TTC & Taking Clomid &/0r Metformin ~ December 2006 #3

:) I am feeling *so* much better after the acupuncture appointment! My acupuncturist is just so wonderful!

short story... the varicocele repair is still going to be worthwhile doing, and she thinks the IVF+ICSI for now is the way to go. If we can get the repair done soon enough, it means that the IVF clinic is able to inject healthier sperm into my eggs, which has to be a good sign. The acupuncturist also said that we've been through enough stuffing around for the last 12 months and getting nowhere, that even though the whole IVF thing looks scarily big, it at least has us moving somewhere, and quickly. Once I am pregnant, she can see us both being a whole lot less stressed, and as I am planning to continue the lifestyle and diet changes needed now not only through pregnancy but through my entire life (those insulin results are way too scary - I can see now that I must do this!), that the chances are that with a repaired varicocele, a healthier BW, a few years down the track me and DH might actually be able to get somewhere with natural conception rather than having to do IVF+ICSI every time we want to have a child. I'm also under instruction to try to hassle DH into having some acupuncture and getting himself more healthy (he's actually slightly overweight)... The only place the acupuncturist is disagreeing with the specialist is on the varicocele repair, but it looks like DH is happy to have it done anyway. Of course, this is all just speculation! DH was only with me for the first part of the appointment - he stopped in on his way to visit a client for work... I could get a completely different story when he gets home!

But for now, I'm relaxed and smiling! :)

BW

BW - glad to see you're feeling better about everything today - it's awesome when you get a little bit of extra "good info" to go with the bad so that you can make a plan of attack - good luck with it!

KT - i'm loving the AV too - god i wish i was that slim!

Oooooh, look at you BG!! Lookin' good girl!!

Hey girls, just thought I'd pop in and let you know how I'm going. Did my first injection tonight! :nana: Kt you were right, it was a piece of cake! So easy and didn't hurt at all!

Chelle - so glad to hear you are doing OK, as OK as you can be. I really hope you have the answers you need very soon to avoid this kind of pain again. It seems so wrong that you've had to go through as much as you have without answers. :hugs:

BW - sorry to hear your news. I know that it can be a bit overwhelming but I was not upset about starting IVF. I was talking to my friend today who is 23 wks prg (IVF & ICSI) and she was saying she felt the same - after 12 months of feeling totally out of control and helpless I feel like I'm taking the reins back and giving myself the best possible chance of falling pregnant. The tests and the intrusion and the needles don't matter as long as I get to hold another baby in my arms. We'll get there, you and me both! I'll see you over in the other thread.

Milly - Sorry to hear your prog levels weren't good. I hope you can formulate a new plan of action with your FS at your appt.

Mako - I'm sorry (man, I'm saying that a lot tonight! :frown: ) that you need to move on to the next step. Don't be too hard on your DH. They deal with all of this stuff in a totally different way to us. He probably just needs time to think it all through and digest it. It's an emotionally draining experience for them too - I have to remind myself of this often.

BG - I feel for you re the painting. We finished painting the outside of our house a few weeks ago. We also just up a new pergola but no painting - it was a pre-fab kit ;)

Hope everyone else is doing well. Sorry if I've missed anyone!

Oh, Michelle - I was so happy to see your familiar 'face' in here! Looks like you and *alf* are doing well. I check up on you in your thread every week and think of you often.

hi willow - sounds like you excited about gong into IVF - i think i'm looking at treatment the same way - we've had basically 23 months of TTC with no answers - and i like the idea of knowing that we're being proactive and taking back control - at least to some degree.

i like the idea of the prefab pergola, but because we were replacing an existing one, the boys just decided to build it themselves - they finished putting the laserlite roofing on today (at last) and it looks awesome - only have to finish painting the outside of the house, all the pickets for the fences, build a shed paint the whole inside of the house... looks like we have enough work to tide us over for a little while...

haivng a bad day today - have been having a few issues at work of late with trying to arrange my hours to acommodate appointments with FS (and dentist -- been having root canal work for almost a year, and probably have to have surgery in april cos it's getting no better - ouch!) - anyway, dropped an extra day off my schedule so i now have one day off per week - and when i discussed with them that i may need to change days for testing and stuff once injections and monitoring start, they've been really rude - got to the point yesterday where i was hauled before three of the managers and they pretty much told me that i either book everything on my scheduled RDO or i dont bother scheduling it (can't half tell it was two guys and a woman who falls pregnant if her partner looks at her) - i hadn't intended telling them about our difficulties TTC, but ended up being forced to tell them to justify why i was thinking i'd need odd times off for treatment (as if you can tell your body that the ideal time to respond to FSH for ovulation induction or IUI is on a wednesday!) - and even after that, they're not prepared to allow me to work additional time to get myself ahead prior to treatment - i'm so damn frustrated! i waslked out of the meeting on the verge of tears and have been feeling the same way ever since. i don't want to eat cos i'm so upset i'm feeling physically ill - and to make it worse, i can feel myself pushing DH away - even when he's trying to comfort me.

so sorry for my ramble guys - was gonna post in boo hoo, then decided it wasn't worth it - but once i started typing here i just kinda couldn't stop! but hey, one good thing, the tears have finally come - time to go hug DH and apologise for being such a cow the past couple of days!

:hugs: BG... it can be so damned hard when work is being unfriendly about things! I had the year from hell in relation to work last year, so I certainly know just how bad it can be. I don't know whether it will do much for you, but is there a union you can speak to? It helped me a lot last year... :hug: again.

BW

BW - the type of job i have the union is pretty much useless. another friend is in a similar position, so we're looking at our options as to what to do

i'm thinking of taking it further to site (or region) manager - there are a number of other issues too (privacy is one of them - one supervisor has discussed my situation with other people at work - not happy - and putting in a formal complaint about it). i love my job, but yesterday i was so hurt and angry that i seriously considered giving my notice!

so much for trying to reduce the stress in your life whiel you're TTC, huh?

BG, so sorry you're having trouble at work, you're right, it's the last thing we need.

I've been so fortunate, my work has been fantastic over the past 12 months. I'd only just come back from mat leave part time and had to have a few weeks off after my m/c, then again for my surgeries and they have supported me the whole way.

I'm also lucky that I only work 2 days per week, the rest of the time I'm at home with my DD. So it is easier to schedule appts but I still have to consider my DD.

We've had a few issues with my DH's work though, so I do know how difficult it can be when they aren't supportive. :hugs:

i think the thing that drives me nuts the most is that i had my second m/c in 2005 only a week or two after i started there - i spilled my guts about what was going on to my supervisor at the time in case it affected me - she is now one of the managers that is saying that they won't allow me to do what i need to do - she started off now and is being nothing but a prat now! she was so understanding at the time (or at least pretended to be) - but now....... arrrrrghhh!!!!!!!!!

BG sorry to hear that your having a hard time with work atm. Some people can be just so rude.Sending a :hug: your way.

BW I have to say thanks for the advice about the book. I'll have to look at getting me a copy and btw I love your new ticker.

Michelle I'm pleased to see that you and alf are diong so well.Wow how time flies.

Willow I'm glad to see the injections are a piece of cake for you. I hope evrything goes the way you want it to and you end up with a bfp before you know it.

Ktgirl Hi and thank you for your kind words. You are truly an amazing woman.

Milly,Chelle and anyone else I've missed HI.

As for me I'm still plodding along. The funny thing about my situation is that dh hasn't even commented on my appointmet yesterday. He was at work when I went. Oh well like you've all said men do deal with things differently to women so we'll see what happens in the near future.

Bummer, BG! It seems that one of the most frustrating things with this whole TTC thing is the way you end up putting things on hold... I'm sticking it out at a school I essentially hate, just so I can be sure that I'll be eligible for maternity leave. I do hope you manage to sort something out, BG, it all just sounds so nasty.

Mako, I cannot recommend that book highly enough! I dug it out of some things I had taken away over Christmas and put in on DH's chair just as I went to bed last night, intending to tell him it was there... but I forgot. I was pleasantly surprised to see DH reading it voluntarily tonight. It's not the kind of book that you read straight through - but just go to the sections you need most at any particular time.

Michelle, sorry for being so caught up in my own stuff... Thanks so much for dropping in. It is great to see you and *alf* still going strong, and I'm feeling so much more positive about things now. You are right, it is a plan, it is moving forwards (even though my brain keeps screaming obscenities at myself for going back on the pill! I understand WHY, but it just feels *so* wrong!), and in many ways, we are probably more in charge of things now than we have been at any stage since my diagnosis back in March.

:lol: The new ticker... I'd had that other one for so long, I'm glad to see the end of it! And this way, the specialist appointment just seems so much closer than just thinking the eighth of February. Other funny and peculiar things... my acupuncturist is desperate to get her hands on DH, DH's bowen therapist is desperate to get her hands on me... DH has also made an appointment with the GP to get a referral to a different urologist... There's definitely progress, even if I do feel like I'm going backwards by being on the pill!

BW

hi girls

Thought i would pop in and say hello, i normally hang out in the LTTTC threads, but as of this cycle i have gone from an IVF girl to a Clomid/IUI with donor sperm girl after having a HSG and confirming that my tubes are indeed clear, so i am taking a step back and trying to conceive this way for a while.

I started on 50mg of Clomid on Tuesday which was day 3 so last tablet tomorrow...Have an ultrasound and blood test next wednesday to see whats happening in there...

Just wondering, when do you start to feel the effects of the Clomid, do you have any of the nasty symptoms after you finish the tablets because apart from the odd hot flush, i cant say i have had any bad side effects...

Take Care

Hi Twomums... looks like you're taking the opposite step to a few of us from here.

I guess my experience with clomid isn't normal, but I felt the effects of it for several weeks afterwards. The hot flushes in particular continued for a while after taking it, and from day 14 of that cycle, I had such a severe reaction to stressful events that I ended up having to take a week off work and be medicated quite strongly for the anxiety attacks. It's difficult to say how much of it was the clomid, and how much of it was just from the stress I was experiencing, but that was *not* my normal way of reacting to things. Some 90 odd days later, I had also never ovulated nor had AF. I'm now taking the pill before getting started with IVF. Again, this is NOT a typical response at all!

Good luck!

BW

hi two mums

i have to agree with BW that she's been REALLY unlucky in her response to clomid. frm my own experience (and from what i've read from others), there's not really a lot of side effects - a heap of hot flushes and the occassional dizzy spell - but really only for a day or three after i stopped taking them - not long term at all

good luck with it all!

Hey guys

Just wanted to drop in and say hi to all. I often read the threads here...and must say I do miss you guys.

Sounds like 2007 is going to be a big year...lots of new plans in place and you guys being as courageous and amazing as ever.

Wanted to wish you all the very best...and that this year will be one of dreams being fulfilled.

Take care chickies!

Hello!
I'm popping my head in here to introduce myself.
I have one adorable clomid baby (well i guess he's a toddler now - 18mo). Concieved him on the second clomid cycle (first time i O'd in about 10yrs!). And now TTC#2. Have been on clomid for 4 cycles now and no luck. I have no idea when I O! My cycles are usually 30-31 days long. Blood tests on CD21 never showed O, but BT on CD24 do.
This time around I'm using OPKs but trusted them too much this cycle and haven't BD'd since i've not had a positive result (CD20 today:frown: ). Have been testing since CD14. So i don't know if these tests are just inaccurate and have missed the O, or if i haven't O'd, or if it was early Oing, or if I haven't yet (my last hope!).
Getting frustrated with the whole ttc thing now. Everyone else in the world seems to be pg!!!!!
So I hope its ok, if i join in here:)

LG, glad to have you here! Your blood tests and cycle length would suggest that O is occurring around day 17... Just like I don't have a good relationship with clomid, I also don't have a good relationship with OPKs! (but that could be down to never actually having ovulated, really :rolleyes: ). Can your specialist organise scans and/or blood tests to help you know when to BD? Good luck, in any case!

BW

Thanks BW! I thought also i was O'ing on CD17, but the past 2 cycles we BD'd on that day (and the surrounding days) and still no BFP. This cycle i was waiting for a positive opk result but hasn't happened so i'm not trusting them next cycle!!

Hi:hello:
BW Would you please be able to let me know who the author is of the book? I went to a book shop this morning and could not find it. Maybe I should go to the library and have a look.

LG Hi and welcome to you. It sounds like your having a hard time atm. Hang in there hun and know that we are all here for you. I pray that you'll have a bfp soon.

TwoMums Welcome to you. I have to say that my time on clomid has been quite good. I've ovulated each month and have had mild side effects such as a headache every now and then, a bit more emotional at times and the only major thing I had was I hyper stimulated one month and ended up needing a lap to have an ovarian cyst drained but that wasn't too bad. The only other thing now is my fs seems to think my mucous is now too thick to let dh's sperm through and this is why she has suggested we try IUI soon.
I wish you all the best and hope the side effects aren't too bad for you.

Monnie It's great to see you and your bubba are doing well. Please pop in more often to let us know how you are:)

Here is the link to the thread where the book was first discussed. The authors are David Rawlings and Karen Looi. I've never looked for it in a bookshop, I ordered mine online. If you google "swimming upstream the struggle to conceive" it will come up as the first link, and you can find out a bit more about the book.

BW

Thanks BW, I'll see how I go:)

Thanks girls, that puts my mind at ease a bit... i took the last tablet today, and so far so good...no bad side effects really at all, i think i had a bit of a hot flush last night, but nothing too bad...Just hope it's doing what its meant to be doing !! Can using Clomid get you more than one follicle?

Hi all just a quick update to let you know that I'm much more at ease about the IUI thing. Dh and I finally had a talk yesterday and he also read all the info that my fs gave me. I now know that this will be the path we will take in the next couple of months ( March maybe). Dh is actually looking forward to this and knowing that we have a plan in place. He is only worried about the financial side of things and I reassured him that we will be ok once I get a job.I 'm due to do my Austswim certificate in two weeks time so hopefully I'll be able to get a job not too long after that:crossfingers:
Anyway I hope you are all doing well and are having a great weekend:D

Twomums I'm pleased to hear that the side effects are minimal. I hope this does the trick for you this month. I'm not 100% sure about producing more than 1 follie but for some reason I think this can happen and thats what caused my cyst. I'm sure other people here will be able to give you some more info about this.

I still feel kinda weird posting in a TTC thread while taking the pill! :rolleyes:

Question for the metformin takers... my FS has put me up to 1500mg (3 tablets) daily. I've previously messed about with the dose myself, but always took one in the morning and two at night and didn't have trouble. Now, I'm taking one with each meal, and it feels like it's disagreeing with me after all this time! Same tablets as before, so it's not from switching brands or going from slow release to regular or anything like that.

Has anyone else suddenly started having trouble with metformin out of nowhere? I guess it's either that, or it's going back onto the pill which has caused the constant nausea and diarrhea, but I don't recall having this trouble with the pill before... although, it was a long, long time ago when I first started taking it.

I feel awful all the time, and I'm really not happy! :frown:

BW

Hi Mako- Have you asked your FS how much the IUI is going to cost. When I did my IUI cycle I paid at the end and it was around $500 and that included my injections, scan, sperm washing and the insemination. My FS told us that you get most of that back from Medicare and we ended up being around $30 out of pocket. Maybe that should be something that you should check with your FS because it may help to eliminate that stress that you may have about the cost of the cycle. Good luck beautiful.

Hi Ktgirl
I have been given a price list and it is as follows
$120 Registration Fee
$939.30 IUI( with dh sperm)
$55 Semen wash.
Total =1114.30 We only get $458.00 back through Medicare and I'm not sure how much, if anything my phf covers. The thing is the clinic recommends 4 cycles of IUI before moving onto IVF and dh is worried that we don't have the funds to cover 4 cycles. Once we get started he doesn't want to have to have a break because of the money iykwim. I however don't think like that and seem to be so confident for some reason that it will work 1st time round lol.
Anyway how are you going with the break? I do hope you are ok.

BW Sorry to see that you are having a reaction to the metformin. I hope you are feeling better soon.
Hi to all you wonderful people out there. I hope you are all good.

new thread time girls

Love