Clomid/Metformin journey 2021/22

[PCOSWarrior]

A new thread for all of us out here using Clomid/Metformin in 2021! I thought we could document some of the things that are working for us, some of the things that are not, and share our successes and commisserations.
Me (32F) and my boyfriend (52M) have been trying to conceive our first child for nearly three years. He has near perfect reproductive health which is fantastic! I have quite extreme PCOS and AMH levels (97.2). We conceived once on our own in September 2020 but miscarried in November 2020.

After a long NHS wait, I have finally just finished my first round of Clomid 50mg and Metformin 1g - the good news is that I did ovulate, but sadly AF arrived this morning!

So, tomorrow I will start round two!
Like last time, I will take my Metformin with breakfast and dinner so that I am having it with food, and I will take Clomid at around 10pm before bed each night. This worked well for me and I only had some occassional night sweats last time.

I'll update this thread as I go and would love to hear about your experiences too!

Hey! 👋🏼
Glad you made this thread! Will give you abit of my back ground now…
I am 35 with a 15 yr old son who i conceived by accident the first month of having unprotected sex (i know) then when he was a few months old me and his dad accidentally let this happen again and i got pregnant again. So i was very fertile to say the least. The 2nd pregnancy i didnt go ahead with and decided to take the depo injection for about a year. After this me and his dad started trying again for about a year and nothing happened. I thought it was weird but i was still young and so didnt worry too much about it. Anyway fast forward 13 years and ive had 2 long term partners since (ttc with number 2 now) and ive never used protection. And never fell pregnant.
My OH sperm is fine and weve been having unprotected sex for about 3 years now.
So finally went to see a fertility doctor and had all tests done. No PCOS, hormones fine, tubes not blocked, i ovulate every month at the right time. During this time i had a chemical pregnancy Jan 2020.
Ive now just done my 2nd cycle of clomid 100mg, i also had the trigger shot at CD12 also the clearblue test had a static smiley just before i took the trigger so i prob would have ovulated on my own anyway. Im also on 1000mg metformin ( i dont have pcos but the dr said it couldnt hurt so just take it incase it helps) and im taking progesterone pessaries every morning and night.
Clomid ive been okay with just the mood swings and how emotional it makes me is crazy! I also take them at night to sleep thru symptoms i just wake up super sweaty lol
I think i ovulated either sat or sunday just gone so now im in the 2ww. The progesterone pessaries make your body think youre pregnant so i literally cannot read into any symptom until i do a test after 2 weeks or so!!!
What cycle day are you on?
Fingers crossed for us both and sorry for the extrmely long story!! Haha x

You will probably find more people on a similar journey if you ask for the thread to be moved to the Infertility boards (if you want of course!). There are people at all stages. Good luck.

I am in the same boat as you - I have been ttc for over 2 years now. It took me forever to get an appointment with my gyno (waiting list was 6 months + on the NHS)!

I took metformin while I waited and it gave me such bad side effects that I only took it for 3 months.

Finally I met with my gyno and did the recent tests (tubes, ultrasounds etc you name it) .. all tests came back fine.

I have been diagnosed with PCOS and the gyno thinks I don't ovulate on my own. They initially prescribed me 50mg Clomid which I didn't ovulate on. So this cycle they increased my dosage to 100mg. Currently on day 11 on my cycle. Hoping for my positive news soon!

@Janejanedoe86 It is very strange that they would prescribe you Clomid 100mg if everything is fine and you ovulate naturally every month but hey! Whatever works!!!!
Wishing you lots of luck! xx

Ah! Good idea, thank you @Aranciata

Hi @ladyge!
I will keep everything crossed that you ovulate this month. Are you using OPK sticks?
I have found that I tend to ovulate on day 16/17 rather than the predicted day 14!!
I really don't like Metformin either. I was prescribed 2g per day but found that I could really only tolerate 1g.

Update:
I am currently 2dpo and wanted to share a few lessons learned from this month:
Mood
I don't know if it is related or not, but the first month I was on Clomid I didn't really drink at all, and definitely not for the five days I was taking the pills.
This month I was invited to a dinner party and had some wine, then we went to a Halloween party and I had a few beers, and maybe this is just a coincidence, but OMG my mood was so bad in the two weeks between taking the Clomid pills and ovulating. I was so irritable and emotional and really quite mean. It was like having PMS for two whole weeks and that really isn't like me at all.

OPKs
This is probably dead obvious but I didn't know and it caused some major unnecessary stress: Unless the second line is as dark or darker than the test line, you should treat the OPK as negative.
I had no idea and it was only after stumbling across a thread online that I realised. So last month, as soon as there was a decently visable second line on the OPK I thought I was ovulating. So last month my timing was all out of whack and I actually missed my peak days by being too early! (although tbf I did have the worst snotty cold across my peak window, and even my devoted OH has his limits! hahaha!)

Symptom spotting
I talked about this on another thread but basically I realise now that Clomid/ progesterone mimics the earliest symptoms of pregnancy. Last month I had: sore breasts, food aversions, nausea, fatigue, very emotional ... all of it, right up to AF showing up and then my body went back to normal. I really got my hopes up, even though I did PTs on 9dpo, 12dpo, and 14dpo and all were negative. I was sure I must be pregnant because of all the symptoms. This month I will keep notes on my Flo app to build a diary, but I am not going to read too much into it all until the TWW is over.

@PCOSWarrior I'm not using OPK sticks - I've heard they can be misleading if you have PCOS or using Clomid.

I've heard you ovulate approx 5 days after your last Clomid pill. So I just stay active (😉) from the date of my period to my 21 day blood test.

@ladyge Ha! That's probably the best way tbh.
I am quite into my OPK sticks now that I understand them a bit better, but I think part of that is just wanting to feel in control - even if it is not really worth all that much!
Please do update us after your Day21 blood test - I really, really hope 100mg is your lucky number and it happens this month!

@PCOSWarrior thank you so much and I will most definitely keep you update!

Baby dust your way too! I hope it works for you too!

I was just reading your update post and last cycle I had lower abdominal pains, nausea etc around day 21 and I was certain that had conceived. But when I tested it kept coming back negative. Which is so annoying!

I don't come on my period by myself - I have to take tablets to induce a period and I never know when to take them.

I like feeling in control too but I feel like if I start taking the OPK I'll get too bogged down and stressed about it all lol

@ladyge Ah! How annoying for you! You might find that changes once they get the clomid dose right and your body ovulates.
Normally, when I am not on clomid, my cycles vary from 33 days to 111 days and everything in between! But now that I am currently ovulating, my period comes on its own and within the 'normal' window. Last month I ovulated day 16/17 and my cycle was 31 days long, and it should (fingers crossed!) be the same this month as once again I ovulated on day 16/17.

Yes! I know what you mean about the OPKs. I do like them but now that I know about the whole 'line has to be as dark or darker' thing, I will probably not test as early and test a bit less next month just to kind of check in without going completely bonkers! I bought a 50 pack so I might as well!

I wish I had learned some more about this stuff in school PSHE classes rather than just putting condoms on bananas!!!

@PCOSWarrior Hahahha! I never understood how putting condoms on bananas is sex ed!

& I totally get your impulse buy, I purchased 50 pack pregnancy tests off Amazon 😂 .. I get so impatient and start testing as soon as I can.

I hope my body starts to ovulate regularly with all this shenanigans and we can finally have a family (I have no children currently)

Update:
Today I got a BFP (or really more of an LFP : Little Faint Positive!)

I am 12 dpo, and maybe it is too early to get my hopes up but I do hope that little bean will hang in there and the line will get darker over the next few days.

If it is helpful, the symptom that stood out as unusual and made me test early was dryness! Dry eyes, dry skin, and dry mouth with increased thirst that started on Wednesday.
My boobs are not as sore as they were at 1-7dpo but my nipples are sensitive.
I didn't have an increase in CM
I have had very mild back ache, nausea, cramps for about a week.

It is really early, things might not work out, but this is a ray of hope and I am sending you all the best luck and love in the world for BFPs all round! Xx

@PCOSWarrior omg!! I'm so happy for you!!!! Stay positive and I hope this is your rainbow baby! I'm so excited for your journey!!! good luck!!!

Thank you @ladyge please do keep me updated on your journey too! I am keeping everything crossed that things work out for both of us! Xxx

Thank you! And I will do! I just had my day 21 blood work this morning! So fingers crossed I ovulated!

Let me know how you get on too! Stay positive!!! @PCOSWarrior

Hi girls,

I know it’s been a couple of weeks since your last post but I was searching for some advice on wether or not to continue taking metformin during pregnancy and saw this and thought I would share my experience in case it is useful for you.

I was diagnosed with PCOS in August and began metformin at end of September. I took something to induce a period since I wasn’t having a cycle and then began clomid on day 2 after that bleed.(early October). Prior to medication opks were constantly positive for me so when I got lots of negatives and a couple of sure positives on day 14 I was confident they were true positives (even though people say opks won’t work for PCOS -and clomid.)

However, less than a week later I got a natural period - my first in around 4 months. It was very heavy. Again I took clomid on the second day. I was in two minds about this in case the period was “implantation bleeding” (lol).
I got the darkest positive opk on day 14 that I have ever seen. I also had egg white cervical mucus and I realised when I saw it that I have never had that in my life before!
Anyway we managed to conceive on that cycle (last month).
I believe that my body needed to begin with a natural cycle for the clomid to work rather than the induced one that I had on the first try.
I have also been taking Myo inositol throughout. I’m not sure which medication what’s been the front runner in allowing me to conceive but I just wanted to share with you because I was becoming quite upset with the infertility journey I thought was ahead of me and if I had known I would be here now googling pregnancy advice instead of fertility advice I wouldn’t have worried at all.

@Eskimo123 Aww! That is so lovely and huge congratulations to you! How many weeks along are you?
I'm 6 weeks tomorrow and I'm still taking Metformin 1000mg a day and last week I was also prescribed progesterone pesseries because a blood test revealed quite a big dip within a 48hr window, and although I was still well within normal range, with my history, they just want to give us the best chance.
I'm currently waiting on the results of a follow up test to see how my progesterone and hCG are doing now. Fingers crossed they're both still good!!

I'm not sure what Myo Inositol is, but I'm going to Google it in a sec ☺️ Wishing you a very happy and healthy pregnancy! Let's stay in touch xx

Oh congratulations I’m so glad it all went well for you!

I am 7+2. I have had a couple of scans, my mum is a midwife so I have been lucky. I have another next week. I have been so anxious and any pain or ache I convince myself I’m miscarrying. I don’t know how anyone can wait 12 weeks for a scan!
I read about the benefits of progesterone in early pregnancy so that’s great that you have been given that support.
One thing that has given me some confidence is that my bloods show very high progesterone so I hope that’s good.
I’m worried to come off metformin, I’m not overweight and have never been but I do think I struggle with some disordered eating including binge eating and metformin has really helped curb this - I’m worried I would be the size of a house if I came off the metformin lol

@Eskimo123 Ugh! Tell me about it! I'm exactly the same and each time I use the bathroom (which is a lot) I find myself bracing like I'm expecting to see blood. It's really hard not to worry!
I'm really just using Metformin up but one of the nurses at the clinic told me it can help to stay on it until 8 or 9 weeks if you do have hormonal imbalances so I'm sure it is only doing good for you ☺️

I'm not overweight either but with the pregnancy I lost I put on nearly two stone in ten weeks and maybe some of that was pandemic boredom eating and the gyms being closed, but I also think the hormones did a number on me, so I'm very happy to just stay on the Metformin as long as they suggest, and keep up my gym classes and running for as long as I can (albeit a bit more gently!) Haha!

You sound a lot more fit and healthy than I am!

If you are comfortable sharing, did you have any symptoms with your previous loss? How far along were you?
I’m sorry you had to go through that. I can only imagine how it must feel.

@Eskimo123
Well it was all a bit of a mess. Because I ovulate so infrequently on my own, the Dr was not really able to say how far along I was. Going by the date of my last period, I would have been nearly twelve weeks and approaching my first scan when I started bleeding, but when I had the scan, it showed the yolk sac but nothing else, which would suggest that baby stopped developing at 5 weeks-ish. So it was likely a missed miscarriage, but also my dates could have been wrong too.

In terms of symptoms there wasn't much. I began to feel less tired, and my breasts stopped hurting, and I did have some pale brown CM about two/three weeks before I began to miscarry, but those things aren't very unusual in a healthy pregnancy either so I'm not sure how useful that is for us. It does make it extra hard to relax and enjoy these early days, but my great comfort this time is that I know my dates for sure, I tested at 13dpo and found out straight away so I've been doing everything right from the beginning, and I am just in a much better place generally than I was in October last year when another looming lockdown felt so crushing.

It is a scary time for us all, and for those of us still trying to conceive, but I am sure the future is very bright :) xx

Thank you so much for sharing. I really hope I can relax after my next scan. I’m constantly squeezing my boobs to make sure they’re still sore and the last couple of days I’m not sure if they are. Also I haven’t felt as tired but I hope I’m just overthinking.

@Eskimo123 I'm sure you are but don't be hard on yourself for it. It's completely understandable to be so anxious. I know I'm worrying too much but I'm trying not to give myself a hard time about it ☺️

Oh! Also, update on Metformin: I called to renew my prescription today as I've only got about a week's worth left, and the doctor said that I can actually start to wean myself off of it now, so to drop down to 500mg a day, and when my packet is finished, just stop. I was a bit surprised but it's one less thing to remember to do! Haha! Brain fog is reeeaaalllll!!!! 😁😁😁

@Eskimo123 congratulations! It's so strange you say that - I currently use medication to bring on a period and I've had no success with pregnancy yet. Maybe I do need to wait for a natural period for this to work?

I don't come on my period regularly and it's so frustrating trying to conceive. Im currently on 150mg Clomid 😣