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!

Thanks ladies. I've just heard back and they apparently don't do HCG bloods without a positive test 😑 She said without getting my hopes up I could still be pregnant so to test again in a couple of days and if no sign of AF this time next week to call back.

@Crazydoglady123 did you have long cycles before clomid?

Aw @Ronnii what puppy do you have? I'm sure she'll get there, just takes a bit of time.

No, not long just not consistent. Looking back they're between 27 and 35 days. The Letrozole brought me a bit more in line to 28 days the last few months before the Clomid. Like I say, this is only my first cycle on Clomid and I moved straight from Letrozole

Cockerpoo >.< we were going to wait till after kids for a dog, but I am glad now cos puppies are a handful on their own lol

@Crazydoglady123 I see about the cycles, hopefully limbo doesn't last too long, i find it the worst part. My partner likes will ask me what's going on, like I know. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Awww I love Cockapoos!

Yeah it's hard. My OH wasn't the most supportive last night about how I was feeling which has annoyed me. He's view is he is going through it too which I am totally supportive of but I can't help if I feel down for a few hours or day and I have hormones to factor in to this plus I've spent the last couple of weeks in so much pain. Men grrrr

@Ronnii I have PCOS too so haven’t really used OPKs .. however I did track my BBT this month and it seems pretty normal. Every chart will be different anyway, but if you get an increase in the second half of month then you should have ovulated. Maybe give it a go .. it may give you more certainty around ovulation. I’ve attached it incase it helps to take a look.

@Crazydoglady123 hey! Sorry you’re having such a sh*tty time! Keep your chin up x

@Ronnii I think it’s definitely easier getting a puppy before you have a baby rather than the other way round .. gives you a chance to get them trained and for them to calm down.

We got our Doberman as a puppy and he was an absolute psycho lol .. very hard work!! He even got banned from doggy daycare because he was too much for the lady who ran it .. and she was a behaviour specialist! It was like having a 45kg toddler running around! Thankfully he’s got calmer with time, and we have got another dog now who is a really good influence. They’ve had their walk and are currently snuggled on the sofa with me

@HT1507 can't wait for the calmer stage lol

Finally got through to gp and found my D21 progesterone was 4. It's funny how the receptionist has no idea what it means when she reads it out.

So perhaps a late ovulation to come, without clomid I have ovulated around D28 and was kinda hoping clomid would give me a shorter cycle.

I was also hoping to have a break from dtd 😂

@Ronnii yes, having to DTD on set days regardless of the mood you’re in can get tiring lol! I’m lucky my husband is up for it any time, any day .. that helped haha!

It’s frustrating when you get results from a receptionist who can’t offer an explanation or answer any questions .. I get that doctors are busy but it makes things easier when you actually know what’s going on and aren’t left using Dr. Google!

Do you have a consultation booked in with your specialist any time soon, maybe to discuss increased dosage if that’s what’s needed?

[quote Ronnii]@HT1507 can't wait for the calmer stage lol

Finally got through to gp and found my D21 progesterone was 4. It's funny how the receptionist has no idea what it means when she reads it out.

So perhaps a late ovulation to come, without clomid I have ovulated around D28 and was kinda hoping clomid would give me a shorter cycle.

I was also hoping to have a break from dtd 😂

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@Ronnii I'd push to try and get the dose increased. Keep trying though just in case you are still due to ovulate!

[quote HT1507]**@Crazydoglady123* hey! Sorry you’re having such a shtty time! Keep your chin up x[/quote]
Thanks @HT1507. Just hate feeling in limbo so much 😔

Hi girls, how are you all doing? So I think I’ve just ovulated or about to. I had my peak opk yesterday and had some mild cramps last night but OH didn’t finish, first time ever. He said he’s just a little stressed as he’s super busy at work and tired. I feel gutted that we’ve probably missed our chance.

I got the pills I could up it myself lol.

Gp is closed for corona jabs today so will try monday. I am fond on one gp who will discuss things with me so hopefully she's in.

I haven't spoken direct to specialist apart from consultation nothing booked with them atm

Dreamed last night of having triplets 😂
I was sure with all this back pain it was gonna be egg mania.

@Suki2020 good news about ovulation. I feel for you about OH. Mine sometimes gets stressed and sometimes have to dip into a bit of role play so he's not thinking so serious. I still have a hard time sympathising with him too much tho lol

@Suki2020 or when he couldn't cos of toothache in the past. So now I'm like his mother making sure he brushes his teeth. Frustrating

@Suki2020 have you DTD in the days leading up to your positive OPK? You might not actually ovulate for up to 36 hours after the positive result, and the egg can be fertile for around 12 hours after that .. you may not be out yet! We DTD the day before and the day after I had a positive OPK and I’m now pregnant .. can you DTD tonight?

@Ronnii I didn’t know you could get Clomid without it being prescribed by a specialist .. another school day for me lol

@HT1507 it is prescribed but the consultant just wrote a letter to GP and GP prescribed it. So I've mainly dealt with GP. The consultant didn't give me a 'call me if you need me' vibe but more of a 'see you in 8 months' vibe.

@HT1507 we dtd Tuesday night, and yesterday but he didn’t ejaculate yesterday. We could try again tonight. I’m not cramping anymore so I think it’s already happened 😩 it’s so difficult as I don’t normally get any symptoms other than EWCM, so it’s all new this cycle. I feel really moody today too which doesn’t help. How are you doing?

@Suki2020 I think it's still worth dtd tonight. And it's possible to work from Tuesday too 👌

@Ronnii thanks, yeah will try tonight, just need to snap myself out of this mood before OH gets home from work tonight

@Suki2020 maybe DTD again tonight .. there may be a chance of an egg still being there!

I’m doing ok thanks. I did a Clearblue digital test on Wednesday that shows 2-3 weeks, which is what it should be, so that’s put my mind at rest a little. Will do another next week .. will be comforting to hopefully see 3+ weeks. I spoke with my consultant on Wednesday and he’s arranged an early scan for 17th.

I’ve been worrying myself over the fact I was taking low dose Aspirin before conception. I decided to take it because I had read that it increases blood flow to the uterus, can aid in fertility and reduce risk of miscarriage, but in the last week or so I’ve seen information about it potentially having a negative impact on implantation I’ve also seen information saying it’s good for implantation .. so much contradictory information around! I’ve seen forum posts from women saying they were advised to take it from when they get a BFP, and I was taking it before that stage.

I’m just trying to make the best decisions with the information I can find, like all pregnant women I imagine, but then I worry when I see anything that contradicts the information I based my decision on. When I spoke with my consultant and told him I’ve conceived, he suggested low dose Aspirin anyway, so I’d have started taking it now if I wasn’t already on it. I’m past implantation so I need to stop getting wound up by it .. easier said than done! Hopefully everything progresses the way it should

@HT1507 yeah I’d say the aspirin is ok as your past implantation and I’ve heard it’s good before ovulation too. Fingers crossed this one is a sticky bean for you. That’s good that they are giving you an early scan, 12 weeks seems like such a long wait

@HT1507 I honestly wouldn't worry! I once had a girl work for me who went through her whole pregnancy not knowing she's pregnant until she went into labour! She was out partying and drinking the whole time and her baby was fine. I bet your excited for your scan!

@Suki2020 I'd DTD tonight just in case 😂