have some experience of IUI!
OK so today I finally got to see the consultant Ob-Gyn for the first time in 3 months, having undergone all my tests that he wanted done (HSG, blood tests and 2 post-coital tests). I have to say that although he is pleasant enough, I didn't find him too easy to discuss things with...
Both my PCT's showed that my cervix was blocked with incredibly thick, sticky mucus, but all the other tests were normal, so it seems that this is what is causing my infertility. I had hoped that he would suggest the next step was to go for IUI and that we could at least try a couple of cycles "naturally" (i.e. without hormone stimulation), but he had other ideas and wasn't very open to discussion about their merits.
Basically he wants me to start taking oestrogen supplements (aka HRT) for 2 weeks at the beginning of my next cycle and then have more PCT's done that month to see if the CM has got any thinnner. This is on the basis that oestrogen (or lack of it) can contribute to CM quality and texture. He also says that it will help show whether my body will respond in a way that suggests IUI will be succesful.
At this point I asked him if there would be an option to try IUI naturally without hormonal intervention (I already have a hard time with hormones during my monthly cycle and am on a huge amount of CF drugs so don't fancy adding more chemicals into the mix unless its 100% necessary). He said "it is possible, but its not something I'm prepared to try". Slightly taken aback, I asked if he could explain why and he said that statistics show that success rates of IUI are very low anyway and aren't worth considering without hormone stimulation.
I asked him about side-effects of the treatment and said I was very concerned about these. He started talking about the risks of ovary hyperstimulation and multiple births but brushed these off as being something they could control. I was more concerned about mood swings, hot flushes and the other horrible symptoms I've heard these hormone drugs can have (not to mention increased cancer risks etc) but he said that any mood swings were probably just the "stress of trying to get pregnant"!!!
The thing I don't think he is getting is that CF infertility caused by CM blocking the cervix is very different to general infertility reasons that people usually resort to IUI for (unexplained infertility). I don't understand why, if my fertility is completely normal and it's just a mechanical barrier that needs to be bypassed, there is any lower chance of me getting pregnant using IUI naturally than for a normal women having regular intercourse at the time of ovulation? Surely the fact that in general only 7% of IUI cycles without hormones work is because there is some other reason for the infertility that means that extra-stimulation is required?
I'm so confused what to do now. Unlike in the US, here in the UK we generally don't have private treatment so you get referred to a state hospital and don't have much choice. I could go private but it would cost a fortune and we just don't have those kind of funds. I would really appreciate anyone who has been through IUI or who knows anything about it to help give me some advice here on what happened with them. I'm feeling pretty confused about the whole issue.
OK so today I finally got to see the consultant Ob-Gyn for the first time in 3 months, having undergone all my tests that he wanted done (HSG, blood tests and 2 post-coital tests). I have to say that although he is pleasant enough, I didn't find him too easy to discuss things with...
Both my PCT's showed that my cervix was blocked with incredibly thick, sticky mucus, but all the other tests were normal, so it seems that this is what is causing my infertility. I had hoped that he would suggest the next step was to go for IUI and that we could at least try a couple of cycles "naturally" (i.e. without hormone stimulation), but he had other ideas and wasn't very open to discussion about their merits.
Basically he wants me to start taking oestrogen supplements (aka HRT) for 2 weeks at the beginning of my next cycle and then have more PCT's done that month to see if the CM has got any thinnner. This is on the basis that oestrogen (or lack of it) can contribute to CM quality and texture. He also says that it will help show whether my body will respond in a way that suggests IUI will be succesful.
At this point I asked him if there would be an option to try IUI naturally without hormonal intervention (I already have a hard time with hormones during my monthly cycle and am on a huge amount of CF drugs so don't fancy adding more chemicals into the mix unless its 100% necessary). He said "it is possible, but its not something I'm prepared to try". Slightly taken aback, I asked if he could explain why and he said that statistics show that success rates of IUI are very low anyway and aren't worth considering without hormone stimulation.
I asked him about side-effects of the treatment and said I was very concerned about these. He started talking about the risks of ovary hyperstimulation and multiple births but brushed these off as being something they could control. I was more concerned about mood swings, hot flushes and the other horrible symptoms I've heard these hormone drugs can have (not to mention increased cancer risks etc) but he said that any mood swings were probably just the "stress of trying to get pregnant"!!!
The thing I don't think he is getting is that CF infertility caused by CM blocking the cervix is very different to general infertility reasons that people usually resort to IUI for (unexplained infertility). I don't understand why, if my fertility is completely normal and it's just a mechanical barrier that needs to be bypassed, there is any lower chance of me getting pregnant using IUI naturally than for a normal women having regular intercourse at the time of ovulation? Surely the fact that in general only 7% of IUI cycles without hormones work is because there is some other reason for the infertility that means that extra-stimulation is required?
I'm so confused what to do now. Unlike in the US, here in the UK we generally don't have private treatment so you get referred to a state hospital and don't have much choice. I could go private but it would cost a fortune and we just don't have those kind of funds. I would really appreciate anyone who has been through IUI or who knows anything about it to help give me some advice here on what happened with them. I'm feeling pretty confused about the whole issue.