This thread is for anybody who is doing fertility treatments or considering fertility treatments such as; Clomid, Femara, IUI (Intrauterine insemination), Injectables, and IVF (In vitro fertilization). Even if you're not doing fertility treatments but you have questions or want advice, stop in and ask. We're a friendly group always willing to answer questions.
Below I posted information about Clomid, Femara, IUI and IVF along with links to our TTC grads.
What is Clomid? Clomid is a fertility drug used to induce ovulation. It's the most commonly prescribed fertility drug. Clomid can also be used to treat male infertility.
Clomid works by blocking estrogen receptors in the brain. When estrogen attaches to its receptor cell in the hypothalamus it communicates and lets the brain know that estrogen levels are increasing. Clomid has a similar structure to estrogen. Clomid attaches to the receptor cell in the hypothalamus, which keeps the estrogen from attaching. Because the Clomid is blocking the receptors, they don’t get the signal from the estrogen and this essentially tricks your body into thinking there is not enough estrogen. Your body tries to kick up the production of estrogen by producing more GnRH. GnRH is what causes the release of FSH and LH. And FSH is what makes the follicles ripen and produce more estrogen. When estrogen attaches to its receptor cell in the hypothalamus it communicates and lets the brain know that estrogen levels are increasing. Clomid has a similar structure to estrogen. Clomid attaches to the receptor cell in the hypothalamus, which keeps the estrogen from attaching. Because the Clomid is blocking the receptors, they don’t get the signal from the estrogen and this essentially tricks your body into thinking there is not enough estrogen. Your body tries to kick up the production of estrogen by producing more GnRH. GnRH is what causes the release of FSH and LH. And FSH is what makes the follicles ripen and produce more estrogen.
Side Effects: hot flashes, abdominal discomfort, breast tenderness, blurry vision, and/or reversible ovarian enlargement and cyst formation. Rare side effects include;abnormal uterine bleeding, thin uterine lining, cervical mucus problems, nausea, and/or vomiting,ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. Please note that everybody responds differently to medication, some people may have no side effects, some people may get mild side effects.
How Successful Is Clomid? Clomid will jumpstart ovulation in 80% of patients, and about 40% to 45% of women using Clomid will get pregnant within six cycles of use.Using Clomid for more than six cycles is not generally recommended. If six cycles go by, and pregnancy is not achieved, other alternatives may be considered.
Multiple Pregnancy Risk: The incidence of multiple pregnancies TOTAL is 7.98% --- Twin 6.9% , Triplet 0.5%, Quadruplet0.3%, and Quintuplet 0.1%.
Please do not buy Clomid or Femara online! You have no idea what's really in the pills that you buy off the internet. Most OBs will give you Clomid, and it's $10 tops at WalMart. Please don't risk your health by buying pills off the internet!
What is Femara? Femara is typically used to treat breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Femara can also be used in male and female infertility. Femara works like Clomid and is usually used after the patient doesn't conceive using Clomid. Femara temporarily decreases the amount of estrogen in the body sending a message to the brain to increase the production of substances that stimulate the ovaries. This often causes ovulation in women who do not normally ovulate or who do not ovulate regularly.In many ways, Femara works similarly to Clomid. However, Femara may be less likely to cause certain problems with cervical mucus. Clomid often causes cervical mucus problems, leading to vaginal dryness or cervical mucus changes that interfere with the motility of sperm. Femara is also less likely to cause the lining of the uterus to thin, as Clomid sometimes does. A thin uterine lining can make pregnancy less likely.
Side Effects: Femara is known to have less side effects than Clomid. Femara side effects include; hot flashes, breast tenderness and headaches. Please note that everybody responds differently to medication, some people may have no side effects, some people may get mild side effects.
How Successful Is Femara?Monthly chances for getting pregnant using letrozole are about the same as with using Clomid.
Multiple Pregnancy Risk: 2-4%
What are injectables/Gonadotropins? There's two groups of injectables the older group Repronex, and Menopur contain follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). The newer group contain pure FSH; Follistim, Gonal F and Bravelle. Typically, 7 - 10 days of shots are required per month. The newer agents (Gonal F and Follistim) are given with the smallest needles. If you're doing gonadotropins and paying out of pocket to buy the 300iu cartridges because all cartridges are overfilled. With the small cartridges you get just as much overfill as the larger ones but you get more because you're getting more cartridges. You might also want to look into buying your medication from ivfmeds.com Side Effects: Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is a potentially serious complication of gonadotropin therapy. Mild OHSS occurs in 10% to 20% of women taking gonadotropins, while serious OHSS occurs 1% of the time. Serious OHSS can be deadly if ignored or not treated properly, and so it's important you are familiar with the symptoms. The risk of ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage is higher with gonadotropin-conceived pregnancies. Less than 1% of women taking gonadotropins will experience adnexal torsion, or ovarian twisting. This is when the ovary twists on itself and cuts off its own blood supply. Surgery is necessary to untwist or possibly remove the affected ovary. In 5% to 10% of treatment cycles, women develop detectable ovarian enlargement.
How Successful are Gonadotropins? Between 20 and 60 percent of women who use this treatment conceive (the wide range is due to all the other factors affecting pregnancy, from the time you have sex and your age to the speed and agility of your partner's sperm). Very little information is available on the live birth rate for fertility drugs, but a few studies put the number at 70 to 85 percent.
Multiple Pregnancy Risk: You'll have a 10 to 40 percent chance of conceiving multiples.
What is IUI (intrauterine insemination)? IUI is a fertility procedure that uses a catheter to place washed sperm directly into the uterus. The goal of IUI is to increase the number of sperm that reach the fallopian tubes and to increase the chance of fertilization. During normal intercourse, only a small percentage of a man's sperm will make it past the woman's cervix and enter the uterus to fertilize the woman's egg. Most of the sperm that is ejaculated during intercourse remains in the vagina. A small percentage of the ejaculated sperm will travel, with the help of the woman's cervical mucus, through the vagina and into the cervical canal where it is released gradually into the uterus. But, this amount is only a fraction of the total amount of sperm ejaculated. IUI increases a couple's chance of conceiving because it does a few things. It removes any obstacles that could keep sperm from entering the uterus, such as hostile cervical mucus or antisperm antibodies. It also places the sperm closer to the egg. The more sperm that is in the uterus during ovulation, the higher the chances are of conceiving.
Why IUI? IUI is used when the male has issues with low sperm count, decreased sperm mobility, need for donor sperm, ejaculation dysfunction., hostile cervical mucous, antisperm antibodies, unexplained infertility, and cervical scar tissue from past procedures or endometriosis.
How Does IUI work? A sperm sample will be provided by the male partner of the woman undergoing artificial insemination or the sperm donor. Sperm is usually obtained through masturbation into a sterile cup or a collection condom ,that may be used to collect the semen during intercourse. The man providing the sperm is usually advised not to ejaculate for two days before providing the sample, to increase the sperm count.The woman's menstrual cycle is closely observed through ultrasounds to check follicle size and blood work. Once the follicles are matured the woman will take the hormone, human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG), is to stimulate the release of eggs from the follicles(ovulation). The next morning the IUI will take place. The man gives his sample; the sperm is then washed. The sperm washing procedure is when a semen sample will be washed by the lab to separate the semen from the seminal fluid.The process of “washing” the sperm increases the chances of fertilization and removes any mucus and non-motile sperm in the semen. Pre and post concentration of motile sperm is counted. A catheter is used to inject the processed sperm directly into the uterus. This process maximizes the number of sperm cells that are placed in the uterus, thus increasing the possibility of conception. The IUI procedure takes little time and involves minimal discomfort.
How Successful Is IUI? Success rates depend on you and your partner's fertility problem and your age. Most couples who turn to IUI have a 5 to 20 percent chance of becoming pregnant with each cycle. Your chances will be closer to 20 percent if you take fertility drugs in conjunction with the procedure. Depending on the cause of their fertility problem, most women undergo three to six cycles of artificial insemination before getting pregnant or trying another treatment.
What is IVF (In vitro fertilization)? IVF is the process of fertilization by manually combining an egg and sperm in a laboratory dish.
I am starting on clomid next cycle. As you read I was reading online that men could also take it, my boyfriend is being tsted for a low sperm count on the 15th as well as all the other problems I have (if you read my profile) So hopeing it works! would love to hear success stories!
Quoting Alex's Mommy1128:" I am starting on clomid next cycle. As you read I was reading online that men could also take it, my ... [snip!] ... 15th as well as all the other problems I have (if you read my profile) So hopeing it works! would love to hear success stories!"
If he has a hormone imbalance thats causing him to have a low sperm count the Clomid should help him. It helped my husband so much. I hope your boyfriend doesn't have an issues with a low sperm count.
Did you use Clomid before?
With my daughter we TTC'ed for 30 months, then we went to see an RE in March 09'. They did blood work on me, an HSG, then they did blood work and a semen analysis on my husband. A few days later we got a call from our RE telling us that he has a low count and that he will be put on Femara for 3 months. After the 3 months I took Clomid and we did IUI, I got pregnant my first cycle. I hope this time around we'll be lucky enough to get pregnant our first try.
Quoting Blasphemous Girl ☠:" If he has a hormone imbalance thats causing him to have a low sperm count the Clomid should help him. ... [snip!] ... and we did IUI, I got pregnant my first cycle. I hope this time around we'll be lucky enough to get pregnant our first try. "
Good luck. I am hoping that this works for me too, I am not hoping first cycle or getting my hope up but definately hope this is the answer we have been looking for. Lots of baby bust to you. Hope you are blessed with a beautiful new baby!!!
My next step will be to go to RMA, I am starting clomis with my regular OB and he has reffered us to RMA of PHiladelphia (fertility clinic) if we are unsuccessful in sustaining a pregnancy this time around.
Found this to be an interesting read for anyone trying clomid
Clomid is one of the fertility medications with the highest success rates. In addition, Clomid is one of the most inexpensive of fertility treatments available. However, Clomid does not work for every patient. Because women’s bodies are so different from one another, their reactions to Clomid can also be very different. Some women do experience a variety of side effects with Clomid, while other women may not experience any.
To understand why the success rate with Clomid is so high in terms of promoting conception, it is important to understand what Clomid is and how it works. Clomid reacts with a variety of tissues in the body that have estrogen receptors, including the vagina, the cervix, the entometrium, the pituitary gland, the ovaries, and the hypothalamus. Clomid influences the way that the hormones that are related to fertility and ovulation, including GnRH, FSH, LH, and estradiol work in the body and relate to one another. It has been said that Clomid “fools” the body into believing that estrogen is low, which then causes more GnRH to be released, which spurs the production of more FSH and LH. More FSH and more LH, then, lead to the release of one or more mature eggs. This is what helps Clomid to cause ovulation, and why Clomid has such high rates of success in terms of conception.
Somewhere between 40 and 80 percent of women who take Clomid will have success in creating ovulation. This, of course, does not guarantee they will have a successful conception, however. Of those patients who successfully ovulate as a result of taking Clomid, somewhere around half of those will have a successful conception within six months. There are some other fertility medications that may have higher success rates in terms of conception, but those other medications also tend to have much higher costs than Clomid, and they tend to pose much higher risks in terms of side effects. In addition, their success rates are truly not that much higher than success rates with Clomid. For these reasons, Clomid is often prescribed instead of, or at least before, other fertility medications or procedures.
I will be starting meds for another FET with a donor egg embryo as soon as my next cycle begins. Just had a D&C Monday though so that will probably be four weeks at least.
<blockquote><b>Quoting Uh-milly'Yuh:</b>" I will be starting meds for another FET with a donor egg embryo as soon as my next cycle begins. Just had a D&C Monday though so that will probably be four weeks at least."</blockquote>
Quoting Uh-milly'Yuh:" I will be starting meds for another FET with a donor egg embryo as soon as my next cycle begins. Just had a D&C Monday though so that will probably be four weeks at least."
Good luck! Where are you at with your cycle and everything now?
Quoting Angel (STILL TTC #1):" I just got my first IUI, yesterday. <3 Clomid 100mg cd3-8. 2 follies 17mm and 19mm. lets hope it works! Are your clomid cycles monitored?"
**Baby Dust**
My cycles are monitored. Last cycle I only had a 20mm follicle.
I haven't been online in a while because I'm in the middle moving and last cycle I was depressed because I knew it would be a failure. I ended up ovulating much later than I usually do.. I ovulated on CD 18 and I only had one 20mm follicle. My progesterone was low 11.3 at 7dpo so I was put on progesterone suppositories and my blood pregnancy test at 14dpo was negative. I just had a feeling that cycle wouldn't work out.
On the day of our IUI DH's sperm count was only 12 million. Since I didn't get pregnant our RE ran some blood work on DH. Last time his testosterone estrogen ratio was the problem, now they're normal. This time his LH and FSH levels are on the low side so he's taking Clomid for 4 months then we'll do another Clomid, IUI cycle.
Quoting Vicarious★:" I haven't been online in a while because I'm in the middle moving and last cycle I was depressed because ... [snip!] ... time his LH and FSH levels are on the low side so he's taking Clomid for 4 months then we'll do another Clomid, IUI cycle. "
Wow four months. Hopefully it will all be worth it!
This thread is for anybody who is doing fertility treatments or considering fertility treatments such as; Clomid, Femara, IUI (Intrauterine insemination), Injectables, and IVF (In vitro fertilization). Even if you're not doing fertility treatments but you have questions or want advice, stop in and ask. We're a friendly group always willing to answer questions.
What is IUI (intrauterine insemination)? IUI is a fertility procedure that uses a catheter to place washed sperm directly into the uterus. The goal of IUI is to increase the number of sperm that reach the fallopian tubes and to increase the chance of fertilization. During normal intercourse, only a small percentage of a man's sperm will make it past the woman's cervix and enter the uterus to fertilize the woman's egg. Most of the sperm that is ejaculated during intercourse remains in the vagina. A small percentage of the ejaculated sperm will travel, with the help of the woman's cervical mucus, through the vagina and into the cervical canal where it is released gradually into the uterus. But, this amount is only a fraction of the total amount of sperm ejaculated. IUI increases a couple's chance of conceiving because it does a few things. It removes any obstacles that could keep sperm from entering the uterus, such as hostile cervical mucus or antisperm antibodies. It also places the sperm closer to the egg. The more sperm that is in the uterus during ovulation, the higher the chances are of conceiving.
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