so i took my last of three months worth of clomid last month, and had a c/p. my RE prescribed femara starting this cycle b/c i was having really bad side effects with the clomid. what should i expect? i have a previously scheduled consultation appointment on monday, but i start the medication tonight. (day 3-7, 5mg/day).
and, i have to go in for a day 14 ultrasound to check for follicles. this is the first i have had to pay for out of pocket, and just the ultrasound is $536! is that normal, or on the high end? we can afford it, but i was really expecting it to be under $300. and if you did IUI, what was the cost for the procedure??
Re: please tell me about femara...
what was you cycle like with the gonal-f? as in, what the F is gonal-f and when did you have to take it? also, what were the side effects??
https://www.fertilitylifelines.com/resources/gonal-frffpen.jsp
This is my first cycle on it so I'm not sure of the side effects yet.*=)but here is a site that is informative.
I did 4 clomid/TI cycles before switching to femara. I like femara better for several reasons...my insurance covered it because it is also used to treat woman with breast cancer and I no longer had those terrible hot flashes!
My RE charges $200 for monitoring ultrasounds....so it does seem a little high. I only have a cd 14 US if I have not got a positive surge on my OPK.
I did not respond at all on Clomid, and I respond on Femara (poorly though)
I have mood swings and side effects on both, but much less on Femara.
"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming..."
I used Femara (day 3-7, 5mg/day) and got pregnant my second cycle on it with TI. I now have my beautiful baby boy who is almost 8 months old.
Good luck to you.
I never responded on clomid or femara but have to say that I liked femara better. My side effects were a lot worse with clomid.
Best of luck
Femara made me a CRAZY woman. I think I cried everyday for that entire cycle. HOWEVER I have heard that is NOT common. Since I only did it for one cycle I am not sure if it was actually the med or the culmination of 6 months straight on fertility meds.
Oh and some people don't know this but if you have medical insurance, even if they won't pay for anymore u/s alot of times if you have the Dr's office bill them anyway, you will get a extremely discounted rate. My Dr office charges 350 for an ultrasound, however even when I know my insurance is NOT going to cover it I still have it billed. Your insurance company (most of the time) will still only bill you for the amount of money that they "allow" for an u/s. For me it was $27. Yep...TWENTY SEVEN DOLLARS.
Sometimes you may have to INSIST to your Dr that they bill it even though they KNOW it is not covered because in the end they know you will only end up paying the reduced insurance company rate. It's worth a try right??
Please excuse my run on sentences, I am posting and drinking a glass of wine
thanks for this. so why did your insurance even cover the $27? that was just what would go toward a general u/s?? i will definitely try it. i honestly thought it would be far less than that. they told me two years ago that the cost for the sperm wash and IUI only is $700, so if we end up doing that, i cannot imagine what the IUI cost is now.
I'm just seeing your post. I'm on my 2nd Femara cycle after 6 failed Clomid cycles. I didn't have terrible side effects from Clomid, but I did have hot flashes and some pretty foul mood swings while on it.
With Femara I haven't had any side effects. None at all. And the doctor even doubled my dosage this cycle and still I didn't have any side effects, so I can't complain there.
The u/s seems high. I think mine are usually in the $280 range if I'm remembering correctly.
We're looking at IUI as our next option and the RE quoted me anywhere from $1200 - $1400 total if we do IUI with either Clomid or Femara. I've seen wide ranges of costs on IUI and actually just posted asking this very question above.
Good luck to you!