TTC with Letrozole/Clomid

[acaciabluebell]

Anyone else here on Letrozole or Clomid for ovulation induction?

I'm on my 2nd cycle of Letrozole and looking for others in a similar situation.

Info about me:
26 y.o
Been TTC for just over 2 years.
Dosage: 5mg of Letrozole on days 3-7.
Diagnoses: Male factor (0% morphology), low AMH, low progesterone

I'm currently on CD10 and using OPKs to track for ovulation. I'll be taking a blood test on 7dpo to check if I ovulated.

@BritInNZ that's great that you have such regular cycles! Mine have been all over the place so I found monitoring at home helpful in timing DTD. Otherwise it was just exhausting 🤣🤣

@Hopeislost ooo that's good to hear that it shortened your cycle. I'm really hoping it does that for me. Last month I didn't ovulate until CD24, hoping it'll be much earlier now I'm on letrozole! Also great that they're monitoring you every cycle, I've been told if this first cycle works then they won't do any more scans or blood tests. Are you on the NHS or private?

@3ni thanks! I'm already taking inositol and it definitely helped my cycles - they were every 3-6 months and now every 35ish days! But still no BFP yet 🤞

@Loz365 how are you getting on? Last pill for me this evening! I've had some light headaches but always hard to tell if it's the pills or just life 😂 I feel like my boobs are a bit tender too, which never happens before ovulation, so should probably disappear as soon as I finish my pills. On the countdown for my scan next week now, hopefully it's good news 😬

@BritInNZ , sounds like my situation is quite similar to yours so, I already ovulate. The letrozole is our last hope before moving on to more invasive measures. I had headaches the first month on it but nothing this month thankfully. Fingers crossed your scan shows some good results

You are very welcome @Loz365 , hopefully the letrozole does the trick for you. I definitely found last month that I ovulated earlier in my cycle so hopefully you will get similar results.

Have been awol for the last week or so, think I’m 6dpo today, just coming off nights so a bit all over the place still

@Wackadoodle84 are you also unexplained infertility? It's the most frustrating diagnosis ever, I wish I knew what was wrong. Ah yes, that's good, hopefully no headaches next month! They're not unbearable but a constant ache, definitely ready for bed by the time I get home from work.

Yes @BritInNZ , also ‘unexplained infertility’, that was my diagnosis over 12 years ago also. Took clomid for a few months then and have my twin girls as a result. This time round a polyp was discovered in my uterus which I’ve since had removed. I was really hoping that’s what was preventing things but it’s out now since November 2021 and still no bfp. It’s such a frustrating process! Hopefully the headaches will stay at a minimum for you

@Wackadoodle84 that's awesome that you had success the first time! I love hearing success stories because I'm not feeling that hopeful. I really hope it works out for you again. Are you doing a set number of months?

@BritInNZ last day today for me! I haven't had any side effects which I'm very grateful for! Although have to say I've focused on not symptom spotting because I can be terrible for focusing too much on them!!
I'm looking forward to see how you get on with your scan, hopefully we'll both have successes with it 🤞

@Wackadoodle84 thanks, and lovely to hear your success story with clomid. Hope you've got some time off to recover from your nights! Is this your first cycle on letrozole?

@BritInNZ my consultant said 4 cycles, hoping he will agree to another one or two if necessary. How many cycles are planned for you?

@Loz365 Thank you 😊 My twins are 12 now. Think we both forgot the struggles we had to conceive them hence we left it so long to go again. This is my second Letrozole cycle. Had a scan on day 11 which showed a nice big follicle. I also take a trigger shot on day 13. No more monitoring for the moment as consultant is happy with response

CD13 for me and currently no action (OPKs negative, no temp rise, no ewcm) on 5mg (no scans, no trigger) letrozole. Giving it till Monday (CD17) until I decide to be bleak about it. Getting bloods on CD20 to monitor.

@TheDaydreamBelievers is this your first cycle on 5mg? It’s only cd 13 so hopefully ovulation happens in the next few days. It’s good that you’ll have the bloods at least to confirm one way or another. What’s the plan if the 5mg doesn’t work? Will you increase to 7.5? Hopefully it won’t come to that 🤞

@Wackadoodle84 yeah first at 5mg. I will likely have to repeat 5mg even if it doesn't work as I'll be abroad for day 28 so they can't repeat the bloods (they said they'd want them in case I just ovulated late)

Has anyone found that letrozole messed their period up?
Mine is usually 5 days and will be heavy for 3 of those. This month (first taking letrozole), it stopped after 3 days for a couple of days then I started spotting on cd6 which turned into heavier bleeding on cd7 then spotting again and it's finally seemed to have stopped...

I also had Covid last month so it could be that but just wondering what others experience has been?

@Loz365 mine was much much longer than usual but that was norethisterone that did that, not the letrozole!

@Loz365 My first cycle on letrozole was really short (27 days vs my usual 35+) and the first day of my period was extremely heavy. It lasted the normal length though.

@Loz365 just got back from my scan. Not the best news as none of my follicles were big enough. They said either they've scanned too early or they haven't got the dosage right on my letrozole. The vaginal scan actually really hurt on one side, she was confused but I honestly think she was just pressing on my cervix - it felt like similar pain to when I had my HSG. Anyway, got to go back for another scan in a few days and had to have bloods taken too.

Spoke to one of the nurses at the specialists. They’ve said she couldn’t see any dominant follicles and my estrogen count was so low it’s like I’m at the start of my cycle, so they think I haven’t responded to the medication. I have to go back for another scan and bloods next Tuesday. If I still don't have any dominant follicles I will have my dosage upped, and they said they can start this before my next cycle.

Really confused though. As I've been told I ovulate so why this month am I not ovulating? I'm baffled 😂 I even have ovulation spotting each month when I ovulate. It's like letrozole has stopped me from ovulating like I usually do?!

Thanks for that, I reckon it must have been Covid messing things up. It seems to have stopped now!

@BritInNZ oh no! That's frustrating, what cycle day are you on? That's really annoying that you usually ovulate and haven't now you're taking letrozole!!
I've got my scan tomorrow afternoon, really hoping for good news... 🤞

@Loz365 yes I'm so confused by it all! I'm either day 10 or 12, it's hard to tell because I had bleeding before AF started properly and I'm not sure if it was AF or just spotting. So by the time I have my next scan it will be day 17 or 19, which I think is too late?! So I guess I'm out this month. But hopefully this helps them suss dosage so things run smoother next month.

How was your scan?

@BritInNZ hopefully you're just going to ovulate late this cycle rather than not at all. Would be really annoying if that happened! My scan is in a few hours, will let you know how it goes!

@BritInNZ had my scan, same result as you. No big follicles - they want to rescan on Monday in case they've scanned too early but she didn't seem hopeful that I was going to ovulate this cycle 😞 it was pain free though and they let my partner come in with me which was nice.
If there's no signs on ovulation on Monday they will increase my dose next cycle!

Trying to stay positive but feels a bit like one thing after another.

@Loz365 sorry to hear you got the same bad news. I was fine at the time but the day after I was quite upset. I usually ovulate so I'm baffled as to why I'm not the month I take letrozole. I'm back on Tuesday for my next scan, so will see what they say then. Let me know how you get on?

Sorry to hear the about your scans @BritInNZ and @Loz365 - fingers crossed your ovulation is just later this month. @BritInNZ my fertility nurse says to count day 1 as the first day of heavy red bleeding.

Cycle 2 CD13 here - opks are negative, got a scan tomorrow.

@Loz365 let me know how your scan goes today, fingers crossed for good news!

@BritInNZ not much change on the scan today 😔 so they've confirmed I haven't responded and they want me to put the dose up next cycle.
They said I may well ovulate at some point but they just don't know when so we're free to have as much sex as we like 🤣
But gutted that it hasn't worked but hopefully the higher dose will help

When's your scan?