November IUIs

ZoeFer

Hi ladies, could you please advise on this. I had my first IUI last Saturday 11/7 with one mature follicle which was 22mm on thursday. After the IUI i did not use any progesterone supplement. And they are not testing for progesterone, they only wanted me to come back on 11/21 for beta. I always get very sore and tender breasts when I ovulate. But i do not have anything going on in my breasts yet, so now i am worried if my progesterone stayed low. Should I ask my doctor if I can get tested for progesterone? I do not know if we can do anything about it even though it is low.

wifeinraleigh28

@ZoeFer - I was told by my RE that progesterone is used to prevent miscarriages in women who don't make enough naturally.  Do you think there's a reason why they aren't concerned about this for you?  My RE said they put every single patient of their's on progesterone just to be safe regardless of whether or not there's a history of miscarriages, so I guess it couldn't hurt to call and ask about it.  Best of luck to you!!

ZoeFer

During my IUI, my doctor was not there and actually the nurse called the Dr and asked if I will need the progesterone and he said no. Last few months, they had tested my blood progesterone levels to check ovulation and it was high enough to confirm ovulation. I am thinking that s why he did not give supplements. I do not know why they did not need to test my progesterone levels this time. If you ovulate, does that guarantee high progesterone ? I constantly worry myself.

Drove2u

They never give me progesterone either. But they test me and my levels are always good.

ZoeFer

Thanks @wifeinraleigh28 and @Drove2u for your time. I am afraid to sound neurotic if i email the RE because i dont feel sore boobs. Is it better to sound neurotic than driving myself crazy thinking about my progesterone? I couldnt decide.

jilligan14

My RE doesn't really believe in the whole progesterone supplementation thing. I've had low levels before (confirmed by my obgyn) and was taking prometrium during my luteal phase but my RE thinks he needs to just get me O'ing earlier and having a "stronger" ovulation and that will produce better progesterone levels. I'm super worried though so he said I could take the prometrium vaginally 3 days after trigger shot if I want (basically for peace of mind). I'm on the fence about it but figure it wouldn't hurt so why not? Especially since I've had 2 early losses already.

Today I went for my CD12 ultrasound. My lining is a 7 (the NP said that was "really good"), and I have 2 lead follicles - one at 14mm and one at 10.5mm. She wants me to come back in on CD14. This is my first time taking letrozole/femara. Do those seem like good follicle sizes for CD12?

junicek

@jilligan14 that seems okay...what is your estrogen? I'm on day 15 and my lead follicle on day 12 was 16mm but my estrogen was only 89. Today it has grown to 19mm and my estrogen was 245. I have a 15mm follicle which could be in the running depending on when I trigger. At this point tomorrow night will be the earliest trigger so it's a real waiting game

ZoeFer

@jilligan14 thanks for sharing your experience. I am going to get my progesterone tested tomorrow, and I am planing to discuss the whole progesterone issue with my RE after the results. We have never talked about it before, I think that s why I have panicked like this.

I had one 15 mm follicle on Tuesday and my estrogen was 90 and on Thursday it was 22 mm and estrogen was 180 (my lining grew to 7.5 mm only at that point, and maybe it was on the thin side). So I think 7mm on CD12 should be pretty good. I had the trigger that night, IUI on saturday. I am also on Letrozole. This is my first medicated -monitored cycle, so this is the only experience I had.

GL and FX for you @jilligan14 and @junicek!

Drove2u

Starting letrazole tonight. Let's do this!! I'm excited for this cycle. I have a good feeling. Third times the charm right?

Mando15

@Drove2u yay for starting meds! Third times the charm

Do you get any bad symptoms from the letrozole?

junicek

@ZoeFer and @Drove2u good luck with your cycles this month! Sure would be a nice Christmas gift!!

jilligan14

@junicek and @ZoeFer - thanks for sharing your experiences. They did a blood test this morning and the nurse called this afternoon to tell me that everything "looked good" but don't know what my levels were. I didn't think to ask for actual numbers. They always post lab results to an online portal but nothing is there but maybe it's because it's a Sunday? I'll make sure to ask for estrogen levels when I go back on Tue. Good luck and my fingers are crossed for you both!

@Drove2u - good luck this cycle! Is this your 3rd time doing letrozole? Did they increase the dose every time?

@Mando15 - The only symptoms I had from taking the letrozole was REALLY intense headaches. They were mostly manageable, until the last night, which was brutal but I survived.

Good luck to all the other ladies on this thread! Fingers crossed for everyone!

ZoeFer

@Mando15 I used letrozole 2.5 mg for two cycles, I had few dull headaches but I am normally prone to headaches. Last cycle I had to use letrozole for 10 days , 5D 2.5mg and 5D 5mg. On the last round, I have had sleeping problems, woke up every 1-2 hours at night. I am not sure if it was the stress or the medication though. Other than that, I did not have much side effects.

Mando15

This is my second round of letrozole. I had pretty bad headaches last time at 5mg and I am doing 7.5mg this cycle so I'm preparing myself for the worst.

Good luck to you all!

Drove2u

This is my first cycle on letrazole and third iui. I did clomid twice before and got lots of mature follies where my doc was afraid of multiples so he wants to try letrazole now. First day today so no symptoms yet.

Mando15

@Drove2u well hopefully the letrozole works out better for you this time around. I am also adding some follistim injections starting day 8. Little nervous about those but it will be worth it!

PCOSat25

I didn't have any headaches with letrozole. I always took it a night and it KNOCKED me out within an hour. Made me supper drowsy. I will say that I had lower GI symptoms and diarrhea (TMI) the week I was on letrozole. Cleared up once I stopped taking it so I have to believe letrozole was the cause...

junicek

It's really interesting to read about everyone's symptoms while on Letrozole. I take 5mg days 3-7 in the morning and I don't notice anything. I've been taking it since June and seem to develop 2 mature follicles on it. I'll have to pay attention to symptoms in future cycles

Drove2u

@mando15 thanks. Yeah hopefully I won't wind up with 5 mature follies again. Praying for one or two.
I'm only on day 2 of letrazole so no side effects yet. I feel completely normal.

MrsKD1018

MrsKD1018 said:

Oh! Yay! I am joining as well :-) I tried 3 rounds of Clomid (50mg) last year at this time after a year of trying with no success (had 2 follies each time). Hubby and I decided to take another year for us and see what happened. Well, looks like I have that pesky "unexplained infertility" (I am very regular and his counts were low but nothing they were worried about...) September rolled around and we decided to take the "next step" in trying, so I started on 100mg of Clomid Oct 23 (cd3-7); had the u/s showing 2 follies on Nov 2 (cd13) and got my trigger shot that day. Went in for my first IUI on Nov 3! I'm in that annoyingly excited/anxious/nervous 2-week wait right now (cd20)...

Took my test today (technically a day early) - BFN... I'll take another tomorrow to confirm and call the doc... Started heavy spotting yesterday and pretty much knew it didn't take... *sigh*

Looks like I'll be moving to a December IUI/TWW thread...

jilligan14

@MrsKD1018 - so sorry to hear this. Fingers crossed that next cycle is your time!

junicek

@MrsKD1018 I'm so sorry to hear of your bfn. Hopeful your next cycle is the one. Thinking of you. Enjoy something delicious tomorrow.

junicek

I am triggering tonight at 7:45. Cautiously hopeful. My estrogen is 331, two follicles 22mm on left and 17mm on right...insemination on Wednesday morning. In Sept DH and I got this far and then on the day of, he couldn't fill the cup. It was horrible for both of us. Since then I got the collection condoms and the sperm friendly lube, so I'm desperately hopeful just to show up at the office with a cupful. It really tested us as a couple but we are stronger now than ever.

wifeinraleigh28

So sorry to everyone who has gotten a BFN this month so far!  FX for your next cycle!!

My first IUI process is officially started for me now... had my baseline US this morning and all looked good so I'm starting follistim injections tomorrow night.  Still don't know the exact day my IUI will be on but it will probably be on or around Thanksgiving.  I've decided to be hopeful about this despite my fears and anxieties that I expressed earlier in this thread.  Y'all are so brave and are helping me feel better about the whole thing!

ZoeFer

GL @junicek on Wednesday, my DH also stressed out sooo much during the IUI that I had never seen him like this. This whole process definitely strengthens our marriage

wifeinraleigh28

@junicek - GL with your IUI on Wednesday!!  I'm sorry you had a difficult time last time.  These fertility treatments can be so hard on everyone.  I'm glad to hear you got through it though and are stronger now for it!

cmm012

I just finished my round of clomid.  U/S and blood work is on Thursday.  Prayers please as this is my first IUI.

ErikaMG

Good luck @cmm012!

vssbrm

Good luck @cmm012 !!

cmm012

Thank you @vssbrm and @ErikaMG.

Drove2u

Good luck @cmm012

Day 3 of letrazole here and no side effects so far.

tbyars07

Tomorrow morning is US and BW day! Hoping had some good follies grow so we can trigger for our 4th IUI. This round of Clomid was much worse than the last time. Maybe because some was left over in my system? Soooooo emotional and holy hot flashes!

Luckily my TWW will mostly be over the Thanksgiving holidays so I will have a distraction.

Good luck everyone! Prayers and baby dust to all!

ZoeFer

Good luck to all the ladies who have started their medication this week, I hope you have great responses and nice mature follicles. 

@tbyars07 I am sorry that you had all these side effects from Clomid, I hope that they will go away soon as the drug gets out from your system. I have read that Letrozole has less side effects than Clomid, but I never used Clomid.

I had my progesterone results yesterday, and it was 18ng/ml (9dpiui) so it was normal. I panicked for no reason I guess. This episode showed me once again that I should not pay attention about my body signals because it is very confusing and body reacts differently every cycle. 

Again GL and FX for everyone, baby dust to all !

jilligan14

@ZoeFer - that's a relief to know that your progesterone levels are doing fine on their own! Fingers crossed for you!

I went for my 3rd ultrasound this morning (CD14) and my lead follicle is now at 20mm (it was 14mm Sunday morning)!! The other follicle never caught up, it's only at 11mm. So I guess I just have one follicle from the letrozole but I'll take that. Lining is looking good at 9mm. It looks like they didn't test my estrogen (is this normal?) but my LH was 9.04 this morning. They told me that everything looks good and to take the trigger at 3pm today. Yikes! The party is about to start!

Good luck to everyone else! I'm rooting for you all!!

junicek

@cmm012 good luck to you! Solid bunch of ladies here to give you support

roxgibbons

Hi ladies! Hope everyone is doing well- I had my ultrasound this morning and I had 4 mature follicles and good lining. I'm doing the HCG trigger in the morning and IUI is scheduled for Thursday. The only thing concerning was that when the dr was doing the ultrasound she saw what she saw something in the ultrasound- she called it an artifact and mentioned it could be a blood clot left over from the cycle or a fibroid. They didn't see anything in the ultrasounds before- so I'm hoping its nothing. She said if I don't get pregnant this cycle she wants me to come in for a saline ultrasound to see if it's still there. For some reason its bugging me, and getting me down. I should be happy with my good response but I'm feeling down for some reason- maybe its hormones, who knows.

For those of you who've done an HCG trigger yourselves, how was it? I'm a bit nervous about it.

FX for those of you in TWW and wishing the best for everyone getting their cycles going.

 

 

vssbrm

@roxgibbons the ovidrel shot is super easy to do. There are a ton of how tos on youtub - I suggest the one posted by "ovidrel" ( I assume you are using ovidrel, but search for what ever you are) as there is no drama in it. I watched that one, followed everything step by step and found it to be a breeze. The needle is so fine you do not even feel it.

ZoeFer

Hi @Roxgibbons, I am happy to hear that your body responded well. And I hope that whatever the Dr saw was not anything important and I really hope that you could manage not to worry about it. I totally understand you though, I worry about everything could go wrong and I feel down. 

I did my first HCG trigger myself!! I did the shot at my back of my leg and I did not feel anything except there was a slight burning feeling for few seconds. I do not know the reason, I felt like that leg would be easiest I was very nervous but it was okay at the end, you can definitely do it !! 

jilligan14

@Roxgibbons - I just did my first HCG trigger today all by myself! My nurse gave me printed out instructions and I just followed everything step by step. The needle is super fine and doesn't hurt at all! I was surprised at how easy the whole thing was! Good luck!

roxgibbons

thanks @vssbrm and @ZoeFer for the helpful tips. She printed out the instructions, but visuals help