Good evening, I am 34, have "unexplained" infertility, ttc for 13 months. first cycle clomid/iui failed. I am on 50mg of clomid. My question is if we are ovulating normally on our own, does clomid really help? My RE claims clomid can help produce more follicles to up the chances. I still produced one egg last month, the same as I have been doing without the clomid.Is there anyone in this same situation? Thank you, Danielle

I am also unexplained. I took 100mg of clomid for three cycles and produced around 3 mature follicles each time. My doctors goal was to give me enough medicine to produce at least 2. Did you RE up your dose? Mine told me that 100mg was the standard protocol with unexplained.

I was not successful on clomid. The 2nd and 3rd cycle I had a very thin lining. My RE told me that the odds of conceiving on clomid were lower than the odds of conceiving on injectibles, but I wanted to try it any way. Kind of wish I had skipped that step.

Hi ses32, thanks for the reply. NO, my RE did not up my dose, in fact I just started round 2 of clomid 50 mg today. I didnt know that clomid can affect the uterine lining! thats not good, so isnt that making us even less fertile? how long are you doing injectables?

Danielle

Danielle- it doesn't effect everyone's lining, and usually they'll take you off if your lining is getting too thin.

If my current cycle is unsuccessful (will know next weds at the latest) I will do one more injectible/IUI then move to IVF. Unfortunately my husband just got laid off from his job which had fantastic IF coverage. It paid for two IVFs. I think I am able to stay on through cobra, even though I could get insurance through my job (though my company does not reimburse IVF expenses). we'll see.

Good luck with this cycle!

Ses32, thanks again for the reply. The best of luck to you also!
danielle

I did 4 cycles of 50mg, had 2-3 follies and a lining >9mm each time but no pg. We have a Dd so we know we can get pg but for some reason this time we can't and it has been a yr in the works. I will not do Clomid again. Oh and I O just fine on my own on cd 12-15 (used to be on the dot cd 14 but post pg it hasn't been consistent.)

Hi Molly777, thanks for the reply. It is so frustrating to have what appears to be all the perfect ingredients to make a baby and it just doesnt happen. Thank all of you for your replys, I dont feel so alone now.
Danielle

Danielle,

Just droppin by here...
I was originally able to conceive but never sustain a prg. -originally lost a prg. but then thought I was NOT conceiving at all after that.... turns out I was conceiving but losing the conception so very, very early it wasn't even registering on the HPT's nor would I really be "late" with AF -I went and got quantitative beta Hcg done one month and sure enuf there was a low beta count. My point is, sometimes when the "unexplained" doesn't add up and we are functioning with normal OV (me too) it may be something more than just catching an egg or getting more eggs to try with.

I ended up following my instinct to Immune Issues and do have a success story with my now 4 yr old DS. Immune issues can be tricky to diagnose, hard to get to a doc that believes in them, and not even so easy to treat even with the proper immune type of meds in place (ie., I'm currently taking heparin injections and baby aspirin, prednisone steroid (low dosage) and monthly IVIg infusions...-all this worked like a charm for our first try with immune meds.) Nowadays we are running into some conceiving problems and have had two other chemical /early prg. losses since trying #2 -but that's just me, for others the immune meds is the true answer and getting to an RE that is open to the issues and testing may be of benefit when all else seems to be getting you nowhere.

Also, the clomid can be drying for mucus and often affects a woman's lining. There is Benalyn cough syrup with guafesin in it that is supposed to help you produce extra mucus if you take a tablespoon a day with a big glass of water... (the water also helps add to the mucus build up).

I hope that the clomid may help but it does sound like your dosage needs to be rethought if you aren't really reacting with more eggs than your normal OV.

take care and drop by the immune issues boards if you think it might be worth investigating.
Ally

Ally, thank you so much for sharing that information, we appreciate it greatly. I will definitely check out the immune issues board. Good luck to you.
Danielle

50 mg is a low dose. I ovulated normally without meds but RE thought it would increase my chances of doing Clomid and BMS. I had tons of follicles on the low dose and even more on the 100 mg. If you aren't pregnant after 3 consecutive cycles of Clomid it probably won't work for you. Also Clomid does have the unfortunate side effects of thining the lining and producing cysts. (both of which I experienced). Usually it is with consecutive cycles.

Hi bc mav, thanks for the reply. I went for day 11 ultrasound yesterday and I have a bunch of follicles on each side this time. They said I am actually responding well to the clomid and my lining is good.
Did you conceive on the clomid?

Danielle

I am 23. I know that may seem very young, and I agree that I still have a few years before this battle with "infertility" becomes a big issue. I have been married for going on 3 years - and no birth control has been used during this time. After my 2nd anniversary, I went to a Fertility doctor and according to my verbal workup I appeared normal as I consistently have a 28-29 day cycle and all other questions I was able to answer with a normal response. My doctor put me on a cycle of Clomid - with no responses... infact with no positive Ovulation [from a home OV test]. I pushed everything aside for a while, and here I am again with having a negative OV testing period this month. I have an appointment on Monday where we are going to discuss the further testing. I am by no means a naive person, so when I have been married for nearly 3 years, no birth control and a regular cycle... a light goes off in my head saying something might be wrong. I am here for support. Oh, and I am new to this web site, so I am not really sure how things run around here.

welcome elizabeth. This board is great for support and information. Hopefully the reason for your lack of ovulaton will be determined and resolved quickly. I wish you the best. Good luck.

danielle

Danielle -
Thank you for the welcome. I have truly felt very welcome so far, its been so great to find this place and talk with other families that are going through the same situations as we are. Monday is the day of my apt - so I'll know which route we'll take from there. I'll keep ya'll posted.

Ladies - I was wondering if you could help me. I know this isn't the topic of this thread - but I am still new here and I can't seem to find an appropriate place to post this.

Is a sauna healthy for a woman? The reason I ask is because I know your not suposed to go in them when your PG, but what about before? Can purposly heating your body temp up to those high levels be ok for your reproductive system? I go to the gym about 4 times a week and I have friends that want to sit in the sauna - don't know if this is safe for me?

Thanks for your help!

elizabeth

Hi Elizabeth, You should ask your doctors office about that one. Its a good question. I never heard anyone say you shouldnt, but I know hot water does have a significant impact on a mans fertility, so I guess it is possible to affect us too. I personally would avoid them because I wouldnt want to do anything to hinder my fertility even more than it already is.

Danielle

Danielle-

Thank you, I will certainly talk to my dr about this on monday. For now - I will not go in for the same reason, I don't want to do anything to further complicate things. I'll let you know what I find out.