Stair step Femara

blsav23

hi everyone! I hope you guys are doing well & I hope you had a wonderful holiday!
I haven't posted lately as I was benched due to a big cyst & was kind of throwing my hands up with the whole fertility thing. I'm back on a cycle, gearing up for IUI #4! I didn't respond great to femara 5mg CD 3-7 so my RE is stair stepping me, having me take an additional 7.5mg CD 9-13. Has anyone done this protocol? If so, did you respond well-as in mature follicles?
As always, thank you for your time & input!

blsav23

humblebee2 said:

@blsav23 I stair-stepped in November and this month on Femara. I don't seem to respond to only 5 days. Last month and this month when I went in for the second US the results have been decent -- mature follies! It's not as common to have to stair step, but it happens! 

Next month I'll be doing 10 days straight of 12 mg of Letrozole. 

Thanks so much for your response! For some reason, I find the stair step odd. But...my RE said there is research showing stair step produces better quality pregnancies, whatever that means ☺️ Seeing that this is IUI #4, I'm wondering if I'm building some resistance. Also, my RE made it sound like you can stair step multiple times in one cycle. Weird!
Best of luck to you this cycle!!

BunnyBerry

That's an interesting thought - I never heard about building resistance to OI drugs. 

I've seen other women stair-step more than once, but also want to caution about O'ing later than about CD21 due to lining issues (lower chance of implantation). Hopefully this next round will do the trick!!

blsav23

BunnyBerry said:

That's an interesting thought - I never heard about building resistance to OI drugs. 

I've seen other women stair-step more than once, but also want to caution about O'ing later than about CD21 due to lining issues (lower chance of implantation). Hopefully this next round will do the trick!!

Thanks for your response. I'm not sure if my RE meant resistance can be built or if some women are just naturally resistant. I've responded well in the past so I'm wondering if I'm building a slight resistance?? Maybe that's why they say if you don't conceive after 3-4 cycles, your likelihood does not increase with future cycles??
That is good to know about lining--mine was at 6mm at my scan Friday. I'm hoping it will thicken a bit by the time I go back for a repeat scan Wed. My RE said 6 is ok but I would feel more comfortable if it were a bit thicker ☺️