My fertility journey & now starting Clomid - Any advice or experience?

[Crazydoglady123]

I have a child who is 9 and fell pregnant easily. A year or so after I was diagnosed with PCOS after a scan. I suffered with an eating disorder and my periods stopped for 6 months. I then went onto various contraceptives (pill, depo) as my circumstances changed. I then tried the Mirena coil and everything seemed great on it till it disappeared and at the same time I started being in lots of pain so had a pelvic scan (to locate coil) and discovered I had a 6cm ovarian cyst which a few days later I ended up heavily bleeding so was admitted to hospital and had cyst removed. The consultant also removed my coil and upon waking from surgery told me that it'd started to embed in my uterus and it was that which caused the bleeding and pain.

Fast forward to more recent, I'd been on the depo again since (no probs). I stopped it two years ago to TTC with my partner (not my Childs dad) and finding it really, really difficult to conceive :( He has had two sperm evaluations as the first was low but the second was much higher (although slightly low morphology) but the doctors seem to be fine with him now and back looking at me. I've tried ovulation tests (which always showed a surge), I've had a Hycosy which everything was fine and just finished 3 cycles of Letrozole which was a high dose. My 21 day blood test showed my progesterone at 23 and it apparently needs to be over 30 to have ovulated. I'm not due to start tonight Clomiphene. He's prescribed me 100mg a day (day 2-6) so from what I've read again is another decent/high dose but I didn't get to speak to him properly and feel a bit anxious as hear lots of lovely side effects with these! Is it true they're better taken at night? Also online I read that there's a 10% chance of developing an ovarian cyst with these so I'm not sure if I should try and book a private scan after the first cycle to make sure I haven't got one again? I have two rounds of this then another blood test. If I ovulate on it then I'm allowed another 4 goes, if not on the sheet he gave me it said Gondatropins may tried after or keyhole surgery to make holes in my ovaries... Any experience or advice greatly appreciated!

How’s things with you?

@HT1507 EEEEKKKKKKKK biggest congratulations!!! So happy for you! Keep positive thoughts. My OH is a big believer in the law of attraction...positive thought bring you good things.

I'm okay thank you. Been a horrible week/week and a half but I feel like I've turned a corner today but tbf I'm still in bed resting so I haven't moved around much. I woke up feeling a bit less bloated and looking pregnant haha. I took a EPT yesterday and was BFN but I don't think I can read too much into that one tbh as it wasn't first urine and could have been too early anyway. I've got to go back to my consultant for a scan with him soon. Got to call to book it on day one of my period which could be any time Wednesday onwards.

Good luck OP. HOpe you get the BFP you are waiting for. Clomid made me lose my actual mind, so watch out for hormones impacting your mental health.

@Crazydoglady123 thank you hubby and I are trying to have the attitude of “what will be will be” and there’s not much we can do about it, just carry on and hope for the best. I went through a lot of emotions with the miscarriage, thinking if I’d possibly done something wrong, ate the wrong thing, got too stressed out, or maybe my body just isn’t good enough .. but then I realised it happens to a lot of women, so why not to me? Hopefully it’s a one off.

If we’re lucky enough for this pregnancy to be successful then my doggies are going to have to get used to sharing their mummy & daddy lol .. it will be a full house!

Glad you’re on the way to feeling better. Are you continuing with Clomid or stopping until you’ve had the further scans etc?

@Itsnotlikethiswithotherpeople oh really? Thank you. It seems to be affecting me more physically than mentally so far. Not sure if I'll be going back on it or not.

@HT1507 that's the mindset I go for as I hate disappointment. Fingers crossed for you and everything happens for a reason too. Hahaha how many dogs have you got? I'm sure they'll be fine.

I'm not allowed to take it on my next cycle. Got to wait for the scan first to see how my ovaries and cysts are. I don't know how much of a sign this is but I have got so much CM the last couple of days. Sorry TMI but I was doing some cleaning earlier and kept feeling like I was leaking while I was walking

@Crazydoglady123 we have 2 dogs .. a two-year-old Doberman and a rescued street dog brought over from Romania who we think is the same age. We also have 2 cats .. although they just do their own thing most of the time.

Hopefully the CM is a good sign! I still haven’t got many symptoms, although one thing I have noticed the last few days is feeling really thirsty. I’ve had the odd aches in my boobs and slight period style cramps in my belly, but other than that I feel normal! Odd how some women get all the symptoms you can think of and others get barely anything

Hi ladies, hope you don’t mind me joining. Congratulations @HT1507. This is my first cycle on clomid, taken cd2-6 I’m now on cd14 and waiting for ovulation. I’ve had headaches on and off the last couple of days but not sure if that’s related or not.

@Suki2020 hi! The more the merrier how long have you been TTC if you don’t mind me asking?

@HT1507 Aww I love Dobermans! I have two sausage dogs so miniature versions!

I hope so. When it was pregnant before I had practically no symptoms throughout, no cravings...nothing! The only thing I had was a few days of feeling like I needed a wee more but it was quite early on so not sure if it was definitely pregnancy related.

Welcome @Suki2020! I believe headaches are a side effect of Clomid. Be good to hear how you get on.

@HT1507 we’ve been trying 2yrs but I’ve been off the pill for just over 3yrs but it took a while for my periods to return and I sometimes have long cycles even 3yrs later. My cycles vary from 36-70+days 😩 so hoping clomid will help with that. I’ve had bloods and ultrasounds which have all come back clear other than my thyroid is slightly under active at 5.25, OH sperm test came back fine too 🤷🏻‍♀️

Isn't fertility such a shit! That must be really frustrating having long cycles. Fingers crossed the clomid works on you! Do you have PCOS?

@Crazydoglady123 thank you. no don’t have PCOS. It is so frustrating as I never know when I’m going to ovulate as no two cycles seem to be the same. I find temping and doing OPK’s help so much though

@Suki2020 well I hope Clomid does the trick for you! Long cycles are crap 🙁 mine were between 32-38 days before starting Clomid which brought ovulation forward to day 17 this month. Hopefully you should ovulate in the next few days! I definitely felt it this time and it tied in with my BBT .. it was good finally feeling like my body was doing something it should be for once lol!

@HT1507 do you use OPK’s as well? I had EWCM on cd12 but no peak on my opk so will assume my body is trying but not got there yet. What strength of clomid are you all taking? I’m on 50mg

That must be so difficult. Mine aren't long but irregular 28-35 days. I've been on 100mg of Clomid. I think considering what effect Clomid had on me you're better starting on 50g and can always increase if not working

@Suki2020 I was put straight onto 100mg. I believe if 50mg doesn’t work you would then get it increased? Have you just been given one month’s worth?

I’ve used OPKs a couple of times but didn’t really bother much because PCOS can make them unreliable, however I did get a positive on 17th, which is the day my BBT chart said I ovulated. Are you having any cramping or feeling bloated at all?

I couldn’t judge things by CM this month as the Clomid seems to have made me very dry!

@HT1507 @Crazydoglady123 I was give 30 50mg tablets so 6months supply at 50mg. I have to have bloods and scan on my next cycle of clomid if this one doesn’t work. What side effects have you had?

@Suki2020 the only thing I’ve really noticed is lack of CM, so I used Preseed lube to help the sperm do their job lol. I took my tablets in the morning but I know some women take theirs in the evening if they get side effects.

@Suki2020 that's good they're scanning you and doing bloods! I'm sure they'll re evaluate if not working. I don't track my ovulation but had really pain and soooo much bloating since the time I should have been ovulating on clomid and have had it for the last week and a half. I paid for a private scan Wednesday to find I had enlarged ovaries, lots of free fluid in pelvis and POD, 4 ruptured hemorraghic cysts on left ovary, 1 large hemorraghic cyst on my right ovary which was rupturing. The cysts would have apparently been secondary after releasing a follicle so I potentially released 5 this cycle! The pain and bloating finally today feels like it's starting to calm down.

I took mine in the evening just in case. Had a couple of nights of waking up hot but other than that not too bad.

Oh and @HT1507 I've decided quint babies aren't that bad after all as you generally give birth around week 29 so a much shorter pregnancy haha

week 29? Wow. Every day is a school day!

@Crazydoglady123 oh wow that sounds painful. Fingers crossed one out of the 5 will be the one. I took my clomid at night just in case I got side effects.
@HT1507 we’ve used preseed for a few months now as I heard it can help the swimmers. But keeping up with the sex every other night is just too much when you have long cycles so hoping this will be a shorter cycle for me

@Crazydoglady123 @Suki2020 how are you both doing?

Hey @HT1507

I'm still feel like a big bloated whale atm ☹️ I keep getting heartburn and burping loads today. No idea what that means. Holding out to test on Wednesday. How are you doing?