First round of clomid / iui

[Deleted User] · May 2014

Hello Ladies,

I introed awhile back, but I've been having issues participating on multiple boards. I hope it's still ok that I post here.

I had an appointment with my RE today for blood work, and an ultrasound. Everything looks good so I'll be taking 50mg clomid for 5 days starting tomorrow.

I will be going back mid cycle for more monitoring, but I'm being told to not have sex 3-5 days before I might get a lh surge. Is that normal? I thought we would be able to HIO the days leading up to O/IUI. I mean.. I guess it kind of makes sense, but I wanted to see what you guys thought.

I made sure to refresh my memory by reading the ttgp newbie blog's information on clomid.. I'm just feeling a little intimidated and overwhelmed.

I might be looking for words of encouragement more than anything.

I know I need to give support to get it so I'm really going to make more of an effort to be around rather than just poking my head in every now and then. I just usually don't know what to say when I'm here.

I hope y'all are having a wonderful evening.

aves0708 · May 2014

Hi!! I am currently in my first medicated cycle with clomid/IUI, and I was told that we needed to abstain for two days (no more than 5) before IUI if possible to make sure DH's counts were good. I found this to be way harder than it sounds lol. When I went in for my CD12 ultrasound, I had one 12mm follie that over the course of the next couple days disappeared, and then finally another one popped up so we continued with monitoring and eventually got to IUI on CD21. Because my body did not respond great to 50mg, we had no idea when the IUI would be, so we were doing our best to have sex/abstain within the right window. Re was very understanding of this though, and we made it work. Also, maybe because your RE doesn't know how you will respond, s/he wants to be cautious that you don't over respond, ovulate on your own and end up like kate gosselin.

Entering the world of medicated cycles was very overwhelming for me too, but being a regular part of this board helped so much. I have learned so much while here, and that helped make this process a little less daunting. Good luck with everything!!!

ETA because apparently I can't think at night

[Deleted User] · May 2014

@aves0708 - Thanks so much for responding! That makes a lot of sense

I need to stop over-thinking this.

I really hope your IUI works for you!

jjgrl55 · May 2014

No advice, just wanted to say I remember you from the TTGP board. Sorry we are both over here.

aves0708 · May 2014

NotElsie said:

@aves0708 - Thanks so much for responding! That makes a lot of sense I need to stop over-thinking this.

I really hope your IUI works for you!

So I re read my response this morning and apparently I have a tough time typing at night. It should read way harder than it sounds not easier lol

lebradford · May 2014

When we had our IUI, we only had to abstain for 36 hours before the IUI. In fact, they specifically said to have sex at 36 hours ahead (the same night as the trigger).

I'm wondering if they're trying to make sure you have good sperm counts on the IUI or if they don't want you to have sex when you're fertile in case you over-stimulate?? That I've never heard of. I'm assuming they're just thinking about your husband's counts though....

Alicia_R1 · May 2014

I know for us, we were told to have sex the day of trigger and then the evening of the IUI and the day after IUI. we also weren't limited on the number of says having sex leading up to trigger. Each RE likes to follow different protocols and it can vary depending on your H's results as well. Since DH's numbers were always good, we didn't have to abstain much.

.Mrs.Matt. · May 2014

It seems like everyone is given different instructions, and I think one possible downside of these boards is that I second guess everything if it doesn't follow what I typically see on here.

I'm trying to be better about trusting my Dr., but I still tend to push back if the instructions don't seem right to me. So I guess that's my advice, don't be afraid to question the instructions you're given. Hopefully they are taking your history and test results into consideration and tweaking your schedule for a potentially better result.

[Deleted User] · May 2014

Thank you all for your responses.

I am being told to take the five days of clomid (cd5-cd9), and start testing for a surge on cd12. Once I have a surge I have to go in for a ultrasound, and possible IUI. That's when they would trigger me if they needed to.

At least this is my understanding. Does that sound ok?

I emailed my nurse yesterday asking monitoring questions, etc. I feel like I should ask some more questions, but I'm not really sure what else to ask.

BananaPancakes02 · May 2014

NotElsie said:
Thank you all for your responses.

I am being told to take the five days of clomid (cd5-cd9), and start testing for a surge on cd12. Once I have a surge I have to go in for a ultrasound, and possible IUI. That's when they would trigger me if they needed to.

At least this is my understanding. Does that sound ok?

I emailed my nurse yesterday asking monitoring questions, etc. I feel like I should ask some more questions, but I'm not really sure what else to ask.

This is what my RE told me at our consult for what our first medicated cycle would be.

Kam10 · May 2014

Everyone has given you good advice, I just wanted to say good luck!

[Deleted User] · May 2014

Thank you all so much, I feel a little bit better now

nswain85 · May 2014

I can't give any info on the Clomid end of it but it seems to make since that they would want a good sample for the IUI from DH to use so maybe that is reasoning for the wait. Good luck and hope the IUI is a success!

lebradford · May 2014

I guess my question would be what the plan is if you weren't getting a surge on your own. I started having ultrasounds every other week starting a day or two after I finished the Clomid. If I was just testing with OPKs I wouldn't have realized for quite a while that I wasn't responding to 50mg of Clomid.

Is this a RE or an OB/GYN?

jaytee16 · May 2014

Just popping in to say good luck with your first medicated cycle, lady!!

[Deleted User] · May 2014

lebradford said:

I guess my question would be what the plan is if you weren't getting a surge on your own. I started having ultrasounds every other week starting a day or two after I finished the Clomid. If I was just testing with OPKs I wouldn't have realized for quite a while that I wasn't responding to 50mg of Clomid. Is this a RE or an OB/GYN?

I am going to a RE. If I don't get a surge I think that is where the trigger comes in? It all depends on how my next ultrasound goes I guess.

lebradford · May 2014

NotElsie said:

lebradford said:

I guess my question would be what the plan is if you weren't getting a surge on your own. I started having ultrasounds every other week starting a day or two after I finished the Clomid. If I was just testing with OPKs I wouldn't have realized for quite a while that I wasn't responding to 50mg of Clomid.

Is this a RE or an OB/GYN?

I am going to a RE. If I don't get a surge I think that is where the trigger comes in? It all depends on how my next ultrasound goes I guess.
-----

Gotcha. Sorry, I think I might have misunderstood you before. I thought you meant the only ultrasound you'd get would be after your surge. If you're going for one shortly after finishing Clomid also, then they'll take care of any over- or under-response issues. :-)

[Deleted User] · May 2014

lebradford said:

lebradford said:

I guess my question would be what the plan is if you weren't getting a surge on your own. I started having ultrasounds every other week starting a day or two after I finished the Clomid. If I was just testing with OPKs I wouldn't have realized for quite a while that I wasn't responding to 50mg of Clomid. Is this a RE or an OB/GYN?

I am going to a RE. If I don't get a surge I think that is where the trigger comes in? It all depends on how my next ultrasound goes I guess.
----- Gotcha. Sorry, I think I might have misunderstood you before. I thought you meant the only ultrasound you'd get would be after your surge. If you're going for one shortly after finishing Clomid also, then they'll take care of any over- or under-response issues. :-)

This is exactly the reason why I posted. I'm so glad you said this.. they are NOT having me come in after finishing the meds / before the surge.

I'm getting in touch with my nurse now. Thank you

lebradford · May 2014

NotElsie said:

lebradford said:

lebradford said:

I guess my question would be what the plan is if you weren't getting a surge on your own. I started having ultrasounds every other week starting a day or two after I finished the Clomid. If I was just testing with OPKs I wouldn't have realized for quite a while that I wasn't responding to 50mg of Clomid. Is this a RE or an OB/GYN?

I am going to a RE. If I don't get a surge I think that is where the trigger comes in? It all depends on how my next ultrasound goes I guess.
----- Gotcha. Sorry, I think I might have misunderstood you before. I thought you meant the only ultrasound you'd get would be after your surge. If you're going for one shortly after finishing Clomid also, then they'll take care of any over- or under-response issues. :-)

This is exactly the reason why I posted. I'm so glad you said this.. they are NOT having me come in after finishing the meds / before the surge.

I'm getting in touch with my nurse now. Thank you

Oh, ok. Yeah, honestly, that would concern me some. I really don't want to unnecessarily add worry for anyone though. As for the trigger shot, I'm pretty sure that is only going to be helpful if you have a mature follicle ready to ovulate. If you don't have follicles growing, then a trigger is probably not going to result in a strong enough ovulation to get you pregnant.

It sounds like they're trying to do the least amount of ultrasounds possible. I get that to a point, because compared to other fertility drugs, Clomid isn't too crazy. And if they want you to come in once you get a surge to make sure you don't have too many follicles, that would probably be safe in terms of not too risky for multiples, especially if they are having you avoid sex before the ultrasound. However, I personally would rather have more frequent ultrasounds to know that I'm not over-responding and be able to have sex in the days leading up to ovulation in addition to my IUI to try to increase my chances of getting pregnant.

Then there would be the issue of not knowing for quite a while if you are under-responding. If you aren't growing follicles, you aren't going to get a surge. If your doctor is on top of monitoring, you can take another round of Clomid within the same cycle (I did this my first IUI cycle), therefore not wasting an entire cycle. I'd be afraid that if they waited indefinitely for a surge and it didn't come, it might be too late to take another round of Clomid without waiting for a new cycle.

It could be that they have good answers to these questions and concerns, and again, I really don't want to unnecessarily add worry to your plate, but maybe this will be helpful in terms of some things to think about if you're an over-thinker like me. ;-)

Good luck though! I'll have my fingers crossed for you!

[Deleted User] · May 2014

lebradford - Thanks for all the info! You have really helped things make sense.

If I don't get a surge by a specific date they will have me come in to see what is going on. I just talked to my nurse about everything, and it's looking good

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