CLOMID GANG - the new thread

[Roobedoo]

This should be clomid and IUI (for Katierocket) thread. Hoping this one will be luckier than the last - can't be any worse, don't think we had a single BFP did we?

Lots and lots and lots of luck to us all.

Hello everybody. Went for scan on Monday and lo and behold there was a 4cm cyst. The Dr called the Head Consultant for a second opinion and he confirmed that it wasn't sinister and said that a) I wasn't going to have my hormone levels checked as cysts affect the results and b) either I can do nothing and hope it has cleared before the next cycle or that they can prescribe something to clear it so that we can start things on the next cycle. As 42 next month (and so are my eggs!) I feel we have no time to lose so asked for the drugs. He prescribed Primolut N for 3 weeks and i was told taht I should bleed/start my next cycle 3-4 days after the last tablet. I will then go in for another scan and if the cyst has gone will have hormone levels tested but depending on date, as DH away possibly at crucial time, I may not start the injectibles in the Sept cycle but wait for the Oct cycle.

Also want to add in case anybody is wondering, there is no point in continuing treatment until cyst goes as if a patient is preg the cyst can interfere with the pregnancy so best to be cautious and abandon ttc until cyst has gone.

Coggy, I have a confession, while we are officially 'trying', DH has no idea I trot off to a private fertility clinic. He has agreed to 'try' but on the basis that he thinks I have a 5% chance of getting preg. So on this subject he has one agenda and I have another but if I am successful I know that it will work out. I still have all the baby clothes and equipment from my 3 and 4 year old. Will have to hide syringes etc!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh and he has no idea that I miscarried and while I was miscarrying he joked to a friend that he had had a vasectomy which if I hadn't been preg I would have fretted that he had. So at least getting preg comfirmed he still had fertile sperm.

Artoo, I can't remember your age and situ but would you consider injectibles?

Good luck everybody on this cycle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Will stay on clomid thread until cyst has gone and I start injectibles.

I guess that it'd be pretty useless asking your DH to do your jabs then SKBF!!!
May come as a wee bit of a shock to him!!

Did you have to go through your miscarriage all on your own? That must have been really hard not to have told him.....you sound like a tough cookie....I do hope things work out for you with your cyst going and everything else.

Are you going to all your appointments on your own too?

My friend fell pg by accident (yes another one - I have very fertile friends!!!!!!) and when she had her 12 week scan she had a cyst. It grew to the size of her baby's head and got in the way of a natural delivery. She had a c/section and a beautiful healthy boy.
Obviously it would have been preferable to know about it first!!!!

Take care
X

Hi ShouldknowbyFriday

I'm in a very similar boat. I'm 43.5 and just got married. Had a miscarriage last year and know realise I have 6 months to get pregnant then at 44 go on a donor egg register. Been to the fertility clinic and had a cyst which was treated by Noretheristerone (spelling!) basically a contraceptive. Cyst gone and will start injectables. Research shows being on the hormones which are high dose contraceptives help with the subsequent fertility treatment. Originally consultant said she would start on low doses of FSH as only wanted to get 3-4 eggs, if more would cancel a cycle. I'm a scientist and did a data search and found that this strategy was useless as I need every available egg possible for the slim chance of getting pregnant (Clomid is also not recommended for women over 41 as it does not stimulate enough egg production). Sent the consultant a very good paper on success rates for women doing IVF between ages 40 - 45 and she has agreed to give me max dose of FSH and if I get over 6 eggs she would recommend IVF. In my letter my cut off was 10 eggs and I would rather do IUI. Being 43 I have no chance of having triplets as only 1 out of my 4/5 eggs is of any good to produce a baby.
Good luck with your plan.

Hi Coggy and evansg, I typed a long response last night then lost the server so gave up!!

Coggy, my husband has agreed to officially try but thinks as I am over 40 that I have a 5% chance of getting preg so is willing to give it a go. However, he has no idea I trot off to this clinic as and when needed to increase my chances but he knows I am determind sort of character and also has seen the store of baby clothes and equipment so it won't be a shock to him if I do succeed. Yes I did go through the miscarriage on my own and he had no idea and really when I embarked on this journey I knew if I was going to keep quiet that there may be difficult hurdles to get over, like the consultation at the clinic where DH not present and the fact that we are not doing IUI which I put down to the fact tht DH has enough pressure at the office so timed intercourse will do nicely! I have an almost 3 and almost 4 year old so I am already lucky and if a 3rd turns up then its a real bonus.

Evansg01, I am sorry you miscarried last year, that must have been very hard for you. I don't quite understand from your post if you have taken clomid or not? And also I am wondering what size your cyst was and how long did it take to go? The drugs you had are the same as mine which I started on Monday and will take for 3wks and have been told to expect to bleed 3-4 days after the last tablet. Can you remember when you started to bleed after your tablet? It is interesting what you say about taking the Primolut and then being more fertile in subsequent fertility treatment. Also, I am not clear from your post if you have started the injectibles and if so which drug has been prescribed. Am interested to know your treatment plan and also did not understand the 10 eggs point. Please explain as am interested. I have a friend who I think is now 45 and she had been trying since age 39 and finally sought advice at age 42, tried clomid which during the scan showed tiny dots so Dr concluded that the only way she was going to conceive was through donor eggs. A few months later a donor was available in exchange for her DH providing sperm as the donor's DH had a sperm prob so the exchange was done. My friend had 3 eggs implanted, one didn't flourish but she had identicle twin boys which weighed 8lbs each as the donor was 28 years old. So this is a real success story and it was her first go. The very best of luck and please expand on info.

I feel for you that you have had to deal with this by yourself SKBF.
You are very brave.
X

AF arrived at 1pm, so Ive to restart the clomid. Do I count this as CD1 as my consultant wants me to take it CD1-CD5. Or do I count tomorrow as 1st full day???

dd1

codandgerry, I was told when my AF was in full swing at 6.30pm that the cut off point is 5pm. On last cycle AF started properly at 9.30pm so started counting af from the next day. Maybe check with your clinic?

Thanks coggy. Yesterday as we were driving home with friends after dinner DH was talking about his career 20 years ago and we have been together for 10 years. He remarked that there was a time in his life that I didn't know him and that there is alot about him that I don't know. I replied that there is alot about me that he doesn't know and 2 mins later we drove past the fertility clinic and I smiled to myself!! I love those moments.

Hi Just thought i would let you lot know that i have started thread on ante natal and pregnancy posts about clomid success stories and sounds encouraging so when your feeling down go and have a read it is keeping me postive.

Also any chance we can set up a new clomid thread as this one is very long?

I was going to ask that yesterday Natty as I couldn't load it properly....I'll go and do it now!

Hi ShouldKnowbyFriday

Hopefully my answers to your questions make sense. I had a 3-4 cm cyst which disappeared after 3 weeks of treatment. Could not get pregnant that month because the treatment is basically a contraceptive. AF started 4 days after 21 days of treatment, spotting may have gone on longer than usual. In US they routinely use contraceptive drugs before starting treatment because it helps them control cycle time and start treatment at optimal time.
I start my superovulation on the 12th of Aug with injectables starting on 30th Aug. Depending on number of eggs IUI/IVF will be mid September.
Everyone should have their ovarian reserve estimated and this is done by measuring FSH (mine below 10 which is OK) and have your ovaries scanned to count your resting (antral) follicles. The number of resting follicles reduce with age. Peak around 30 follicles in early 20s to max 15 follicles in over 40. It appears from posts a lot of women are given treatment without this count being done. You could be in your 20s and 30s but if you only have a couple of resting follicles your chances of success with treatment are greatly reduced.
My last scan showed 8 follicles (4 on each ovary) which is reasonable for a woman of 43. The opposite is also a problem the higher the number of resting follicles the greating the risk of OHSS. Injectables help to try and stimulate all follicles to produce eggs. Clomid can not do this and tends to produce one or two eggs and is good for younger woman who have never ovulated.
I made sure my FSH injectable regimen was changed to 300 units in order to stimulate all my follicles. They originally said they would only do IUI with 3-4 eggs, this is a strategy used for younger women and if 43 would greatly reduce my chances of getting pregnant. If I produce 8 eggs I know that only 2 max will be good enough to produce a baby. If I was in my 20s, 95% of the eggs would be good enough to produce a baby. I don't really want to do IVF as they only return 3 embyros and the success rate is 5%. I would prefer to do IUI, which is much cheaper. But the clinic will be reluctant to do IUI if they know 8 eggs are available as they are paranoid about multiple births. Very few clinics in the UK are willing to stretch the boundaries for women over 42 as they follow HFEA guidelines which lumps all women over 40 to the same treatment. But it is well know that fertility declines dramatically year on year when you are over 40. In the US they put back all available embryos eg 8 to try and achieve a pregnancy in the women between 42-44. The cut of is really 44, past that you are wasting time and money to try and get pregnant with your own eggs. I know donor eggs is the answer. I don't want to waste my money on treatments with a low success rate but will try a couple of times to give my remaining eggs a crack at the whip.
Thank you for the success story about your friend. I hope this info helps and does not confuse you more!

PS ShouldknowbyFriday

Forgot to add I have never taken Clomid. If a couple of months ago my fertility doctor had mentioned using Clomid I would have been furious (it would have highlighted the lack of knowledge on the doctors part). It is not the treatment for women whose 'infertility' is due to poor egg quality. I know it is the first line drug for younger women who do not ovulate (regularly) and is a very successful drug and a cheap fertility treatment.

In case your wondering I'm a Clinical Research Scientist and work with doctors and consultants all the time. I'm afraid I don't hold them in the same high regard as most of the general population. Having said that there are a few doctors who do ground breaking work which results in new treatment strategies.

Right.....I'm going to attempt it as no-one else has volunteered.....

....this usually results in disaster....stand well back....you have been warned!!!!

new thread

dd1 , start clomid in the morning if you come on after 1 pm..... day starts the next day.....

xXx

Last message here......

on to new thread...... see you there

Thank you evans for the info, now I understand what you mean about 10 follicles, etc as you will either undergo IUI or IVF depending on result of injectibles. When you say you start the super ovulation on 12 Aug and injectibles on 30th, what does that mean? I was told the injectibles start between day 2-5 of cycle so maybe you are talking about the hormone treatment assoc with IVF? I did have my FSH levels checked in January and it was 7.2 which the dr was pleased with. My follicles were counted and there were 2 on each but I don't know if they were the resting follicles. 2 actually sounds dire! I did get preg on first clomid cycle but miscarried on day 42 while I did respond well to clomid the subsequent 3 cycles were unsuccessful. It is interesting that you say that your next cycle started 3 days after the last tablet as that is what the clinic has advised me. If that is the case with me, my fertile time will fall aroudn the time when DH is away so will wait until Oct. Did the clinic advise you that the injectibles can bring on an earlier ovulation I wonder. Re: doctors, I am not one of those that just takes their word on whatever they say, I have had a lot of experience with them also in a work situ and I know that alot of them are just 'practising' ie, still learning and gaining knowledge and that it is important to make your own decision on their diagnosis/prognosis. Can I ask you which field you research?
My sil got preg naturally after 4mths ttc at age 43 so it can be done. She didn't have any scans etc as I think she was actually dreading having another as her dd was 4yo and easier so I think she was secretly hoping that the over 40 theory would apply to her. Not the case so age 43 is not impossible.

The very best of luck and do keep posting with your progress! I think we are now moving over to the new thread.

ShouldknowbyFriday - I started a new thread to answer your questions,hope you've seen it.

hi all!
so, here's the story. DS1 was born in August 2009 whilest in the process of being diagnosed with PCOS (had the prescription filled and was awaiting Aunty Flo's visit!!)
this time.....
had a wee scan & conclusive PCOS. given Norethisterone (progesterone) then starting on 50mg Clomid on day 2of bleed and keeping fingers and toes firmly crossed!!!
I'm not a big fan of the progesterone- I seem to be getting alot of the side effects but I'm sticking with it! (gotta think of the end goal!)
How is everyone else finding the Clomifene? x

Just about to take first tablet after 3 years of ttc. Bit excited, bit scarred (side effects) and lots of frustration!!