Letrozole first cycle

[ChipAndDip]

Hi ladies,

I’m due to start taking letrozole next cycle for the first time, just waiting for my period to start. I’ve got some spotting so reckon it will be in the next couple of days.

I wanted to see if anyone else is at a similar stage and wants to join me on the journey? Or if you’re already taking it I’d love to hear your experiences!

I’ve been reading all about the side effects so I’m a little anxious, but generally just excited to give it a try! My cycles are very irregular, and although I always get a peak OPK recently this hasn’t happened until around CD32, so I have a lot of waiting to do! Really hope the letrozole speeds things up 🤞

Hi all, I hope you don't mind me jumping in - feel free to ignore! I'm currently on my first letrozole cycle. Been injecting inhixa, have progesterone to start too. Re. DTD; is it essential to catch the day of the LH surge? (Strongest line on strip) we decided to dtd every other day (we are old and tired 🫣), surge happened to fall on an 'off' day 😬 I'm now worried all my efforts/ cost etc has all been for nothing! Shall I even bother starting the progesterone?

Hope everyone's cycles/ scans/ tww are going ok - such a stressful time!

My understanding is the surge shows you are about to ovulate within next day or so. So as long as you DTD before that there’s always a chance as sperm can live for days..

Hi @Obione1 how are you feeling today? I know you must have read/heard this a thousand times but bleeding can be very normal and is hopefully just a blip. Sending a hand hold. Hope the weekend doesn’t stay too much before your scan in Monday. xx

I’m about 7dpo and just started spotting this morning 🙁 But at least better than 5dpo which is when spotting started the last 2 months!

@Gkb90 @Lovemusic2015 how did your scans go?

@AnnieStar12 how are you finding the letrozole so far? I’m haven’t had trigger shots because I had confirmed ovulation on the first month on it.

Hi again @MotherOfShihTzus! 👋🏻 DTD the day before and after peak should be just fine! Sounds like you’re well covered 😊 When was your peak? Hope your TWW is going well!

@Obione1 thinking about you here, how has all been since yesterday? Hoping all is well 🤞🏻

@ChipAndDip positive that spotting isn’t happening until 7dpo, fingers & toes crossed for this cycle for you!

hope everyone else is doing ok & remaining positive. I’m struggling with the side effects this time. Absolutely exhausted & Feeling a bit down about it all.
however had my scan this morning. Lining looking better than last month but 3 good follicles. 20mm & 2 x 17mm (one in each ovary). After chatting with consultant decided to proceed as risk of multiples low & I guess better chance of one good egg 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

@MotherOfShihTzus I’d say you’re well covered! We are old & tired too!!!! Sperm supposedly last 5 days plus it’s good to let it build up again so I was told. Hope this is your time 🤞🏻

@bstrong0805 how are you getting on? I feel we are quite similar. I’m not sure if we will proceed to ivf either. This is round two of letrozole for us & thinking one more & we’ll reassess our options / situation…

@Lovemusic2015 3 follicles - go go go! We had 4 follicles.. and threw caution to the wind and here we are.. difference is that my consultant said don't do it lol. We'll find out on Monday if we have one or more, at this stage - as long as something is growing I'm happy. Been bleeding again but I'm hoping it's just the placenta growing and doing it's thing..

@ChipAndDip how are you feeling? It's not over for this round yet. Sending hugs xx

Hope you've all got something nice planned for the weekend x

@Obione1 agh you had 4, I couldn’t remember, can’t wait to hear how you get on Monday 🤞🏻🙏🏻 lots of friends had bleeding so hoping it’s all normal & part of the process.
yes I reckon 3 follicles is very promising. My consultant was like go for it as good chance of one good one so I’m excited. Lining was 7mm which they said was ideal as last month wasn’t as good so trying to be positive!

@Obione1 hope it is all going well for you !

@Lovemusic2015 just finished by dose of letrozole for round 2 and scan to check follicles is middle of next week so we will see how we get along. Last time I had two follicles of 16mm one on each side but lining was only around 5.5mm so maybe wasn’t the best ! After this round of things don’t work we are going to take a break from the letrozole for about a 2 months and reevaluate all options before deciding on ivf

all the best to you - seem to have a good follicle count and size so keeping fingers crossed for you this month !

I’m half way through now with the pills, and have my first monitoring scan on Monday (CD7) to see what’s growing. I think I’m going to ask for the trigger shot as I don’t want the pressure of monitoring ovulation myself as my cycles varies a few days from month to month, and I’ve read it can increase the chances anyway.

@Obione1 and @bstrong0805 - good luck with your scans next week!

@Lovemusic2015 good luck with the three follicles, that’s a great place to be. Fingers crossed for you.

Can I ask, is everyone on 2.5m or 5m? My doc started me with 2.5 but I’ve been reading 5 gets much better results. Maybe that’s what they do second month if 2.5 isn’t enough 🤷‍♀️

hope everyone staying positive whatever the next days bring..

Hope you’re all having a lovely weekend ladies & getting a chance to relax & unwind.

@ChipAndDip how are you doing now? Well through the 2ww now so hoping for some positive news for you 🤞🏻

@bstrong0805 it's hard to know about the lining. I asked my doc & she said 7mm is optimal but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t implant on less. She was more focused on the triple lining. Whilst I had 3 follicles she did explain they may not all include good eggs (or even an egg) & therefore encouraged us to proceed as no way of knowing egg quality unless doing ivf & egg retrieval. We had 2 last month so I’m just seeing this month as one extra chance.

@AnnieStar12 thank you - every little bit of hope helps but going to try stay busy now over the next 2 weeks & try not obsess over it. I’m on 5mg but I’m private so consultant put me straight on that. 2nd month in a row I’ve responded well & ovulated early. Trigger shit takes the guessing out of it I suppose & means no ovulation sticks which is one less thing to obsess over!! Best of luck to you this month 🤞🏻

@Lovemusic2015 ooh you have 3 nice follicles, that’s so exciting! Do you think you’ve ovulated by now?

@Obione1 hope everything goes well at your scan today 🤞

I’m doing fine, spotting has been on and off but definitely lighter than usual. But last month was also lighter than usual so not getting my hopes up! I started taking B vitamins last month so wondering if that is helping, although I’m very sceptical that vitamins can actually make a difference to this type of thing.

AF due Fridayish so not much longer for me to wait x

@AnnieStar12 I’m with the NHS and they put me straight on 5mg, not sure why! Seems like every clinic is different. Hope your scan goes well today 🙏

@AnnieStar12 i also started on 5mg - private clinic.

Thanks everyone, useful to know you all went straight to 5m dose. I will ask for that if we do another round. We are private also as not entitled to NHS funding because we already have a kid.

I had my scan this morning, have 2 well developed follicles - both at 13mm already. Booked in for next scan on Wednesday to see which day to do the IUI. Was kind of hoping there would be 3 or 4 to have maximum chances! But the clinic seemed happy with the 2. Guess it's better than 1...

They agreed to give me the trigger shot, but also said I need to monitor ovulation incase that happens first.

So I have one more question for those on private, how much did you pay for the trigger shot? My Letrozole prescription was only £15 for the whole box, but realise people can be charged all sorts for private prescriptions so want an idea of price before heading out to the chemist. It's for 1 Ovitrelle 250mcg pen.

How is everyone else getting on?

Hey everyone!

due to stop norethisterone on Thursday to induce a bleed then will start letrozole!

been put on 5mg from the start.

have people found they ovulate on 5mg?

were you all having regular periods before letrozole? X

Hi all - had my CD12 scan today. Two follicles at 22mm had 15mm, one on each side. Also had pos ov tests this morning.

Doc made me confirm I’d be okay with twin pregnancy before continuing with this cycle. Said we could now go ahead and try (woops - we already DTD yesterday, should we not have been?! No one told me not to in case of 3 or 4 follicles 😂 but makes sense).

Im a regular ovulator with regular periods but doing progesterone test on day 21 to confirm. No trigger shot unless the test shows I’m actually not ovulating, and would move to that next month.

Said she wouldn’t put me up to 5mg as I’ve responded v well to 2.5mg.

Going to DTD tomorrow again, and then cross our fingers! Trying to not get hopes up though as I’m pretty sure our issue is later on in the process eg fertilisation or implanting.

@ChipAndDip hope all goes well this week, will have my fingers crossed. I’m assuming I’ve ovulated, getting busy these nights anyway!

@Obione1 hope all went well today?

@bstrong0805 hope your scan brings good news this week too.

@AnnieStar12 I'm private too, secondary infertility, straight to 5mg as consultant says would work best in our case as we’d been trying quite a while. I’m in Ireland so my shot was around €40. Two follicles sounds great!

@Ellierose666 this is my second month on letrozole & follicles have responded really well both times. Cycles quote irregular here after coming off the pill & diagnosed with ‘mild pcos’. I’ve been on metformin for 6 months which has helped to regulate them.

@Sierra26 we are at similar points in our cycles, I’m day 14. Fingers crossed for us this month..extra follicles = extra chances! I’m wondering too if our issue is fertilisation / implantation but we’ll try this for another mont or so & see…

@Lovemusic2015 @ChipAndDip @Sierra26
Had my scan, my right ovary is still a bit enlarged but apparently that's normal.
Turns out that we're having twins! So, those 4 follicles turned into two babies! Two tiny heartbeats which is great to know.
Good luck with all your DTDs and let me know how it's all going x

@Obione1 aaaahggh!! Congratulations I’m so thrilled for you. Dying to know would it be twins!! How do you feel about it? You in shock?x

Thank you!! I'm in massive shock. I knew it could be a possibility but I didn't think we'd get pregnant and then today when she said 'the good news is, there are only two babies' I asked her to repeat it. Lol
I don't think I've processed it yet, got a lot of hurdles to get through, but have been allowing myself to enjoy it today! Xx

@Obione1 omg omg!!! Congratulations! Aww twins, that’s so lovely! Really happy for you xx

Omg @Obione1 that is fantastic news. Congratulations. Was it your usual fertility doctor who scanned you or did you have to go to early pregnancy? Hope you’re relaxing and taking it all in this evening 💕