Hubby and I have been trying for over a year now to conceive. It hasn’t worked 
. We had a conversation today about going for fertility tests. He called the insurance company and I checked online for local fertility companies.
Has anyone here ever been through this sort of thing? If so, what should hubby and I expect?
Thanks!
If you’ve been trying for over a year it’s time to get some tests run. Go visit with your OB/GYN. He/she should be able to recommend someone for you. You definitely want to have an RE (Reproductive Endocrinologist) to do your tests and fertility treatments. Don’t rely on your OB/GYN for this as it is not their speciality!
Have you been keeping track of your cycles and when you ovulate? If not, you should start doing that. You can buy those ovulation kits at any pharmacy (even Wal-Mart I think) and it will tell you when you’re most fertile.
I know that they will want a sperm sample from your husband to check his sperm count and make sure it’s sufficient but I’m not sure what your testing will involve. Bloodwork and ultrasounds maybe. After the testing, if they can’t find anything, they will probably recommend fertility drugs. Probably something light like Clomid. If Clomid doesn’t work after a few months maybe they’ll bump you up to injectibles and maybe even suggest IUI (intrauterine insemination). If that doesn’t work they will probably suggest IVF.
Hope that helps a little. I know there’s a few people on the boards who have gone through IVF and if they come across this thread maybe they can help you!
My gynocologist physically examined me, put me on clomid, then started blood testing on day 23 (I think) to see if ovulation was happening. Then back to the office for vaginal ultrasounds (sounds worse than it is) to see if my ovaries were developing eggs properly. These kept up (I think on days 12-16) as I progressed onto stronger and stronger fertility drugs trying to get me to ovulate.
Never went to a clinic. My husband, who also had fertility issues, was tested through his urologist, but normally his semen would have been tested by my gynocologist.
Good Luck!
First of all, you both must lose all sense of modesty.
It finally got to a point that, when I visited my doctors office and they handed me a cup for a ‘sample’, my stock reply would be “of what”?
Get your husband tested first. That’s the easiest and cheapest of the tests to perform. But you’ll need to be tested as well.
Ask around and do your homework. Chances are that there might be a support group in your area for those with fertility issues. They would be the best persons to chat with about doctors/clinics/reproductive endocrinologists/etc in your area.
Also, if I may…
Provided GrizzWife and I with invaluable information and direction. And you may very well find someone on that site who lives not too far from you.
I was really lucky that my insurance comapny covered this. It is, as you can imagine, pretty expensive.
My advice to people is to get help as soon as you can, especially if you are older.
First off, talk to your ob/gyn. It could be something that they can help you with. If not, see a specialist then.
One thing to keep in mind:
This is going to be a difficult, stressfull thing to go through.
For example, when I was ovulating I had to go to the clinic every single day. I was fortunate enough to have a boss who went through treatments for 8 (8!) years.
I’m not saying this to scare you. At least that’s not my intention. I just want to let you know that is is a hard thing to go through, emotionally and physically. If you feel the need, utilize support groups! Don’t tough it out alone!
Please feel free to e-mail me.
Thank you all for such helpful advice. I guess I should have been even more specific on my problems:
I most likely have endometriosis - I haven’t gone for a laproscopy yet, but I have all the usual symptoms (i.e. very bad cramping, dizziness, nausea, and chocolate cysts).
I also have ovarian cysts that pop every few months - I was on birth control pills for years to keep them from popping, but obviously while trying, I can’t do that.
I am also bicornuate- meaning, I have 2 uteruses.
So, taking all of this into account, plus the fact that my husband had gone through radiation therapy awhile ago for Graves Disease - this has almost been expected, although still very emotional for us.
Again, thank you all for your help and support - I may need more after I see my gynecologist on Tuesday.
I found out in February that I have polycyctic ovaries. Went to an endocrinologist in March and started taking Metformin (glucophage). I’m now almost six weeks pregnant. We tried on our own for a couple of years, but I’m amazed at how quickly things happened once we found out what the problem was.
If you’re having problems, don’t waste time with an ob-gyn. Their knowledge and resources are limited. I’d strongly suggest going to a reproductive endocrinologist.
My husband fought against seeking fertility help for YEARS. By the time he finally was willing to admit that we may need help, it was really just flat too late. I had stage 4 endometriosis by the time I had a laparoscopy to diagnose it. My RE cleaned up as much as he could, but told us that we’d have to go right to IVF to even have a chance of conceiving. We swallowed hard, took out a loan from my husband’s 401k, and did it. Unfortunately, $12,000 later, no babies.
I went to an endometriosis specialist, hoping he’d be able to do a better job at cleaning the adhesions, but he didn’t even do as much as my RE did. He took a look and closed it back up. I did a 6-month course of Lupron (and if you’re thinking of that, please talk to someone who’s done it first!!!), hoping that it would help at least keep the endo in check until we could do another IVF. However, the bc pills made me suicidal and I had to quit taking them; the pain from the endo eventually got so severe that I had to have a hysterectomy.
If you want to talk offline, feel free to email me at chauceriangirl@netscape.net.
Good luck!
My husband and I have been trying on our own for the past 1.5 years. We have our first appointment with an OB/GYN in two weeks.
kittenlm, please keep us updated on how things go.
Not to hijack, but does anyone here have experience at second-time infertility? We have been so blessed by our daughter (who is 3.5 years old). We were actually using birth control when she was conceived (it was the best surprise of my life!). But now that we are actively trying… nothing.
SeGate,
I actually know quite a few people dealing with secondary infertility. I don’t know how religious you may or may not be, but if you’re comfortable with that, there is an excellent e-mail support group called 2ofus4now@yahoogroups.com. The moderator is a really good friend of mine. Probably the majority of the people in the group are LDS (Mormon), but they’re cool with everyone as long as others are respectful of their beliefs. It’s a good group because everyone is dealing with things in their own way. Some are dealing with primary infertility and seeking treatment, others with primary infertility are looking into adoption, plenty of those with secondary infertility, etc. There are also a few birth moms on the list who have placed their babies for adoption. I can’t recommend the group highly enough. I’m no longer an active member because that part of my life is past and I’m at peace with where I am, but it probably literally saved my life back in the day. So if you do check it out, tell them Faith says hi!
I totally recommend INCIID. They have message boards for support and ones that are moderated by doctors and other professionals. There’s such a wide variety of specially targeted boards on the site – poke around a bit. (SeGate, they have 2ndary boards too.)
My one tip is this: if you think your husband may have fertility problems, get him to see a male fertility specialist (probably a subspecialty of urology). Do not settle for his health being examined/treated by a gynecologist or RE you are seeing. And don’t let this get brushed aside while they address your problems first. You need to consider both partners to have a true picture of what your options will be.
If you want to chat off-board via e-mail or IM, let me know.
I worked at a fertility clinic for 4-5 years, but it has been 6 years since I worked there and things change quickly.
The rule of thumb for deciding if an evaluation is needed is when a woman has had unprotected intercourse with the same partner for a year without a pregnancy. The time frame is shortened for other factors such as advanced maternal age or known fertility issue(s). You listed a couple of issues seen in fertility patients such as bicornuate uterus, endometriosis, and your spouse’s hormonal issue (Graves Disease).
Your OB-GYN or RE should refer your spouse to a urologist for a thorough evaluation, too. Don’t overlook this step- it’s very important.
Last time I checked infertility issues were 40% female, 40% male, 10% combined, and 10% unknown.
Best Wishes!
My wife and I tried for a year straight with no luck. We descided we needed to do some tests. Since there is a history of ovarian cysts in her family she was sure it was her, but as mentioned above they wanted to test me first because it’s less invasive, cheaper and easier. I said “wouldn’t it be funny if it was me”.
Turns out it wasn’t as funny as I thought it would be.
After that they tested her just to see if it was only me. Looked like she was ok. We picked out areproductive endocrinologist to work with, he did some tests, told us the various options we had and made suggestions as to what to do from there.
We got some counseling. My wife became pretty active in [a href=“http://www.resolve.org/main/national/index.jsp?name=home”]Resolve[/a] for a while and got some good information.
This last cycle has been the 16th. No luck yet. we’ve tried simple ICSI, we’ve tried Clomid, we’ve tried injectibles (like Pregnol), we’ve tried diet and acupuncture. Later this month she goes in for a more invasive salpingoscopy to check her tubes to see if they’re ok.
I am not terribly happy about this at the moment as you can imagine.
Argh, Your Modness, could you please fix my broken link?
Wow, as terrible as this may sound, it feels good to know there are other people just like me out there. I guess I started feeling like I was the only one - even though deep down, I knew that wasn’t the case.
I had tried several fertility websites that have support groups and message boards, but all these women talk like they are doctors. They use words and abbreviations and all kinds of things that I am just completely lost on. I finally gave up.
It’s just feels great to see that there are other “normal” people like me having these problems.
Thank you all so much for your help and I promise to keep everyone updated after my appointments. I really appreciate the offers to talk off the message board. I may take you girls up on them someday.
Thanks again!
kittenlm, I would really recommend checking out Fertile Thoughts Infertility, IVF & High Tech board. There is a lot of information on there about infertility and IVF. All of the words and abbreviations you were confused about are listed in the 4th thread down called, “PIO tips, Acronyms, Beta Levels & Doubling Chart, & IF info web link here**”
Good luck with your OB next week.