Anyone on Letrozole?

[rubywoo24]

Hi everyone

I have been prescribed 3 cycles of Letrozole and I have just started AF after a very very long few months. So quite excited to finally getting things going!
We're currently away and I do have my medication with me but not the leaflet that came with it. So just want to double check that I am taking it correctly:

• do I count tomorrow as CD1 as AF only started at 9.30pm today
• is there a specific time that I have to take the tablets, I think night time is recommended?
• do I take both tablets together?

Any other help or advice would be much appreciated!

@unknownscot great news about the clinic - bet you’re relieved to get things moving again x

@JadeS174 welcome to the group. Did the clomid get you ovulating or are you having to have trigger shots too? Fingers crossed the letrozole works for you if you don’t get lucky this cycle. x

@HarrietM87 how’s things with you? x

@LongtermTTC Hi, thank you. I ovulated every month on Clomid but it's thinned my lining. Yes if not successful this month I'm hoping Letrazole will work as good as Clomid did but improve my lining! 🤞🏼
How was the open evening re IVF? X

Hey @LongtermTTC I'm
Fine as I know it hasn't worked this cycle so I'm not to caught up on it. I'm sure I would feel something by now aswell if I was. How did the clinic go x

Ladies, I got this from access fertility this evening (@carleyxo I think it was you wondering about the “from” prices). Don’t think I’m going to go down that route personally but thought it might be interesting to know.

Open evening was really good actually - I’ve read so much about IVF I didn’t think it would be that informative but I found them to be really helpful and reassuring. They gave us some info, did a bit of a group talk, a tour and then had an opportunity to ask questions one on one with the consultant. I’d thoroughly recommend attending one to anyone who’s approaching the IVF stage - it’s put my mind at ease a bit more and it really didn’t feel like they were trying to just sell it to you.

Think we’re going to try another couple of cycles with letrozole and trigger shot before going down the IVF route (especially given my low AMH and although on my fourth cycle of letrozole this is only my second cycle with the trigger shot) but going to go in for a consultation in the next couple of weeks so that we can have a plan in place (I like to think two steps ahead, it gives me some small sense of control in all this uncertainty!) x

Hi all! Hope everyone well. AF due today or tomorrow, only sore boobs and some cramps - nothing out of the ordinary so not too hopeful! Trigger left my system 9dpo, can’t bear to test and see another negative so just waiting for it show. I’ve ordered my next set of Letrozole anyway so all ready to go

AF arrived! Disappointed but it was only my first cycle with Letrozole I guess. Here’s to next month 🤞

Sorry to hear that @AfterGlow87. Did you get your progesterone test results back and did you ovulate? Allow yourself to feel disappointed, treat yourself tonight then dust yourself off and 🤞for the next cycle x

@AfterGlow87 you’re not out til AF comes! @LongtermTTC thanks for asking. I’m CD7 today. Usually have my follicle scan at CD11 but it falls on Sunday so having it on Friday at CD9 instead. The last 2 cycles the follicles have all been on my left ovary and I read that right ovary is weirdly more likely to result in pregnancy so gunning for my right one this month! Your visit at the clinic sounds really positive. How many more letrozole cycles do you think you’ll do? My dr makes me have a break after 6.

Oh crap @AfterGlow87 typed that before I saw your message. So sorry xxx

@HarrietM87 - I’m cycle day 8 and have my scan on Friday too. Valentines day scans have got to bring good news surely?! Last cycle I had a 20mm follicle on day 10 so triggered the same day. I am 4 cycles in so going to speak to the nurse practitioner on Friday to see how many more I can get as I didn’t ovulate until getting the trigger for the first time last cycle so wondering if they’ll extend it (I also had one cycle off in between to clear a cyst so have had a small break already). To be honest though, if it doesn’t work this/next cycle then we’re planning on going for IVF. How many more cycles have you got before you have to take a break? As you’re taking it more for timing purposes for the other drugs I assume they’ll let you do another round? x

Hi all. Just started my first cycle on letrozole, i took 2.5mg days 3-7 and now had a scan on day 11 and there was nothing growing :-(
Anyone had any experience with this? Am i out for this cycle or might something still happen?

@LongtermTTC this is only cycle 3 for me. It feels like longer because I had a mmc in September and started planning to try again straight away, but took a couple of cycles to get back to normal. I think I will have a break after 6 cycles if it hasn’t worked as I’m sick of all the drugs.

I do ovulate on my own but late in my cycle (CD19-21 of 32 day cycles) so the benefits of letrozole are more follicles so extra chance of fertilisation, my dr thinks the eggs are better if released earlier, and it gives me complete control over timing of my other medication. But I still might try naturally for a cycle or 2 and then go back to it if it hasn’t happened by then.

Last cycle was my first on 7.5mg and my first with more than one follicle (I had 2x20mm at cd11 and triggered then and there) so interested to see what happens this time as apparently your response can be cumulative - have you found that?

@Rac3693 I think it’s normal not to respond at first. I’ve only had one follicle on 2.5 and 5mg. There’s still a chance a follicle will develop later in this cycle, and next cycle they’ll probably up your dose. Why are you on letrozole? Do you ovulate by yourself?

I have pcos. So im on metformin and now the consultant started me on letrozole. I don’t ovulate regularly and my cycles are very unpredictable. Just surprised that there was no follicle growing at all :-( going to have another scan later on in the week just to confirm that nothing is happening, and if not he will up the dose

Hi @Rac3693. I haven’t experienced this I’m afraid but started on a 5mg dose and have only ever got one follicle so maybe 2.5 is just a bit too low for you. They can go up to 7.5mg with the dosage I think so don’t be too disheartened, there’s still plenty of scope for them to up the dose and get it to work. I don’t have PCOS but do have irregular cycles (anything from 15-32 days), if nothing else being on letrozole has at least armed me with more information about how things are progressing and when I should expect to ovulate (which with such variable cycles can be a bit of a battle!) Welcome to the letrozole club and fingers crossed for you x

Fingers crossed for your next appointment - every chance one will have started developing and if not a higher dose will work. Weirdly my first cycle on 2.5mg I had an 18mm follicle on day 11 which became my son (so you only need one). This time round we started on 5mg and I had no dominant follicles at day 11 at all, but one of about 14mm that looked like it could get there and 2x 11mm. It was over Xmas so I couldn’t have a second scan, so I just took the trigger shot home and triggered 5 days later on the basis that they usually grow 1-1.5mm a day. It can take a few cycles to calibrate the dosage so don’t lose heart.

Thanks so much! 🙏🏻

@HarrietM87 I was also told they can have a cumulative effect but not sure I've experienced it. Last cycle 20mm at day 10 was a bit more advanced in size than the previous cycle but I’ve only ever had one follicle (with low AMH they said it’s unlikely I’d get two).

2 at 20mm sounds great though, you didn’t get any adverse side effects from the higher dose? Sounds promising for this cycle though, cumulative effect or not. A lot can happen in another 3 cycles before you have to make a decision on what next but I hear you about being bored of the drugs and needing some time off - I thought about stopping for a while after the trigger shot last month hit me so hard but I turn 38 in March and starting to worry about running out of time.

I’d never heard of earlier eggs being better, thought it was just a short luteal phase that was a problem, interesting. x

I’ve had a few headaches the last coupleof cycles which is apparently a common side effect, but not too bad. Tbh the side effects from the steroids are far worse and I can’t skip those! (I get insane hunger and bloating so feel disgusting and still haven’t shifted half a stone from the 2 stone I put on the first time round). Yeah I think there’s some thinking that the eggs can overmature if you ovulate late, even if the luteal phase is ok. It’s probably all guesswork really. I’ve never had my AMH tested - what’s the normal range and what is yours?

Oh that's so interesting @LongtermTTC I'm not sure why I was convinced it was so much more. It's so much money still but £15k is more pleasing to the eye than £30k!

Were they nice at the clinic?

Just catching up after a couple of days taking some time out. When are we going to get our first BFP in this group? Has to happen for someone soon!

@Carleyxo it's probably me that put the £30k in your head! There was another thread on here where people said how much they'd spent and loads of them were saying £30k, but I guess the people on this forum are people who haven't had success yet, so it will have been expensive cos they would have had several goes. Those that get lucky first time probably spend out a lot less. A friend of my husbands is on her 5th go at the moment and she goes abroad for it each time.

Welcome @Rac3693!

@AfterGlow87 so sorry to read about AF coming. Such a disappointment isn't it.

@LongtermTTC that info session sounds really useful. I feel like we've learnt so much about letrozole etc and now its a whole new world of IVF to learn about. Thanks for sharing the leaflet. I am quite tempted by it as it is cheaper than what i'd thought, but think I will stick to my local clinic to avoid having to repeat all the tests etc. I'm calling them tomorrow to find out how to take the next steps. Sounds like me and you are a similar age and feeling the same pressure. I'm desperate for a bit of a break from it, but feel like we're on this runaway train now.

@JadeS174 welcome! I remember you from the clomid thread! Hope you're doing okay.

@LongtermTTC
Oh I'm going next week to an info clinic in Glasgow at GCRM - I'm interested to find out lots that I don't know!

Did you find it overwhelming or a nice advanced introduction to everything?

@Sylva123 - Access Fertility aren’t a clinic they are basically a finance provider so you use whatever clinic you want to use, they just send the bill to them rather than you. I’m not sure if all clinics will work with them though. I suspect these prices may exclude the cost of drugs though which can be up to £2k for a fresh cycle so may not be as “reasonable”(!!) as it looks. Plus, if you’re likely to get NHS funding for a second cycle if needed then probably not worth forking out that much up front now. Hopefully, even if unsuccessful after your NHS one, you’ll have some frozen embryos to use next time around which is much cheaper and doesn’t require all the drugs. It is a whole new ball game this IVF malarkey isn’t it but hopefully it all pays off. I’d love to take some time off but am in it now so have to see it through.

I hope it all goes well with talking to the clinic tomorrow x