Clomid and monitoring?

johnsonscharosch

I talked to my OB over the phone today about my day 3 blood tests and my HSG results, everything came back normal! 

When I asked her "now what? she said to come in for a consultation and that she wants to put me on Clomid.  I asked her if she would be monitoring me while I was taking it and she said, "Er... well we take your progesterone levels, only one Dr. here actually uses ultrasound during Clomid"  I said ok and asked her how long she wanted to put me on Clomid and she said well about 3 months, however some Dr.'s here keep patients on it for as long as six months.  I don't really know what to think about her answers.

If you are on Clomid what steps does your doctor take to monitor you, how long are you going to be or have you been on Clomid, and what is your opinion on Clomid vs Femara?  I am thinking I am going to say thank you but no thank you and see if I can get a referral to an RE.  I'm not sure, I don't want to cut this off at the knees if I don't have to if the monitoring she is going to do will be enough...

Any help would be great!  Thanks!

pmpknbride

I did 5 cycles of clomid with my OB. I had a HSG and DH had SA, but I wasn't monitored and honestly, I wouldn't do it again. I do not have any horror stories (but I know there are some out there) but I O'ed late (CD 28 and CD 21) on 2 cycles and no O on the other 3. It was the biggest waste of time, and i dealt with a ton of side effects essentially for nothing! If I could do it again I'd go straight to the RE, I'm in my second cycle with the RE and I feel more confident that I'm not wasting time and that we have some progress being made. She switched me to Femara and I'm much happier with Femara over Clomid. There have been less side effects (mainly fatigue) and I've been able to trigger O on both cycles on time.

jaytee16

You're instinct is right, please get a referral to an RE.  You need to be properly monitored, after having all the proper testing done.  Every cycle, you should have CD3 b/w and u/s before starting Clomid or other meds, mid cycle b/w and u/s to see how you're responding at a minimum.  Clomid can be dangerous for your health and fertility, you need to be properly monitored and I would highly recommend seeing a fertility specialist for this - an RE.  

I never did Clomid myself, my RE doesn't like it and prefers Femara.  We tried 3 cycles before moving on, as I had poor response.  I had next to no side effects, but I also had very little response.  Good luck, and please follow your gut and ask for a referral to an RE.

johnsonscharosch

Ok great!  that is all that I needed to hear. I thought that it seemed like a waste of time and just something to take up time to say they were doing anything.  I really don't want to waste time taking medications, as I am not a big fan of them anyway, and clomid is scary to me especially when it is not monitored... at all! 

Looks like I will be getting a referral to an RE!  thank you so much ladies this is a big help.  I thought I might just be overreacting.

bashert11

I have had 7 cycles of Clomid and it doesn't work for me. The only testing for clomid they did was checking progesterone levels once at a certain point in the cycle. I want to say cycle day 21 although I could be wrong on the exact date. There really is no reason to do an ultrasound when on clomid. The blood work pretty much tells you what you need to know which is your progesterone level.

tippytoes06

bashert11 said:

I have had 7 cycles of Clomid and it doesn't work for me. The only testing for clomid they did was checking progesterone levels once at a certain point in the cycle. I want to say cycle day 21 although I could be wrong on the exact date. There really is no reason to do an ultrasound when on clomid. The blood work pretty much tells you what you need to know which is your progesterone level.

To the bolded comment - there is ABSOLUTELY a need to do an ultrasound on Clomid. You could, for example, wind up with a cyst, at risk for HOMs, thinned lining. Just to name a few things. I was on a very low dose and wound up with a pretty sizeable cyst and it would have gone undetected without proper monitoring. Please educate yourself before you spew nonsense like that.

Oh and the bloodwork should be done 7dpo, not on CD21, unless CD21 happens to be 7dpo. but you won't know that unless you're being monitored properly.

Sha259

I think the correct advice has been given. Run, do not walk, away from any medical professional that recommends that you take Clomid unmonitored by both bloodwork AND ultrasound.

I second the thought of not playing russian roulette with your fertility.

tariust16

***** mc mentioned. I did 5 cycles of clomid. My OB monitored me for the first 2 rounds with blood work to make sure I ovulated. That was it. After that Ibegan to get annoyed because of the lack of monitoring...espespecially after my mc. She said she would only refer me to an re if I had 2 mc or after 6 cycles of clomid. I finally got fed up after my 5th cycle and told her she needed to send me to an re. She agreed she could no longer help. I am seeing an re on the 21st. Just make sure you are direct and take control of your treatment as much as possible. I have learned this thru this board. Good luck with everything!

chickysue

@tariust16 - I think ob's like that should lose their license. It's so scary how many ob's don't care about our fertility health.

tariust16

I know it scared me too. I won't b going back to her if I do get pregnant. It did make me become more direct though. It felt great to walk in and tell her I'm not doing clomid again with her and that she needed to refer me to an re. How empowering lol. But I shouldn't have been put in that position.

princessisadora

I'm not going to lie and say I didn't take the Clomid when my OB-GYN gave them to me. I took them Clomid 50mg for 5 days. I was unmonitored and although I have no horror stories I wouldn't do it again. My reasons are 1) Although I was using the Clear Blue Fert Monitor at the time I could not for the life of me pinpoint my exact fertile window while on clomid! I had over 10 days of High reading before actually hitting Peak and by then DH was exhausted and threw in the towel 2) My cycle was so wonky I couldn't make heads or tails of it 3) When I actually used clomid 100mg while being monitored by my RE for an IUI, I produce 9 mature follies!! 

If I had continued taking Clomid from my OB-GYN, I know that after our failed 1st attempt with 50mg the next step would have been 100mg unmonitored and as much as I want to become pregnant 9 would have been too many!