Tubes Blocked??

We have been going fertility issues for nearly two years. The procedure itself is a little unconfortable for about 5 minutes. They may tell you then and there if your tubes are open. You can see it on the screen. Your doctor afterwards will advise as to what the next step is if they are / are not open. They may send you to a reproductive endocrinologist for further testing. My RE ran a ton of tests that revealed unexplained infertility and then recommended treatment. We started with IUI moved to IVF.

Not trying to scare you-just want to prepare you. The procedure itself can be a bit painful, you may want to consider a painkiller before you go (even just some Motrin). Because you are injecting dye into the uterus and tubes, they contract - alot like childbirth contractions. The good news is, that they do see everything. After I had it done, I had to have a small surgical procedure to clear a blocked tube and it worked great. I now have three children, ages 12,10 and 7.

Hi L.,
While I have not had "blocked tubes" I have had a similar procedure done when they were trying to figure out what was wrong with my ovaries. The procedure is quite simple. The only thing is when they inject the dye, you will get a warm/hot sensation over your body. They didn't explain that to me, and while I was on the table I had this awful hot flash feeling. After yelling to the tech, she says, oh thats normal. Well that might have been helpful to here before the procedure. You will need to drink pleanty of water after, and your urine will be a few different colors for the few hours after the procedure. The doctors should have the answers within 5 days. Good Luck!
D.

I had the procedure done, and afterward I had some crampy...nothing too extreme...and some bleeding. My procedure was a little lengthy and slightly uncomfortable but not painful.

Good luck and try not to worry!!

I had the same procedure done in May 2003. It hurt like bad cramps and I had uterine contractions for about a day. Two days later my menstrual cycle came (2 weeks early) and I got pregnant 2 weeks later. Things went VERY QUICKLY as we expected to be trying for months afterwards. I now have an intelligent 4.5 year old. However, my sister had the same procedure and had a bad reaction (we believe to the dye) and had to spend the night in ER. But she also got pregnant within 2 months of the procedure. Go figure!

The hysterosalpinogram (or tubogram) was my last procedure I had done in a long list of procedures, months of clomid, provera, etc. And lo and behold, we conceived within 2 days of the procedure. I guess that whatever was blocking my tubes straightened and cleared out. I say that to tell you that sometimes this helps, even if your tubes aren't blocked. I had one that was not straight, and so it took a bit for the dye to go through.

That turned out to be very painful. I don't want you to go in there thinking that it is going to be horrible, but no one told me that for a small majority, it can incredibly painful. For me, I was in that small majority, and honestly I can say that it hurt worse then childbirth. I wish I had been more mentally and emotionally prepared for the pain. Take some painkiller before you go, no matter what!

Hopefully you will be like the 95% rest of the world, who say it feels similar to 'mild cramping'.

Good luck!

I had my tubes blown when I was trying to get pregnant with my first. The procedure itself really is no big deal During the procedure you will get cramps so ask your doctor if it is ok to take some motrin before the procedure is done. If you experience menstrual carmps during your cycle the cramping at the time of the procedure should not be a big deal. As far as after, it will be like you never had anything done. Once they stop you will be back to normal. (I had no cramps or anything after the fact) Good luck!! Hope everything works out for you!

L.
I have not had this but if you are that worried about what happens next I would call your Dr to go over with you to make you feel better.
Best of luck
J.

L. -
I had this procedure a few years ago, when we were in basically the same position you are in now. The test was fairly quick, and did have some pain. My doctor was wonderful, and the 'assistant' (jr doctor) held my hand thru it. My mother-in-law had had a similar procedure when she had other issues - and even my wonderful, very Catholic mother-in-law gave me 'permission' to curse during this procedure. That in and of itself gave me some 'levity' during those moments. The best thing you can know is that it IS fairly quick. And also does get good results. If it is a simple blockage - I believe it will clear it. If it is something more difficult - it is the way to find out about it. We did NOT have a blockage - but also were not able to get pregnant with IVF. Our daughter is now 2 1/2 - and that procedure is something in a wee part of my memory. Just to put it in perspective.

Let me know if you have other questions! I am pretty open on all this stuff.
Good luck!
-M.

I have had this procedure done and for me (and I have a high tolerence to pain) it was really painful. I don't know if it hurt more on me because I had a blocked tube and the dye couldn't get out from that side...but it definietly hurt. I agree with the previous poster to take a painkiller. My doctor told me it would be like menstrual cramps...well he was a guy and apparently didn't know what they felt like. Well, I hope this helps...oh and I got pregnant about 6 months later. Good luck.

Hi there

I had the same procedure, as did one of my aunts. My aunt had success getting pregnant afterward, and my situation was due to a separate issue, but I did also manage to get pregnant eventually afterward.

It's not a bad procedure, maybe a little uncomfortable but honestly it was so long ago I can't remember it!

Good luck!
R.

hello,
Don't worry i had it done, with a dnc at the same time. It was really no big deal. I wish you good luck with trying to concieve. It took us about the same and after the procedure i was pregnant the next month. Keep your hopes up and worries down. It will all work out.
J.

I have been seeing a chiropractor and after doing some reading that she gave me, have found out the some women with fertility problems have been able to conceive after going to the chiropractor. Sounds like a natural, pain free way to me! It may be worth looking into.

Hi L.--I had this done. Its not a big deal, kind of cool (you get to see your tubes and uterus). For lots of women, this procedure is the thing that gets them pregnant. Its not really an xray, its a digital live procedure--they flush you intravaginally with dye/fluid and get an image of what's going on. There's nothing that happens afterwards except that you'll hopefully have your tubes opened up, or find out if one or two are totally occluded, and then what the plans for moving forward are. It doesn't hurt although the pressure can feel a bit weird.
Good luck!

Hi L.
I had this procedure done several years ago. I had horrable endometreosos, and they wanted to check to see if it had scared my tubes. (it took me 7 years to conceve my first!) Many people told me the test its self would "unclog" anything in there, and it did. So, if you do have an obstruction, as long as it isn't scar tissue, it should clear out. Of course that may or may not be the problem, but if it is it should help. If not, at least you will know, and be able to go from there. Don't worry about it, too much! I wish you the best of luck.

nothing to stress about, you don't need that in your life. everythng happens for a reason & it'll all work out. i went through fertility for two years before conceiving my boy. i was poked, prodded & torn apart physically & mentally for those two years. i also had the test that you are going to have - don't worry about it. if i have to do it all over again for baby no.2 in the future i hope to be a lot more calm about the whole thing and let the doctors work their magic and create for em another miracle!!! good luck & e-mail me if you need support anytime....just send me a personal message & i'll give you my e-mail!

I had this procedure and it is just a bit uncomfortable due to the pressure of injecting the dye into your tubes....more of a full bladder feeling. After it is done your doctor will indicated you should be very fertile for 3 months. Just to let you know I had the procedure and I was pregnant a month later. Good luck.

I had it, no big deal, menstrual type cramps after. A lot of women do seem to get pregnant right after it. However, make sure you go to an infertility specialist, because there are many tests that should be run on you and your husband. We went to RMA, and they were great. Good luck.

Hi L.,

I had the procedure done when I was 24 years old. My procedure was done by laproscopy (4 tiny holes in my lower stomach). I went into the hospital and was home the same day. Both my tubes were blocked and when the dye was put in, it opened both of them up. I was up and around after the procedure with no problems. I also became pregnant. Don't worry about the procedure, I'm sure it will be fine. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. Good Luck!

not Sure if this is the same thing, but when we were TTC with de, we went to a fertility doc who tested my tubes and we actually got pg right after that! Was told by others that it works as a treatment which it did for us! Good luck!

I beleive the procedure you are talking about is called a hysterosalpingogram. I had it done a few years ago and other than slight discomfort the procedure was'nt bad at all. For me I had a few cysts and once removed my tubes were ok but I was still unable to conceive and ended up doing IVF and now have a beautiful 15 month old daughter. Best of luck to you and keep us posted!

I had this procedure done after trying for two year to get pregnant. It was a bit uncomfortable but went quickly and I was up and about with no side effects. My doctor had said that most of his patients got pregnant after this procedure, and it worked for me. My daughter is now 21 -- so you see this procedure has been around a long time. Try to relax, but if you have any questions at all about the procedure, be sure to ask your doctor or the attending nurses. Good luck!

Hi L.,
I just wanted to let you know that in my case my tubes were blocked but it was because of Endomitriosis (sorry for the spelling). I had my first child with no problems almost 13yrs ago now and 5 yrs later I went in for some pain I was having. That is when they gave me that news. I had a Laporoscopy and this flushed my tubes and 2weeks later I was pregnant. In all I have had 3 laps. and two babies shortly after. (My choice not to try to have 4th baby). The surgery is out patient and not too bad. Just hard to not use your stomach muscles for a few days but it was nice to just sit with hot and cold press for a little bit. Any ways if you need to know more about Endo.., please feel free to contact me. I hope this helps a little and good luck with all you do.

S. F.

I had the same procedure when we had problems to conceive as well. The procedure itself is a bit uncomfortable. You have to have a completely full bladder and they insert a tube through which the dye will be injected and seen on the xray. I did not end up having a blocked tube on either side - I was diagnosed with "unexplained anovulation". The doctor questioned my tubes initially though because I never conceived on my own. My question for your doctor would be what would have blocked your tubes since your first child? I would think if you got pregnant successfully once, that would mean your tubes are okay? I would question more if you are ovulating each cycle - do you have regular cycles etc. I've seen that issue with many more of my friends as opposed to blocked tubes.
But, it was my understanding, if either side is blocked, it is a very routine surgery to open them back up. Also, I have a friend who only had one tube, and she still had two beautiful girls. So even if one side is blocked, conception is still certainly possible. It just may take more time!
I hope this helps a bit...good luck and let us know how it goes!

Yup - that's 100% right! A side-effect of this procedure is actually getting pregnant. Exactly one month later, we were pregnant with #1 and no problems getting pregnant with #2!
If there is a blockage, I'm not sure what happens after that...

The procedure HURT but the nurses were awesome...DO take pain meds before the procedure...

Best wishes!

Hi L.,

I will start out by saying, that I did have this procedure done and I will not lie - it is uncomfortable to say the least. My husband and I were trying for over 7 years unsuccessfully. We did have a great outcome though, as we added 2 beautiful little ones to our family. We ended up suceeding with an IUI and during the delivery the doctor apparently cleaned me up, b/c we got our bonus baby 18 mth later! I wish you and your hubby much luck and success!!!

Hi there - I had this procedure a couple of years back. It is pretty quick but I will be honest and tell you that it is a little painful. My doctor advised me and I took his advice to take an advil or other pain killer before going. It helped out a lot.

Good luck to you - this procedure is too quick and such a blip in your life - it should not give you any additional worry.

Best of luck!!!