Dostinex and getting pregnant

[ashknowsbest]

I'm just sitting at home wondering if there is anyone out there in the same boat as me.

I have elevated prolactin (about 50 last time we checked) and so my doctor prescribed me dostinex to lower them. I've been taking it for about 3 weeks now and I'm just wondering if there are any success stories out there where a woman got pregnant after they got her levels under control.

I don't have any other health issues preventing me from getting pregnant, the only thing they found was the elevated prolactin ... if you have any experience with this or know of anyone who has successfully gotten pregnant after getting their levels under control please let me know ... I would really appreciate it!

 

[san fran shan]

Hi ashknowsbest, I have been TTC for over a year. I do not have elevated prolactin levels, but I do have clear/milky discharge so my doc put me on Cabergoline which is the same as Dostinex. I have been on it for 2 weeks and have been searching for other people's success stories with it. Do you have an update since it has been a few weeks since your post?

 

[san fran shan]

ashknowsbest, I just read your journal and saw the update. I will try to come back to this site and update my progress as it seems there aren't a lot of people with the same experience. I have had all the same tests as you, although I do not have a tumor. But my RE cannot find anything else wrong. My husbands semen tested fine as well. Very frustrating! And my older sister got her BFP on Christmas day. Just adds to all the emotions.

 

[ashknowsbest]

Sorry to hear about your problems with the prolactin, it really does suck. I've also been on dostinex it's the non-generic form of cabergoline. I've had a few side effects but as long as I eat a meal when I take it, I'm fine. This Friday will be my 7th week on it and then I go in that next week to get my blood drawn to find out my results. I hope it went down.

This month when AF came it was different for me. I spotted a few days before AF which I NEVER do and she also stayed for 6 days when normally after 3-4 days she's gone and I've been having a lot less headaches since I've been on the medication. Oh and since my period was longer I'm hoping that maybe I O sooner or something...still waiting to O though so I'll have an update on that in a few days.

Please keep me updated as I'd love to hear success stories about this!

Congratulations to your sister! I know it's hard to be happy for people when you're having trouble conceiving yourself. I've been there. I've been trying about like 15 months now and my cousin wasn't even trying and she conceived and I felt jealous and resentful but I just let it go eventually ... you're allowed to be upset and annoyed! The situation sucks but it will happen for your eventually!

Have you been diagnosed with any other fertility problems ?

 

[san fran shan]

No fertility problems that they can find. HSG was good, hormone levels are good. Even my prolactin levels are normal. Its all so bizarre. After all the googling I have done over the last year, your situation is the one that closest resembles mine. Except I am 31. This is the 1st time I have ever posted on one of these sites! Been TTC for like 13 months. Was on BC for 15 years straight then when I got off BC, my periods came right back. But then they started getting irregular. 25 to 40 day cycles. Then I started spotting for 3 days before I would get cramps. And my periods were really light. I used an OPK one cycle and it never came up positive. But I had blood work done to confirm I ovulated.

My RE 1st put me on bromocriptine back in July but it was to be taken twice a day and it made me feel really crappy. Headaches and really tired. So he said take it vaginally. So I did, and the headaches were better, but then I got a yeast and bacteria infection simultaneously...on the 1st day of my period. Needless to say, I stopped the bromocriptine. Yuck.

I asked my RE one more time today if Cabergoline was right for me since my prolactin levels are normal. He said that it is the only explanation for the milky discharge and it can be produced other ways in the body or something. I had an MRI in 2007 for migraines and there was nothing that came up on that. He also said to take a pregnancy test after cycle day 25 and right before my next dose if it is after cycle day 25 since you need to stop the med if you are pregnant. I read some of the side effects and warnings and they freaked me out.

We think we will do IUI in April. But my husband works an hour away and it is hard for him to get off work and IUI requires some serious schedule coordinating. It will be really stressful and I really hope we don't have to do it.

I am luckily able to stay pretty positive. The longer it takes, the more money we will have saved. And I also have a cousin who is pregnant with her 3rd boy and was told after the 1st one that she would probably never be able to get pregnant naturally again. She was diagnosed with cancer during her 2nd pregnancy. And SO many of my friends are having babies. Facebook can be a torture device sometimes with all the happy pregnancy updates!!

Anyways, I feel like I am rambling. I hate it when I read these posts and then the people never update, so I will make sure that I do...good news or bad!!

 

[san fran shan]

And thanks for the heads up on a potentially heavier period. Mine are pretty light these days. Maybe it means the lining is thickening up and will be a better place for the egg to implant. Mine have been so light I would wonder how it would support an embryo... I will make sure I have lots of tampons on hand! The TWW starts now. I am on day 16 of my cycle. My husband and I did the deed plenty. My period is due around Jan 10th assuming a 29 day cycle... Can't wait to read into every little "pregnancy sign" that happens!

 

[ashknowsbest]

Hm .. thats kinda weird that you have no other sign of high prolactin than the milky discharge from the breast ... the weird thing is, I've had none of that. The only reason they found out about my high prolactin was because my OBGYN (after trying for a year) did a blood test and that's one of the hormones she tested and when it came back too high they sent me to the RE)

I hope being on the medication helps you and you can get it figured out and get preggo! I've only been on it for 7 weeks this Friday like I said and my doctor said after 6 weeks the levels should either be okay or I need to be on a higher dosage. FX'd they're lowered!

I don't post about pregnancy on facebook because it's so public I would rather people find out when I'm like ... 4 months or so along in my pregnancy ... my close family knows but not people on facebook! Also, yeah some of my friends that are pregnant are on facebook and they're always posting that they're loving pregnancy or they're sick of whatever and it always bothers me!

I'm not starting my TWW for about a week more but I definitely want to keep in touch and see how it goes!

Oh and you said in your earlier comment about how not a lot of people put information out about this, or it's not so common ... I was told and read that 1 out of 1,000 people have a prolactin problem ... which I find really interesting since a lot of people don't seem to have this problem on this site!

It's good to see that you are still positive!! Keep it up .. even though I hate this ... they say stress can affect your chances of pregnancy! =D

 

[san fran shan]

I was good for me to read your journal. You have such a great positive attitude. And talking with people in your same boat makes all the difference. Good luck to you too and I look forward to checking in with you and your progress.

 

[ashknowsbest]

thanks! You too!

 

[Michelle78]

Hi ladies, I was diagnosed with elevated prolactin after being referred to a fertility specialist a little over a year ago. I already had a diagnosis of PCOS at that point (which is why I was sent to the FS in the 1st place), and they found the elevated prolactin levels through the routine bloodwork they run. I was put on dostinex, and started with clomid and IUI. I had been on clomid prior to being sent to the FS, and I had no success with it. I got pregnant twice with the dostinex, clomid, IUI combo, but had 2 early miscarriages (which they attributed to the PCOS and not the prolactin issue). DH and I took a break from IUI and during a cycle that I was just on dostinex and clomid, I got pregnant with twins. I am now almost 18 weeks along

I had not heard of very many women with the prolactin issue either, so I just wanted to give you a success story. It seems for me the dostinex is what made the difference, as I had no luck at all until starting it despite being on clomid. Best of luck and

 

[ashknowsbest]

Thanks so much for sharing your story! It drives me crazy that there aren't many women on this site who seem to have this problem. (I mean I'd rather them not have a problem, but our support system is limited!) That's GREAT that you were able to conceive without IUI and that it was twins! I haven't been diagnosed with anything except the prolactin problem and they've run almost every test so ... I'm really hoping that once my prolactin is under control I'll be able to conceive!

Congratulations on your pregnancy and thanks again for sharing!


Oh one more thing ? How were the side effects on the clomid and dostinex put together? And what dosage of dostinex and clomid were you taking? Oh and are you still on the dostinex or no because you're now preggo? Sorry for the numerous questions!

 

[san fran shan]

Hi Michelle78, thank you so much for sharing your success story! Congrats on your twins! So exciting! I have similar questions as Ashknowsbest regarding dosage and what you were instructed to do with the dostinex once you confirmed the pregnancy.

 

[Michelle78]

I can't remember the exact dose, I think I have the bottle at home, so I will check and update you. I know that I was taking half a pill twice a week, so I would take them on Mondays and Thursdays. Once I got the positive pregnancy test, I stopped taking it. I did not have any side effects at all from taking the dostinex and clomid together. After being sent to the FS, I started with 50 mg of clomid. I did get pregnant on the 2nd cycle of 50 mg of clomid and IUI, but miscarried. Once we started TTC again after the m/c we went to 100 mg of clomid and IUI, and I had a chemical pregnancy with the 1st cycle of that. The very next month I took just the 100 mg of clomid (no IUI) and that is when we conceived the twins.

 

[ashknowsbest]

Michelle, if you dont mind I had one more question.

How long were you on the dostinex before you were able to conceive?

 

[Michelle78]

I don't mind the questions at all! LTTC is so frustrating (we tried for a year before being sent to the FS and then it took almost another year after that to get the twins), so I don't mind sharing my experience with other people if it will be the slightest bit of help.

I started on the dostinex in November 2010, my 1st clomid and IUI cycle was in December 2010 (which did not work) and I got pregnant for the first time with the 2nd cycle in February 2011.

 

[ashknowsbest]

I'm almost in the exact same boat as you, minus the PCOS. I had been trying for a year before my OBGYN would give me the referral to the fertility specialist! And now we've been going there since September so as of today it's been about 3 months since going to the FS and thank god they already think they know what the problem is!

Hm ... that's a long time, I would be going crazy!

 

[san fran shan]

I am the same too. Minus the PCOS as well. Heck, I don't even have elevated prolactin. But my RE assured me the Cabergoline would solve the breast discharge and irregular period problem...I think I will use it for 3 cycles before taking the next step. At this point I think I would want to try IUI once before using chlomid, then start on that. It will be a nightmare coordinating schedules for IUI.

 

[ashknowsbest]

So wait michelle, it took you about 3 months to conceive ... and that was with dostinex and clomid, but no IUI ?

san fran shan - I agree with doing the IUI first but the scheduling sucks! My OH works for google and travels to NYC from NJ everyday so god forbid we ever have to do IUI .... scheduling is going to suck! But hopefully it won't even get to that point.

 

[san fran shan]

Yeah, my husband commutes an hour and 20 minutes each way South from San Francisco, and I work 30 minutes north of SF. So we are very far apart during the day. Hopefully neither of us have to do it! I mean, if it was guaranteed to work, I'd do it right now. But doing all that for a 20% or whatever success rate will frustrate me! And that TWW will be even worse!!

Odd thing happened today. Went to the restroom, and there was brownish, small amount of discharge when I wiped. Today is CD 18. This actually happened last cycle before I was on the Cabergoline, but it was red...and just one time. Now this is the 2nd cycle it has happened. I haven't gone to the bathroom again yet to see if there is more. Prior to this, I have never had mid-cycle spotting. Last month I googled the crap out of implantation bleeding. But since I was not pregnant, I know that wasn't it. Still just have to wait and see what happens...Like I have 13 other times!!

 

[san fran shan]

I found this support group on babycenter.com
https://community.babycenter.com/groups/a6649165/high_prolactin_all_fertility_support_group

There seems to be a lot of women with prolactin problems, tumors, same meds, etc... We had talked about how there doesn't seem to be a lot of women with our same problem and I found this and have been reading the posts for hours! Just thought I would share.