Newbie 47 year old: My Clomid Experience

[JennyMaize]

Newbie here. Just wanted to introduce myself. Been trying to conceive for 9 months now. My optimism is guarded, at 47 years old. As healthy/fit as I am, I am no idiot about my reduced chances/increased risks. Am seeing an RE and just did the clomid challenge (CD 5-9, with FSH measured on CD3 and CD10, and ultrasound on CD8, showing two mature follicles of 14mm each... these were 16 mm the next day, when I had my fallopian tubes flushed successfully with saline). My FSH and estrogen levels were 9/52 on CD3 and 12/475 on CD10. 48 year old husband's sperm checked out well to. I ovulate on my own every month, based on OPKs and BBT's, with a LP of 10 days and a cycle length of 24-26 days. On all the essential supplements and more, most notably DHEA, Ubiquinol, Wheatgrass and 350 mg of progesterone cream after O. I started using Vitex last month (just 175 mg/day CD1 - O) and my LP was 12 days with a 26 day cycle. Then I did the Clomid challenge (without Vitex) this month, the following month.

Result was a 35 day cycle with an 18 day LP. Of course, that made me POAS several times... all BFNs. I had no side-effects from the Clomid, except for the messed up cycle, of course. I know I ovulated on CD16, based on OPK and BBT. AF showed 19DPO, and has been extremely light. If I hadn't been checking my BBT still (which has dropped and stayed down since AF started), I'd still be wondering. I did POAS this morning, just to make sure. The extremely light period is unusual for me.



So, on to the next month, an unmedicated month, though I will use Vitex and progesterone cream again.I have no idea what to expect, since clomid really threw my cycle off. I do like a longer LP... maybe a smaller dose would be better? I will follow up with RE soon to plan the next course of action. Hopefully, they can convince my health insurance to pay for a couple of IUI cycles and maybe an IVF cycle, based on my health and Clomid challenge results. My insurance covers treatments, unless you are over 44 and in poor health. Wish me luck and good luck to all of you!

 

[Sophie2015]

Stop Clomid!!! It thins your lining. That's why your period was so light. It's also cumulative so if you take it multiple months in a row it will continue to thin your lining and will take longer to recover from. Try Femara instead. It is similar to Clomid without the nasty thin lining side effect. But your best bet is FSH (Follistim or Gonal F) followed by prescription P4 after OV. Good luck to you!! I'm 43. Been at this for almost 3 years.

 

[lisap2008]

I agree clomid is not good because it thins the lining and reduces the fertile CM. If your ovulating naturally then its not needed.

 

[StillTrying47]

Hi there! I am also 47 and TTC. I have had health issues (very poorly uncontrolled diabetes) in the past that has prevented me from trying as hard as I should have, given the race against the clock, but I've gotten things better under control now so I am putting forth a much bigger effort in TTC #4. This is my fourth cycle charting temps in almost two years and I have been usking OPKs for the first time.

I won't steal your post, just wanted to welcome you. It's no nice to see someone my age and know I'm not alone! I will be 48 in November. Do you have other children or are you trying for your first?

 

[JennyMaize]

Sophie2015 - Yes, that is what I think happened too... the clomid thinned my lining. A lot. 4 light days and my period is over... I was excited when I passed one tiny little clot. How sad is that? I'd hate to think what would have happened had I not been using progesterone cream , black cohosh (CD1-CD12) and baby aspirin. I had to do the clomid challenge for insurance purposes (insurance won't consider coverage without a clomid challenge under your belt.), but I will definitely not be using it again. Curious to see what my RE suggests at my follow-up later this month. I wonder what my lining will be like during this non-medicated month. At least I have learned to expect the worst and hope for the best. I think I have been cured (somewhat) of my symptom watching. Trying to keep it real. Thanks for your input.

 

[JennyMaize]

StillTrying47 - I turn 48 in December, and I have never been pregnant before, so this really is a long shot. Thanks for chiming in. I really hope you get your #4. I would be thrilled to end up with twins, or more even, so I don't have to do go through this more than once. I am a fraternal twin myself, and my mother had her last at 43. Don't know if that helps my chances any, but I'll take what I can get.

I have been charting temps and using OPKs for 9 months now... the opks have their own challenges, but the two together are invaluable. Really takes a lot of the guess work out of things. Best wishes to you!

 

[BABYBOUND2015]

Hello all, I am 42 ttc #4 and I just did a round of clomid 150mg on days 3-7, im currently cd19 and possibly 4dpo, I had a cd 12 scan that showed 2 mature follicles and 1 almost mature (not sure of exact meaurments), my lining was 7.7 which he said looked good,and that I responded well, I have been taking ovaboost (3caps), fertileaid (1cap) 50,000iu vit d for 6 wks, fertile cm(2caps) and 1 shot of wheatgrass (powder in oj) every morning, Aprils labs were cd 3 fsh 15.6, amh 0.491, everything else normal. So glad to see over 35 ladies still trying, praying for a bfp,this month. Thanks for your story

 

[CaliDreaming]

Best wishes to you! Sounds like you're in great shape and the only possible issue is your age.

Is your hubby taking supplements too and has he fathered a child before? It might be worth it to look deeper at his sperm analysis, especially since he's 40 plus too. Some REs really don't take the time they should to look for possible sperm issues, I guess because they're so geared into IVF where sperm doesn't matter as much.

 

[AngelUK]

We are sort of going back and forth about trying. Worried about what can go wrong, doubtful that we could be so lucky without help and thinking we should just be happy with our 4yo twin boys. But I still have that aching longing for another baby. I am 46 and OH is 50...
Good luck all!

 

[Regin7]

Hey, hun JennyMaize, hope you’re ok. For some women, clomid works the very first month that it is used. You typically take Clomid sometime during the third through the ninth day of your cycle. Also it is usually only taken for five consecutive days at the same time every day. During this time, we are probably instructed to use an ovulation predictor kit and our docs may run more tests. Particularly an ultrasound to see what is going on with our ovulation.
Though, I should say false positives and multi-positives are often discouraging side effects of taking it. False positives can occur several days in a row, as well as multi-positives. This happened to me with my 1st round. My doc recommend me to wait to take ovulation tests up to four days after the last dose of clomid had been taken. While these false readings can be frustrating, the end result of taking clomid can still be a pregnancy.
Finally, we should keep in mind that there may be many other issues that play into our difficulty in becoming pregnant. Anyway there are lots of further options to choose form. Unfortunately taking clomid didn’t help us but it gave us tips for more investigations for the further treatment. Finally we went on with Ukrainian clinic, where applied for DE IVF, which resulted in BFP.
Lots of baby dust to all!