I was wondering if anyone has had luck with their doctor doing a HSG test. I have been going to a fertility specialist for 4 months and we have had no luck getting pregnant. I have been on femara for 7 months and my doctor recently (this month) increased my dosage to 3 pills a day or 7.5 mg. He stated that he wanted to do a HSG on me next month if I am not pregnant. He says that this test will check if my tubes are blocked but it also will clean them out. I have heard that once this is done, women get pregnant very quickly. Has anyone else had this same experience?
I know waiting to get pregnant is hard. My husband and I took two years to get pregnant. I had the HSG test. It didn't help get me pregnant but it showed that everything was okay in my tubes. I don't know who you have as a doctor but mine suggested at the end to do a baking soda (1T and 1 cup warm water)douche, right before. I got pregnant after doing that, and the doctor said he had had a lot of success with that.
Hope this helps. It will happen.
Know your frustration. I just turned 42 and had 2 miscarriages after having my son 4 years ago. I did fertility treatments and 4 IUI's still did not get pregnant. I got preg about a year after the treatments but lost the baby and am now preg again .. 13weeks and have my fingers crossed all is ok.
My ob had me try Clomid and when that didnt work she suggested Dr Harper, here in Huntsville and I loved him and his staff. The first thing he did was the procedure w/ the dye to make sure my ovaries were not blocked and that the dye flowed thru evenly. One was fast the other took a minute but he said all looked fine. Now he did say and I had seen Women get preg after that procedure as it sorta cleans out the tubes so that the eggs flow thru better. After a few times of timed intercourse we tried the IUI and did that 4 times. Nothing. After that it was suggested IVF and that was BIG bucks and my husband and I decided that we had one child was was blessed w/ that and he would be needing college money some day so we decided to just let nature takes it course. And low and behold got preg twice since having the treatments a year or so ago.
Know this was long, but wanted to give you as much info as I could. I wish you the best of luck.
Kristy,
Sorry that you are having such a hard time getting pg this time around. I know exactly what you are talking about. Even though we are no longer ttc, it took us 7 years before we finally conceived triplets which turned into a twin birth.
I had never heard of Femara, so I looked it up on the web. It is similar to Clomid, which is what a lot of women take, and I didn't respond to it at all. I, personally, have issues with these kinds of drugs...if they are given by your ob/gyn, which is usually how it starts out, you are not monitored closely enough and you end up loosing months beating your body against a brick wall. I did 10 rounds of Clomid, and still didn't get PG, and my tube was clear.
My first question to you would be is your doctor a "fertilty specialist" as in an ob/gyn that specializes in "fertility" or are you seeking a Reproductive Endocrinologist? Since there is a HUGE difference in the two. It sounds like you are just seeing your ob/gyn, if it has been 13 months and you are still on Femara and just now getting to the HSG.
A lot of people don't have IF coverage, so it can be quiet costly. I hope you have great coverage, because if you have to go further in your IF struggle, an RE & other ferility treatments are not cheap!
As far as the HSG is concerned, yes it is to check to see if your tubes are open or not. I had one done a long time ago, while I had ovarian drilling done and was a sleep so I didn't have the uncomfortable feeling it can cause. I have heard that it isn't painful, but if the gas is not all pushed out, it can be uncormfortable. It is usually done as an outpatient procedure. Here is more about it from Web MD (http://www.webmd.com/infertility-and-reproduction/guide/hysterosalpingogram-21590)
If you need anyone to talk to, you can e-mail me personally at [email protected] and I will gladly give you a listening ear. Since I know ttc can be so irritating and if you don't have anyone that has been thru it, it can be a lonely road to travel down.
Hope this helps and keep us posted. I will keep you in my prayers.
Take care,
God Bless,
Julie D
I had great success with this site: http://infertilityworkshop.com/
If you want to read more on clomid there's an article here: http://www.infertilityworkshop.com/articles/gettingstarted/clomid.htm
it will happen when you dont expect it
I'm so sorry to hear of your troubles hun. I never had any problems getting prg. so I can't imagine what it must be like. I do have several friends though that have gone thru treatments and tests of different kinds. One in particular tried several things for over a year. Then, her OB/GYN put her on BCpills for 3 months, then took her off them, the next month,,,,,,,yep,you guessed it, she was pregnant. They now have a beautiful bouncy baby boy. So see hun, it does happen. Though I do believe God has His hand in it too.
I wish you luck, I'll keep you in my prayers too.
Hang in there. I tried Femara and had no luck. I then did 2 IUIs and lots of shots with still no luck. Right before I did IVF I did a HSG test and they saw that my uterus had a defect in it. I did surgery to correct it and then another IUI and it worked. I now have a 16 month old son....after 18 months of fertility! I have heard that the test can "clear out the cobwebs" and some women get prego after it. Regardless, it is good because it can help identify or rule out any issues. Good luck and I hope you have success soon. I am not sure who your specialist is, but I had a great experience with Reshef at Baptist.
I totally agree with the previous post about seeing a reproductive endocrinologist. OBs try to prescribe drugs and waste a lot of your time and money because it's not their specialty. Really you shouldn't try any drugs or anything until you've had the HSG because it's hard on the body if ovulation is not the problem, and usually it's not.
I had many fertility problems and had to have an HSG and many other tests and surgery. It's the best bet because you would rather find out what the problem is rather than spending money on drugs that aren't addressing the concern. I had scar tissue blocking both tubes from many previous surgeries and he tried to clean both out but was unsuccessful, so he had to seal one off and we ended up doing IVF. But IVF doesn't work if there is a blockage or inflammation in the tube because the body won't accept the embryo if it thinks there is a problem nearby, if that makes sense. The HSG was a little painful like cramping but not bad.
Have the doctors checked your thyroid? My cousin went through 2 years of fertility treatments & nothing happened, she switched doctors when she moved, she had a son when she was 19, she just couldn't seem to get pregnant again 6 years later. The doctor asked her when she got pregnant before what was differnet than compared to now, she told him she got pregnant while taking birth control. He put her on birth control & she got pregnant. The problem had something to do with her thyroid. Since than she has had to wonderful pregnancies & had a girl & a boy! Although she needs to take the birth control to get pregnant instead of using it not to be. LOL
My children are in their 20s so alot has changed since then, BUT I did have the dye test before the second baby as we'd been trying for over a year of charting my ovulation. I had no discomfort during the test but was very queazy for about 30 minutes after I left the exam room. I'm assuming from the dye. My tubes were fine, we tried a few more months and gave up. Two months later we conceived. The doctor said it worked that way sometimes. When you give up, you relax and bingo! it happens. Sounds like everyone has given you some really good information to look into. Good luck.
Having an HSG increases your chance of getting pregnant for up to 3 months.
I had one and two months later, I was pregnant. It's not the case for everyone, but studies show that it does increase the chance. Good luck!
Hi Kristy
I experienced what you have been going through. My husband and I tried to get pregnant for 4 years and after numerous tests my Dr finally suggested an HSG test..this was done in May 06 and I was pregnant in June 06 now I have a wonderful 1 year old son. My right tube was blocked and during the procedure that took a whole 10 minutes..I won't lie, it hurt but only because I was blocked. I would really suggest you have one done. Good luck!!!
I have had an HSG when trying to get pregnant with my daughter but it was while they did a laparoscopy so I was out. We had been trying for almost 3 years. They discovered endometriosis as well as one of my tubes being blocked. I had the HSG done in Oct 05, became pregnant in Jan 06 but miscarried. I became pregnant again in March 06 but also miscarried again. It was obvious that my endo and blocked tube was the #1 factor for my infertility. I then became pregnant again in July 06 with my daughter who just turned 1 :)
I can't tell you how painful it will be to have the HSG b/c I was out due to having the laparoscopy at the same time. I have heard that it is painful when they put the dye through. Good luck!!!!
Sweetie, why are you on Femara!!!!??? That's a cancer drug and no good for fertility. Please stop it immediately and give your body some time to clear it out before pregnancy.
http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/case/femara_birth_defects.html
ok which fertilty doc are you going to. i went to one in okc and it didnt turn out well..me and my husband started when i was 29 or 30 i had the test run it was uncomfortable it feels like your abdomen is really full then they quiet,i bleed on the way home, my tubes were fine and i had hoped i would get preg. my friend had the same test and she did get preg the next month but i didnt so my ob sent me to okc to a fert. doc. i had high hopes we did several ultra sounds i had 2 folicals that could produce eggs he askes if we were ok with twins i said what ever i can get, we were exhausted so i was ready just to have one,so i went thru shots in my butt then the night before we were to inseminate i had to have a shot in the stomach(my husband had to give it to me, he wasnt thrilled about that) to get me to ovulate. went in the next morn he inserted the sperm then he bought me paperwork for an experimental ovualion study, he said just incase this didnt work heres my back up. went home got up the next morn to do another insemination he needed to do a intermal ultra sound to check my lining to see if it was thickening up before he done the insemination and he said nope it wasnt going to work none of it was i asked why. he said i had cysists on my overies and it wasnt going to work. my mind went blank. so he put me on medication for diabetics and said to take 3 aday and maybe the cysists would go away if not i would have to have surgery.and you know how much fertilty doc's cost! and i cried all the way home i looked on the computer to see what i had. polysyctic overian syndrome. i went to a different doc and he said you could see the cysists on my overies the first ultra sound we done and i heard the fertility doc saying something about 10 to 12 something but he talked over our head and didnt really explain anything because he told us it was all fine. and the med's that i was taking my mom takes the same thing, she is diabedtic, she only takes one i was taking 3 a day, so the med's made me sick and i felt like crap. so we kept on trying i took the med's for a year then quit them. nothing was working, then we stared going to the gym and i bought a new tahoe, lost 20 pounds. we decided to move closer to our job and i didnt know it but i was preg when we were moving i didnt think anything about it i would go 3 months without having a period so i thought my cysists were back and i was 4 months preg. we all cried in the doc office the nurses,eveyone, and everytime i called anyone we cried. my mom cried for weeks i had a beautiful baby girl the day after christmas on 2006. it was a hard labor for 2 days i finally had to have a c-section. but it was all worth it. she is my light and my joy. good luck if you need to know anything, prob done it or had it done.
Hi Kristy
I was having trouble getting pregnant for the first time. My doctor (in Colorado at the time) did a bunch of bloodwork to make sure that I did not have PCO. Are you getting regular periods?? Then we tried Clomid for 3 months and that did not seem to work. I then had an HSG done and increased the clomid and I got pregnant the next month. I also had to do clomid to get pregnant with my second son as well. The HSG would probably be a good thing to have done. Hope this helps.
I got pregnant right after my HSG and found wome things that I needed to fix in the process. It is not a bad procedure. There is no pain and recovery is very quick. I would say "go for it"
Shirely R
mother of 5
I just finished reading a book called "taking charge of your fertility" I must say that after having 3 kids 3 and under, and a miscarraige, all while on different forms of birth control, that i think because of this book i have figured out why. Most women are not the "barbie" type with ovulation occuring at day 14, which is why there tend to be "fertility" problems when women don't conceive. this book teaches you about YOUR body, not your mom's or the lady next door. so then you are able to figure out your cycle.
now, this book was referred to me by 2 of my friends, both with "fertility problems", but not after reading this. they both suggested it to me to help us space ours better. anyways, i hope this doesn't sound all over the place. basically this is a really great book to learn about your own body and it teaches you how. it's about 25 at the book store, but a little less online. i hope this can help. it's a fast read. good luck!
I don't know much about the HSG test, but here's a less invasive approach, if the doctor can't find a reason that you can't get pg. Get a reflexology massage or a full body massage works too. It stimulates ovulation. Then make love when you are ovulating and try to "peak" at the same time. It worked for us (after 8 yrs of fertility treatments) and hopefully it will work for you. Alicia at Urban Retreat in Edmond is great! A massage is a lot more fun and relaxing than fertility treatments, which can stress you out, and prevent you from getting pg. I haven't ovulated since we had our son (2yrs). I got a massage the end of Dec and another a couple weeks later in Jan. That month... I ovulated. Not ready for another baby yet... so I won't be getting a massage again for awhile. Good luck!