How many rounds of letrozole?

[quetzal93]

Hello,

I've been TTC for 2.5 years now with no success. Just to give some background, I have PCOS but healthy otherwise. I've never figured out the cause of my PCOS, for a few months I tweaked my diet because it thought it might be due to inflammation but nothing changed. I have no insulin resistance, my thyroid is fine. I don't have a lot of stress but I've actively tried to reduce whatever I do have. My main PCOS symptom is polycystic ovaries and anovulation. I've done two rounds of Letrozole (one at 2.5mg and another one at 5mg) without ovulation. I'm guessing they will give me 7.5mg next but I'm wondering how many rounds of Letrozole do people do before moving on to something else? I'm feeling a little deflated and looking to hear some stories.

Thank you!

Hey! Just wanted to check in to see how you’re getting on? I did my first cycle of Letrozole (2.5mg) and unfortunately it didn’t work. I’m in the same boat as you, no family history of PCOS, healthy thyroid, I’m slim etc but don’t have regular periods

Hi 👋 I’ll be starting my third round of letrozole (7.5mg) next week. Dr said that if it doesn’t work I would have to move on to injections. Will you be going for 5mg next?

@quetzal93 that's great that you’re now on the highest dose! Keeping fingers and toes crossed for you, you’ll have to let us know how you get on this week. Yes think I’m starting the next cycle on 5mg but I’m due a second scan this week for my cycle 1 just to double-check as they couldn’t find my other ovary first scan! 6 cycles of leteozole and then injections they told me so we’ll see. Such a tough journey isn’t it

Thank you SO much! And I hope the second scan brings good news! It is a very tough journey. Certainly not what I imagined ttc to be but oh well 🤷🏻‍♀️😁 I’ll keep you posted on this 3rd round 🤞

Hey @quetzal93 just wanted to check in to see how you’re getting on? I’m now on cycle 2, 5mg this time and have an ultrasound next week so keeping everything crossed

Hey 👋 Thanks for checking in! I had to do this cycle unmonitored (no ultrasound) but I’m currently testing for ovulation every day. No signs of ovulation yet but I’m still hopeful because I’ve read some women have ovulated later in the cycle 🤞 I’m trying to stay hopeful but to be honest I don’t feel any physical change and my bbts are still very low. Good luck with the ultrasound next week! Hope you see a mature follicule 🤞🤞🥹

Hello @quetzal93 ,

I just stumbled upon this thread and wondered how you were getting on.
I had my first round of 2.5mg last month, but unfortunately didn't ovulate so I am starting my round of 5mg this week.

Hope you got the result you wanted on the 7.5mg!!

Hello! I’m currently 6 weeks pregnant 🫶 Don’t lose faith! I ovulated on day 18 after taking 7.5mg of Letrozole.

Oh that is lovely news! :) So pleased you got your happy ending. It's so hard not to get swept up in the anxiety of 'what if' throughout the process isn't it? But just goes to show everybody reacts to things differently and we all get there in the end. Congratulations!

Absolutely! It’s hard for me to shake that “what if” feeling off even now. I keep reminding myself that at the end of the day we can’t control everything and what will be will be. I’ll be crossing all my fingers and toes for your fertility journey🙏

@quetzal93 @AnonTTC thats such incredible news, congratulations!! Definitely gives me hope for round 3, thank you so much for sharing! Xxx

Thank you so much 💓 and best of luck on round 3!!

Hi @quetzal93
I hope you don't mind me joining. Took 7.5mg this cycle and currently in TWW. I was wondering what dpo you got your positive. Currently 8dpo and so scared to test x

Hello! I got my first faint positive 9dpo. Good luck!!

Hi @quetzal93 hope you don’t mind me joining this thread. I’m on my first cycle of Letrozole and I was put on 7.5mg right away as I have had issues with my periods being so delayed so my consul thought it was best to put me on the highest dose (with an induced bleed). I was offered the trigger shot and the scans etc. I’m on CD 20 atm and I had 2 good looking follicles in my scan on CD 10. I wanted to ask on your third cycle (congratulations btw🥰), did you have any symptoms after your DPO leading up to your BFP?I’m not feeling much apart from random shooting pains but nothing that’s unfamiliar. I never felt any ovulation pains either. I took ovulation tests and they were really dark on days 15/16 and now the line has started to fade which I guess makes sense because I took the trigger shot but I’ve also read that it can sometimes be false positives due to trigger shots… Also, did you do any scans while taking letrozole?

Ps. I’m 26 and have been trying for almost 3-4 years now.

@AnonTTC @TinyTraveller @sc1995 how are you all getting on with your journey. I wondered if either of you had any updates :)

Hi @BDismakingmeexhausted
I didn't have many symptoms during the TWW with my first pregnancy on letrozole and got a BFP at 12DPO

Looks like I'm out this cycle currently 13DPO and still testing negative. Waiting for my period and then on to round 2 🤞All the best @BDismakingmeexhausted keep us updated 💓

Hello! My only symptom was that my boobs were very sore but other than that I didn’t feel much else. I think during my expected ovulation time I felt slight cramping but I had felt that before in the previous failed rounds. I only did a scan on my first round. I didn’t get to have a trigger shot, it wasn’t offered and they said they would give it to me if the third round failed. All the best for you on your journey!! 💓💓

Hey @BDismakingmeexhausted,

Great need to hear you had 2 juicy follicles at your scan and they offered you a trigger to make sure they were released, sounds very positive. And also brilliant they put you on the highest dose right away - I ended up needing 7.5mg but had to try 2.5 & 5 first (similar to others on this thread). For reference, I’m early thirties, normal BMI, healthy diet & regularly exercise so whilst I rarely have periods I think they expected me to ovulate on a lower dose. The biggest thing I’ve learned in this journey is that everybody’s bodies react so differently to treatment so try not to stress yourself out by comparing to others too much :)
(easier said than done I know!)

To answer your question though.. I didn’t ovulate on 2.5 or 5 but did ovulate on 7.5mg in jan/feb. I was then given 3 months worth of letrozole and told i wouldn’t have any more monitoring. Last month though, I wasn’t getting the same pre or post ovulation symptoms (sore boobs, bloating etc) and I just knew something was off so I pushed for some bloods to be done and I was correct, I hadn’t ovulated. The clinic said it’s fairly unusual for the meds to stop working but have suggested we try another cycle at 7.5mg with monitoring again, and potentially a trigger, which would definitely take away some of the guessing around ovulation! If that doesn’t work, they’ve said they will put me on the highest dose of clomid and see if my body reacts better to that. Currently waiting for day 1 of my cycle to see what happens this round.

Fingers crossed for you - good luck!! :) x

Hey @BDismakingmeexhausted welcome to the thread ☺️. So I’ve done 5 rounds of letrozole now but haven’t fallen pregnant yet unfortunately. Similar to @AnonTTC im in my early 30s, healthy bmi etc and had irregular periods before. The first round on 2.5mg didn’t work for me but the last 4 rounds on 5mg have. This cycle is a break as I’ve had a HSG to check there weren’t any further problems but everything looks to be okay so I guess it’s more just a matter of time xx

Thank you @sc1995 for replying 💕 I hate not having symptoms because it makes you feel like nothing is happening when it may be.

With your first pregnancy how many cycles did you do (at what mg) and did you do any trigger shots and regular scans? Will keep you updated on what happens on this cycle for me 🩷 Hopefully this one is the one for you x

Hey @quetzal93 thanks for your reply 💕 I am hoping being on the higher dose something may happen this month but I guess I need to be more realistic and prepare myself that it could be a few more goes until something happens.Your story is bringing a lot of hope to people on here 💕you mentioned you have PCOS, did you ever have irregular cycles or such? I have not been diagnosed with PCOS but was once told one of my cyst looked ‘polycystic’ and my periods are all over the place. I’ve been on metformin too which helped bring my periods back to clockwork but now that seems to no longer work unless I need an increase.

Best of luck @quetzal93 hope you have a safe and healthy pregnancy. Do let us know how you get on later if that’s okay with you❤️

Hey @AnonTTC thank you for your reply 💕 yes I’m very glad I did get put on the highest dose but again I went private as I don’t think I had the patience to wait any longer on the waiting lists. Yes it will cost a pretty penny but I am hoping to get results quicker and to what I have read and your story not everyone gets offered the monitoring element which is another reason why I went private.

I’m so sorry it has not worked yet, it can be so frustrating! But like you said our bodies all react differently so maybe clomid may be right for you. I’ve heard a few people who never responded to letro and managed to be successful at clomid so good luck with your next letro cycle, maybe your body just needed adjusting to it 💕 keep us updated @AnonTTC Good luck ❤️❤️

Hey @TinyTraveller thanking you for your reply 💕is there any reason why they never increased you to 7.5mg? I hate how all the tests snd paperwork looks good and nothing is wrong yet we struggle to get preg. You are right sometimes it’s just the matter of time. If my cycle does not work my consul has advised me to stay on it for 6/7 months before exploring the next option which I am hoping it does not get to that point.

What type of symptoms were you getting on 5mg when ovulating if any? Good luck on the next cycle ❤️

Hi! Thanks for your message 💓 I’m glad to see the thread getting busier. I always had irregular periods but it got much worse about a year before I started TTC. My periods went MIA for good. I honestly think I only had one period in 4 years. But there’s many types of PCOS. Some people have bleeds and still have pcos because they are anovulatory bleeds. I’m no doctor but if metformin worked for you maybe you had some form of insulin resistance? Anyway best of luck in this round! Crossing fingers and toes for you and everyone else out here

@quetzal93 thanks for the quick reply :) yes that’s what I think too, I’ll bring up the metformin with my consul when I see him next as I may just need a simple increase if I am insulin resistant.