Weddingbee boards

Hi Bees,

I have been a LONG-TIME lurker (practically planned my entire wedding as a lurker) but now the time has come for me to ask a question of my own:)

On our 1 yr anniversary my hubby and I decided to ditch the BC and TTC. Well it's been about 5 months and i've only had 2 periods since...with 50+ day cycles. So I now have an appointment with an my OB to run some tests and get this show on the road (crossing my fingers for a new years BFP).

Anyways- before I go in and get bombarded with fertility info and terms, i'd like to have some kind of vague idea as to what my doc's talking about, so can anyone explain to me briefly what femera and/or clomid are?

Any personal experiences would be GREAT!

*Oh and any other 1st time preconception check-up info would help too if you have it

Thanks Bees:)))

@Mrs.KMM: Thanks for that link! And your totally right but what I didn't mention is this:My two older sisters who now have kids both went on Clomid...for one it didnt work and her and my BIL actually had to go through IVF. Also, my mom went through hell trying to have us( she has PSOS):( We're all very far apart in age because of that...So, that's what scares me. I'm alreay expecting it:/ But I sure hope you're right!!! :) I hope to not have to go through any treatment.

@TurtleDoves: Both drugs are used to either induce ovulation in those who don't ovulate regularly (like if you have PCOS), or are used to hormonally strengthen ovulation in those who already do ovulate and produce multiple eggs (this was me).  They are usually taken on cycle days 3-7, or somewhere around there, meaning you start as your period is ending.  For clomid, a typical starting dose is 50 mg, and it is typically increased up to 100 or 150 as necessary.  For femara, starting dose is usually 2.5 mg and goes up to 7.5 mg.  Depending on your response to the medication and/or your dosage, you may develop multiple follicles, and you'll have to decide if you want to risk of twins or triplets if all the eggs happen to release and fertilize.  You also may have to take a trigger shot to get all the eggs to release.

To give you an idea, I started on femara at 2.5 mgs and got one nice big follicle.  The following months I did 5 mgs femara and got 2 nice follicles each time.  I liked femara and didn't have any real side effects.  I've heard clomid can be much rougher on the body, and can have adverse effects on the uterine lining, but it works for some people!

I wish you the best of luck, and feel free to pop over to the infertility thread.  There's lots of wonderful ladies with experience with these meds over there :)

@MerryC: Oh wow..risk of having multiples, huh? That is something I didn't think of :) I wanna say yikes...but then again 2 is better than none! Thanks

Any other personal experiences?

@TurtleDoves: I forgot to mention that usually you'll be monitored on these drugs.  So you'll get a few ultrasounds to know how you're responding and how many follicles you've developed.  If the number of follicles is more than the number of babies you want, you can always cancel the cycle, and adjust your med dosage for next month.  But yes, we were always in the camp of 2 babies would be better than none! :)

@Mrs Green Grass: I'm scared to join....I will read it through because i'm obsessed with hearing real-life stories...I feel everything I read in books is for "normal" women, like you mentioned, what the hecks a normal cycle anyways...

Thanks Ladies:) I appreciate the info

@Ms Mini: Wow, thank you for that. I hadn't heard of metaformin and I am so glad to hear you got pregnant so fast after it! That makes me feel better about the possibility of PCOS:)

@bunny: Seems like you had a proactive Doc...I hope mine is too. I've never met her. Thanks for your info---I'll def update after my appointment:)

As one of those on the infertility thread you should def. join us!!  You will find out any and everything that you need to know and then some!!!  For me I am getting ready to start round 3 of clomid.  First time was on 50 mg, second was on 100 mg and I'm getting ready to start 150 mg.  I haven't O'd since I got married over 2 years ago and AF rarely shows her face, so finally deciding to go to the doctor in March of this year I have been charting my temps and then the last few months she has put me on meds.  I also have to take Provera for 10 days which helps start AF and then when AF arrives I take Clomid on days 5-9.  1st round I didn't have any side effects and took the clomid at night, 2nd round the only side effect for me was teeth pain and that round I took Clomid in the morning!  I think I will go back to taking this next round before bed each night!  I went just last week to the doctor and she did a vaginal u/s which showed that I had 1 good follicle on each side of my ovaries and she said they were perfect, but I'm on CD30 and still no O yet.  It is frustrating when your body doesn't cooperate!!  Good luck and I hope to see you around on the other board soon!  

@stormy9973: Provera induces AF...Hmm...I will def. ask about that! Good luck on everything and I will pop into that thread to see how everybody's progess is going:)

I'll chime in here too because I've taken both of them.  I went to see my GYN after getting off BCP and not having a period for 7 months.  My doc took a different approach than some of the other ladies.  She did blood testing - hormones, etc. and then did fasting blood tests for the insulin resistance part of PCOS.  She prescribed me Metformin to take all the time.  The first cycle (after diagnosing me with PCOS) she prescribed me provera and 2.5 mg of Femara (Side note: Femara is actually a breast cancer drug that they noticed had fertility side effects.  So, it's not considered a "fertility" drug as far as insurance goes) and when that didn't work, she bumped me up to 5 mg then to 1500 of Clomid the 3rd cycle.  All 3 cycles also had provera to induce AF.  Also differing from some of the others, there was little monitoring for me.  I just had cycle day 21 bloodwork to check my progesterone to see if I ovulated (I never did).  I never had to go in for ultrasounds or anything like that.  She also never checked out my husband.  It wasn't until our RE visit that he had a semen analysis.

Honestly, you can ask 100 different women their experience and get 100 different answers.  Your best bet is to come prepared with questions that concern you and get your answers and start there.  Good luck with all of it!!!!!  I hope it's smooth sailing for you!

@Jenn23: I'll def be over there to let you ladies know how my PPOINTMENT goes! It's in 5 days:) Mean while...GOOD LUCK TO YOU:)

@Candy_Nee: You're right...everyone's going to be different. I just wanted to be more fluent in "fertility" before I went in because often time these OBs are in a hurry and talk real fast and I want to understand everything that's going on with this very special process, ya know? Thank you so much for your input. I'll be sure to update once I go. Sending you lots of baby dust:)