Is it worth trying Clomid (or anything!) before IVF?

[MrsGAT]

Just wondering if anyone might have been in the same position as us and have any advice?

I'm 40, DH is 31, we sadly had a silent miscarriage last year after only TTC for one month. Since then, a year ago, no luck at all, but have had 2 chemical pregnancies.

As up until this point I haven't massively been in favour of going the drugs route, as was really just desperately hoping we might be able to get pregnant again on our own, knowing we'd already managed it once quite easily, the only thing I've had up until now is some acupuncture and Chinese medicine.

We've met with a few different fertility people and had all the tests done and everything is basically fine, considering my age - I am ovulating regularly, average AMH, good FSH etc - but all of them seem to be pointing us straight down the IVF route with no thought for anything else. I do understand this will mainly be because of my age but am just struggling to get my head around it, having not tried anything else whatsoever.

I guess it's just that difficult thing where no-one can tell you how close or not you might actually be to making it happen i.e.
are we miles off and therefore the quickest (and hopefully most successful) route is IVF, or do we just need something, like Clomid, to tip the balance in our favour?

I'm trying to be realistic at this point, but at the same time, just don't want to be spending alot of money (which we don't have) and physical/emotional upheaval of IVF if we might not need to?
Be really grateful for any thoughts on this ladies
Thanks so much
x

Hi,

I don't think they will try you in clomid as you already ovulate, I have been trying for 3 year and since ovulation is fine it's never been an option. I think clomid is widely used because it's a cheap way to start the fertility process!

They can try iui but success rates are low, I think it's between 5-10%. Given you age (sorry!) I would move straight on to ivf. It's taken us 18 months to go through the iuis and finally get on to ivf.

It's obviously all personal preference though, you might feel better doing an iui first. I'm sure people in a similar position will come and give you some advice soon. Good luck x

I am now 43. I have unexplained secondary infertility.

I was prescribed 18 months of clomid. During this time I became pregnant twice but miscarried.

My consultant uses clomid as part of this treatment protocol. He says that he puts all his 'ladies' on clomid whilst they are waiting for ivf. He says a percentage will become pregnant during the waiting period.

I have decided not to proceed with any other treatment. But I found clomid ok in respect of side effects.

I had mood swings, some disturbed vision and irregular bleeding. So not invasive.

My first dd was a clomid baby. So I have had some success.

Just to add. I ovulate very month but was still prescribed clomid. My consultant says it boosts all your hormones. Especially progesterone.

Knew someone with a similar experience would come along :) have you spoken to you clinic? I know they all have different protocols x

Thank you so much for words of wisdom. Yes, I have spoken to a couple of clinics, but like I said, the general consensus seems to be to go straight into IVF, although I'm a bit wary of this as of course it's in their interest for me to do that!
I just wondered as uggmum mentioned if it's worth even being on the clomid while we wait for IVF, sort of thing, just in case? Don't suppose anyone knows if there's any issue with taking clomid then immediately going into IVF ie in consecutive cycles?
x

My consultant really tried to push me into ivf. He was an nhs consultant but I wasn't entitled to ivf on the nhs. In the back of my mind I felt he had a vested interest in pushing me in that direction and he recommended his own private clinic.

The odds he gave me for success were very low (10%) but other clinics have much higher odds.

I think if the odds had been more around 50% I may have taken the chance.

If you find there is a bit of a wait before you would start ivf then it might it worth giving clomid a try. However, if it has an impact on ivf treatment then I probably wouldn't. I would seek advice on this.

My consultant recommended clomid, progesterone and then hcg injection once you have a viable pregnancy. Which he felt was appropriate due to my age.

Sometimes I wish I had gone ahead with ivf. But I have 2 dc, had been trying for 5 years for another and at the outset my dh and I had agreed that we would not go that far (mainly emotional reasons).

I wish you all the best on your journey.