I know you are all fed up with this but im about to start Clomid and could do with some hand holding, also answers to daft questions....

[sunburntats]

If you dont mind, i have some questions for those of you with experience of taking the medication.

Do you have to have blood taken while on the medication? If yes, how often and when?

Do you suffer from mood swings etc pmt type things.

how many pills are there to take?

Do i need to do them ovulation predictor thingies as well? How do they work, do you pee on them like a preg test? Where do you get them from??

Do you buy them like a prescription each month?

How often do i see the Docs?

As you can see, no one has told me anything. Ive not yet seen the consultant, always get his juniors who dont speak very good english and i see a different one each time. Appointemnts are like 4 months apart and they never have any answers for me.

Thanks very much for your help.

bump

desperate bump

Hi sunburntats

Just saw your desperate bumping and didn't want you to feel like you were being ignored! Must be quite quiet on here at the mo - maybe everyone's exhausted after new year

I'm not on Clomid yet, but it's looking more and more likely that I'll be starting soon. I can tell you what I know, but am sure someone with more knowledge than me will be along pretty soon!

If I understand correctly, you take them for three days at the beginning of your cycle - I have been told to take them CD3-5, but I think others have started on CD 1. S'pose it depends on your doctor and what they think best.
Apparently mood swings are a common side effect, but it depends on the person. Have also read that it's best to take them in the evening, so you'll miss the worst side effects by being asleep!
I'm not sure about whether you have blood tests done, but it is imperative that you are scanned just before ovulation to check how many follicles there are.
If there are one or two then you can proceed and get bd'ing, but if there are more than two there is a risk of triplet pregnancy etc.
I've been told that you can have extra eggs removed, but another lady on here was told to abstain if there were too many follicles that had matured.

Wrt ovulation tests you can buy them cheaply online (this site is useful) but you can also buy them in chemists. They will be more expensive there. I use the Clearblue Fertility Monitor which is basically a sooped up ovulation test - it gives you the days of high fertilty and peak fertility, therefore giving you the best chance of conceiving. Is pretty expensive though, but imo worth it for the piece of mind.
They are used just like a pregnancy test - is best to pee in a cup or something similar and then dip it in. Not so messy, and hopefully reliable results - just make sure you tell your dp/dh not to drink out of it . Have also heard on here that the afternoon is the best time to test as that's when the LH surge that precedes ovulation happens.

I think you must get them on prescription, but not sure how many they'll prescribe at a time. AFAIK you should only take them for six months max, but I could be wrong.

Not sure how often you should see the doctor, but as I said earlier you should be having a scan every month that you're taking Clomid.

Anyway, hope that I've understood everything correctly - am sure somebody who knows more than me can correct me if I'm mistaken (please )

Good luck!

Thanks for that info.
The bits i am mostly not understanding is the monthly scans. I dont think that they do that at my hospital. Think that they just tell you to get the tabs and leave you to it.

I need to ask at my next appointment in early january. Then will need to see my GP as the last gynae letter i recieved said i should see my GP and get them to prescribe the pills for me. Didnt say how long to take the tablets or how many cycles to take it so presumably i will have to keep going back to GP to have them re prescribed.
I am a bit pissed off with the lack of information and help with the whole thing.

I have just had horrendous experience after horrendous experience at the hospital over the last 18 months.

Hi there Sunburntats

Thought I'd give you the benefit of my experience as it sounds like your PCT is about as much use as mine in terms of giving information!

Ok, so......

Do you have to have blood taken while on the medication? If yes, how often and when?

• I didn't have any monitoring on clomid - I was on a low dose though and was told my PCT didn't monitor when the levels were so low. Yes, this worried me but what can you do when the professionals are telling you 'no'?

Do you suffer from mood swings etc pmt type things.

• Sorry to say, yes I did, but not as bad as I thought they'd be. The one thing I did get badly was hot flushes throughout the month. Would take me by surprise, one minute fine, the next minute dripping with sweat and totally red face - esp difficult when talking to someone as looked like I was totally embarrassed about something . However, this is not necessarily the case for everyone, I know of others who didn't have any kind of hot flushes.

how many pills are there to take?

• You should be told by your consultant (or the junior) how many you should be taking. The pharmacist will then reiterate this to you when you pick them up. I was on 50mg once a day from days 2-5 of my cycle. I did this for 3 months.

Do i need to do them ovulation predictor thingies as well? How do they work, do you pee on them like a preg test? Where do you get them from??

• I never used ov sticks but this was a personal decision - felt like it was getting waaaay too medical just having to take the tablets, let alone try and time sex around a pee stick (have been ttc for 3 yrs so been there, done that). We just stuck to the 'rule' of sex every few days, and then a few extra times when ewcm was abundant!

Do you buy them like a prescription each month?

• the pee sticks? No idea - might be worth asking the head nurse of your fertility dept, mine knows far more than the junior consultants do!

How often do i see the Docs?

• If its anything like my PCT, never!! No monitoring, just a date for a follow up appt after finished the course of tablets.

As you can see, no one has told me anything. Ive not yet seen the consultant, always get his juniors who dont speak very good english and i see a different one each time. Appointemnts are like 4 months apart and they never have any answers for me.

• Welcome to the NHS

The clomid worked for me on the 2nd month but that sadly ended in a miscarriage in November 09. Am due to start IUI this month so will be back on the clomid soon.

Best of luck and any other questions please just ask.

PnM x

Hi

Once we agreed on clomid I didn't have any monitoring (was under a private consultant so perhaps suprising)simply picked up the script and got going. IIRC I took two tablets on cycle day 1-5.

I didn't think I suffered from mood swings - DH later said they were dreadful !

The ovulation kits can be bought in boots and you just POAS from day 10 through till when you get a positive. Test in the afternoon. You don't need them but it is useful to know when you ovulate if you don't already.

Good Luck

Hello sunburntats Have you been on the miscarriage thread as i recognise your name?

I am currently on my 6th month of clomid and this month assisted with metformin. From what i can gather monitoring differs from PCT to PCT!! In my case i had 9months of clomid 9 yrs ago-no monitoring & unfortunately no success. However this time round: clomid cd2-6.You should be scanned initially to check you are on the correct dose, you start off on 50mg and it can be increased to 200mg i think . Scans usually happened CD 7, 11, 14ish depending on what they find! However when your body produces a follicle with an egg my PCT stopped scanning me. Blood test happenens a week after ov.

I hate to say my moods have been awful tears and tantrums which usally last CD6-10. Ive had sore boobs, cramps and nausea but thankfully no hot flushes.
I havne't use OPKs as i have PCOS and they say they are useless for sufferers.

Hope thats answered a few questions hun. Anything else just give me a shout.
xx

Ooh and good luck

Hi Sunburn,

Do you have to have blood taken while on the medication? If yes, how often and when?

I had day 21 bloods taken every month - I was told it is very important that you are monitored as they can then adjust your doseage according to how you respond. In month 1 (50mg) I didn't ov so they increased the dose month 2 (100mg) Also if you don't respond at a certain dose there is no point in taking it. Not all clinics scan - some scan only the first month or after dose increases others like mine rely on bloods.

Do you suffer from mood swings etc pmt type things.

I did my first month but found taking it in the evenings just before bed helped ease the hot flushes or atleast they happened whilst I was sleeping.

how many pills are there to take?

Depends on your dose - they normally start with 1 tab on days 1-5 or 2-6 of you cycle then increase the dose as necessary

Do i need to do them ovulation predictor thingies as well? How do they work, do you pee on them like a preg test? Where do you get them from?? I was told not to use them just to BD very 2 days from day 10 to day 19

Do you buy them like a prescription each month?

We were given 6 moths supply in one script.

How often do i see the Docs?

I only saw him once I had had 5 cycles and still wasn't PG so we could make plans for the next step.

I hope this helps.

sunburntats

Can you not change hospitals?. I would ask your GP to now re-refer you to another NHS unit. It is certainly fair to say that some NHS units are far better than others. You really do not want to be given no information at all from a substandard unit and your treatment to date has certainly been poor.

Do you actually have a diagnosis of the underlying problem?.

Clomid is usually taken between days 2 to 6 of the cycle and ideally you should be monitored whilst on it (via blood tests and ultrasounds) as it is quite powerful stuff. Its main job is to make the ovaries work harder. Its usually given for a maximum time of six months after which other treatments should be tried.

Would NOT use any OPK with clomid as clomid can increase LH levels; the kit would measure this excess. Therefore these kits would be a waste of time and money.

Hu,
yes, i had mc number 5 about 4 weeks ago.
No, i have had no diagnosis.
had blood taken on day 21 and my progesterone levels were 7. So they said i do not ovulate.
Takes between 6months and 18 months to concieve...always ending in mc.

Im waiting for af, which is regular and painful. I have ov pains, timed bding around this...bfn every time so tend to believe the not ovulating disgnosis.

So it seems that i see gynae consultant, get prescription then from GP,take tabs for however long ??? then just see what happens.
Thanks very mcuh for your info.