Fertility treatment plan halfed

[Clomid100]

Hey,

Looking here for opinions and to see if I would be unreasonable to bring this up and question the consultant about it at my next appointment on Tuesday.

I am undergoing NHS funded fertility treatment. I have tried 4 months of clomid and whilst the 3rd cycle was a success at ovulation, I didn't get pregnant. This month (4th cycles) no mature follicles meaning this month clomid hasn't work.

My plan was always, 6 months maximum clomid, then letrozole for maximum 6 months, if that doesn't work then daily injections (unsure the injection name).

At my appointment last week, fertility consultant explained that he doesn't think that clomid is working and the best option is to go straight to daily injections starting next cycle.

This now means that I am missing out on potentially 6 months worth of letrozole tries. Which giving my fertility history, I would rather have more chances of help than less!

I fully understand why not continuing the other 2 months of clomid if it's not working.

Any help appreciated as it's been an emotional rollercoaster and I'm not sure if I'm just being sensitive.

Thanks

That’s very odd. Have you had a HyCoSy? In your situation I’d be asking for a hycosy and pushing for the Letrozole cycles as although it is similar to clomid it works in an entirely different way and is actually more successful and won’t impact the lining

Why does it mean you’re missing out on 6months of letrozole? They only planned 6 months of it, so cutting it by six months would mean zero letrozole, wouldn’t it?

It sounds like you’re just moving to the next stage faster.

Letrozole is a very effective fertility medication, more so than clomid and with less side effect than injectables (which can often lead to cancelled cycles due to too many follicles) . It seems wrong to just miss out on something cheap non invasive and effective.

I wasted time on the initial stages and honestly can say, follow their recommendation. They’re doing what’s best for you as a baby is what they want too - it helps their success rate numbers etc. X

Ah, sorry missed that the injections were different from the middle stage.

With funding as it is, I can understand why they would move you on.
As a previous poster said, your consultant wants the best outcome for you.

Just to add one other thing - I found Letrozole has much worse side effects than Clomid. In light of this and not wanting to waste time (as it is super stressful when nothing's working), I'd push for more detailed info on why you're being given this advice BUT if there is a good reason then it may be better to move to injections as they can monitor / adjust within a cycle rather than it just working or not working if you get me!

You're seeing it as less chance of being successful because you're not doing 6 months of letrozole, whereas I think the consultant is seeing going straight to the injections as having more chance of success. If the letrozole has little or no chance of working - which the consultant must think to have made this decision - then surely it's better to go to the last option straight away and save you from 6 months of heartbreak and 6 months of side effects for no benefit. And as fertility naturally declines with time may be this is also coming in to the consultants decision - as in giving you the best possible chance for the injections to be successful.

I’d probably ring the consultant’s secretary after the bank holiday and see if you can arrange a telephone appointment so you can ask that question. There may be clinical reasons why they want you to skip the letrozole and move on to something they feel is more likely to be successful, but you’re well within your rights to want to discuss it and to understand the reasoning etc.

I've not had a HyCoSy but I had a HSG before treatment started which I think may be the same but using X-ray instead of ultrasound?

I'm definitely going to ask them at my appointment to atleast explain why letrozole isn't getting used. He just dismissed it all together.

No experience with the earlier options but wishing all the best with it.

When we went through the NHS fertility treatment we were straight to IVF - ICSI as that was the best chance for us to conceive - but I do remember feeling like not doing everything before were missed chances of having a baby so I get it.

We did conceive the first time with ICSI though so they know what they’re doing.

Thanks everyone for your replies. You have all made me Atleast have some understanding why they may skip letrozole. It's helped ease my mind a little.

I have an appointment on Tuesday so I'll be sure to ask them to explain the reason for skipping letrozole. They gave me the information in a side room after my ultrasound and I didn't have time to ask any questions. Just told that I would need to come back Tuesday.

I think for me it's just that it's known letrozole works better than clomid for PCOS so I felt like that's 6 potential months I would be missing out on. I now understand thou that maybe the consultant is more confident of the injections working instead.

Thank you again, it's really appreciated

Aww I'm glad it worked you first time

That's exactly how I feel. That it's missed chances. I left the appointment feeling really confused and had no time to ask any questions.

Hopefully it will ultimately end up meaning you get your baby sooner 🤞🤞

it’s all so much to go through mentally and physically but they must be hopeful with you and your partner to be trying these parts!

I felt hopeless and that it would never work and was looking up clinics to do it privately after as I was sure it wouldn’t work. Then we didn’t get any frozen embryos so I was sure we’d have to go from scratch.
Its just a constant whirlwind physically and mentally!