Questions about Clomid

[Melinda]

Clomid

Clomid is a brand name for Clomiphene Citrate, an ovulation inducing fertility drug. In Australia another brand, Serophene, is often prescribed. This is the same thing as Clomid. Clomid is often prescribed for women who do not ovulate or who ovulate irregularly. It can also be used to correct a Luteal Phase Defect.

Clomid works by increasing the production of FSH (the hormone which causes the ovaries to produce follicles). It is taken for 5 consecutive days early in your cycle and you must be sure that you are not pregnant before taking it. Your doctor will tell you which days and what dosage to take. After taking Clomid you should have follow-up consultations with your doctor throughout your cycle to check on your progress by using ultrasound and/or blood tests. From these your doctor will be able to tell you when you will ovulate. If the Clomid is going to work, most women will get pregnant within 6 cycles.

A variety of side effects can be experience whilst taking Clomid but some women do not experience any. Some of these side effects may include nausea, tiredness, headaches, moodiness, decrease in cervical mucous, a thinner uterine lining, hot flushes, ovarian hyperstimulation, and bloating. You should always speak to your doctor if you are concerned about the side effects that you may be experiencing.

There is also a small chance of becoming pregnant with multiples when taking Clomid - approximately a 5% chance of twins. Higher order multiples are much rarer.

We hope this has answered some of your questions about what Clomid is and why it is used. If you are taking Clomid, please feel free to join in the Trying to Conceive & Taking Clomid and/or Metformin thread which is found in the Conception - TTC Buddies Forum.

[DJ]

Hi,
Was wondering if anyone has any insight to when best to take clomid. I am about to start taking my second round of clomid (tonight) and just wanted feedback. Last month I took it in the morning and was in tears for the majority of the day and extremely fatigued (besides some other minor side effects) but I don't know whether it was a direct affect of the drug or the fact that I have to take the little blighters if we want to have a baby.
I have thought to trial it at night and wondered if anyone else has played around with the time of day to take them to reduce the effects a little.

Also thank you for starting up this thread for the clomid questions. It is a wonderful idea and I look forward to communicating with others going through the same.

Cheers
Deborah

[coops]

Hi,
Was wondering if anyone has any insight to when best to take clomid. I am about to start taking my second round of clomid (tonight) and just wanted feedback. Last month I took it in the morning and was in tears for the majority of the day and extremely fatigued (besides some other minor side effects) but I don't know whether it was a direct affect of the drug or the fact that I have to take the little blighters if we want to have a baby.
I have thought to trial it at night and wondered if anyone else has played around with the time of day to take them to reduce the effects a little.

Also thank you for starting up this thread for the clomid questions. It is a wonderful idea and I look forward to communicating with others going through the same.

Cheers
Deborah[/QUOTE]

Hi Deborah

I am up to my second cycle of Clomid and i prefer to take them at night because any side effects that i am going to experience i sleep my way through them.. the only thing that I have to do for these side effects is go to bed a bit earlier than usual cause i get a little bit of fatigue from them.

Other than that i dont feel the side effects of them during the day cause by the time i wake up the effects have gone.

i would like to hear of what side effects other people have as well.

just think of the result that we are going to receive from taking the clomid

regards
Coops

[Kell77]

Hi Guys

Sorry for butting in here but thought id let you know about my experience with clomid & provera. Im not sure if you have read earlier posts in this thread but I have added quite a few posts earlier on but haven't posted in quite a few months. I also am a night time taker of both clomid & provera for the same reason as coops in that I found the symptoms were much less severe. We were TTC for over 12 months before I was diagnosed with PCOS & then went onto the provera & clomid. I did want to tell you all though that after another agonising 6 months of failures, my final round of clomid worked & im now 7.5 weeks pregnant !! I had an early scan last week to check that all was ok & the heartbeat was a healthy 127 beats per minute & all looks good so far so im now crossing everything in the hopes that I can hang onto it. I just wanted to say that as agonising & emotional as the process is that it's all worth it in the end & that even though sometimes you feel like nothing is working or going your way that it can all turn around very quickly. Hope you are all doing well & best of luck with your clomid journey.

[coops]

Hi Kell

no need to be sorry for butting in thats what we are here for

Congratulations on falling pregnant i really hope things go well for you and would love to hear how you are doing over the course of the time and especially at the final result lol, i am onto my 2nd dose of clomid, my husband and i are wanting to become parents in a massive way... we have so much love to give and nobody to give it to. i understand what you are saying by the "nothing is working" statement thats what it feels like at the moment.

I feel like i am doing something wrong or something isnt right so i went and had a ultra sound to make sure everything was in tact and everything was.... but i feel it in my bones that i will be pregnant.

I have a 6 month old nephew that i have been so clucky over since the day he was born and it is driving me nuts lol i have started to collect the baby things but i refuse to have them in the house until we are pregnant.
the emotional rollercoaster was really bad at the start thinking i was going to be pregnant straight away but then i figured hey when it happens it will happen.... but then i go back to emotional rollercoaster lol its up and down.

but it will happen and when it does everybody will know about it.

I wish you all the best of luck with your pregnancy

Hope to hear good news soon.

Coops

[Kell77]

Thanks coops for your best wishes, im certainly hoping everything goes well too, although I must admit that I didn't think id be this nervous or worried if I ever fell pregnant, which id say was due to all the dissapointment we have had throughout the whole process. I guess all I can do is keep my fingers crossed & do everything right! I know exactly how you feel though & it's very hard not to get dejected & feel like everythings going against you in that situation, all I can say is that im sure that everything will work out for you guys & it will all be worth it when you finally get pregnant, plus I think it's always good to talk to others in a similar situation because it gives you hope. I know that this thread was great for me as I knew there were others out there experiencing what I was experiencing & I could talk to them about it because other people don't always understand how heart renching the whole process can be so you are definately doing the right thing & you have the right attitude which is a great start. How long have you been on the clomid for? So you don't have anything wrong like PCOS?

[Kirsty77]

Hi Deborah

I took my first cycle of clomid in the morning then with the second cycle in the evening.It lessened the side effects greatly for me.ALso on my first cycle I took them days 2-6 then second cycle days 4-8 and it worked!

I hated the hot flushes the most!!!!!!!!

Goodluck.................

[nxn_78@hotmail.com]

I have just finished all my tests to make sure I am OK to start Clomid. I rarely get periods so am not sure what days would be best to take it, does anyone have an ideas? I am yet to meet with my specialist.

[Ginnna]

Hi,
After not having a period for a year and a half and wanting desperately to conceive,
my husband and I went to an OB/GYN. He prescribed Clomid to us and it worked
on the first try! We were more than thrilled! No complications or side effects
came along while I was taking the drug. Now, we have a beautiful, healthy
1 1/2 yr old son named Nolan. Next month, we will be using Clomid again,
as prescribed by the same Dr and hopefully we'll be just as lucky!
I think Clomid is a wonderful drug. I bought it on www.viagranow.eu

[Stejen]

Ally - Welcome! I have read about a lot of different people who started at 50mg of Clomid and didn't "o". My dr actually started me at 100mg on cd3-7, which I didn't know was unusual until I started reading more. I had a few side effects (moody, HOT FLASHES!!) but it wasn't terrible, and I'm pretty sure I did "o". This was actually my first cycle on it, and I'm currently on CD27...just waiting to test. I'm sure if your dose is increased you will "o".

Ginna - It's great to hear a success story, and on the first try!! I've been trying not to get my hopes up this cycle because it's my first cycle with clomid and I know it doesn't usually happen on the first try...but good luck to you with the next one!!

My temp stayed up this morning...98.0...and I think I can actually count this one. I slept really well last night, woke up this morning and took it right away....so I've come to the conclusion that I need to stop worrying about my temps because they are ALL OVER THE PLACE!! Haha!! I know all the threads I have read have talked about the killer 2WW, but this is just about agonizing....I just have to "Let go and let God" ...it'll happen when it's supposed to! (I just want to know either way!! )

[becnxavi]

stejan,
I know what you mean about temps. I started trying to temp last week on CD3 and since then temp has gone up everyday since day 5 (clomid start day) by about .5c of a degree! I started at 35.4 and now am about 37.4. Becasue I have had those horrible hot flushes, I though it might be that, but no one else has mentioned it, so I don;t know! I think I might just give up temping this cycle and try again next time. Today I am going for U/S to see if any follies have decided to show up...

Welcome newbies (what am I saying I've only been here a week myself!)
Goodluck Stejan, NO AF!!! Fight the good fight!

Have great one everyone, and good luck to you all.
Bec

[Kell77]

Ally - Welcome! I have read about a lot of different people who started at 50mg of Clomid and didn't "o". My dr actually started me at 100mg on cd3-7, which I didn't know was unusual until I started reading more. I had a few side effects (moody, HOT FLASHES!!) but it wasn't terrible, and I'm pretty sure I did "o". This was actually my first cycle on it, and I'm currently on CD27...just waiting to test. I'm sure if your dose is increased you will "o".

Ginna - It's great to hear a success story, and on the first try!! I've been trying not to get my hopes up this cycle because it's my first cycle with clomid and I know it doesn't usually happen on the first try...but good luck to you with the next one!!

My temp stayed up this morning...98.0...and I think I can actually count this one. I slept really well last night, woke up this morning and took it right away....so I've come to the conclusion that I need to stop worrying about my temps because they are ALL OVER THE PLACE!! Haha!! I know all the threads I have read have talked about the killer 2WW, but this is just about agonizing....I just have to "Let go and let God" ...it'll happen when it's supposed to! (I just want to know either way!! )

Hey Stejen

Well that temp looks promising! Temperature charting can be a fab tool whilst TTC but if you are anything like me who over analyses things too much then sometimes it can actually hinder things, ssometimes I felt that I wanted things to happen so badly that I really put too much emphasis on my temps & it made me miserable. At one stage I thought that it might be better for me to just chuck the thermometer away & not bother as it was making things worse but if you can tell yourself that there is numerous things that can alter out temp & not stress on it too much then it tends to work much better for us. Remember this is only your first round & you have plenty of chances for this to work which im very confident it will & you are already seeing encouraging signs that it's doing something & I didn't "O" until my fourth round of clomid & I also got pregnant on that round so there's a big chance that will happen for you too. You are definately looking at it the right way & have a great attitude & im positive that your attitude can make the world of difference to the outcome! All the best for you test, let me know how you go?

[Young mama]

Hey everyone, I took clomid for both of my daughters. Ist baby only took one cycle and the second baby was 2 cycles.. so clomid definatley does work. I took the pill in the morinings say bout 10:30 and never had any problems , although i did experience some hot flushes in the afternoons but not many. Good luck to all on Clomid cycles!

[Stejen]

Ok, so I am attempting not to freak out!! Today I am 11dpo and I had a dollar store test in my drawer so to just get my mind off it all day I decided to test. I prepared myself for the BFN, but I have two papers to write today, and I don't want to sit here and think about that test in the drawer....I took it.

I was folding the laundry and went over to look at the test after a few minutes. I just glanced and it looked like a bfn as usual. I finished folding the laundry, which only took about one more minute, and picked the test up to throw it away. I know that 11dpo is pretty early to test and if there was anything it would be pretty faint likely...so I stood by the window and looked at it in the light....there is the absolute faintest second line!!

I thought my eyes, or my mind was playing tricks on me, and I actually went and stood in the driveway in my pjs so I could look at it in the sun....Seriously I have looked at a lot of tests, and have tried to say that there is a faint second line, but this is the first time that there is something there. It's sooooo light I can barely see it, but I really think it's there. I keep looking at the test, under the light, turning it in my hands, and I really think I see just a little something...ahhhhhh!! I guess I will wait a couple days and test again, and hope for a dark dark dark bfp!!

I had to come on here and freak out about the faint line because I don't want to tell my husband and get his hopes up before I know for sure!! You guys are my freak out mechanism!!! Well...my hopes are definitely up, but I'm going to try to stay calm and understand that maybe I am just seeing things...the waiting game continues with a little more optimism then yesterday!!!!!

[becnxavi]

stejan! I'm sure the lines there. My sister only had a really faint line and she was pregnant. Keep us posted.

Me- yesterday i went to the FS for the U/S to see if there were any follies forming. Nothing has happened. NOTHING. There doesn't seem to have been any response. It's only CD 11, and dr suggested it was too early (he organised the U/S) and to scan again next week (my work will be really happy I need another day off). Whats more, he said because I have had quite severe side effects with the clomid, I maybe shouldn't take it anymore and take injections of something called Gonal f. Has anyone else had to take that?
I don;t know what to do. I live and work a long way from the doctors office and I am going to need scans every week or something, and I can't take time off to do it. I'm a bit of a mess at the moment, and I'd appreciate any advice.
Bec

[rosro]

Hi Deborah,

I'm in the middle of my first course of Clomid. My OB has started me on a really small dose (25mg daily), and consequently, I've not had too many side effects. Have been taking them in the morning, but I've also heard that taking them in the evening lessens the side effects. I've also been a little teary, but I reckon alot of that is just thinking about having to take a rotten tablet in order to conceive!!

Rosro

[DJ]

Hi Kirsty and Rosro,
Thanks for your replies. I have just put a posting in the clomid discussion about hot flushes.
Don't know whether I am truly experiencing them or not. Being such a cold person (and that doesn't mean heartless) it is so unusual for me to get hot. But this week I have been overcome with these hot spells where I have to find a way to cool down. So funny...particularly for DH. He thinks taking my clothes off mean I must be ready.... "No I am not ovulating I am just hot". hehehe.
Actually enjoying this experience with the clomd.....it has made be so more intuned with my body. But I just wish I didn't have to do this just to have a baby....
Cheers
Deb

[amacdonald]

I am 10 weeks pregnant according to my ultrasound after 6 months on clomid The problem is is that I had a bleed only 7 weeks ago which suggests that I could have been pregnant when I took the clomid last. Do you know what effects this might have on the baby?