PCOS - moving onto a RE

JAYSWIG

question for you ladies. i have been diagnosed with PCOS, (anovulation) been TTC for a year now.. i've been on 4 cycles of provera + clomid with my OBGYN (Yes i have been closely monitored with check ups/ultra sounds/ blood work etc) but after 4 unsuccessful cycles of no ovulation, no follicles growing etc my Dr has spoken with his friend who is a RE and told him my case and they said i will need "the big guns" and should move onto a RE. I don't have infertility coverage so i will have to pay out of the pocket if i move onto a RE which my doctor said would be on average $3,000 a month. I did discuss with my doctor trying 1 round of femera just for shits and giggles basically to see since i've read online typically people with PCOS dont respond to clomid.

anyone out there with PCOS respond to femera?

My other question is for you ladies who are seeing a RE, how in the world do you pay for it? surely your not paying cash each month?? or are you?? or how would the payments work?

Im loosing hope, but i dont want to give up. the thought of never having a child breaks my heart...i cant even think about it...

10-4LilBuddy

I have PCOS and responded to Femara.  I had to have a higher dosage but it definitely worked.  It couldn't hurt to try.  Good luck!

pugznploons

so is he recommending moving on to injectibles? IUI? IVF?  i think cost depends on what kind of treatments you are getting.  It's not a blanket amount each month, it depends on what kind of procedures you are having done, prescriptions, office visits, etc.  

maybe meet with the RE and see what they recommend for you and get a pricing list so you can use that to weigh your options?

we haven't moved on to an RE yet (although dh did use one for his SA) so I don't have personal experience but that was just my understanding.   For us if something isn't covered by insurance it still gets sent by the doctor's office to our insurance company, and then we receive an invoice from the doctor's office showing what we owe and an explanation of benefits from our insurance explaining what wasn't covered.  

JAYSWIG

Yes he said i should move onto a RE and that there wasnt anymore they could do for me at my OBGYN office. i told him i want to try Femera anyway before seeing a RE - and this way i can atleast say i tried it and i am going to be monitored via ultrasound so we can see if i have any progress - hopefully he wont start me off on the smallest dosage - surely - but who knows. i've had many people tell me femera worked for them (i did some research and read online that 80% of women who dont respond to clomid, respond to femera) so im really keeping my fingers crossed - but my doctor doesnt sound promising, he said he doesnt have a sucessful rate, and he said he has always said those who dont respond to clomid, dont respond to femera, but i think everyone is different and i have nothing to loose by trying femera. so we shall see!

He rattled off a bunch of drugs that i would be moving onto, and thats when he said it would run about $3,000 a month.

keliser

I have PCOS and have responded to Clomid. I have no knowledge of Femera, but good Luck!!

TJ1979

I have PCOS and have responded to Femara. 

The first thing you need to do is find out exactly what your insurance (if you have it) will cover.  Mine covers testing, but no treatment, and nothing 2 weeks before or after an IF treatment.  So they cover my ultrasounds that aren't 2 weeks before or after an IUI (RE office tries to time these for me when they can) and they cover the femara, but they don't cover the u/s and ovidrel 2 days before the IUI or the IUI procedure itself.  I pay approximately 1000/cycle. 

Don't lose hope.  Try the femara, then see the RE if you have no luck.  There are more options out there, ok.  Not responding to clomid does not equal never having a child.  Hang tough and good luck.

genmalone

Sorry, this ended up being long. 

I have PCOS and also did not respond to Clomid.  My 1st RE didn't want to prescribe Femara (we did 1 cycle) and due to the cost of injectibles I switched REs.  I felt the same as you in that I wanted to give it a try since injects were going to cost $2500-$5000 per cycle.  All of my info is in my siggy but I would suggest trying Femara first.  I kindof responded to it, meaning I O'd but it was considered weak.  I'm now on my 3rd combo cycle which means I started with Femara and then added injectibles.  It saves a ton of money and I've responded well.  Last cycle I had 10 follies over 14 mm and the cycle before I had 3 nice ones.  It's still expensive.  This cycle would of cost us roughly $3700 but my RE was able to give me samples of Follistim and Endometrin which saved us $1200.  We charge it all to our Discover card and I just dream of what we will do with all the points.  We are able to pay off our balance every month but it's not fun.  Notice in my siggy that I took a 6 month break at the beginning of the year.  That was both a mental break and physical break.

Feel free to page me or PM me if you have any question.  Good luck!

 

sweetsouthern

I think you almost have to meet with an RE before making the decision of Femara vs. Clomid but from what I've read on the board, Femara seems to be the front runner... I'm just starting the IVF process and have not been on either, so I don't have any personal experience.

Our insurance pays for everything up until the diagnosis of "infertile." So our IVF and meds are out of pocket.