Unexplained Infertility

[Lyric]

Hi I'm new to the forum and have been off the pill for 3.5 years and tracking my cycle for 1.5 years, we have done everything from 4 rounds of clomid and 2 IUI's plus all the test involved with fertility issues.  I'm at a loss and don't know why we can't conceive, I feel like it's hopeless!  I guess our next step is to talk with a infertility dr and prob start on the track toward IVF.  Does anyone know how long the process usally takes to do testing and such before your ready for IVF?

[SimplyRochelle]

No advice, just wanted to let you know you're not alone. We started ttc in May 2007 when we got married and are still no closer to having a baby. After 14 months, I got pregnant but lost that baby at 12 weeks and it's been over 2 years since then with not a single pregnancy.

All our tests come back fine. Clomid didn't work. And it will be years before we're ready to get to IVF, if my marriage even makes it that far. We've both taken it we've both taken it really hard and it's definitely starting to effect our relationship. This whole journey just sucks and I'm sorry you're here too.

Good luck and I hope you get some answers soon.

[Lyric]

Thanks for responding!  I know how you feel about your relationship being strained our is too, I'm starting to hate where I live and wonder what my purpose really is, since being a mother seems like a dream at this point.  I wish you the best of luck too!

[BellyBean]

We also had unexplained infertility to start with.  We suspected it was endo since my mom has it, DH's sperm were pretty average, and I was ovulating (just very irregularly, no cysts).  After trying on our own, we did 2 clomid, then 3 clomid w/IUI cycles, and then decided we wanted to try IVF.  We met with our RE in the beginning of January and did our 1st IVF mid February.  The protocol starterd immediately after our appointment (birth control, stims, retreival, transfer) and we were lucky enough to have plenty of eggs fertilize.  Transfered 2 embies and ended up with our daughter.

I had already had the HSG during our IUI's (and clear tubes aren't really needed for IVF anyway), but the only testing we did after meeting with the RE was the hampster egg sperm test to see if we would need ICSI.  DH passed, so we didn't need to spend the extra money on ICSI with our IVF.

I suppose the amount of testing needed would depend on if you want to find out the cause of your infertility or if you're okay not knowing.   Sometimes it's not that simple, but IVF takes a lot of the "problems" out of the picture so you don't really need to know, or you will find out during (like if it's a problem with your eggs).  We just had our first FET (frozen embryo transfer) and it ended with an ectopic.  While I was in surgery they found the endo we had suspected.  Knowing that I had that in '09 wouldn't have changed any of our decisions, so I am happy with the route we went.

Good luck, and feel free to join the IVF thread even if you are just thinking about it.  You'll find a lot of information and really strong/supportive women there :)

[Lyric]

Thanks for the information that really helps!    My mother had Endo too so maybe thats my problem, who knows. 

[Laurucha]

I have "unexplained infertility" as well. All that means is that I quit using birth control over a year ago and am not pregnant, and the doctors don't know why. That doesn't mean there isn't a reason. You might have something wrong with you that makes it difficult to get pregnant via IUI. You also might just have bad luck. Most fertility doctors don't try very hard to find out what is wrong with you and just start doing Clomid and IUI, and if that doesn't work, they move on the IVF.

The problem with Clomid is that, though it can help you ovulate, it has some side effects that are detrimental to fertility. I am at a loss to explain why Clomid is prescribed to women who are not suspected to have ovuatory problems. I asked my RE why she was recommending Clomid for me, since she believes I ovulate regularly, and I couldn't get a clear answer.

Here is an article on unexplained infertility you might want to read. I also recommend checking out Sami David's book Making Babies. You can read a preview of it here.

Personally, before I am going to start taking drugs that can have horrible side effects and probably won't work, I am going to do everything I can to get pregnant the natural way. I have started monitoring my cycles closely, changed my diet, and am seeing an acupuncturist.

In your post you imply you haven't yet been to a fertility doctor, or am I reading that wrong? In my health care system, you see a reproductive endocrinologist before you get Clomid or IUI. Have you gotten the basic infertility tests done?

[renavoo]

Hi Lyric, I hope you find the answers that you're looking for. I'm so sad for you that not only are you having trouble conceiving but your relationship is strained. This is the time that I feel like we need our DHs the most. SimplyRochelle, my heart breaks for you. Support really is so necessary. I wish that your DHs really knew what it felt like to feel almost like a failure because we can't get pregnant. That's what I feel like sometimes.

DH and I have been trying for a little more than a year. I got off the pill Dec 2009 and my period didn't resume for about 3 months but it was really erratic afterwards. At about 9 months, I finally went to my doctor and said that I need help...we did 3 IUIs on clomid/hcg trigger, all of which were unsuccessful. Although clomid always made me ovulate with multiple eggs, it really destroyed my lining so even if my egg was fertilized, I doubt my uterus could have held on to it. I'm in the middle of my natural cycle. We decided to switch REs so we're taking a couple of months off from any intervention. Oddly, I'm ovulating just fine...during my consultation with the new doctor, I found out that I had an follicle developing normally and my lining was perfect. So we'll see if this month leads to anything (I'm 4dpo). i sometimes wonder if perhaps my body just took a year and a half to get used to being off the pill. I was on the pill for 8 years so, although there are studies that show oral contraception has no lasting effect on ovulation, I kind of still blame the pill. I had completely normal cycles before I went on the pill!

I think our next step in a couple of months is to try a femara cycle and then move on to IVF. I asked my new RE how long it would take to prepare for an IVF. The answer I got was, depending on the type of IVF, it would take anywhere from 1-2 months.

I found that having a forum to talk about things really does help me stay calm, focused and even a little optimistic; at least I'm more optimistic than I was before I started on this forum! Lyric, I hope you find the same type of support!! Good luck to everyone!