CLOMID GANG - the newER thread!!

[coggy]

Can't do links...if anyone can link from the last thread to this one it would be fab!!

I am so rubbish!!

Hi everyone, I'm now on the 4th cycle of clomid in a row, I don't get that many side effects except hot flushes. I think I will do 6 cycles and if that doesn't work I'll do IVF. I went to the clinic last Friday and they said IUI doesn't have a much better success rate than clomid alone so don't think we'll do the IUI again. I've also started taking metformin but am not really sure if that will help. That is meant to have some pretty nasty side effects and you can't really have alcohol which isn't great. Has anyone heard anything about taking Vitamin C with clomid? I heard from Zita West that it can make it work better but too much could cause drying of cervical mucus. Is there anything you can use to improve that? Most of the things eg. KY Jelly are not sperm friendly!

Hi Jules

I too am just about to start cycle 4. Spotting started so Af on her way.

Do you know the sucess rates of IVF? I think i might miss out the IUI and go start for IVF after i have finished month 6 of clomid,as IUI is only 11% chance of getting pregnant.

I have got a lap and dye in March so think IVF will be after that.

You can buy pre-seed as that is a sperm friendly lubricant.

x

Hi Natty, I think the success rate of IVF is usually around 30% but it depends on your age and which clinic you go to. Some of the ones in London have very good success rates (up to 50%). They are all on the hfea website. Good luck with the clomid this time, I'm now day 5 so not far off you. We have decided to go to Paris next weekend instead of doing IUI, maybe relaxing etc will help. I hope the clomid works for you this time. I did read on one website that the average number of cycles it takes to work is 4 so hopefully it will work for both of us this time! x
ps I asked a nutritionist about vitamin c and clomid and she said take 500 mg a day

Thanks for that Jules. Fingers crossed it does work for both of us and month 4 will be lucky.

Will check out that web site -thanks.

Do take vit c as well so not sure how much think it might only be 60mg.

Natty1806:

My best friend did IVF twice at a discounted rate at a clinic, neither worked. They forked out 16,000.00 the third time at a clinic in St. Louis and bamb they are having triplets, she has carried them 27 weeks now and they are all growing equally and healthy, I strongly believe in paying for a really good clinic, don't waste time or money on anything that isn't reputable! Good luck, we have tried for going on 6 months now, we are waiting another year before we go that route!

Thanks for the info wishing, excellent news about your friend.

Have looked at the website and the nhs clinic that i use at the moment also does it private and on checking there stats they are better than the other private ones nearest to me. The one i would use gives a 33% chance per IVF cycle which is pretty good.

Well AF has arrived so day 1 of cycle 4 with clomid.

Good luck to everyone. Artoo - how you getting on?

All this talk of IUI v IVF - do you ladies have any diagnosis, or are you just facing "unexplained fertility"?

Personally I wanted to do several tries at IUI before moving on to IVF as it is SO much less invasive. IVF is not a thing to put your body through lightly. Yes IUI only has about a 10% chance of success each month, but it can be done with clomid for a better success rate, or you can use injectibles to produce more eggs for an even better chance.

Our first IUI confirmed that DH's sperm was not up to the job, and hence we have had to move straight into IVF with ICSI. However, had that not happened, my plan was to try up to 6 IUIs before going on to IVF.

As for me, I'm now CD4, and will be starting injecting on CD15, which is just before Christmas. January 4th will be my baseline scan, and when I start injecting the stims, and we're aiming for egg collection on January 16th. I'm still very excited, but waiting for the reality of injecting myself to kick in. I passed out when DH and I last had blood tests done!

And I've not done my Christmas shopping yet - argh!

Hugs,
Artoo.

I just wanted tosay hello to all you ladies who are TTC. I had DS1 without any help but couldnt conceive again and then eventually when i did conceive I had a MC. I saw my GP whotold DH to see his GP and get his semen checked and the results of that were that his swimmers were not that good and we were told that we would need IVF/ ICSI. I felt that it was too soon to be going down the IVF route so my GP refered me to a gynocologist(sp) who said to try clomid first. We did and that resulted in DS2 and then when he was 11 mths old (whilst still being BF) I conceived my 3rd child DD1. Hand in there ladies, clomid did the trick for me and hopefully will work for you girls too, and even when semen results are not as good as there should be there is always a chance.

Artoo I had to inject myself every day through 2 pregnancys and it isnt too bad,

HANG ON IN THERE AND GOOD LUCK

I know it is very pesamistic (sp?) of me to think this way, but think i am mentally trying to prepare myself for it if it does happen.

I think IUI will be our next stage, was put on clomid as I have slight polycystic ovaries and was not ovulating.

I do know ovualte with clomid but maybe I am just not bd enough to get pregnant.

have a LOD booked in March so hopefully that wil help.

Artoo, you are right IVF is ever so invasive and not something to go into lightly. think i will have my free IUI's from the NHS.

Maybe my problems is that i need to be more positive and start believing that i will get pregnant soon.

Good luck artoo. x

I know, I have always thought the same. I have not wanted to be too optimistic about it in case it doesn't happen and then I'll be less disappointed. I also have slight polycystic ovaries and don't ovulate without clomid. I don't have the full PCOS though. I am ovulating now but just not getting pregnant. My GP said maybe we were starting too early in the cycle, for the last 3 cycles we started around day 6 or 7. This time we will start day 10 (tomorrow) and then try every other day. I think if clomid doesn't work after the next cycle I'll do IVF after that. I know its a lot to go through but they said you shouldn't do clomid for more than 6 months. Does anyone know if you can have a break, do IVF and if that doesn't work try clomid again?

Jules and Natty, I know exactly how you feel. I was SO much happier knowing what my "routemap" was. I was at my most unhappy when I was sent away with 12 months of clomid and told to come back if it didn't work. Eventually I paid for a private consultation with my consultant, which was a great way of discussing the options and our possible routes forward.

Jules, I don't have an answer for you on doing clomid after IVF. I have always assumed that we try treatments in ascending order of invasiveness. If clomid is going to work for you, it is statistically much more likely to work in the first 6 months, so I can't see what benefit there'd be in going back to it if you've already done that 6 months and moved on to IVF. But I would recommend you talk it through with a medical professional.

One word of warning on IVF. My local NHS trust will not put you on their IVF waiting list until you've been trying for two years, and then will keep you on the waiting list a further 2 years before you get the IVF treatment (because some couples will conceive naturally in that time). So it's worth finding out what your position is with your consultant - you might be able to do some IUI cycles whilst you're waiting, if you have a wait anything like that.

The other option is to go private (which is what I'm doing), but IVF is not cheap. I've been told to expect £5,000 - £7,000 per cycle.

Hope this information helps you ladies, and I hope the clomid works for you before you have to get into anything more invasive!

Hugs,
Artoo.

Hi Jules

I would have to say that IVF is very much a last resort with regards to fertility treatment and should only be attempted after all other treatment avenues have failed. Actually you may not need IVF at all. There are things you can try before then - two further options are fertility drugs (not clomid) and ovarian diathermy surgery. Ovarian hyperstimulation is very much a risk with PCO if IVF is undertaken and you should be carefuly monitored.

Have you had blood tests done that have confirmed ovulation is taking place?. If not I would not assume you are ovulating with clomid.
Think you also should be referred to see a gynae.
Are you being monitored by your GP properly?. This is yet another reason why a gynae referral is in order - PCO is not a condition that should be treated solely by a GP. It often requires more specialist help. Internal ultrasound scans and blood tests (clomid can affect hormone levels markedly) should be done whilst on clomid. The maximum amount of time that clomid should be used for is 6 months anyway after which time other treatments should be tried. Clomid is not always suitable for all women with PCO as some can become clomid resistant. It should therefore be given with a degree of caution to such patients.

Verity's website is www.verity-pcos.org.uk and this has lots of info on it as well.

HTH

Thanks Artoo and Atilla. I'm having the day 21 progesterone blood test done which have been 37, 48 and 65. Apparently anything over 15 means you are ovulating. That is all I'm getting on the NHS. I paid to have scans and IUI done in London but that didn't work so this cycle I'm not even going to to the ovulation predictor kits and just see what happens. We were told by our GP that we wouldn't get anything other than clomid on the NHS so we've accepted that we will have to pay for IVF if necessary. Also I don't want to wait for 2 years because I'm 32 already. I did ask about the other fertility drugs like gonadatrophins but they said I'm likely to over respond to those and have too many eggs so they would have to cancel that cycle. I think IVF takes about 6 weeks, is that right? are you meant to take a break in between cycles? Its just that I'm meant to be starting a new job in April so will try the clomid for Dec and Jan and if that doesn't work will have to do IVF in Feb/March. I guess you can't really take time off work when you've just started to do IVF.

Hi Jules

You run a risk of over responding on IVF as well as the drugs given will encourage egg production and get the ovaries to work much harder. One of many problems with PCO is that some of the cystic follicles produced are dormant, some may contain an egg and yet others produce hormones.

I would ask about you being a possible candidate for ovarian diathermy surgery as this is a non drug related treatment. If they have said you may well over stim on gonodotrophins (this is why you should be carefully monitored by the consultant and his team) as well this is something you may want to look into.

Thanks fo you advice ladies. I have only been trying 18 months so would have to wait until July to be put on the IVF waiting list by the look of things and then another 2 years to get 1 cycle.

£5-7k per cycle that is a lot, not sure if i would be able to afford this.

Anway to be honest i am feeling lots more positive now and having looked at my last few charts i have not bd enough at the right times so am really going to try and work on this on the last 3 months of clomid and fingers crossed it will work.

ATM - do you rate ovarian drilling? I am booked in for this in March and not sure if it will improve our chances.

x

Hi Natty

Natty sweet its not a question of just BD at the right time. Would say make love when you both feel like it not just when you think its ovulation time. More often than not you will be incorrect in guessing the time of ovulation particularly if PCO is there. Are you charting as well - am actually going to say this is not a good idea if PCO is an issue. Apart from anything else you can get a rise in temp in the second half of the cycle when an egg has not been shed.

I conceived our son as a direct result of this surgery. I was diagnosed with PCOS a few years ago now and the cons recommended that I have this operation in the meantime before starting injectibles (I was an NHA patient and was waiting for the funding for the injectible drugs to come through).

Although not a cure for PCOS (there isn't one) it can lower the excess levels of LH in the bloodstream and thus kickstart ovulation that way. This is what happened with me - my LH levels were very high compared to those of FSH. I know of both successes and failures with this particular operation.

Any questions re the op do ask!.

Hi Natty

Natty sweet its not a question of just BD at the right time. Would say make love when you both feel like it not just when you think its ovulation time. More often than not you will be incorrect in guessing the time of ovulation particularly if PCO is there. Are you charting as well - am actually going to say this is not a good idea if PCO is an issue. Apart from anything else you can get a rise in temp in the second half of the cycle when an egg has not been shed.

I conceived our son as a direct result of this surgery. I was diagnosed with PCOS a few years ago now and the cons recommended that I have this operation in the meantime before starting injectibles (I was an NHA patient and was waiting for the funding for the injectible drugs to come through).

Although not a cure for PCOS (there isn't one) it can lower the excess levels of LH in the bloodstream and thus kickstart ovulation that way. This is what happened with me - my LH levels were very high compared to those of FSH. I know of both successes and failures with this particular operation.

Any questions re the op do ask!.

sorry for the repeat, computer crashed!.

Nice to hear you had your son shortly after the op, there is hope then.

I only have slight po, my fhs level was 5.8 i think and the only test that came up with a problem was the progestrone, when i had my first scan for month 1 of clomid it confirmed slight po on left ovary, and was put on the waiting list for the LOD so this ties in with when my clomid finishes.

can i ask how long it took to recover from the op? and did they check your tubes as well?

Also have my next consulant appoinment with nhs in March as well, what do you think the next stage will be? Different drugs sound like a good idea to me, not too keen on going for IUI or IVF but will if i have to.

thanks

Thanks Atilla. How long does the ovarian drilling continue to make you ovulate for? I'm not sure it would work for me because my LH levels are not particurlarly high, lower than FSH anyway. Will it work if you want to have a second baby or will you have to have it done again? Can you get it on the NHS without having to wait for ages? We're going to Paris tomorrow for the weekend so hopefully the romantic atmosphere there will help and it will be day 14 on Saturday!

Hi Natty, Jules, Artoo, Atilla, Ccpink and Rachee.

Can I officially join your gang!?

Af has arrived today, so first cycle of clomid starts tomorrow (50mg).

Feeling quite nervous - unfortunately timing means I won't be monitored this month.... (ov due Christmas day) - a bit scared about side effects and a bit excited that it might acutally work!

I'm 37, ttc 2.5yrs, trying clomid while waiting for IVF.

Welcome snowydays, of course you may join in!

Good luck with the clomid - I wish you success with it

Nice to see Atilla pop in as well - you're a very helpful and knowledgable person

As for me - I collected a whole pile of syringes, needles and drugs from my nurse yesterday evening. First injection in one week's time - cross everything ladies!

Hugs,
Artoo.

Good luck snowy with starting the clomid tomorrow. The list of side effects on the pack is quite scary but they aren't as bad as they sound! Artoo - I hope the IVF goes well. I met a lady today who was trying to get pregnant for 3 years then did one cycle of IVF and now has twins - a boy and a girl who are perfect. So there is hope! Also, I think you can get IVF more cheaply at some NHS hospitals, I called one today and they said around 2500 pounds for private patients and no waiting list.

Morning All

How exciting Artoo, bet your starting to get nervous now, i know i would be. Are you injecting yourself or is Dp doing it for you?

Welcome snowydays, fingers crossed.

Good luck to everyone lets hope 2007 is our year. xx

Hello - got myself into a nervous, stressed out tizzy these last few days about Clomid and fears of side effect. stupid, stupid, stupid.

Getting my head around it a bit now (but also have a head thick with cold) (Hmmm, think I might be feeling sorry for myself!)

May I ask: what effect did you find Clomid had on temperature charting & your cycle length?