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 🤞

@Daisywillow17 yes, this thread is my first time on mumsnet too! I was delighted to find people going through exact same process :)

yeah day 13 does seem late, are you having a trigger shot or waiting for natural ovulation? I guess it all depends on when you normally ovulate as if before day 13 then you don’t want to miss the window.

Yes, they could see the follicles on day 7 and then monitored them growing. Though I think I probably didn’t need so many monitoring scans tbh.

@AnnieStar12 I have to say it’s really reassuring hearing other people go through the same process with some great results too!

My periods never returned since coming off the pill over a year ago (PCOS), tried metformin and that brought on a period but my cycles were about 50 days long. I’ve had provera this cycle to induce a bleed, so I’m not sure when I’ll ovulate. Nothing has been mentioned about a trigger shot as yet so will wait for a natural ovulation. Will contact them tomorrow about having a scan a little earlier and see what they say!

Super interesting that they could see your follicles growing from day 7! Did you get any side effects from Letrozole? I’m finding I’ve been getting really hot in the night and the occasional headache!

Hi everyone!

I always hear mixed opinions on the best time to test for ovulation.

do you test on first morning urine? Or mid morning or when usually?

Hi everyone. Mumsnet posting newbie here - please can I join your thread? I am so relieved to find others going through the same process (although of course don't wish this on anyone) as I am going totally crazy and my whole life seems to have been taken over by TTC.

I am very fortunate to have a beautiful 3 year old DS but no joy with #2 (#1 took 11 months and I found out I was pregnant when I did a test on the day I was prescribed norethisterone and Clomid).

I have just done my first cycle with 2.5mg Letrozole and everything went as planned with ovulation on day 14. I did a test yesterday morning (14dpo) and stupidly got my hopes up (I tried so hard not to) as there was a faint line (attached) on the Boots early response test. I have since done another Boots test and a Clearblue early test and both BFN.

I have had symptoms I haven't experienced before during my period (slightly sore boobs, tight chest, high heart rate) so again, allowed myself to get all excited. Has anyone else had these symptoms on their first cycle? Perhaps they're normal before a period?

Now waiting for AF.... BBT is still high so who knows what's going on. I called the clinic and they said maybe a chemical pregnancy (I had one in July).

Sorry for the long message - very grateful to anyone who reads my story and thank you for having me here. x

@Ellierose666 I have always tested on FMU (which often for me is like 4am as I don't ever make it through the night without a trip to the bathroom!). But during this first cycle of letrozole the nurse said as soon as I got the flashing smiley (on the clearblue four day sticks) then I should test morning and evening until I got the peak smiley. I did end up getting the peak one on an evening test so I am now not sure it matters too much when you test. Others might think differently 🤔

@decafisnotthesame - that all sounds super stressful. Sounds like it might be a chemical pregnancy. When I had one a few months back I also went a bit mad with tests as some were showing positive and others weren't, but the main issue was the line wasn't getting darker each day, and eventually it started fading. I guess there's a chance for you that it may simply be that the other tests haven't picked up the hormone yet?! Hope you get answers soon, either way.

@Ellierose666 I normally test in the evening until I think it's very close then do one am and one pm to catch the peak. I use the premom app and find it super helpful to pinpoint the peak.

@Daisywillow17 luckily I didn't have side effects from the Letrozole, but I think the trigger shot did make me extremely tired - although I've spent the past few days wishfully hoping that the tiredness is actually a sign of early pregnancy, but I'll look for anything I can right now, lol! Am just over half way through the TWW so interpreting every twinge in my body looking for symptoms..

Hi everyone!

had my scan today and 3 follicles measuring 14, 14 and 13!

is that normal? Should I be worried about multiples?!

@Ellierose666 what did the nurse say? Hopefully they gave you some guidance. I guess you'll be having another scan in a couple of days so will know more then? It might be that one becomes dominant and the others don't get any bigger.
Sorry I can't help much - I'm in my first cycle of letrozole and on my day 10 scan had one follicle at 17mm.... I have no idea if there were others at say 14mm.

She didn’t say much really! She just said be aware there’s a risk of multiples!

I’m having a monitoring scan on cycle day 9 (Friday) and cycle day 13 (Tuesday)! Do you think there is a chance we will be able to see any follicles developing on day 9? The nurse has already told me that there isn’t much of a chance of seeing anything this early. Be interested to hear your experiences!

@Daisywillow17 i had my first monitoring scan on day 7 and they clearly saw two follicles growing. They both grew to full size, plus a small third one grew which was picked up at later monitoring scans, but didn’t grow to a mature size.

@Ellierose666 if you look at earlier posts on the thread you’ll see some other people grew 3 or even 4 mature follicles. Multiples are always a risk with Letrozole medicated cycles - my clinic keep reminding me of this! But in my case, seeing as I’ve not conceived anything in many months of trying, I think chances of conceiving multiple at once seems very slim!

@decafisnotthesame have you tested again today? Has the line stayed the same?

@Daisywillow17 I had my first scan on day 10 and the follicle was 17mm so at day 9 I would expect you will see something. By day 12 (which was a Friday) it was 20mm so they didn't scan again and just did the progesterone test a week on Monday later to confirm ovulation (plus I did OPKs and temping).

@AnnieStar12 thanks for asking.... I didn't test. I can't take the disappointment even though deep down I know its over for me this month. I don't have any of the symptoms I had before the weekend and have had THE WORST cramps since last night. I've sat with a hot water bottle for most of the day. Meant to be going swimming with a friend shortly..... really hoping bleeding doesn't start during as my last chemical was like 100x a normal period bleed. Wish me luck...

Hi ladies, sorry didn’t keep up with all the messages. So to recap I’ve just had a positive on my second cycle of letrozole & hopefully this baby sticks.
cycle 1: scan on day 12: 2 follicles 16mm & 23mm I think. Trigger that day.
cycle 2: scan on day 11: 3 follicles: 16, 17 & 20: positive. Trigger next morning.

we were warned about the possibility of multiples but told triplets was very low chance. Also told that not every follicle has an egg or even a good egg so the way I looked on it was 3 chances to work… As two chances previous month didn’t work.

@decafisnotthesame thinking about you & hope you’re ok, I’ve had a chemical before & it’s horrendous in terms of hope so quickly turning to sadness. I haven’t tested since Sunday, will test again tomorrow as I refuse to test every day and worry about the lines (as I know that’s what I’d do). Hopefully your little bean is doing ok, you’re not out until your period arrives, maybe the other tests were less sensitive…

@Ellierose666 I used to test in the afternoon until I spotted a rise with the ovulation tests, I then tested 3 times a day as I missed it some months!

@Lovemusic2015 thank you. Seeing a friend this evening has helped massively. My DH has been away since Sunday so I've been trying to deal with it on my own... not that he really gets it even though he tries to be supportive.

Still no AF but OMG the pain in my entire stomach area (right from upper legs to belly button, sometimes higher towards my bra strap area even) is horrendous. It goes away a bit if I lie down but sitting and standing is agony. Has anyone else had this? With my last CP I didn't have any stomach pain, just spotting and an awful headache for a week after BFN and then the bleeding started.

@Lovemusic2015 keeping everything crossed for you for when you test tomorrow xx

@decafisnotthesame oh dear that sounds horrible, sorry you’re in so much pain. I would definitely get it checked out if you’re in lots of pain just to make sure everything’s okay. Hope you manage to get some rest.

@Lovemusic2015 good luck with the test tomorrow. I admire your will power not to test everyday. I know that’s the most sensible thing to do rather than stress over line shading!

@bstrong0805 how are you getting on? I know you’re a couple days ahead of me so must be nearing the end of the TWW..

@AnnieStar12 caved in and did a cheap stick test today and got a BFN so not getting my hopes high. I don’t have any symptoms too atm so counting this cycle as a no. Official date to test is Friday. What about you ?

An update from me. The pain subsided thankfully and then bleeding started this morning. I knew it was coming but still sad. I'll call the clinic later to get everything lined up for my next cycle.... fingers crossed for everyone else this month 💕

@bstrong0805 me too, I caved and tested a couple times in recent days - have had a couple of faint lines but that would have been the remains from the trigger shot, not sure why I did that to myself. I did one this morning and don’t think there was anything there. I have just ordered some overpriced clear blue digital early response ones to arrive tomorrow which will mean no more obsessing over lines as it will just tell me in words!! At this point, I feel like £16 on 2 pregnancy tests is probably worth the peace of mind!

@decafisnotthesame so pleased the pain has stopped, but sorry this wasn’t your month.

@AnnieStar12 literally did the same, ordered the same clear blue ones this morning. For me, the hcg line disappeared over The Weeknd itself around 7/8 DPO because I was checking a few times to see how long it lasts. Then I held nerves till this morning but then caved in !

@decafisnotthesame sorry to hear ! Best of luck for the next cycle..

I think this is end of this cycle for me - today was my day of testing and it’s a bfn. Pics attached and I had a glimmer of hope as I thought I saw a faint line on the clear blue but then I did a FRER test and it was a stark bfn. Not very hopefully but both pics attached.

Day 13 of my cycle… not sure if I’ve missed my peak? But now the OPK’s have started to get lighter 😞

I did have cramping last night after BD’ing though so not sure what that was?

trying to not feel disheartened, but haven’t had a peak on clearblue digital!

I have just had a day 9 scan and my follicle
is measuring 12mm, is this normal?

I’m now 11DPO and got another BFN on a cheap strip so I’m pretty sure I’m out. In previous pregnancies I’ve had a BFP on this day.

I also did the Clearblue early detection digital tests but all I got was an error message. There were 2 in the box and both did the same. That was quite upsetting as I’d waited until this morning to use the digital tests to prevent me obsessively looking for faint lines on the strips.

@bstrong0805 I know what you mean about thinking you can see a faint on the CB test. Were both tests from same sample?
And have you decided what you’ll do if AF arrives? Will you go straight to a second round? We’ve decided to go straight to a second round and have asked for the prescription to move on to 5m this time.