Clomid Question

ibs11

Hi everyone! I posted this on the secondary infertility board as that's where I hung out for a while when I was trying to conceive my second child but they told me that I should be over here so hopefully this is the place for me :-) I ended up getting pregnant with him on my second round of 50mg Clomid days 3-7. He is now a happy busy boy and we have been trying to have another child but alas it seems it is just a difficult as with him. When my husband had his analysis it showed he had a good count but low motility and morphology but not so bad that it should prevent us from getting pregnant naturally. I checked out fine and don't have any trouble ovulating. They decided to try Clomid last time in hopes that I would release more than one egg to give the sperm more targets. Obviously it worked so therefore, we tried the same thing this time. I have now completed 2 rounds of 50 mg Clomid days 3-7 again but no BFP. My question is I'm trying to decide if I should continue trying this same protocol or move onto something else or just take a break. I know too many rounds of Clomid in a row can thin your lining and don't want to cause that. Anyone here have any luck with Clomid after the first couple rounds or did you find you needed to up your dose or move onto IUI etc. I will also be speaking with my doctor about our next move but thought I'd gather some advice from others who have maybe been in a similar situation!! Thanks in advance!! :-)

emsmama15

Are you taking Clomid from your OB or from a RE?  I'd highly suggest seeing a RE.  It's much safer to take a strong fertility medication like Clomid from a RE because they monitor you with ultrasound.  Then you'd know if you have a thin lining, ovarian cysts, or too many follicles (Kate plus 8 took Clomid and got 6 babies!).  I took Clomid to get pregnant with my first child and got pregnant on the first round.  But, on my first ultrasound, my lining was VERY thin, so this time around, my RE is using Femara because it causes less uterine lining issues.  Good luck!

ibs11

Thanks for the info, yes I don't have a re but that makes sense why it could be helpful, I guess I just kind of assumed since I only ended up with one the first time I probably didn't drop too many eggs but I didn't realize that people ever reacted that strongly to it! I know twins were a chance and even triplets but never imagined it could cause 6!! I will talk to my doctor about maybe looking into a re :-)

June18Bride05

When TTC my daughter we started with Clomid 50mg and did not have luck. After a couple months, we up it to 100mg, tried for a couple months and no luck with that.  Next we went to Femara, and got pregnant the 2nd month with it.    This time around we started with Femara, and so far no luck.  So basically we tried both things you are asking about, we tried a higher dose and a different med.  Ask your Dr, what he thinks would be best for you. 

ibs11

Thanks June18Bride05 it's always nice to hear what has worked and didn't work for others, I will definitely be discussing those other options with my dr!! :-)

ckk8584

I've never been on clomid. Is that something you can ask to try if you've been unsuccessful TTC for like 7 or 8 months? Or are there certain guidelines you have to meet?

emsmama15

@ibs11‌ I work in a NICU and we get a lot of premie triplets where mom took Clomid and got one, took it again and got three. So I don't think your response the first time indicates your response the second. Or, you could be like me. First round of Clomid for my first and now I've been trying for 7 months with my RE and we're moving to injects and IUI if this cycle doesn't work. Ugh.

emsmama15

@ckk8584‌ usually you should see your doc after a year of unsuccessful trying (unless your over 35 or have a diagnosed infertility issue).

ibs11

Hey @emsnana15 I work in the NICU too! :-) always nice to have something in common hehe Ya I know there's always chances of crazy things happening with different rounds, I've even seen several natural triplets lately eek :-) at this point I'll be happy with whatever we can get and definitely understand the risks of carrying multiples :-) I just figure I won't be given more than I can handle so if I end up with more than one someone must just have really good faith in me haha :-) if you don't mind me asking, what has your re had you try this time? Did you try a higher dose of clomid or a different oral med or did you switch to injectibles fairly quickly? I'm sure I should just take my time and keep doing the minimum but I like to be proactive and do everything I can to help out! I'm kind of a control freak so it's hard for me that I can't control my fertility lol thanks again for your help!! :-)

ibs11

Ps sorry to hear you're having such a rough time Ttc this time around :-(

August2Loves

My RE put me on Clomid 50 mg (CD5-9) and it was a BFN this cycle. Next cycle she plans on doing the same protocol (Clomid 50, Ovidrel, IUI) she said because I responded so well (I only had ONE mature follicle and she had me trigger when it was 30mm) but I dont that one follicle should be grouped as "responded so well" ..but hey, Im no doctor!

emsmama15

@ibs11‌ for some reason, I didn't get a notification you'd tagged me! Sorry! Since I had a really thin lining with Clomid, my RE started me with Femara (oral) this time. So I did two cycles of just Femara, then Femara and added a shot of Menopur, then moved to IUI with Femara and Menopur. This cycle we're doing Gonal-F. I know what you mean @August2Loves‌. I was only getting one mature follicle on Femara. One of the reasons we moved to injects. At 40, I think we need a few more "targets."

August2Loves

Hopefully the next go at it, produces more eggs!!

march2008

Did YH have an SA again this time around or were those results from when you were TTC#2?

I am still in the very beginnings of the testing and all that, but I'll share my experience so far. I just saw an RE for the first time a few weeks ago because we TTC for 12 cycles with no luck. I just started spotting today so I guess cycle 13 was a bust, too. 

Anyway, before we had even gotten any testing done, my RE said we'd likely end up on Clomid + IUI because although I don't have any known issues on my end, we recently discovered some issues on DH's side. DH has been taking Clomid since November from his urologist when it was discovered that he has low testosterone. His most recently lab work showed his testosterone has increased to normal levels, but his recent SA came back as "borderline". Both his sperm count and motility were within normal levels, but his morphology was 1% under the normal level. The RE says that he believes that we could conceive naturally on our own again since we didn't have any issues conceiving DD1, but just that it could take longer than usual. I'm 33 years old and DH is 32 and we are just worried about waiting TOO long.

It seems like many try clomid and timed intercourse before moving on to Clomid + IUI, but I guess with the borderline SA, maybe that's why the RE thought adding the IUI would be better for us.