Clomid takers- September thread

[flosspot]

Hello- We've moved to a new thread, and this is it!

Roll call, again:
flosspot CD4, 4th cycle, mc June ttc#1
nomore CD15 2nd cycle (21 total!) ttc #1
nh101 CD3 1st cycle, MC March

LOL flosspot! I think he is just tired from work during the week (me too - I can never be bothered!) but sometimes it makes me feel like he doesn't really fancy me (which I know is totally not the case - I am well fit!) .

Thing about my GP is I don't think I have ever seen him (I don't know what he looks like) cos it is a surgery I joined after moving house and I don't care who I see as long as I get seen. I am sure it is nothing - I just fear I am going to be told off! I don't really care if I do though, I've got my Clomid now and no one is taking it of me!!!

Does anyone else get really bad spots with Clomid?? I had awful acne when I was a teenager, thought I was finally free and now I am back to applying concealer and hiding behind my hair.

nh101 - Don't worry about seeing your gp. If he gets at all stroppy tell him that you saw another doctor with in the sugery - which you are perfectly entitled to do! Can't see why he would get stroppy tho. When are you going to see him?

Floss - I've always got spots. They come and go in degrees but I always have broken reddish skin. They tend to get worse around my period so that would coincide with taking Clomid. It's a nightmare isn't it? The irony is that the most common long-term treatment for PCOS is taking Dianette, a contraceptive pill that I was put on as a teenager to try and combat my acne.

Hope everyone is well and happy. I'm on day 5 of Provera so should be on cd1 around Sunday or Monday.

Hey Tigerschick - I am going to see the GP next Monday and am on 9DPO right now so hope to get a BFP this weekend! If so the doc can say what he likes... I won't care!!!! Like I said I don't even know this GP and if I had gone to see him initially I would have demanded he refer me as well!!! I am paying after all (for the private referral).

My temp dipped this morning which can be a sign of implantation. Fingers crossed!

I have had a few spots floss but not many and I have really suffered in the past. I just got lucky this month I guess cos I haven't had any side effects that I have noticed (DH might disagree LOL)

Hello everyone, hope you are all well.

Saw this thread and thought of me !! I am starting Clomid next cycle for the first time as my 21 day progrestrone test came back as a disappointing 28.5. So fingers crossed I still have some eggs left !! Being 40 is very scary when ttc.

Hi Sunshyne, welcome! Good luck on the Clomid. What does low progesterone mean - does it mean you can't maintain a pregnancy after fertlization?

Are they going to give you progesterone after ovulation?

Sorry for being thick I just wondered why Clomid is the answer to low progesterone. Hope it works for you!

Everyone keeps talking about their day 21 levels, and I feel left out. My doc has sent me for four blood tests and has yet to tell me the results. Suspect it's to do with unpredictable cycles- they keep getting the wrong day. Anyway the one success of Clomid is that it has really shortened my cycles, so maybe next time, I'll get a result I can share!!!!

Another question I wanted to ask about Clomid - I know they don't like to give it to you for more than six months, and don't they say that they expect you to get PG within three?

I was just wondering why because surely on Clomid you only have the same chance as anyone (normal) to get PG - at 30 you have a 20 per cent chance of concieving each cycle (apparently). So does Clomid increase your chances? How? If the egg that is released is only the same quality as any old ovulating person why do they expect you to get PG in three months when for normal people it is 12?

Floss - I have had blood tests done too - am waiting for the results which are in but doc isn;t in till Thursday to look at them. Does the day 21 progesterone test have to be done on day 21 of your cycle (is that a stupid question???)

nh101 the progesterone level is what indicates if you have ov'd or not - a level of over 30 at 7DPO indicates ov. (7DPO on a 28 day cycle is day 21 - to answer your other q!)
sunshyne welcome - and don't feel too bad about your 28.5 - my first day 21 test was 8.3

"Another question I wanted to ask about Clomid - I know they don't like to give it to you for more than six months, and don't they say that they expect you to get PG within three?"

True that they don't like to give it to a patient for more than six months. I have heard that if clomid does work it is more likely to work within the first three months of usage.

"I was just wondering why because surely on Clomid you only have the same chance as anyone (normal) to get PG - at 30 you have a 20 per cent chance of concieving each cycle (apparently). So does Clomid increase your chances? How? If the egg that is released is only the same quality as any old ovulating person why do they expect you to get PG in three months when for normal people it is 12?"

Clomid encourages the ovaries to work harder. Results show that 4 out of 5 women given clomid do ovulate, but only about one in three become pg. The starting dose is usually 50 milligrams, which may be increased to 100 milligrams. Clomid can cause thickening of mucus in the cervix, so a post coital test can tell docs how well the sperms are surviving in the genital tract.

However, whilst clomid is a useful drug for many women with subfertility problems. it is not alwyas suitable for women with PCOS as it can cause an exaggerated rise in LH which could impede fertilisation. So if clomid has not been successful in women with PCOS within 6 months, more investigations and alternative treatments are usually called for.

So Attila - if I'm on Clomid because I don't ov - but there doesn't seem to be a reason I don't (no pcos/endo etc) - what happens to me after 6 months? I am ov'ing on Clomid as doc did blood test but no other tests/monitoring are being done - I'm just expected to take it for 6 months and report back if nothing's happened

Sunshyne - welcome to the thread. Hope the Clomid works for you.

nh101 - I have often wondered that about why they expect you to get pg quicker than people who ovulate naturally. It isn't a wonder drug, it just makes you ov (assuming the levels are correct) and the rest is up to, hesitating to say 'luck' but I guess that is it!

I had blood tests on a random day as my gp recognised that fact that I may not have a period for a very long time and he wanted to get things moving. I did get the results tho.

Oops - meant to post that ages ago but must have missed the button - so delayed x-posts with Atilla. I hope that I am not one of the people with PCOS that Clomid is not suitable for!

next step, I have been told, would be a laparoscopy...though I do have PCOS, nomore

Morning all

Hi tigers hope you are well?

"To Attila - if I'm on Clomid because I don't ov - but there doesn't seem to be a reason I don't (no pcos/endo etc) - what happens to me after 6 months? I am ov'ing on Clomid as doc did blood test but no other tests/monitoring are being done - I'm just expected to take it for 6 months and report back if nothing's happened"

You do not presumably have a diagnosis of the underlying problem yet they gave you clomid?. Why have they given you clomid?. It is usually given to women with ovulatory problems. I would talk to them at some length re this matter.

If you're not being monitored now then that's another no no. Monitoring should be done throughout the months you are taking this otherwise there is no way of knowing whether its working or not. The dosage may need changing.

Clomid is not prescribed for endometriosis at all. Its usually diagnosed through a keyhole surgery op called a laparoscopy.

Clomid encourages the ovaries to work harder, that is what is does.

flosspot,

Is the lap they are suggesting just being done as a diagnostic procedure?. I would ask more about this, its little point in them just doing a diagnostic procedure.

I would hope instead that the cystic follicles on your ovaries would be diathermised - this type of op is called laparascopic ovarian diathermy and is sometimes helpful for women with PCOS. I became pg two months post diathermy and I know of other women who became of as a result of this op. Equally I know of women for whom this op was unsuccessful

I would ask more about this procedure and the surgeons experience in doing same.

Thanks Attila - I suppose it does make some sense! I am not being monitored either. The gynae I saw did my D&C after my MC in March, then I went to see him about lack of periods (it had been 11 weeks since my last period when I saw him). He asked had my periods always been long. They have always been long so he said don't worry there's something we can give you to help you ovulate. It's called Clomid. And he prescribed me six months worth and asked to see me again in three months if it hadn't worked.

My temps show a strong rise after day 14 this month - which definitely means OV, doesn't it? Please don't tell me it might be wrong!!

Tigers - was it your progesterone test you had on a random day? What were the results?

I had prolactin, FSH, LH and thyroid done on a randon day (10 weeks into last cycle!) and they came back "Normal" but then when I was referred, the gynae sent me for the blood tests again saying the first ones were irrelevant because they need to be done on days 1-3. I haven't had the results from those tests yet.

If you have PCOS will Clomid not make you OV? I always wondered whether I have PCOS because of the long cycles - but the temps show that I have OV'd on Clomid this month, so does that mean I definitely don't have PCOS?

Sorry for all the questions - hope everyone is well and feeling lucky this month!!!

nh I have PCOS and am sure that on 4th cycle I started ov'ing regularly- temp rises and everything. This is almost as big a deal for me as getting pg. But with PCOS, i do need to have more monitoring than I am currently getting.

Something I plan on taking up with my cons. at next appt. Determined to be heard about shoddy service I have been receiving. Will also ask about Diathermy Attila- thanks as ever for your input.

I understand floss! After my epic anovulatory 12 week cycle I was so relieved to OV on day 14 this month so I can relate.

Hi Flosspot

I would not take the temp rise as definitive proof that you are ovulating as you can have a temp rise in the second half of the cycle when an egg has not been shed. At best, the clomid is doing something.

Certainly take all this up with the cons at your next appointment.

Hi nh101,

Re your comments:-

"I suppose it does make some sense! I am not being monitored either".

You should be, I'd have words!!.

"The gynae I saw did my D&C after my MC in March, then I went to see him about lack of periods (it had been 11 weeks since my last period when I saw him). He asked had my periods always been long. They have always been long so he said don't worry there's something we can give you to help you ovulate. It's called Clomid. And he prescribed me six months worth and asked to see me again in three months if it hadn't worked".

The history of long cycles should have been a clue. Well it was, he gave your clomid but giving you this without a firm diagnosis of the underlying problem is not always a good idea. Again you should be monitored whilst on it. If you're not monitored you have no way of determining whether its doing the job its supposed to. Also internal ultrasound scans should be done, at least by doing this the uterine cavity and ovaries can be seen (to see if they are polycsytic).

My temps show a strong rise after day 14 this month - which definitely means OV, doesn't it? Please don't tell me it might be wrong!! wink

All I would say is do not put any store by temp rises. If you read my post to Flosspot you will see why. A blood test is the most accurate way of determining whether ovulation has occured in any one particular month.

"I had prolactin, FSH, LH and thyroid done on a randon day (10 weeks into last cycle!) and they came back "Normal" but then when I was referred, the gynae sent me for the blood tests again saying the first ones were irrelevant because they need to be done on days 1-3. I haven't had the results from those tests yet".

Bloody hopeless of them frnakly to give you tests for those hormone levels so late in a cycle. Waste of time for all. Not surprised your gynae was not happy and sent you back again to have it redone. A caveat re the blood tests; ensure that both LH and FSH are compared with regards to the Day 3 test. If this is not done the test is meaningless.

"If you have PCOS will Clomid not make you OV?"

It does not work for all PCOS patients. It should be used with a degree of caution for such women.

"I always wondered whether I have PCOS because of the long cycles - but the temps show that I have OV'd on Clomid this month, so does that mean I definitely don't have PCOS?"

In a word no. As mentioned above, do not solely go by temp charts alone; they are not always accurate. A blood test will determine whether ovulation has occured or not. PCOS is a very individualistic disorder and affects each woman with it very differently. I was diagnosed with PCOS on the basis of my highly irregular periods (have only ever had one 28 day cycle EVER!) and my bloodwork which showed an indicator for PCOS - this being an imbalance of LH to that of FSH.

"Sorry for all the questions"
no worries

"hope everyone is well and feeling lucky this month!!!"

I second that!

I feel all your pain...
I've just returned from our first trip to the sub fertility clinic.
The results our doc told us were fine regarding DP are not ok at all, combined with my long cycles and possible PCOS (I'm having a scan next month) we might have to go down the IVF route. Still don't know whether I ovuate or not (I'm guessing not) and we wont get the next consultation until Jan ish (we've decided to get all the investigation stuff done on the NHS and then if it doesn't move quick enough after that we'll go private)
Feeling very down - supposed to be working from home but just want to crawl under my duvet!
Sorry for the selfish rant!
Hope to read some good news on you all v soon
x

Hi all, I have been lingering around in the background for a while just taking it all in.

Just thought I would let you know that I have just been to see the consulant following my second course of clomid (the first course being 50mg). I have OV on 100mg with a count of over 100 which consulant has informed me is likely to be 2 eggs.

I have PCOS and was prescibed clomid for this reason.

Hi Kerri and mowmi....come join the frustration!!!