Tell me about clomid

[KaraOrNot]

I had an intake appointment w/ a RN today about potential IF. I have a follow up appointment w/ the doctor in a few weeks, but the nurse mentioned that they would likely recommend clomid to help regulate my cycle and improve my luteal phase.

I don't know much about it, other than what tid bits I have picked up here. I had a TN post saved about it, but now I can't find it. What do I need to know about it? Any specific questions I should ask my doctor?

[pugz]

gotta be monitored while on it, find a new doc if they balk.

I was going in around CD 10/11 for ultrasounds to check my follicle growth. I got pregnant on my first round of Clomid (50mg) and never had any of the negative side effects people talk about, probably as it was a small dose.

[UnderProtest]

Be careful about how many cycles of clomid they are willing to try. My RE said that it can thin your lining after a couple cycles and make it harder for implantation to stick. Also, it can make you a crazy bitch. My first cycle was fine. The second cycle I wanted to kill EVERYone. As an aside, the urologist said it has been shown (in a small percentage of men) to increase sperm counts. Thats all I know. Hope it helps.

[jena]

Do not take it without monitoring! I did and it is something I regret. It didn't have a long-term effect, but I wasted EIGHT MONTHS while walking around like feeling like a murderous bitch.

I wouldn't take it longer than 3 months without getting DH a SA too, I know two couples that wasted years treating her, when his sperm count or motility was the main culprit. Oh, and if your doctor is just your gyno, definitely do not waste more than 3mo before moving to an RE.

[KaraOrNot]

Thanks for the advice. Any suggestions about where I can read up on the monitoring needed?

[KaraOrNot]

Jun 8, 2012 19:54:22 GMT -5 jena said:

Do not take it without monitoring! I did and it is something I regret. It didn't have a long-term effect, but I wasted EIGHT MONTHS while walking around like feeling like a murderous bitch.

I wouldn't take it longer than 3 months without getting DH a SA too, I know two couples that wasted years treating her, when his sperm count or motility was the main culprit. Oh, and if your doctor is just your gyno, definitely do not waste more than 3mo before moving to an RE.

They did recommend that DH have a SA, so he is going to do that next week.

[pugz]

I have read the max number of cycles with clomid or femara is 6 (so 12 total). Trying the other drug if one isn't working or doing a trigger shot or moving on to IUI is worth talking about if things aren't working out during the first few cycles.

I did clomid plus the hsg trigger my first cycle, I also has the HSG dye test (xray) before that cycle and dh has a SA. Just to make sure we ruled out any of those issues before trying meds that have a limited number of tries.

[GailGoldie]

have you had an HSG done? And DH does need an SA - b/c no amount of clomid will get you pg if your tubes are blocked or he has sperm issues- so never take any IF meds unless you have had those tests done.... you'll also want 3 day bloowork, ect as others have said.

clomid can cause cysts, thinned lining, and hyperstimulation which is horribly painful and can be dangerous. It's not something to "just take" but sadly many OB's dole it out without doing any testing or monitoring.

My advice- see an RE - not an OB. An RE's job is to get you pg. OB's are just not good at that. My own OB who has PCOS herself told me to go right to an RE b/c she could do testing and clomid etc- but if I didn't get pg I'd still have to see an RE and then my IF insurance would be eaten up.

My RE will only do 3 cycles of clomid - he says after that there is little chance it will work- and just increases the risk of issues. I got pg on my first cycle of clomid (plus metformin, IUI and trigger) with DS1. I had 1 follie that day... so we knew going forward any follies we saw on IUI day could easily = a baby.

With the twins it took 2 cycles of the same protocol and we got pg - with 2 follies. We were lucky - we wouldn't have gone forward with the IUI if we had 3 or more follies- we were not OK with triplets or more.

that is another HUGE reason to be monitored --- you want to know how many follies you have before you inseminate. You don't want to deal with high order multiples (HOM).

Doing IUI increases your chances a bit since clomid can cause you to not have good mucus, which helps the sperm get to the egg... so IUI gets it where it needs to be.

I had no side effects other than headaches and hot flashes the week after the pills.

best of luck to you!

[drloretta]

I would get a full workup before using Clomid. Frankly there are drs out there who will throw Clomid at people without trying to figure out what's wrong with them, won't do monitoring, and just decide to risk side effects. While the chances rae lower on lower doses, I still know people who have had serious and permanent side effects.

My ob/gyn gave it to me, without monitoring, without doing a ton of other testing. I was glad when I went to an RE and got a lot more testing done, both for DH and me. Side effects were minimal, but it also didn't help me ovulate any better than I was before. Monitoring would have helped with that, so they could have tailored my treatment.

[KaraOrNot]

Jun 9, 2012 13:57:51 GMT -5 GailGoldie said:

have you had an HSG done? And DH does need an SA - b/c no amount of clomid will get you pg if your tubes are blocked or he has sperm issues- so never take any IF meds unless you have had those tests done.... you'll also want 3 day bloowork, ect as others have said.

clomid can cause cysts, thinned lining, and hyperstimulation which is horribly painful and can be dangerous. It's not something to "just take" but sadly many OB's dole it out without doing any testing or monitoring.

My advice- see an RE - not an OB. An RE's job is to get you pg. OB's are just not good at that. My own OB who has PCOS herself told me to go right to an RE b/c she could do testing and clomid etc- but if I didn't get pg I'd still have to see an RE and then my IF insurance would be eaten up.

My RE will only do 3 cycles of clomid - he says after that there is little chance it will work- and just increases the risk of issues. I got pg on my first cycle of clomid (plus metformin, IUI and trigger) with DS1. I had 1 follie that day... so we knew going forward any follies we saw on IUI day could easily = a baby.

With the twins it took 2 cycles of the same protocol and we got pg - with 2 follies. We were lucky - we wouldn't have gone forward with the IUI if we had 3 or more follies- we were not OK with triplets or more.

that is another HUGE reason to be monitored --- you want to know how many follies you have before you inseminate. You don't want to deal with high order multiples (HOM).

Doing IUI increases your chances a bit since clomid can cause you to not have good mucus, which helps the sperm get to the egg... so IUI gets it where it needs to be.

I had no side effects other than headaches and hot flashes the week after the pills.

best of luck to you!

I am going to a clinic that specializes in RE. The doctor's bio doesn't specify that he is an RE, so I will ask him about it when I meet w/ him.

At this point, I have not had anything done. The intake nurse just mentioned clomid, but I will be meeting w/ the doctor in a few weeks to come up w/ a plan and discuss what the first step is. I wanted to go into my appointment prepared, so thank you and everyone else for your responses - I have a page of notes and questions to address w/ my doctor when we meet.