Does anyone have info about Letrozole/Femara?

[ces2008]

Hi! This cycle was cycle number 5 on Clomid. We have been TTC 22 1/2 months. I took 150mgs CD 5-9, just like last cycle. I saw on of my OBGYNs partner's Friday because I was having pelvic pain and my dr was out. The pain turned out to just be my body being a little sensitive from the Clomid. I had an ultrasound which showed no cysts. I also had a blood pregnancy test, on 7DPO, which was negative. The OBGYN told me that I def wasn't pregnant and to expect AF in a few days. I'm still holding out a little hope that AF doesnt show and it was just too early, tho deep down I know that this cycle prob wasnt IT.

Ok end of that story. Lol. The plan is that if cycle 6 on Clomid doesnt result in pregnancy, then we will switch to Letrozole/Femara. I ovulate on my own, own but we are trying these meds because of my "Unexplained infertility."

I was wondering if anyone else has taken Clomid 6 cycles then switched to Letrozole/Femara? If so, did it work?

For those of you who used it, do you have any info you could give me? Like side effects, success rates, risks of multiples? Any thing else you know that you can tell me?

If Letrozole doesnt work, our next step will be IUI. If it comes to that, we will prob have to take a break from fertility treatments to save up money for it. We will continue TTC naturally while saving. I just really hope it doesnt come to that. Idk how much it costs, but i do know that my insurance wont cover it.

Thank you for reading. And thank you in advanced for your answers,info and tips! I appreciate you all!!!

 

[HearMyPrayers]

I to have unexplained infertility and I did 3 rounds of Clomid 2 rounds @ 50mg cd3-7 and 1 round at 100mg cd 5-9 and my 4th round was on 50mg of Femara. My first round on Clomid results in 2 mature follies one on the left one on the right, second and 3rd round on Clomid resulted in 1 mature follie both on the left side. On my 4th round we switched to Femara, they said the side effects were a lot milder compared to Clomid. On Clomid I had bad dizziness, mood swings and on 100mg hot flashes like crazy! As well on the 100mg of Clomid my eyes were extremely sensitive to light. Anyhow I was told Femara was milder and a lot easier to tolerate, I took it cd 3-7 50mg, and to be honest I had all the same symptoms as I did at 100mg of Clomid, but the only good thing is the effects of Femara are short lasting compared to Clomid, I would feel my Clomid effects for weeks, with Femara the symptoms stopped within a couple days of taking the last pill. But in comparison for myself the symptoms are both were the same for me. All 4 of my rounds resulted in BFNs. We too are saving up for our first IUI attempt hopefully by June/July.

 

[sugarpi24]

I have PCOS and I tried Clomid and I got terrible side effects! I never ovulated with it either. I tried 3 cycles with it. My FS switched me to Femera and ive been ovulating since. I even have been doing injections to help get more than one follicle. The first month I was on Femera I had a headache that is about it. I love femera! so hopefully it works for you everyone is different so it all depends on how your body reacts to it

 

[Amber3]

Hi there,
I tried both.
Clomid was a bad experience. Femara is healthier. However, it did not get me pregnant. I would advise you to get some tests before putting a lot of Money into IUI ect. Did you test for TSH, MTHFR, hormonal problems? Did you test for PCO or do you have symptoms of endometriosis. What about overweight?
It seems that the label "unexplained" is given without much effort. I hope you will look into some possible answerws first since it can save you a lot of Money and Heart ace in the long run
Amber

 

[Amber3]

PS
I just posted something about N-acetyl cysteine. Apperantly this stuff helps people with lots of issues and also to conceive on clomid who did not usually conceive on clomid. Interesting reading

 

[ces2008]

Thanks! Ive had blood work done, HSG, diagnostic Laparoscopy to look for Endo in Nov 2010. I do get horribly debilitating menstrual cramps. And Ive had a few cycst before (that I know of). One needed surgical removal in May 2011, one ruptured and landed me in the ER in June 2012.

 

[sugarpuff]

I ovulate on my own but have endo. I did about four cycles of clomid and got nowhere other than I turned into a psycho insomniac sweaty cow. I have since had about 8 cycles of femara, got pregnant with my daughter on my first cycle, and I've conceived twice in the subsequent cycles (first time ttc and second time added together is over 4.5 years, so three pregnancies over 8 cycles compared to none over the 43 unmedicated and 4 clomid cycles is a darned good success rate !) I also have pretty much no side effects

xx

 

[Noele0002]

Hi! I too was diagnosed with unexplained infertility. I decided to get a second opinion from a more experienced doctor and after he looked over mine and DH's test results he found several things that could be hurting our chances of getting pregnant. Some OBGYNs just don't care and only want to prescribe Clomid and if that doesn't work than they are so quick to diagnose us with unexplained infertility. So anyways I took 4 rounds of Clomid at 50mg because I ovulate on my own. Those 4 rounds did not work so that's when I switched doctors. My new doctor switched me to Letrozole 2.5mg (equivalent to Clomid 50mg) if I don't get a BFP this cycle than we are going to do more testing. I am only 2dpo so I have no idea yet if it worked or not but I had less side effects. Only a few mild hotflashes but that could be left over from the Clomid because I read Clomid stays in your system for 6-8 weeks after taking it. The good thing about this first cycle on Letrozole so far is that I ovulated around cd 14-15 which never happens for me. I usually always ovulate late between cd 17-19.

Anyways, I am wishing you the best and I hope it works out for you!

 

[ces2008]

Thanks for all the information! I hope you all get your BFPs soon!

 

[Madgirl]

Ive done 10 medicated cycles. 6 clomid cycles, and 4 femara cycles.

Clomid cycles, ovulated twice. Side effects like crazy, the worst were hair loss, mood swings, 20+ pound weight gain.

Femara cycles, ovulated each time! No side effects that are note worthy.

I like femara much better and will be doing another cycle of it soon!