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.

@Hopefull1981 it provides follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), i think its used a lot in IVF
Felt very odd self injecting, i just feel like I’m taking a lot. Metformin, letrozole, now this, and i still have trigger and the pesseries to go.. the consultant doesn’t seem to be trying by halves

How are you feeling about IVF?

I am not sure how I feel. On the one hand I know it probably isn’t the answer but on the other I don’t know what is best for our situation. We don’t know know why we keeping having biochemicals since the MMC in May. I fell pregnant the first time we tried 3 years ago and have a 2.5 year old. This time round I fell pregnant first time round also but it ended in the MMC.

I have been doing some reading up on IVF but I am not sure what type of protocol I will have so we just have to wait and see.

@Cayandsimit do you think you trigger on Monday?

@WaitingForEgg it sounds like a lot but I am keeping everything crossed it works for you 🤞

@Hopefull1981 I am so sorry for what you went through. I hope IVF brings you the baby you wish for.

Yes, I probably will trigger on Monday if the uterine lining is about 8-9mm and have 3-line pattern.

@Cayandsimit wishing you the very best of luck. Uterine lining and 3 line pattern is something I heard for first time last cycle.

@Cayandsimit good luck for Monday. Can I ask what is 3 line pattern?

@WaitingForEgg It is the 3 layered appearence in the ultrasound. This indicates that you already ovulated and the uterus receptiveness is at optimum level for embryo transfer. Some research has shown that seeing this 3-layered endometrium is more important than the actual thickness of the lining. I uploaded two pictures so you can understand what to look for in your post ovulation scans :) Doctors do not usually bother to explain these things unless you ask for. I had a consultation appointment with another professor after my failed ICSI and she explained me lots of stuff like this. I wish I would have done it before going down the IVF/ICSI road 😪 I could have been more conscious about what is going on.

[quote Cayandsimit]@Hopefull1981 I am so sorry for what you went through. I hope IVF brings you the baby you wish for.

Yes, I probably will trigger on Monday if the uterine lining is about 8-9mm and have 3-line pattern.[/quote]
I just realized by that I made a mistake in this text. What I meant was if the lining is 8-9mm and have 3-layered pattern, I will have the transfer, not the trigger. I need to trigger on Monday or Tuesday to get to that point.
Btw I did another ovulation test with a very concentrated urine and the line is lighter than the one on the 27th. I really hope the follicle will be 18-20mm by Monday. Otherwise I am afraid she will give me Pergoveris injections to stimulate a bit or even cancel this cycle 😥

How is everyone?

I’m having a predicament
They clinic told me to do opks, but I’m injecting FSH/LH, so this will artificially raise my level won’t it? I got a flashing smiley on clear blue but I’m only cd11 (usually ovulate cd17)….

Hi @WaitingForEgg. I would have thought the OPK's would be irrelevant, as you say above, the LH will show up on the OPK. Are they going to scan you this week?

@Hopefull1981 yes tomorrow, third scan this cycle. Really hoping follicle will be mature enough to trigger, as i have no other time i can take off work this week for more scans… honest I had no idea it would be so time demanding.

How are you getting on?

@WaitingForEgg fingers crossed for you. It is very time consuming. I am lucky enough that the clinic where they scans and bloods is about 10 minutes from office. However if we do have to move on to iVF that’s in their other clinic which is 4 hours away.

I am doing grand. Finished the letrozole yesterday. First scan is next Monday. I have a crazy busy week in work so it’s great to have the distraction. We have the first consul room for IVF tomorrow.

Hello ladies! I am officially 2dpo on my 3rd Letrozole cycle. I took 5mg again, this time on day 4-8 rather than 3-7. I got a lovely peak on CD15 this cycle (pic) so I'm chuffed, considering I never got a real peak in my last 2 Letrozole cycles which cause me a LOT of confusion.

This cycle I have included a few additional things (some of them I have tried before) - seven seas trying for a baby tablets (new), maca root (new), CoQ10 300mg, vitamin B6, legs up afterwards, and pregnenolone cream during TWW (new).

@acaciabluebell that’s an amazing peak. You just be delighted. What does the pregnenlone cream do? Well done on all the supplements. I take a high dose of folic acid and proceive. Keeping everything crossed for you this cycle?

My prescription arrived yesterday for the heparin shot. I took it after my section the last time. Not looking forward to that, daily shots of I get a whiff of a BFP.

@WaitingForEgg fingers crossed you also, hope today is trigger day. 🤞🤞🤞

@Cayandsimit how are you getting on?

Hi @Hopefull1981
I like heparin shots even though they are more painful than the stims. They protected me from blood clotting during the OHSS, so somehow learned to love them 😁 I will start with them again 3 days before the FET. We can be heparin buddies 😅

I just got my last scan before the ET. Today is CD18. I have been to the clinic everyday this week because LH surge happened earlier than expected. I think that is why OTK was showing positive. Doctor said Letrozole might have caused that.

Yesterday I had two 13mm follicles on the right side and one 12mm on the left and lining was 7.4 mm with triple line. Estrogen, FSH and Progesterone levels were normal, LH was higher than expected. They gave me Gonal-F 75mg yesterday to grow the follicles a bit bigger. Clearly 2.5 mg Letrozole was not enough for me. Anyways, I don't need the eggs this round 😊

Today uterine lining is 8.4mm, triple line and the left side follicle most probably already ovulated because she could only see a 10mm one on that side. Yesterday's 12mm might have gotten bigger and ovulated. They took more blood to be sure and will call me this afternoon to tell me if I still need the trigger shot or not. Otherwise the uterus looks ready for the FET 🥳

Awh @Cayandsimit that all sounds very promising. When will they do the FET?

I don’t why but I am nervous about this call. I don’t have any questions. As it is an hour long I am hoping they will discuss a proposed protocol. We both have already had all our initial tests. They mentioned viral bloods before. I guess I will have some answers after the call.

@Hopefull1981 thanks, so far seems like it. I will learn the transfer date in a couple of hours.

I am really nervous in every single scan/blood work. It think it is just normal... I wished I had done more research before my first ICSI though. All the issues on my side popped up after I forced my clinic to do more tests after a failed fresh cycle and a FET. Doctor said many people get pregnant on the first try without any add-ons and that is why they don't push for more tests. Which I understand because Germans are very careful with their money 😁

However, 2 fresh ICSIs + one FET cost about 10.000€ to us. In the 2. ICSI we used PICSI + Calcium ionophore add-ons and got better fertilization rates. If I would have know those (costs around 400€) in the first round, maybe I might have been pregnant by now and we didn't have to pay so much in total...

Your husband doesn't have any issues, right? So ICSI is not an option. For IVF, I would ask about Embryoglue and using hCG booster shots during the transfer for better implantation. Both are rather cheap and if they work, you don't have to go through this again. I would also get checked for Natural Killer Cells if you haven't already. I would ask them why do they choose long protocol vs short protocol (or visa versa). I would ask which stims, which triggers will you use. I felt like questioning their choices and not blindly diving into it makes them to do more for you. It is like that in my case at least. Or maybe they are just sick of me and try to get me pregnant so they never have to see me again 😂😂

Thanks @Cayandsimit that was really helpful. So much information on the call. So we can proceed on the next cycle. The consultant has advised I will do a short protocol. On the last scan she counted 35 follicles and my AMH is fine. They did mention the risk of OHSS. Fingers crossed this cycle will be successful.

@Hopefull1981 As far as I know OHSS risk is lower in short protocol. Also OHSS risk is relatively low (1-2%) per cycle, hopefully will not find you ☺️ I hope this cycle will work for you so you don't have to do this again 🍀

We are just on our way back from latest scan
CD13 today
Last scan was cd8- had 1 x 10mm follicle in each ovary
Today she measured my right first- 1x 16.5mm
Then left side I have 1x 22mm
She said if it all works there is a risk of twins, as obviously both may be mature enough

I need to trigger tomorrow first thing in the morning
Then advised intercourse Friday night
Progesterone pessaries twice daily from sat am until I do a pregnancy test on the 18th feb

My lining was 8.6mm

@WaitingForEgg that’s brilliant. The consultant said today that follicles could grow 2mm every day so you definitely could be in with with a chance of twins. The very best of luck to you. Are you going to test the trigger out of your system?

@WaitingForEgg sounds really good. Are you happy with the result? Or are you worried that you might have twins?

[quote Hopefull1981]@WaitingForEgg that’s brilliant. The consultant said today that follicles could grow 2mm every day so you definitely could be in with with a chance of twins. The very best of luck to you. Are you going to test the trigger out of your system?[/quote]
Thank you

I’m not entirely sure how I do that? She didn’t advise it. She just said to do a pregnancy test 2 weeks post trigger… I assume trigger should be out by then?

[quote Cayandsimit]@WaitingForEgg sounds really good. Are you happy with the result? Or are you worried that you might have twins?[/quote]
I’m happy. I’m sort of hoping it maybe gives us a slightly higher chance, that one of the follicles contains an egg and will be good enough to fertilise. I won’t lie the idea of twins is a bit scary, but I’m so desperate for a baby I just see it as I’d rather twins than none

@WaitingForEgg yes, I feel you! If my frozen blastocysts weren't in different development stages, I would have chosen to transfer two. Twins (or even triplets) is better than having none.
I sincerely hope it goes like you wish for 💞

@Cayandsimit this is the thing. I’m just hoping maybe it’s sort of 2 chances. I know it doesn’t quite work like that, but hopefully one of those follicles has an egg in.

My husband now keeps walking around muttering “twins” under his breathe