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!

Yeah I think scanning is part of this crappy post code lottery. I'd say only half the people on the clomid thread were getting regular scans. Its really unfair to leave you on your own without that level of support I think.

And yay happy valentine's @LongtermTTC that was a really lovely message.

AF turned up this morning - not a surprise as I'd had so many negative tests so I'm ok. Off to a spa hotel tonight with OH and then back on the letrozole waltzers tomorrow. X

Damnit - looks like I’m out this cycle already. No follicles on the scam but showed a corpus luteum so looks like the bugger may have already popped - unfortunately hubby has been ill this week (man flu / coronavirus, of course!) so we only had sex last night - tiny possibility we may have just caught it but suspect we’ve missed the boat this month ☹️ I’m only day 10 so thought we still had plenty of time. Silver lining I guess is shorter cycle means we get to try again sooner but just kicking myself for missing it! Only one more after this then IVF...

@HarrietM87, I hope you’ve had better luck with your scan today x

@Sylva123, how’d the chat with the clinic go? Spa hotel sounds amazing, am jealous! Enjoy some downtime before the craziness begins again. x

• Freudian slip - scan, not scam!!

Oh bloody hell @longtermTTC, I had a similar thing back in December where I ovulated crazy early and totally missed it. Apparently it can be really common with Letrozole but I didn't know til it happened to me. That is just so disappointing. We're all having such bad luck with it.
I'm so sorry! Especially when it's getting closer to the last round.
Sending love to everyone whose had a really crappy cycle this month x

Also loved your Freudian slip!!!

I still can't get hold of the clinic which isn't the best start and is giving me cold feet. Scan booked for Monday for the last go on letrozole though. 🤞

Oh no @LongtermTTC how annoying! I hadn’t realised that could happen on letrozole. You never know about last night - fingers crossed for you.

I’ve just had mine and I had 17, 15, 13.4mm on my right and 13.8mm on my left. For some reason they counted the 13.8mm one as a dominant follicle but not the 13.4, so it’s gone down as 3 follicles not 4. Which is good because I’m not allowed to trigger if there are more than 3. My ovaries are polycystic (though I don’t have pcos- it’s a weird side effect of hypothyroidism) so there were lots of other smaller ones.

It’s only CD9 for me so I will trigger on Sunday. Hopefully they’ll all grow a bit between now and then.

More worryingly my lining was only 5.5mm. He said there’s time for it to thicken and recorded it as satisfactory so I really hope it does.

Hope everyone has a lovely Valentine’s Day. My husband is away so I’ll be having a takeaway by myself!

@Sylva123 that must be so frustrating when it’s such an anxiety-inducing decision already. I’ve not had any problems getting through to my clinic but I’ve got to admit that I was a bit disappointed that the first available nurse planning consultation (the next step for me) isn’t until the 5th March. Clearly used to waiting on the NHS and expect that but the amount they’re being paid you’d think everything would be a lot quicker (and certainly that they’d have enough staff to answer the phone!) That said, this process is all about the waiting so I should be used to it by now. Oh dear, I’m starting to sound bitter and cynical 🤣 Have the clinic got any open evenings you can sign up to? In the meantime, if you’ve got any questions I might be able to answer then let me know - not pretending I’m an expert by any stretch of the imagination and things (clearly!) vary by location but they’re probably the same questions I’ve asked the consultant this week if it helps set your mind at rest any x

@HarrietM87 that sounds promising with that many follicles, I don’t know what is “normal” for your lining but they must be reasonably confident it could still thicken if they recorded it as ok. I hope your husband will be making up for missing Valentine’s Day when he gets back x

Yes @LongtermTTC I kind of just expected them to pick up the phone and have an appointment in a couple of days cos it's private, but it doesn't seem that way! They don't seem to have any open evenings either, it's part of the NHS hospital that I normally go rather than a separate place geared up just to do IVF. Maybe that's why. I was determined not to go with them at the start, but their success rates are good and they already have all my records so...

Hard not to get a bit bitter isn't it! Oh did you have your first appt with them today though?? How was it? If your next appt isn't til march does that mean you'll start in April?

@HarrietM87 I had thin lining at one point but it did seem to thicken up nicely quite quickly. Hope yours does the same. Good luck! X

Thanks @LongtermTTC that was lovely :-) how bloody annoying but still hoping you might of caught it - only takes one of the buggers.

Aw @Sylva123x how annoying but enjoy your evening and have a lovely time. Are they doing your scan earlier this time because you ovulate super early last month? X

@Sylva123 oh that’s reassuring. Can you remember how thick it was and how quickly it thickened? My dr says it needs to be at least 7 and preferably 8mm at trigger. I think he said that part of mine was thicker and over 6 but it says 5.53 on my report. I’m triggering on Sunday night so have to hope it can grow 2mm in 2 days! Anyone know whether it keeps thickening after the trigger?

I’ve googled and apparently Brazil nuts (for selenium), vitamin E and baby aspirin (for blood flow) can help so have stocked up on those.

@HarrietM87 unfortunately I didn't think to ask how many millimetres it was. The clomid made mine super thin but these days on letrozole it seems to always be good. It was the first letrozole cycle where it was a bit thin but then thickened up nicely to the point where she was happy wit it. Sorry thats not much help.

I keep hearing about baby aspirin but don't think I've ever seen it in the shops. Is it safe for everyone to take? Good shout on the Brazil nuts. I love those so good excuse to have some.

@Carleyxo "one of the buggers" haha.

They're scanning on Monday cos that's day 4 and they like the first scan to be before day 5. Then there's follow up ones but I don't remember what cycle days... it's all a jumble in my head.
They were so kind - my doc is off abroad sorting a family emergency but as it's my last chance before IVF they've got someone from the private clinic to do it for me. I almost cried down the phone cos she was just such a kind lady. Definitely period hormones haha!
Have to cancel someone's appraisal at work to go though... It's starting to look a bit weird that I'm cancelling so many work things.
How was everyone's valentine's? It was so good to be away. We didn't talk about TTC once and it was so nice.

Thanks @Sylva123. Mine was good on the lower doses of letrozole but since going up to 7.5mg it’s been on the thin side. Fingers crossed the next couple of days make a difference! Baby aspirin is just low dose aspirin - 75mg - you can get it in boots. It’s good for ttc generally I think.

It made me chuckle as i wrote it 😂
That's so lovely I'm glad you had a nice evening. We don't really celebrate valentines so it was just another evening but we're going to get a nice takeaway tonight and have some drinks as my period came so I need a treat but the weather is so rubbish. I wish they would scan me but I think they kind of know now it's not my body and it's more the sperm laziness. My husband suggested taking a month off letrozole (incase they don't prescribe more - this is our last month) the reason being he cut down the gym December time and has been taken a lot more vitamins since then and his SA was January and showed it being not great so effectively we won't notice the gym cuts and vitamin benefits until March time really (because apparently sperm renews every three months) I think they way he is looking at it is waiting to take out last letrozole mid March (when I'm due) will be more beneficial as the sperm should be of a better quality? I'm not sure what to do. He has another SA in a month

Yes I can see your point @Carleyxo - that's a really hard decision to make. What do you think? Would it do you good to have a break from it til march or are you unsure? I also read it takes 90 days for sperm to change so hopefully he will see a difference in March 🤞.

I read somewhere that they can give clomid to men, I think it's when sperm problems are related to testosterone. I don't know if that applies to him, just randomly read it yesterday. When is your next consultation? So awful going through all of this and how long everything in the body takes to see a change. You're both doing so many healthy things.

Part of me is swaying towards giving it a break for a month because I know when I've had the gap in between clomid I've ovulated on my own so I don't think it's an issue really.

I think I might do it and save the month we have for after he's had his SA. @Sylva123 x

Today's decision day and I think I'm going to decide not to take it this month. My period is so light too and has been for so long only lasting 2 day absolute maximum so I'm wondering if my oestrogen is low so I'm going to ask for another blood test. At least if it is I can resolve that before taking my last letrozole x

That sounds like a good plan @carleyxo - it does add an extra layer of pressure with the tablets, and if you can only have so many cycles on it it makes sense for both of you to feel at your best before you give it a go again. My period is also crazy light - do you think that the letrozole does that to us?
I hope it gives you a bit of breathing room having a month off and I double hope that your OH's results are more positive next month so you can go for it again xx

Thanks @Sylva123 I hope so!
I do wonder but for me it was the same with clomid to, literally it's not heavy enough to even use the lightest tampons.

I've been reassured as been sat thinking about it all morning and just now three robins came and sat on my fence by the back door where I was sitting ❤️ they stayed for ages and then two flew and one stayed there even when I opened the back door :-) x

Funny you should mention that - my periods have been really light too.

I think you're right in taking a month off. 😘

@Carleyxo I think you’re right too. I know letrozole isn’t meant to affect your lining but I think it has affected mine. My last period was very odd - extremely heavy for the first two days and then basically just spotting after that. When I was on 5mg it was normal.

@Sylva123 Glad to hear you had a nice time away and well done for managing to not talk about TTC at all - I feel like it’s all we ever talk about these days between us discussing it and people asking. We’ve been quite open with our close friends and family about our struggles and am grateful for the support everyone’s given us but the flip side is having to give non-progress reports to everyone we see! Hope all goes ok with your scan today. Have you had any more joy with the clinic? x

@Carleyxo have you made any decisions about whether to have a month off? If you ovulate without the letrozole then sounds like it’s worth a shot. Can you call the clinic and ask if they would give you any more letrozole? x

We had the IVF consultation last week - still trying to take it all in really. We were told that even with maximum stimulation I’ll only get between 0-5 eggs rather than the 6-15 they get on average. Then even if one of them develops well enough to be transferred there’s still only a 30% chance of success. Odds aren’t great and he did say that 50% of women who haven’t conceived within a year go on to conceive naturally in the second year so I could just wait it out and see but I’m worried it’s only going to get worse given my age and already low response to IVF meds. I think we’re going to try one last round of letrozole after this whilst we sort out the IVF. You have to have the consultant appointment and nurse planning consultation beforehand to get everything lined up ready to press go on day 1 of my next but one cycle (which should be end of March sometime).

Hubby is really optimistic as the consultant said he’d managed to get a lady with worse AMH than me who only produced one egg pregnant. I keep telling him that’s the exception rather than the norm as don’t want his expectations too high but he’s an eternal optimist, which is kind of doing my head in but we do balance each other out quite well as I’m too pessimistic 😊

It's hard to stay positive isn't it but it's reassuring to hear there is still hope! Did he mean the second year natural for everyone or a IVF?

I've decided to give this month a break and then use the letrozole next month when technically "according to statistics" husbands sperm should be better considering everything we've put into action including weekly reflexology for him. I think it is all based on his next SA which is a week before our next review beginning April @LongtermTTC .