Question about Letrozole

[EllieT]

Quick intro for those who don’t know who I am. I was here a couple of years ago when we were TTC our first. I have PCOS and irregular/absent ovulation. We finally conceived (DS turned two in August) after a FET (freeze all IVF due to hyperstim). Back then I did oral estrogen and vaginal progesterone for my FET prep. We did a first FET trying for #2 using the same protocol back in August/September but it failed. I’m now just days away from starting the prep for attempt #2. This time my RE wanted to try Letrozole to stimulate ovulation

I’ve never tried Letrozole before but did six cycles of Clomid back in 2014/2015. I remember having to take the Clomid at night to minimize side effects. So my question is should I take the Letrozole at night as well? Can I expect the same side effects as with Clomid??

[icedcoffee]

I have no idea, but wanted to wish you luck with your cycle!

[pooh8402]

Hey I did a letrozole protocol with my IVF stims for my last retrieval cycle. And no estrogen supplements.

I took it morning and night, 10 pills for 5 days, along with the follistim and menopur. I didn't have symptoms from the letrozole like I had with the clomid... I just felt like normal IVF stimulation crappiness.

Had it not worked, we would have done an FET with letrozole rather than lupron and estrogen, maybe a trigger, and allow me to ovulate, then transfer the embryo. I'm not sure if she would have had me on 1 pill per day or 2.

[megstoo]

I did letrozole for 2 IUI cycles and I took them at night at the same time. I didn't have the side effects like I did with clomid but my RE recommended taking the entire dose (I was on 7.5mg) at night so I did.

Good luck, I have PCOS and while I did have luck getting follicles with letrozole I ended up with BFN both rounds. You have to be careful you don't get to many follicles or they will cancel the cycle because of the risk.

ETA:  I also did estradiol and progesterone as vaginal inserts.

[seeyalater52]

Oct 12, 2018 8:24:28 GMT -5 megstoo said:

I did letrozole for 2 IUI cycles and I took them at night at the same time. I didn't have the side effects like I did with clomid but my RE recommended taking the entire dose (I was on 7.5mg) at night so I did.

Good luck, I have PCOS and while I did have luck getting follicles with letrozole I ended up with BFN both rounds. You have to be careful you don't get to many follicles or they will cancel the cycle because of the risk.

ETA:  I also did estradiol and progesterone as vaginal inserts.

She’s doing a frozen embryo transfer so while they would may ask her to abstain from unprotected intercourse if she has lots of follicles from the medication, they won’t cancel the cycle because the number of follicles won’t impact anything with the frozen transfer.

Good luck @elliet! I took Letrozole for IUI and I took both tabs in the morning and had pretty minimal side effects. They did ask me to take both together though. I’ll be curious how this works for you, if my next transfer fails and the ERA comes back receptive we will likely try a semi-natural FET using Letrozole.

[Mushe]

Hi Ellie! I would definitely recommend taking it at night. Headaches are a common comaint, and taking it at night does help minimize the impact.

[King26]

I didnt have any of the problems with letrozole that I did with clomid. I took it in the morning daily

[EllieT]

Oct 12, 2018 6:41:38 GMT -5 pooh8402 said:

Had it not worked, we would have done an FET with letrozole rather than lupron and estrogen, maybe a trigger, and allow me to ovulate, then transfer the embryo. I'm not sure if she would have had me on 1 pill per day or 2.

Sp this is exactly what I’m doing for this FET.

[EllieT]

Thank you everyone. I guess I’ll take them at night, it can’t hurt. I’m on 5 mg so two pills.

The most used method for FETs here (in Sweden) is a natural cycle but that doesn’t work for me due to my irregular ovulation. I guess this is as close to a natural cycle FET as I can come.