Intro and a question (TW loss mentioned)

avas_dream

Hello ladies,

Wanted to say hi as I am just back bumping after a few years ago.  I am 38 and DH is 37. We are trying for baby number 2 but have been having a hard time TTC. We've suffered MC and CPs in the past as well. I finally decided to go take help from a fertility specialist after trying a few months on our own and we learnt the one of my tubes is blocked and my thyroid is a little out of  Wack. The dr suggested I try a few cycles of Clomid before iui or anything else so that's what we are gonna do after this month.  I am looking forward to get to know some of you on this board. 

My question - is there anyone who has experience with Clomid and would share (or direct me to a thread) what the process was like for you, how long you took it, any unsuspected side effects. I ofcourse have spoken to my dr and read all expected side effects, risks etc. I'm just looking to hear about your experiences and what helped/did not help while on Clomid cycle. I don't know why, it's making me nervous even after all the research. I am particularly nervous about thinning my uterus lining given my history with CPs (3 of them) and a MC at 10 weeks. 

Aurora1973

@avas_dream I don't have any experience with Clomid, but I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am that you've suffered losses and welcome you to the board.  I had a CP myself three cycles ago, and I'm 42, so I'm nervous it will happen again.  You're definitely in good company, but I do hope your stay is short

jennh75b

Hello and welcome!  I'm sorry about your losses and sorry you are encountering some barriers, but at least you know more than you did before the tests and you know better now about what options you have.  

I am on my third month of using Clomid 50 mg.  I take them days 3-7.  I was extra nervous about starting it, too.  I have not encountered the mood swings that I read so much about, but I have had some headaches during O time which is not normal for me, so I'm attributing it to Clomid.  I'm prone to headaches (hormonal, allergies, etc.) so I just KNEW I would have that as a side effect.  I guess I thought that the side effects would only be noticed while I was actually taking the pills, so when nothing happened during that time, I thought I would have no side effects.  But then I got the headaches.  This third month, I had extreme bloating and some pre-AF-like cramps right before O, but I'm most likely O'ing today and I don't feel that way today, just the past two days I felt so bloated.  And normally I never have cramps and no other physical signs that I ovulate.  

Other than that, my doctor did not seem concerned about the lining or mentioned it as a potential issue, although I'm not sure if that is a concern at all in my case - they found no concerns/issues when the RE did all of our testing.  The first month I used OPK and went in for a blood test and ultrasound to confirm O, which was confirmed.  So the second and third month I just let my RE know when I got a positive OPK and they told me when to have intercourse.  

Lots of luck to you!!!

laurad75

@avas_dream Hi and welcome.  I too am sorry about your losses but glad you are here.  

I don't think I am much help but I took my first round of clomid this cycle.  I didn't notice any side effects but I have struggled to see any signs of ovulation this cycle so far (I'm on CD 21 right now).  I have no reason to think the two are related but that is my struggle this particular cycle. 

Welcome again and I hope your stay here is a short one.  :-)

jennh75b

I guess I should also clarify that I do ovulate very regularly, so I'm not taking clomid for lack of ovulation...just for "extra help" or for whatever miraculous thing it could possibly do for me. 

laurad75

@jennh75b Same here.  So far I have ovulated without much concern but I needed to start with clomid because my insurance requires a 'clomid challenge' and my RE suggested we start with a couple of cycles of clomid for 'extra help' before we consider anything more aggressive.  

avas_dream

Aurora1973 said:

@avas_dream I don't have any experience with Clomid, but I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am that you've suffered losses and welcome you to the board.  I had a CP myself three cycles ago, and I'm 42, so I'm nervous it will happen again.  You're definitely in good company, but I do hope your stay is short

Thank you @Aurora1973. I am with you on how hard it is to deal with CPs. You are always nervous. Thanks for the kind words! 

avas_dream

Thank you so much ladies. This is helpful and I will share how it goes for me too at some point! 

amberruka

Welcome @avas_dream! I'm sorry for your losses. I don't have any experience with Clomid but if you had any questions about thyroid stuff I'm your girl (you mentioned "out of whack") ;-). Best of luck. 

avas_dream

amberruka said:

Welcome @avas_dream! I'm sorry for your losses. I don't have any experience with Clomid but if you had any questions about thyroid stuff I'm your girl (you mentioned "out of whack") ;-). Best of luck. 

Thanks @amberruka.  My thyroid s a tad bit out of the range they would like to see so I started with medication to bring it down a bit. We shall see how that goes. Just started a week ago. What's the case with you? 

amberruka

Developed extremely overactive (Graves') about 2 weeks after my CP. Had a really awesome goiter, like that lady in the Guiness Book and really high heart rate for weeks. Benched for 7 months. Just cleared about a month ago by endocrine but I'm on fluxuating doses of PTU (propylthiouracil). Getting bloodwork once a month. Hypothyroid is more common to find in pregnancy, nice to see someone else with a revved up engine like mine ;-)

Edit: and no, I had none of these issues prior to the CP. Graves' will develop in women more often 6-12 months after they give birth. I was lucky enough to get it without actually getting the baby out of it....

avas_dream

amberruka said:

Developed extremely overactive (Graves') about 2 weeks after my CP. Had a really awesome goiter, like that lady in the Guiness Book and really high heart rate for weeks. Benched for 7 months. Just cleared about a month ago by endocrine but I'm on fluxuating doses of PTU (propylthiouracil). Getting bloodwork once a month. Hypothyroid is more common to find in pregnancy, nice to see someone else with a revved up engine like mine ;-)

Edit: and no, I had none of these issues prior to the CP. Graves' will develop in women more often 6-12 months after they give birth. I was lucky enough to get it without actually getting the baby out of it....

How annoying! Glad you have the needed care for it now. I wonder if my CP caused mine too. 

amberruka

@avas_dream I wondered that too, but it's usually something that happens *after* you get PG/give birth. I never tested prior so I'll never know if I had a subclinical hyperthyroid that just exploded, but it's unlikely.