TTC #3..stopped Clomid mid-way this month..

[cupcakemomof2]

We have been TTC for over 6 months at this point and I was hoping I'd find a cycle buddy on here hoping for a BFP sometime soon of course! I was doubled the Clomid dose this month to 100mg, since 50mg did not work, I couldn't tolerate it by the second day so I stopped it, I ended up going to the urgent care with really alarming abdominal pain which felt much worse than it turned out to be (Gastritis) they said, and they found it odd since it happened about 2 hours. after my 100mg Clomid dose. The reason I was put on this medicine is due to a slight PCOS; my ovaries are normal so is my uterus area, but for some reason I am not ovulating due to hormonal imbalance. I usually have 30 day cycles and so far I have not missed periods for a long period of time like some other women with PCOS do.

I was wondering if anyone has stopped Clomid in the middle and still ovulated that month? I was able to get in 200mg in my system, just as I would get 250mg in my system when I took the 50mg for 5 days.

The Dr. isn't very hopeful that if I go back to 50mg I will ovulate, but I also know my body very well and I know that eventually it will work, in a matter of a month, or two. I was able to conceive my daughter who is now 4 on my second round of 50mg Clomid but he did not want to give me that chance this month. Recently I have been experiencing a lot of discharge, lower back pain, my temp has been 98.6 for two days now, and I'm only on CD10, hopefully this month I will ovulate this month.

Hope to find a cycle buddy on here to keep in touch with!

Good luck & Baby Dust to all TTC mommas!

 

[Hopeful42nd]

Hi,
I am on my 3rd month of Clomid 50mg days 3-7. Today is CD 4 for me so we are about a week apart. I normally have a 27-28 day cycle. I have never stopped clomid during a cycle but I would guess you still stimulated them for a couple days so you may O still. The difference is you may O earlier than normal. Are you being monitored or are you using OPK's to pinpoint O? If OPK's I'd start them sooner than usual just in case so as not to miss your window.
I'm sorry to hear the higher dose made you ill. I get side effects but not extreme enough to make me stop, although last month O was super painful!
I'd be happy to keep in touch, follow along with each others journey.
What a roller coaster ride ttc is every month, mixed with our female hormones, it's a mystery we don't all explode!

 

[cupcakemomof2]

Oh yes it is.I have been very frustrated and helpless. I found this forum and I feel like I have finally found someone who is going through the exact same thing. I feel like I am ovulating earlier, it's weird. Have not had the ewcm yet but definitely a lot of discharge and pain, sorry tmi. How long have you been trying? First child or you have more? You are giving me some hope that many other people do try 50mg for more than one month, I think my Dr. Rushed me a little. I am using Opk'ks and starting to test tomorrow CD11. Maybe we will both ovulate and hopefully conceive this month..keeping my fingers crossed. Keep in touch.

 

[Hopeful42nd]

I think it's pretty standard protocol for the doc to up the dosage if nothing happened in that month. One girl I was talking to was put on 25mg dose, now that I'd never heard of! Maybe your body just needs a couple months to get adjusted? I know the docs don't like to use it for too long as 5-6 months is the max usually for fear of over stimulating.
I have one child already, and my little guy was conceived with the exact dosage I'm on now. It happened in the 4th month of clomid, my 2nd IUI. This month is my 3rd on clomid and we are gonna try the 2nd IUI, maybe our lucky number? FX
For me I ovulate normally, but my husband has low motility swimmers so the clomid ups our odds.
I love the forum too! So nice, especially since this time I decided I'm not talking to family and friends. They just don't truly understand, but the ladies on here do!

 

[cupcakemomof2]

I feel the same way! I have been talking to both family and friends, and they keep arguing with me, that's the LEAST I need right now. One day they tell me to be on a fertility drug, the next they are like.."I would never do that," Um ok ...I sorta give up bringing it up then!

I know it is, but with my physician before (unfortunately he has relocated too far now) he used 50mg two months in a row with me and it worked! I'm not sure about further treatments if my next round of Clomid fails..I wouldn't want to be on it for more than 3 cycles either! I have heard about injections, but what do they do exactly? Are they hormones, or a chemical? I have heard of the IUI as well. My husband has never been tested, we figured since we already had two with just fertility treatments for me, if he had issues I figured it would have taken longer. We will see how everything goes. My GYN is very straight forward, so he feels like I am wasting my time trying to go back on 50mg, but I've got one more month to decide what I want to do till my next AF! I can feel that he is going to say: you are doing what your head wants and not taking my suggestions etc etc..but there are some meds I can't tolerate and I can't sacrifice my health to be on Clomid 100mg when there are other treatments out there.

 

[cupcakemomof2]

He also told me not to waste my money on OPK's..but I haven't used them in over 3 months and I may give it another shot tomorrow. Everytime I did use it around ovulation time they came up positive..I would hate to just test and find out it's a false positive! lol

 

[Hopeful42nd]

Doctors don't know everything, you know your body and it should be the two of you working together on this.
I need to go, I just got a phone call that a friend died overseas....I can't even comprehend this right now. Her poor husband and two young boys. I'll be back once I've processed this all. Didn't want you to think I just took off. Have a good night.

 

[cupcakemomof2]

Oh, I'm so sorry! My deepest condolences. That's no problem, take your time! Goodnight.

 

[Hopeful42nd]

Thanks for the concern I am a whirlwind of emotions right now! Taking clomid, my friend passing, anoth friend in the hospital having a baby...ahhh! So this girl who died moved to Bosnia for a year (left in late Nov) and was sick with what she thought was flu the last couple weeks. She collapsed in their apartment and her husband couldn't wake her up. They have twin four year old boys, poor things! She was only 28, was gonna turn 29 in march, I dont understand this. Her father flew out to have an autopsy done, so maybe there will be more answers.
Wow, thanks for listening. I'm done now, back to ttc talk.

 

[cupcakemomof2]

Oh wow that is so weird. Maybe Meningitis? I know from a coworker of mine who died her symptoms came so sudden, and she died 24 hours later collapsed on her way to the hospital.

As far as TTC talk - I'm on CD11 today, cramping s few times a day on my left and right side but mainly left, I wonder if I will be ovulating, hopefully yes. Husband was very sick today so he barely felt like BD'ing - hopefully tomorrow he will feel better so I don't miss any chances. I know you're on the 5th day of Clomid today - how's that going?

 

[Hopeful42nd]

It's crazy when this happens to the young. The results came back that she died of pneumonia. She was stubborn and hated docs/hospitals, this time she paid with her life

I bet you will o soon, maybe in a day or two. Do you temp to confirm O? I cant it's too hard when I have to get up with my son who still breastfeeds. Plus I'm terrible at remembering before I've already got out of bed.
Make sure you BD at least every other day to cover your bases. My DH was sick a couple months ago right around that 'magic moment', wasn't much energy in em, I guess you do what you gotta do. It's hard to believe that window is so short considering all those ladies who 'accidently' fall pregnant.
For me, I am CD5, clomid pill 3, it didn't make me sick today thankfully, just a headache that faded fast. I still have a ways to wait till O day, it's usually surge on CD14, O on CD 15. It's kind of annoying starting blood and ultrasounds on CD 10 when I know it never occurs that early. More needles for me to deal with.
We started to plan my baby boys first birthday party today, so exciting!!! Maybe it'll keep my mind off the 2ww and symptom spotting. One can only hope

 

[cupcakemomof2]

Awe how exciting! I remember the kids' first birthday parties..I miss that!!! I'm sure ya'll will have a great time! That's great that he still breastfeeds, my son stayed longer than my daughter too, she only stayed on about 3 months, he stayed about 8 which I was happy about. My SIL has two and one on the way, and she barely breastfeeds for about two weeks, they don't latch on, and she's not great on the whole pump thing! I don't even know if this is related, but the same symptom that took me to the hospital the night I took the second dose of Clomid, I am slightly experiencing that again today. Good news is - I know what is is..H E A R T B U R N! Akward! I hate it. I never really have had this before - maybe it's just a coming off the pill symptom, I will never know, just guessin'! The thing with my ovulation surge is I know when that is around the corner, but I never know when I ovulate, and my GYN told me OPK's are a waste of time and money, not sure why he said that. I'm gonna skip that this month and just let things happen, hopefully they do!

 

[cupcakemomof2]

Oh and the EWCM women seem to talk about so much - I never ever see that. I don't think I ever did even before I even had kids. Do some women just NOT experience it? Sometimes I see it right before my menstrual cycle starts, like a day or two before ..but nothing around ovulation time except for just normal discharge, it actually doubles around ovulation - but nothing strechy EWCM'sy stuff!

 

[Hopeful42nd]

OPK's don't work for everyone, Sometimes they don't get darker than the control line or if you don't test like 3 times day/night you might miss it. Plus it only detects your surge and O can happen anywhere from 6to 36 hrs later, there is no way to pinpoint it exactly. For me this time I'm having issues with OPKs so I go by the monitoring.
Some women have issues with cervical mucus, they don't produce enough or it's hostile/acidic and doesn't allow a manueverable environment for sperm. Lots of ladies take Evening Primrose Oil to assist with producing more, or guaifenesin to thin out theirs.
I get the EWCM but not always at the prime times. I take omega 3-6-9 oil caplets and I don't seem to have issues. Plus I use that preseed lube if necessary. Sorry if TMI
Maybe you get a bit but just don't notice, or have very watery CM which is okay too.

 

[cupcakemomof2]

What is the difference between an OPK and Fertility Monitor? I was seen by a doctor yesterday, was examined due to the pain I was having in my pelvis area, he asked me if I knew my uterus is tilted? I have known this before I got pregnant with my daughter, but no one has ever mentioned it since, and I have been evaulated many times within that 5 years. I wonder if I would be a candidate for an IUI if the semen is not getting to where it needs to be because of this? Do you think I should try another round of Clomid next month, or should I just go straight to an RE? Can the RE's also prescribe you Clomid if they feel it's necessary? So confusing!

Yes I do get a lot of CM, but I can't tell them apart from strechy or just normal..I don't know how to distinguish that! But as I said, with my two kids I never looked for that, and I still got pregnant, lol.

How's the birthday planning going? Are you going to do another round of IUI this month?

 

[Hopeful42nd]

Some fertility monitors go by a saliva test rather than urine. Some use a urine test as normal OPK's, the major difference is its a technical device with no guess work. Have you ever stared at your test for ages judging how dark your line is compared to a control line. It's maddening, this monitor actually stores all the information of each day of your cycle in it and figures out for you, based on the tests, your high fertility time and two best days for conception. They are pretty cool if u want to she'll out a bunch of cash for one. Plus you need replacement sticks and therefore you still have to keep buying things.

Wow, tilted uterus. Not the end of the world, sometimes they recommend a position chance for that. Lol, 'doggy style' sorry for the terminology if you are very concerned then I would set up to see an RE. At the very least they can supervise you much better on clomid, they can tell you what the prime time to BD is and confirm that there is nothing else in the way of it happening. I would still do the clomid while waiting for the appt, who knows maybe it'll work and you can call and cancel your appt!!! It truly depends on how anxious you are to get this going and how aggressively you wish to make it happen.

As for IUI, it can't hurt, it bypasses a stage and endures only the strongest are in there. For us it was perfect as the slow swimmers were hyper stimulated when they do the sperm wash, plus they did not have to travel as far. IUI is not a guarenteur though. It only increases the chance slightly as there are still many other factors at play.

Since you were concerned about your CM, it may be a good option, so long as your other half is on board. He'd have to have an analysis and provide a sample with a days notice that must arrive at the clinic in 20-30 minutes max. It's weird for sure. The neat thing is they tell you after you have the insemination done, to go BD that night. So who knows what one worked, it's a mystery. I'm just happy I have my little boy, there is no wrong way when making a baby for love

I just thought of something. Your in the states right? You have to pay for things like that don't you? I have to pay for part of my med cost and for the IUI's, but all the consultations, bloodwork, ultrasounds, etc, are covered by our health care system.

 

[Hopeful42nd]

Wow, that was long winded. Sorry, I talk too much

 

[cupcakemomof2]

No, thank you for all the helpful tips!

I probably need a lot of info on how IUI is even done, so I may schedule an appt with an RE. The closest that takes my insurnace is 45 minutes away - which SUCKS! So that's why I was going to give Clomid another try as long as my GYN thinks it's ok!! He probably thinks I'm a psycho by now - LOL! I ask too many questions, and not like he minds - but I always wonder if there are other patients like me who over stress about things sometimes! I just want a baby, that's all

I did some research on the tilted uterus thing - good thing we don't have an issue with experiencing with "positions" per say, because it doesn't look like (from women talking) that missionary is much helpful! lol.

I know you must have finished your Clomid cycle by now - hope you get your BFP this month! I've still been experiencing "twingies" in my pelvis area, something I don't experience on my own without Clomid, so I'm thinking even that 200mg probably did something to my body! YAY! Let's hope I am ovulating.

You must live in Canada? I'm Canadian and European, a lot of cousins still live in Toronto and your healthcare is AWESOME, but with my husband's insurance which is Blue Cross/Blue Shield - IUI/IVF and any FERTILITY treatment is covered at 100%, no copay, no deductible. He recently became a director in a company, and the CEO's insurance plans are slightly different from General Managers etc etc, so we are so lucky to be able to get that plan too! THANK GOD!!!

 

[Hopeful42nd]

You are so lucky with your husbands insurance. I've listened to the poor ladies on here having to pay for everything, and it's heartbreaking that a lot of insurance doesn't cover fertility treatments

Since you have great coverage I would do it, go in and get your questions answered. I believe in knowing everything you can, I hate walking blindly into situations. If you think you are crazy for barraging your doc with Q's look at all the ppl on these threads...we are all crazy when it comes to babies!

45 minutes is a long way to travel yes, and will be hard once you get close to O time...and unfortunately your husband would have to provide a sample there, as 45 minutes is too long to travel with it without the dying. I am a wealth of knowledge about IUI so ask away if you like

As for me, today was my last Clomid pill...today and last night Im suffering from monster headaches.....a but of queasiness (food seems like a good idea until im halfway done eating it). Strange, but I will deal with it, it's worth it!

You are right. I live in London Ontario Canada, not far from Toronto. I also have European blood, my father I'd Dutch...my mom half Italian. My husband is Portuguese, which I think qualifies him for a loudmouth award , lol. Did you start out in TO then move?
Good luck to the both of us

 

[cupcakemomof2]

Hi girl - that semen icon just cracked me up when I saw it, hahahaha - I needed a good laugh today! Thank you!! LOL!!!

I made the appt with the RE - (Next Tuesday.) They said it takes about two hours between consultation, ultrasound, and blood work, not too shabby. I love ultrasounds - that way I can better see what is going on, and that will be right around the time when they need to test my progesterone so I guess I don't have back to the GYN for that. Yes, I am crazy when it comes to these things, I'm already pessimistic and thinking they are going to tell me something I haven't heard before, on top of PCOS! Ugh, I am myself's worst enemy! I can imagine how expensive fertility treatments can be especially the ones like IVF, etc. I wouldn't want to go that route yet though, have to see what the Doc says, I always worry about the idea of twins everytime IVF comes up lol. 4 kids - AHHHH! LOL

Ok since you're offering to answer about the IUI - I know it stands for intra uterine insemination, but that's IT. Why do they say you have quite a chance of twins? Is this like an artificial insemination thingie, or hubby's sperm just gets deposited in my body by a huge syringe?

I haven't had any headaches from Clomid, just ..very vivid dreams and thoughts and sometimes I feel like I am living in a different world lol. (Kinda scary to be honest - I still have NO clue if that horrible heartburn was related, but I should get that answered at the RE's and sleeep easy if I ever have to take it again.) My GYN is a male - and not very patient. This time I asked for a woman doctor! She must know what us women go through!

Go you for finishing up your dose - I've been feeling crappy since I stopped, kept thinking..I wasn't brave enough :S! Oh well - there's always a next time.