clomid, pros and cons

mumtozac

I have been ttc for 19 months, ever since the birth of my beautiful son. My hormone levels were fine, my scans clear, my husband was given a clean bill of health, etc. Due to my age (36) and our lack of success on our own I have been prescribed clomid. I have read every thing I can get my hands on about it but I also want real life experiences on if it works and what issues I need to watch out for. I apologize if this is a double of someone else's but I honestly couldn't find it. Thanks in advance.

mountainlady

@mumtozac I've been taking femara, so not quite the same drug... but my symptoms have been interrupted sleep, ridiculous hot flashes (I've had to sleep with a towel some nights!) And headaches. Also all the emotions! But if it does the trick, it will be worth it.

mrswifeytoad

I started clomid yesterday for the first time. Last night I was nauseous- like and hour after taking it. I was overly emotional and short fused today (not great for a teacher...) I read that if you take it at night, you can sleep through the worst of the side effects. So that's what I'm trying to do... other than that, I have no experience with it yet. 

funkykey

Welcome @mumtozac!

I've taken clomid 3 times. My side effects have been the ones mentioned by pp- hot flashes, interrupted sleep, and mood swings. The first time I took it I was the most emotional, the second time I had a lot of hot flashes and the most recent time my side effects were the least, but it may be because I took it at night.

Clomid can also change the day you ovulate and the length of your cycle. My last cycle was four days longer than usual and I ovulated 2 days later (stressful!). This cycle, I also ovulated two days later- my clomid follicles got so big ("overmature") they had to trigger me.

Because clomid has worked for me in that I've produced more follicles, I've had more painful ovulations. This last cycle was particularly painful- likely because of my too big follicles. Because I'm producing more follicles, my estrogen and progesterone have been higher than usual. In addition to mood swings, the high progesterone has given me gas and constipation.

I should point out how important it is to be monitored while on clomid. I suspect if I'd been monitored more closely this last cycle, they would have triggered me before my follicles were so large. As it was, of my 4, 3 were bigger than recommended, and probably not viable. Grr.

I am not pregnant yet, despite taking clomid 3 times, but (surprise! ***tw***) my sister and I were both conceived with clomid many years ago. My parents had tried for 23 months, approx. So it definitely does work! It's a miracle drug, I'd even say. We plan to try it one more time, that is, if we're not KU.

But it only works for some people. Depending on your situation and diagnosis, it might not be the best option.

GL!

hoffmanr7

Hi there. Like @funkykey, I have also done 3 cycles with clomid, with pretty similar results.  

I did not suffer hot flashes, but the best way I can describe my side effects were that it made me feel constantly on edge.  It was like anxiety just bubbling below the surface constantly.  I also had a short fuse and was very emotional. Because of the edgy feeling, I ended up having a very difficult time settling in to anything and concentrating while I was taking it.

The below meme pretty much sums up my feelings on Clomid.

manders85-2

I've taken clomid twice. First round we cancelled our IUI because i was given estrace too early and it stunted my follie growth. I had a few viable, but they never grew over 15 mm. That time i took 100 mg of clomid days 3-7.

Second round I took 100 mg of clomid days 3-9. I got three mature follicles and triggered that night.

Side effects included hot flashes, irritability. 
I think these symptoms lasted after my trigger shot too and I was super flushed at night. Hard to tell though post-trigger what was from estrace and what was residual after clomid.