Clomid vs. Femara

jvieira85

I have now had 3 failed Clomid cycles and my RE said we can try Femara.  I am researching and the only thing that concerns me is the possibility that birth defects may be higher with Femara.  But then some studies say that it can cause birth defects if taken DURING pregnancy, and not before.  Anyone have any insight?

AprilDrew04

I did a lot of research on this when I took Femara.  And found a study that showed that there is actually a higher rate of birth defects in Clomid babies than those conceived with Femara.  I'll see if I can find the info again.  But basically Femara is just as safe as Clomid.  Obviously, neither should be taken during pregnancy.

AprilDrew04

"Femara has a half-life in the body of about 45 hours (compared with five to seven days for Clomid) and should be completely cleared by the time of implantation."

"In the current study, 252 babies were born following treatment with Femara alone and another 262 births followed a combination of Femara and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). In the Clomid group, 293 babies were born after Clomid alone and 104 after Clomid and FSH.

Analysis of the births found:

• Congenital malformations or chromosomal abnormalities were found in 14 of 514 newborns in the Femara group, or 2.4%, and in 19 of 397 newborns in the Clomid group, or 4.8%.
• The major malformation rate in the Femara group was 1.2% (six of 514) and in the Clomid group it was 3.0% (12 of 397). The difference was not significant.
• Seven newborns in the Clomid group (1.8%) and only one in the Femara group (0.2%) were found to have congenital cardiac anomalies, a difference that was statistically significant atP=0.02.
• However, the incidence of cardiac anomalies in the Femara group was slightly lower than the rate of congenital cardiac anomalies reported among all births, which ranges from 0.4 to 1.2%, and the Clomid rates were slightly higher."

https://www.medpagetoday.com/OBGYN/Infertility/3144

 

jvieira85

Thank you!  Doing further research, I'm finding more and more of this. I guess it's worth a shot!

HairStylinWifey

I think the risk from either drug pertaining to that is exceptionally low. My understanding is that they are basically the same drug. At least, they do the same thing. I'm not sure why your dr. wants to switch you? It seems like they work the same way. Are you having nasty side effects on clomid that make you want to try something else? Are you doing IUI?

rcnavywife

As PP mentioned, I think it was just one poorly done study that had those findings. Unfortunately for me, my RE said that despite it being poorly done, health Canada still recommends against the use of femara, and so I had to switch to injectables! My understanding is the risk is similar to clomid, which is just slightly above the normal population.

AprilDrew04

HairStylinWifey:

I think the risk from either drug pertaining to that is exceptionally low. My understanding is that they are basically the same drug. At least, they do the same thing. I'm not sure why your dr. wants to switch you? It seems like they work the same way. Are you having nasty side effects on clomid that make you want to try something else? Are you doing IUI?

Actually they work differently.  Clomid directly stimulates the production of FSH, while Femara suppresses estrogen to encourage the production of FSH.  Here is an article that explains how they both work: https://www.cincinnatifertility.com/infertility-treatment/ovulation-drugs 

jvieira85

HairStylinWifey:

I think the risk from either drug pertaining to that is exceptionally low. My understanding is that they are basically the same drug. At least, they do the same thing. I'm not sure why your dr. wants to switch you? It seems like they work the same way. Are you having nasty side effects on clomid that make you want to try something else? Are you doing IUI?

Yep, we have been coupling Clomid with IUI.  We are just trying Femara as a last resort because DH and I aren't going to do injects or IVF.  So this is our last ditch effort.

topaz7777

Femera was a breast cancer drug and taking it in those types of quantities while pregnant is what was done in those studies. Femera when taken for IF is taken for a few days prior to ovulation and is well out of the body by the time you could possibly concieve. I concieved DD after femera + ovidril trigger IUI#3 and she was born perfectly healthy. Some people don't respond to clomid and femara as an alternative can definitely help.