Can I join you??

[starryfish]

hi all!

My DH and I are 30 years old. We got married in March. I was diagnosed with endo when I was 21 (via appendectomy) so I have always been a little worried about when I would TTC. We have been trying since April with no luck so far. I have seen an RE because of my endo and she recommended to go straight to IVF, but I am not ready for that yet. I am seeing her again next month to talk the "easier" methods first (clomid and then IUI). Also, I was recently diagnosed with Kidney disease. If my disease gets any worse, it might not be safe for me to get PG, so now I feel like we are in a "super rush" to try to get PG because of my disease. So I expect next cycle to start with treatments. And today I am getting acupuncture done for the first time! 

I wish everyone good luck and hope you get your BFP soon too! 

[oneslybookworm]

Welcome to the board! I'm sorry that you're having so many issues, and kidney problems definitely don't help! Good luck, and I hope your stay here is short.

[starryfish]

Sept 18, 2015 10:10:46 GMT -5 spearmintleaf said:

Yes please join in!

I think you should take a few weeks and think about things. If you have a medical condition which means you have to hurry to get PG, I'm not sure that going against your RE'S advice and taking a more conservative route is a good option. The last thing you want is to spend time, money, and energy on IUI's while you're healthy, and not be able to do IVF once you're ready.

I almost never recommend this, but I think your time, money, and energy would be better served by going to a few sessions with a therapist to work through your reservations.

IVF often takes 2-3 cycles to work. I started with my RE a year ago and we only fit in 2 cycles what with testing, holiday closings, work/life obligations, and rest months between cycles.

Basically, my advice is to do what you need to do to be aggressive, because with your plan there's a very real chance of ending up with no baby.

Thanks. My DH is going to do a SA before we go in next month. So I think that could influence my decision as well (obviously if his SA is not normal, I think we might proceed with IVF). Also, my diagnosis of my kidney disease is new since I last saw my RE (saw her in April and we wanted to try for some cycles first before treatment). So I will definitely talk to her about all of this and see what seems to recommend. I appreciate your insight into this. It is kind of weird....I knew ever since the endo diagnosis, that I might have to do fertility treatments some day....but now that that day is here....it is much harder to make that decision. We both REALLY want a baby now. Ugh, this is so hard. If it wasn't for my kidney disease, I would definitely wait longer and try other methods first. 

I am hoping the reasons my kidney numbers were down was bc we were OOT and I did not watch my sodium as much as I do at home. I am going to get them re-tested in 2 weeks and hopefully they will be back up. 

Thank you all for you thoughts, this is a big decision. I have been lurking a lot on the board. 

[Mushe]

Welcome and good luck! I was hoping you'd wander over here when you introduced on GP, since this crowd has such great knowledge on TTTC. I agree with spearmintleaf on being aggressive in your situation.

[starryfish]

I think the other thing worth mentioning....we are in debt right now. My DH just started working again with a good paying job. We are targeted to get out of debt in 6 months. So I was thinking before kidney diagnosis that if we needed to, do IVF in the spring when we are debt free (right now, most of our debt is on a 0% cc)

So....if we did IVF this year...we would have to put it on a cc and then pay it off in about 4 months. I think that would cost us about $800 in interest I think. I know it is not MM, but probably worth it right?

[Mushe]

I'm a MMer too. I have a very low threshold of tolerance for debt, but I think it really depends how aggressive your doctors think you need to be.

[starryfish]

Sept 18, 2015 10:56:42 GMT -5 Mushe said:

I'm a MMer too. I have a very low threshold of tolerance for debt, but I think it really depends how aggressive your doctors think you need to be.

Trust me I understand. I hate having this debt. 

I think another option that might be available to us...my parents might offer to lend us the money interest free. 

Hopefully my numbers go back up, and then we will see what happens next month at my RE appt. 

Thanks all for your help! :-)

[boiler717]

Good luck!! I know we've chatted before but let me know if you need anything else. fwiw, I would totally pay $800 in interest to move up IVF. We used a 0% card for it though.

[EllenGriswold]

Welcome! I'm sorry you are here, but we are a wonderful group of ladies!

In your case I would sit down with the RE and really figure out what is going on with the endo, etc. If you have scarring on tubes or ovaries, Clomid + IUI is VERY unlikely to work since no matter how many eggs you make or where your H's sperm meets them, they can't get to the uterus. If that is case, I wouldn't waste time/stress/money and would go straight to IVF. If you don't have much scarring or damage from endo, then I would be more willing to try a less invasive approach right off the bat, even with your time crunch. The good thing about IUIs is you can do them back-to-back so you could try one or two in the couple cycles you might spend getting ready for IVF.

Regarding the IVF cost, this is so very anti-MM, but honestly in the grand scheme of things, $800 is NOTHING. And on this board maybe even more-so because we are talking about spending $10,000-$20,000 in a cycle so at the end of the day, who cares about the extra $800. I think if that is the only thing holding you back, I wouldn't worry about it in the slightest.

[Mushe]

Oh yes, I hope my post didn't come off as debt-shaming, because that wasn't my intent at all. I think EllenGriswold is spot on - $800 in the grand scheme of IVF is nothing!

Of course, I'm also advocating to MH that we do a HELOC to put in a pool rather than use cash on hand, because I want to keep it playing in the market, so, again, I'm not totally debt-averse.

[starryfish]

Sept 18, 2015 11:33:01 GMT -5 EllenGriswold said:

Welcome! I'm sorry you are here, but we are a wonderful group of ladies!

In your case I would sit down with the RE and really figure out what is going on with the endo, etc. If you have scarring on tubes or ovaries, Clomid + IUI is VERY unlikely to work since no matter how many eggs you make or where your H's sperm meets them, they can't get to the uterus. If that is case, I wouldn't waste time/stress/money and would go straight to IVF. If you don't have much scarring or damage from endo, then I would be more willing to try a less invasive approach right off the bat, even with your time crunch. The good thing about IUIs is you can do them back-to-back so you could try one or two in the couple cycles you might spend getting ready for IVF.

Regarding the IVF cost, this is so very anti-MM, but honestly in the grand scheme of things, $800 is NOTHING. And on this board maybe even more-so because we are talking about spending $10,000-$20,000 in a cycle so at the end of the day, who cares about the extra $800. I think if that is the only thing holding you back, I wouldn't worry about it in the slightest.

Sorry, I forgot to mention....

I had an HSG done in July and it came out normal. During the ultrasound in April she found evidence of my endo and some scarring but didn't seem too concerned. 

Also, I dont know what stage I have of endo bc it was a general surgeon in a small town that did my surgery back 9 years ago.

All my bloodwork has come out normal except progesterone is a little low (13.5 at 7dpo), so she put me on supps. 

[EllenGriswold]

Sept 18, 2015 12:16:59 GMT -5 starryfish said:

Sept 18, 2015 11:33:01 GMT -5 EllenGriswold said:

Welcome! I'm sorry you are here, but we are a wonderful group of ladies!

In your case I would sit down with the RE and really figure out what is going on with the endo, etc. If you have scarring on tubes or ovaries, Clomid + IUI is VERY unlikely to work since no matter how many eggs you make or where your H's sperm meets them, they can't get to the uterus. If that is case, I wouldn't waste time/stress/money and would go straight to IVF. If you don't have much scarring or damage from endo, then I would be more willing to try a less invasive approach right off the bat, even with your time crunch. The good thing about IUIs is you can do them back-to-back so you could try one or two in the couple cycles you might spend getting ready for IVF.

Regarding the IVF cost, this is so very anti-MM, but honestly in the grand scheme of things, $800 is NOTHING. And on this board maybe even more-so because we are talking about spending $10,000-$20,000 in a cycle so at the end of the day, who cares about the extra $800. I think if that is the only thing holding you back, I wouldn't worry about it in the slightest.

Sorry, I forgot to mention....

I had an HSG done in July and it came out normal. During the ultrasound in April she found evidence of my endo and some scarring but didn't seem too concerned. 

Also, I dont know what stage I have of endo bc it was a general surgeon in a small town that did my surgery back 9 years ago.

All my bloodwork has come out normal except progesterone is a little low (13.5 at 7dpo), so she put me on supps. 

In your case I may consider asking the RE for a laparoscopy first to see what you are dealing with (and I think those are often covered by insurance). It might help to give you a better idea of the circumstances since you have to make a decision relatively quickly. But the good HSG seems like a good sign!

[starryfish]

Sept 18, 2015 12:23:04 GMT -5 EllenGriswold said:

Sept 18, 2015 12:16:59 GMT -5 starryfish said:

Sorry, I forgot to mention....

I had an HSG done in July and it came out normal. During the ultrasound in April she found evidence of my endo and some scarring but didn't seem too concerned. 

Also, I dont know what stage I have of endo bc it was a general surgeon in a small town that did my surgery back 9 years ago.

All my bloodwork has come out normal except progesterone is a little low (13.5 at 7dpo), so she put me on supps. 

In your case I may consider asking the RE for a laparoscopy first to see what you are dealing with (and I think those are often covered by insurance). It might help to give you a better idea of the circumstances since you have to make a decision relatively quickly. But the good HSG seems like a good sign!

Thanks! lots to think about and a lot of info is still needed (my new kidney numbers, DH SA results, meet with the RE again, etc). 

[HoneySpider]

Hi! Hope you and your doctors are able to figure out a plan that works for you.

[konapoppy]

Welcome! Sorry you have so many obstacles, but it sounds like you are thinking through everything well. Good luck!

[sophie223]

Welcome! I'm sorry to hear about all of your troubles . I hope you and your H and your doctors can come up with a solution that works for you.

[tarajane]

Welcome! Hope you get a good plan figured out!

[ilovecandy]

Welcome. I was recently diagnosed with endo. I had lap which is when they found it and were able to clean it up. I would recommend talking to your Re about that option. Since having it cleaned up my re has me on clomid each cycle even though egg production is not my issue it is to increase my chances each cycle. In the case of IVF i would go into debt for it and take the interest to pay it off if you thought you could.

[callmehales]

While I am glad my RE does a progesterone combo to give my butt cheeks a rest from PIOs, the "leaking" from endometrium makes me want to throw something!! At least when menopur burned it was over quickly...this nonsense is like my vag being waterboarded.

[boiler717]

I think if your endo stage is unclear, IUIs make sense to try although the success rate may be lower. But you get used to cycling which does have value.
Both REs I went to would not do repeat endo surgeries for me because of the risk of removing ovarian tissue and causing DOR. ASRM guidelines advise against repeat surgeries for severe endo so that may be why your RE didn't recommend it. I think it's still worth a conversation and the ASRM guidelines for endo are a good place to help prepare your for it.
I'm glad your HSG was clear!

[dellabear]

I have no advice, but I wanted to say welcome and good luck!

[King26]

Welcome to the board. I hope you and your doctor can come up with a good plan for you.