Starting Femara (Letrozole)...

[QueenMamaJean]

The doctor prescribed Femara to me today to start ovulation... Has anyone tried this drug? Any success? Any side effects?

 

[Aayla]

I was prescribed femara 2 cycles ago. I started at 5mg and it didn't do anything. They increased the dose last cycle to 7.5mg (days 3-7) and I ovulated for the first time! I didn't get pregnant but I think that was us missing the window. unfortunately there was a lot of outside stress that really hampered the mood to bd and we couldn't afford to use opk's. (all part of the stress).
This cycle (it's day 1 today) I am on 7.5mg again. My symptoms were non existent. Particularly compared with clomid. That stuff made me extremely emotional and I had hot flashes. But on femara I had nothing.

 

[QueenMamaJean]

My doctor prescribed 2.5mg for us and told me to take my temperature to see if it helps me to ovulate. Are you taking your temp as well?

 

[Aayla]

I am temping. Last cycle Fertility Friend didn't notice my O through my temps. It had cross hairs twice, once on day 8 and one on day 22, but after continuing to temp it took them away. Looking at it, it looks like I may have O'd day 17. But I have PCOS which can make temps rocky.
I suggest also looking at other signs, such as CM. combining all of them will give a better picture. i didn't track CM last cycle but I will be this cycle. We are also going to BD every day until day 22. My Day 21 Progesterone test will tell me for sure if I ovulated.

 

[QueenMamaJean]

I am temping. Last cycle Fertility Friend didn't notice my O through my temps. It had cross hairs twice, once on day 8 and one on day 22, but after continuing to temp it took them away. Looking at it, it looks like I may have O'd day 17. But I have PCOS which can make temps rocky.
I suggest also looking at other signs, such as CM. combining all of them will give a better picture. i didn't track CM last cycle but I will be this cycle. We are also going to BD every day until day 22. My Day 21 Progesterone test will tell me for sure if I ovulated.

I need to research more about CM - I am new to this so I am not really sure how to tell all the signs. Thank you for the tip!

Do you BD during the 5 days you are on Femara?

 

[jessebelle13]

I'm on my second cycle of letrozole. The first time I was on 2.5mg, but in the middle of my cycle I had a death in the family and it all kind of went out the window. I'm now on CD11 of cycle 2 on letrozole. I haven't had any kind of side affects, and I just started using OPKs yesterday to see if I ovulate or not.

I'm also incredibly new to all of this. I don't know much more than peeing on an OPK and bding all the time, lol. We start BD as soon as AF is gone, and go every other day.

Hope that helps some.

 

[QueenMamaJean]

I'm on my second cycle of letrozole. The first time I was on 2.5mg, but in the middle of my cycle I had a death in the family and it all kind of went out the window. I'm now on CD11 of cycle 2 on letrozole. I haven't had any kind of side affects, and I just started using OPKs yesterday to see if I ovulate or not.

I'm also incredibly new to all of this. I don't know much more than peeing on an OPK and bding all the time, lol. We start BD as soon as AF is gone, and go every other day.

Hope that helps some.

Yes, that is very helpful. Do you start taking femara on the third day of AF? My doctor told me that I could start as soon as possible and not wait for AF since she is so sporadic.

 

[Aayla]

We didn't bd as often as we should have last cycle so we are this cycle. As soon as my cycle is light enough to not cause a mess we are doing it.
It's not uncommon to just start the pills if you have unreliable af. Usually for counting sake the day you start the pill is day 3 of your cycle. This way you can keep as good of track as you can.
I found tracking CM to be difficult. I got noticeable egg white (supposed to be very fertile) on my first cycle but I didn't ovulate that month. Last month I O'd but didn't notice my cm change too much. So this cycle I am going to pay really close attention every time I go to the bathroom.

 

[Miskas mommy]

Your doc should have given u Provera to induce AF, then start the femara... I was on it cd5-9

 

[jessebelle13]

I take it cd3-7. I was just told to wait for AF. As for checking CM, It's never been reliable for me. I can't ever tell what is what and just generally don't mess with it.

I thought I'd add I'm also taking metformin, which kicked AF in the butt and made her come.

 

[Holly ttc]

I just recently finished up my sixth cycle of femara. I haven't really had any noticeable symptoms with it. I started at 2.5 and when it was confirmed on the second cycle that I still wasn't ovulating I stayed right in on 5 without having to wait for af. If you don't fall pregnant with your cycle it will trigger one for you. Best of luck!

 

[QueenMamaJean]

Thank you!

 

[QueenMamaJean]

I take it cd3-7. I was just told to wait for AF. As for checking CM, It's never been reliable for me. I can't ever tell what is what and just generally don't mess with it.

I thought I'd add I'm also taking metformin, which kicked AF in the butt and made her come.

The same thing happened to me. I just took my last pill yesterday and AF came this morning. How do I calculate ovulation at this point? Does this mean that that femara didn't work? I am overwhelmed and pretty sad at this point.