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.

Well, I am at a loss. So scan showed lining 9.15mm but not a decent follicle to be found. She said it could have collapsed. There is definitely no evidence I have already ovulated. She could not find the left ovary again. This was the same on Friday, and it had the biggest follicle. I can feel my body is trying to ovulate, and it's quite sore this morning, but there is nothing mature. This is mad. No trigger for me, just keep baby dancing until I see a drop in the OPK's.

@Cayandsimit that is very interesting

I’m actually not sure that we are only female factor but my consultant didn’t seem that fussed by my husbands sperm analysis. She said because he had so much sperm that drives down the average motility and morphology, but now im wondering if there is more to this? I just don’t want to waste time on something that is never going to work

@Cayandsimit im 33 and DH is 37. It sounds like you have had such a rough ride of it. And you’re right, the idea of doing something that will never work is so so frustrating. Sorry for all the questions you just seem to know so much!

@Hopefull1981 this is so weird... How come they cannot find an ovary?? Lining is really good. Maybe you already ovulated on the left, but since they cannot find it (!), they cannot really tell. I am sorry, the unknown must be so frustrating... Baby dancing seem like the only logical thing to do in this case ☺️

@Hopefull1981 how weird! Is it common for follicles to collapse? How frustrating!

@WaitingForEgg seems like your husband's spermiogram is similar to my DH's. Your husband's morphology is a little higher though. In the end it means he has around ~6.3 million healthy looking sperm. "She said because he had so much sperm that drives down the average motility and morphology" -> this is exactly how they made us to loose time because it was clearly not our only issue.
For example some sperm has DNA fragmentation. Since my DH's were dying within 24hr, he probably had that.

Oxidative stress is the major cause of DNA fragmentation and one of the main ways to lower it is to take antioxidants and supplements. Vitamin E, zinc, Omega-3, L-Arginin, L-Carnitin, Q10 Ubiquinol, Vitamin-C selenium etc. are the main things which can reverse some of the DNA fragmentation.

We haven't done any DNA fragmentation check because our consultant told us that if would be waste of money since we already take the best supplements to lower the oxidative stress.

It is a little pricey but I heard really great things about Proxeed Plus. It is like a multi-vitamin for male fertility. It is not sold in Germany unfortunately but you can find it in the UK. I think it would be better for you guys to use that or some other fertility supplement for 3-6 months before moving to IVF or ICSI.
I was really impatient and we moved to ICSI before using supplements for at least 3 months. That can explain the difference between the 1st & 2nd ICSI fertilization rates.
You never know, maybe using a £40-50 worth supplement will fix your issue and you don't have to spend thousands of £ for IVF/ICSI in the end ☺️

@Cayandsimit when I read your post I thought hang on this sounds like DH, im worried she’s shrugged it off too quickly and this is going to lower our chances. I’m 34 in sept and we will have been trying for over 2 years, im impatient and just want to do whatever will work now! Easier said than done im aware

A local clinic seems to offer unlimited ivf/icsi as well as multi or single cycle. I may see what the prof there thinks

@Cayandsimit we are paying and it’s £££

@Cayandsimit they could find both last month so the nurse said it could be hidden because of the bowel or ladder. It was an awful bit of poking around with that tv ultrasound stick. @WaitingForEgg I did a google on it earlier and all I can see is the follicle collapses after ovulation. The nurse was a little confused by it all. Are you due to test soon?

In the meantime the consultant rang me and said it’s not unusual for a follicle to grow more than 3mm per day and I could have already ovulated giving my body was giving me the symptoms. I am to start taking the cyclogest from today. No trigger for me this month. 😁

So I’ll wait and see until AF turns up and then we are straight into IVF. I’ll start the pill on day 1.

@Hopefull1981 that makes sense actually. When you ovulate, follicle leaves a sack behind which releases progesterone... When the nurse said "collapse" I thought she was talking about something else 😅 At least no more vaginal scans for you this month and you don't have to use the trigger.

@waitingforegg yes, I would definitely have a consultation appointment. You don't have to jump in right away but it is good to know your options. After taking some supplements for a couple of months, I would get another spermiogram done. Sperm gets renewed every 6 weeks or so and infections, fever etc. might cause temporary flux. Maybe his sperm has improved meanwhile...

@Cayandsimit still have blazing positive OPK’s. If ovulation did happen yesterday then I would expect these to start to get lighter. Are you testing tomorrow?

@hopefull1981 I think it can stay dark up to 48 hours due to LH surge. Some people ovulate in 24hr some in 48hr. Just continue with 👶💃🕺

No, I am testing next week Tuesday. I will get my last hCG booster tomorrow evening. Had to wait a week at least so I won't get false positive.

I have hot flashes here and there. I really hope all this is not for nothing...

So... Cycle 3 of Letrozole was a fail 😔

Tried maca root, seven seas tablets, progesterone cream, legs up after sex, conception cup, everything under the sun! But nope.

Progesterone level was 29 on 7dpo so that's okay I guess, but it's basically the same as my non medicated levels which is annoying because surely Letrozole 5mg should increase it. Meh.

@acaciabluebell I know the frustration. Like you said, you have done everything you could. I hope you can go easy on yourself 💐

@acaciabluebell sorry to hear this cycle didn’t work. Are they scanning you aswell?

How are you doing ladies? No real update from me. I guess I am in the 2WW but not optimistic. I got my smear test results today, all good. We just need to wait until AF turns up and start taking the pill on day 1.

@Hopefull1981 a clean smear results is always good news 🙌 which pill are you going to take?

It’s ovreena - never head of it. I’ll take this for 2 weeks I think,then baseline scan, day 2 gonal f 225 with cetrotide on day 4. The tracking scans start on day 8.

How did you find the meds?

I’m in complete disbelief. I have a blood test booked for Monday to confirm. I’ve just finished 4 night shifts and accidentally missed some progesterone pessaries and am now in utter panic. I did the cheapie first, when a line didn’t immediately come up I emailed the clinic to say it’s negative. Then later it started to appear, so I did the clear blue 🙈

@WaitingForEgg That's amazing. I am delighted for you. They are very strong positives. How many days DPO are you?

Thank you @Hopefull1981 I’m CD29 / 14DPO
Hoping they seem strong enough? I am so so nervous if it will stick

They definitely do. Nice to see some good news for this thread. Are doubling up on the cyclogest?

Hi ladies, on my first round of clomid and my day 21 progesterone came back as

@Hopefull1981 the clinic have said just to continue with it until 12 weeks
The idea of getting to 12 weeks seems insane
I know how painful it could be when people posted positives on threads, so i really hope it doesn’t upset anyone. We have been trying for 20 months and I really was losing hope

@WaitingForEgg OMG!!! This is amazing!! Congratulations!!! 💕 Yes, that is definitely a strong line considering that this wasn't the morning urine, right? I am sure if you do it with morning urine, it would be even darker!

You are so sweet for being sensitive about other's feelings but you don't have to justify your struggle. We all have been through this and BFP is always something that needs to be celebrated! 🎉 Thank you for sharing with us 🙌💕

When are you going do the blood test?