As I prepare to start my next medicated cycle, I can’t help but ponder the stories of my fellow IF bloggers. (To those of you who don’t have PCOS, I apologize—this is going to be a very anovulatory-focused post.) I wonder whose story will most closely resemble mine?
There’s Carrie, one of the fortunate few who ovulated and conceived on her first cycle of 50mg Clomid. Now she’s just waiting to get past the first-trimester jitters. While Carrie is an inspiring story to those of you Googlers searching for “Clomid success stories,” that ship has unfortunately already sailed for me.
Sharah also ovulated on Clomid, but never got the double lines. Now, she’s trying Femara—just a few steps ahead of me.
K never responded to any oral medication. When she tried injectables, she went through a jaw-dropping 65-day stim period before finally showing some mature follicles—only to land in the hospital with OHSS and no pregnancy to show for it! She’s currently preparing for her first IVF cycle (to take advantage of all those follies next time around).
Cass, my IF blogging Yoda, also haphazardly ovulated on Clomid and Femara. She ended up going to IVF, but only because they also had a MF issue. She was fortunate enough to get pregnant with twins on IVF #1.
And Samantha never responded to anything but injectables. Just like K, they seem to put her ovaries in overdrive. She just finished IVF #3 with a cancelled transfer, and is hoping one of the upcoming FETs does the trick. I think many of us in the IF blogging community is hoping and praying that one of those frozen embryos sticks, because Samantha has gone through more than anyone should go through.
I know there are many, many more stories out there, both PCOS and otherwise, but these are just the ones that stick out to me. I feel like I’m completely separate from these stories, because I ovulated on Clomid—-but only sorta. I don’t know if ovulation on CD28 really counts. I think my body just released the egg because it was tired of holding it up, not because of any hormonal signals. So I don't really know whether to count myself as a "non-responder" to Clomid or not. An anonymous commenter recently wrote that she got pregnant on her first cycle of Femara. That's wonderful, but my next question is, "Did you try Clomid at all?" I don't think she did. I fear that because Clomid was so fickle with me, other drugs will be too. That's being pessimistic, I know, but that's where I am right now.
I guess the good part of my situation is that my “plan” is clearly defined. If Femara doesn’t bring my cycle down to about 33 days or less, I’ll suggest going back to Clomid (i.e. drug that turns me into the bitch from hell) and trying 150mg. If not, then it’s straight to IVF for me. Dr. Hot doesn’t believe in doing injectables without IVF, and after reading many of your stories, I tend to agree with him. I just hope my body makes up its mind quickly, rather than waffling back and forth, deciding to respond at random times.
For those of you who don’t have problems with ovulation, congratulations on making it all the way through this post! I’m sure you learned more about the “what ifs” of PCOS than you ever wanted to know.
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16 comments:
i hope your body makes up its mind quickly too. the randomness of my cycle is one of the most frustrating things for me.
oh, and you're right on -- 6 cycles of cl0mid, 4 in conjunction with metform!n...i had lost all hope for medication only...
Yes, I have seen that episode of Sex in the City! I feel like Charlotte more and more every day.
Your words of support mean so much to me. It's so great to be part of this community. Infertility treatment seems to be part science, part art, and part sheer whimsy on the part of our bodies. I never tried Femara, but I hope it will do the trick for you.
Appreciate you dropping by my blog today. I've added you to my blogroll, too, so I can stay up-to-date with your latest news. Wishing you best of luck on this next cycle, Ann!
I forget -- are you doing metformin as well as clomid/femara?
I think your plan is a good one.
Sharah--Yes, I'm on Metformin. I've been on it for a month, but didn't ovulate so far.
Good luck with this cycle, Ann!
For those Googlers, yes I was successful (so far!) with 50mg Clomid. BUT, this was also following a laparoscopy, which may have fixed something I didn't even know was a problem. And I'd made major changes to my diet (no more wheat) and was seeing a naturopathic doctor, who had me on a bunch of herbs/supplements, which were seemingly regulating my cycle a bit (i.e. I had a period after a year and a half without one!). So it may have been the Clomid, but it may have been the other things too that prepared my body to be able to accept the Clomid. Just a thought!
I am glad to hear you have a plan... I know that for me it always helps.
Hang in there!
Hi - This is "Anonymous" again! To answer your question - No I did not try clomid. My RE left it up to me which one I wanted to try. I opted for Femara because it does not thin the uterine lining and it has a short half life. I also liked the fact that femara had few side effects (I didn't have any in fact). I told my RE I wanted to be aggressive after two m/c in 1.5y and I am 37y - I don't want to waste any more time (plus I heard that femara gives better quality eggs). I am wondering if your dr. will monitor your follicles by u/s and give you a trigger hcg shot?? I really think that is why this worked for us the first time but I know everyone is different and we were just lucky. Plus m/c is still a possible (and probable) outcome for me - I can't deny that. My Re started me out on two femara's days 3-7 (I think it was like 5mg total), then I got a 10000U Ovidrel trigger. Even if you are pessimistic, I still wish you good luck. I was very pessimistic too but things can change overnight so keep your hopes up!!
Lisa
Just want to say one more thing...my RE told me "PCOS can be a blessing and a curse." She said sometimes they have problems getting even ONE good egg from older women undergoing IVF. But the women with PCOS generally have lots of eggs sitting there waiting to come out. Anyways just something to think about...again, best of luck!!
Lisa
I have differing opinions on whether I have PCOS (a yes, a no, and worst of all, an it doesn't matter), but I do know I do not ovulate some of the time. 50 of C.lomid did squat for me, but 100 seemed to work. Whether it'll have a result, I'm keeping my fingers crossed...Hope the Met.formin works for you...
The one thing that we learn from all these blogs is that everyone's journey is so different...our medical issues, meds and cycles. Yet, what brings us together is that we are all headed to the same final destination.
Be positive...if we don't we'll go NUTS! :)
Thanks for the clarification, Lisa! Yes, my doctor plans on monitoring my follies and giving me a trigger shot if they're mature enough. I'm just hoping and praying that come CD13, I have at least one follie that is big, fat and juicy.
Can I just tell you that I was laughing out loud at your line about your ovary simply being tired of holding up your egg? I just get the most hilarious mental image from that....
Thank you so much for this post. Amid the constant uncertainty of dealing with infertility and the inexplicable reactions of my sub-standard body to all the drugs - the one thing I know for certain is that I would have lost my mind ages ago without the support of this online community. It's the only thing that gets me through some days - even more important than some of my 'real life' friends. So, thanks again for reaching out...
Ann, I think I told you this before. When I was on 50 mg, I O'd somewhere on cd 30-38. Obviously, not that great. When they bumped me up to 100 mg, I O'd somewhere aroung cd 16-21.
Basically, what I am trying to say if you had a late ovulation, maybe the answer is that you need to be bumped up to get it perfect. But who knows?
Wishing you luck!
Clomid sorta worked for me. Average follicle (only one), ovulation on CD21 (better than not at all!). Pregnancy. End of first trimester. Woo-hoo, now safe and going to have a baby. Exicted ultrasound. No skull vault. Exposed brain. Decision to end pregnancy.
Urgh....
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