Has IUI worked for anyone?

I'd like to piggie back on your IUI question. I have a friend ttc with IUI and she has been unsuccessful with the 2 attempts. She asked if I knew of anything herbal or homeopathic to help promote the process. It seems most of the 'problem' with them is that her dh has very low sperm count...5% I think or something low like that.
Anything he or she can take?

Thank you!

I got pregnant with IUI after 12 or so attempts. I also had many other issues that resulted in three surgeries and lots of drugs. I would make sure that your RE is also sperm washing, especially if your DH has a low sperm count. It is worth it. I now have a beautiful 4y/o boy!

I've gotten pregnant twice with IUI. The first time I was on clomid (and got pregnant the first time we tried), and the second time I was not on clomid and it took three tries.

One thing that I think really helps your chances is to do more than one IUI per month. A lot of doctors will say that it doesn't make a difference, but there is one study that shows a 39% increased chance of pregnancy with doing two IUIs (one 12 hours after the hcg shot, and the other 34 hours after the hcg shot). Unless you know *exactly* when your egg is going to release (and I don't know how you could), doing one IUI is not that effective since sperm does not live very long inside the uterus (one book I have says it only lives 8 hours in there). Ideally, you will have sperm there waiting when the egg is released.

If the cost of two IUIs in one month is too much, then I would suggest only doing them every other month, and still doing two per month. I really think it increases your chances. So far, I've had a 50% success rate with IUI, doing two per cycle.

I also highly recommend acupuncture immediately after each insemination. Worked for me!

Good luck!

Lex

I did 3 Clomid/IUI cycles when trying to conceive my DD. The first cycle was with the obgyn and there was no trigger shot, and the other 2 were with an RE and he did a trigger. The 3rd IUI cycle worked for me and we have a sweet girl who's almost three. We are thinking of doing it again, because it's been almost a year with no protection and no pregnancy yet. I'm tying clomid without iui this cycle just to see if we might do it on our own.

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With a sperm count that low, she's almost entirely wasting her time with IUI. She needs IVF. I'm not saying that people haven't gotten pregnant that way, just that the odds are against her.

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I just wanted to update. That clomid cycle referenced above did not work. It was 50mg and my 7dpo progesterone was 6.9, I took 100mg the next time and went back to my old RE (LOVE him!). I had 2 eggs and I'm pregnant with a singleton. My progesterone at 7dpo that time was 15.9 and I also had the trigger shot. I think that is the key for me--I need that hcg trigger, I will never recommend going to an obgyn for IF treatments. Definitely go to an RE.

And good luck to all those TTC!