Starting femara today

[pbl_ge]

Sorry for the bfn. FX it was just too early.

I've had a small, pinching pain near my left ovary since last July. They thought it was related to the ectopic, but no. I thought a cyst, but no. The doc said that there's little it could be except endo. I'm not sure, but I'm really tired of it and the uncertainty about its cause. I don't have any other symptoms of endo, but it would explain the ectopic, this pain, and my diagnosis of infertility. HSG was clear, so that's good.

I'd love to get a bfp this month to avoid the surgery, but it honestly feels pretty hopeless--for reasons I don't understand, this isn't working for us. So I'm getting a bit excited for the answers a lap *should* provide.

Why do you say your lap was unnecessary? Did they not treat the endo?

Have fun on your trip!

 

[alisou21]

Let me explain it to you... when I first suspect it was talking too long to get pregnant (more than 2 years ago) I went to a fertility specialist and they did all the blood tests and then they asked a HSG and they suspected my tubes were blocked because the solution did not go through the tubes. So they told me there were nothing else to do except for doing a laparoscopy and removing my tubes so we could go on with IVF. Tree months later I did the surgery and they decided not to remove my tubes because they were opened and in according to my Doctor I had endometriosis and some scar tissue around my left tube but they would do much more damage cutting and removing the tube if they just left it alone as it was. They basically opened me up for nothing, just to take few pictures of my insides!!!

Well, I don´t want to give you advices because everyone is different, but if I could go back in time I'd have never done it. Afterwards I read so much about similar cases. In America the doctors want to perform this kind of procedures the most they possibly can for insurance scams, to increase their volume of work in the hospital, for money, for so many reasons that we can not even start to understand.

If you really want to go ahead with something I would suggest you get a second opinion even a third.
You might need stimulation, inseminations or even IVF,... maybe you should save your patience and money for something that has more probability to get your goal: a baby.


Don't want to confuse you, just tell you my experience... research a bit about it online... let me know if you have any questions...

 

[J_Lynn]

I had a lap before we were even given any kind of pills... I needed it, as I had endo that needed to be removed. Mine had 0 mention of tube removal - I had the in-depth HSG, lap, D&c, and something else now I can't remember what it was. It wasn't anything my doctor required and for us it wasn't an insurance scam at all - as my insurance company only paid them $4,300 of the $27k they originally wanted for it lol And my portion was only $850 after everything. But it was needed for me because my first HSG did not unblock my tubes, so the in-depth HSG was able to clear my tubes because of the little tool they used to clear them, and the lap was a blessing because I ended up having endo and I had 0 signs I had it. But he suggested it be done because that's the only way to know for sure you have endo - so I wanted to check on everything before I started taking clomid or femara, since you can't be on them forever I didn't want to be wasting money or time on something that wouldn't work because of endo or something else.

It was definitely a crappy recovery after having all that done at the same time though - oh man that was rough. And my scars still haven't lightened up and toned down, my surgery was Dec 17th of last year.

Anywhoo - I started femara this month, I am really hoping this will work for me. With clomid I never got more than one follicle growing so maybe, just maybe I will at least get a stronger follicle with the femara!!

 

[J_Lynn]

And getting a lap is absolutely just an investigative surgery - but it's the only way to know for sure if you have endo or not... So yes, it may end up just being to look at your insides and does absolutely nothing - but if you end up having endo it can sometimes very well be the difference between getting pregnant and not. So in my opinion it's worth the chance. I would do it again if my doctor said he needed to.

 

[pbl_ge]

Thanks very much to both of you! I really appreciate hearing everyone's stories. Ali, I'm so sorry yours was a bad experience and that they found nothing they could fix. From what I've read that's not unusual. My doc said that they used to do these for all i/f patients, but that only 1/57 experienced any benefit. That is not very high!

Unfortunately there is only one RE practice in my town, so I'd have to drive a lot for a second opinion. In my case I have actual pain--constant for nine months now--and the lap sounds like the best way to figure out what is going wrong. It helps a lot to have that making the decision for me.

J, glad they fixed your tubes! Hope the first femara month works for you!

 

[J_Lynn]

Thanks very much to both of you! I really appreciate hearing everyone's stories. Ali, I'm so sorry yours was a bad experience and that they found nothing they could fix. From what I've read that's not unusual. My doc said that they used to do these for all i/f patients, but that only 1/57 experienced any benefit. That is not very high!

Unfortunately there is only one RE practice in my town, so I'd have to drive a lot for a second opinion. In my case I have actual pain--constant for nine months now--and the lap sounds like the best way to figure out what is going wrong. It helps a lot to have that making the devision for me.

J, glad they fixed your tubes! Hope the first femara month works for you!

In your case, I hope that you do have endo and it can be removed so you won't be in pain any more! The worst thing is having problems and them just not knowing what in the world it is, so as much as endo sucks - I hope that it is the problem and they can take care of it so you know and there won't be any more wondering

And thank you - I hope that femara is what will finally work. If it doesn't, at least we've found something that has made me positive for a while about TTC again. I was getting really depressed and ready to just give it up. So many years, so little faith. But, I am going to give this a solid 6-months of positive thinking and see where it goes

 

[Sib4Owen]

I hope you don't mind me poking my nose in this thread...
pbl - I had 2 laps, both to diagnose endo. I had to have it lasered off and it did help with the pain for a while. I was told it starts to grow back within 6-10 months of the surgery. I was able to get pregnant but not until a year after the 2nd surgery. I think it is worth it to find out if you have endo or not. It's nice to at least have a name for the pain and if you do have it they can treat it. Recovery wasn't too bad, just a couple of days and you can't see my scars at all.

I just started Femara this month and am hoping for a BFP!!! I tried Clomid years ago and made too many follicles and my lining was too thin. My new doc thinks Femara might be the key. He also has a laundry list of meds for me to take if I do get pg since I have a history of miscarriage (3 after having my son in 2009). Hope all goes well for you!

 

[TLB1986]

I'm going to ask my Doctor about Femara. I have endo and I think this might help. I'm surprised that no Doctor has mentioned it yet. I had a Lap done in January and the FS said next step is IVF. I've been reading a lot of success stories on it and it look's like it can double even triple your chances each month!! So excited to try. Have any of you had any bad side effects from it?

 

[J_Lynn]

I had no side effects at all .... in fact, I didn't think it was going to work .... but clearly I was wrong. First cycle on it - BFP.

 

[Sib4Owen]

I didn't have any side effects at all either. I didn't think it worked, but when I went in for my CD10 ultrasound had 2 good sized follis. Did not get a BFP this past cycle, but am on it again this cycle and had a better response (still had 2 follis, but they were bigger).

Good luck to you!

 

[pbl_ge]

I had a bad headache the first day of Femara, a mild headache the second, and then nothing. I O'ed a couple of days later than usual, and did not have my typical sore boobs during the TWW. I checked with others, and all three of those things are relatively common. It did not work for me the only month I used it, and we're moving onto injectables now.

Good luck to you!

 

[TLB1986]

I had no side effects at all .... in fact, I didn't think it was going to work .... but clearly I was wrong. First cycle on it - BFP.

I'm really glad that you had no side effects!! Let's hope it works for me!!

 

[J_Lynn]

I had no side effects at all .... in fact, I didn't think it was going to work .... but clearly I was wrong. First cycle on it - BFP.

I'm really glad that you had no side effects!! Let's hope it works for me!!

Ask if its ok if you take a baby (81mg) aspirin every day also ... It is shown to help with conception. I had to take it prior to conception and now I still have to take it every day.