Before we began “trying” I had heard a lot about Clomid and everything I heard was really scary. People told me how crazy they became on it, what all the symptoms of the drug were and I knew of 5 people who had taken it and ended up with twins. Mike also heard all this information, both first hand and from me, and is COMPLETELY terrified by it. It wasn’t until we visited with our fertility Dr. that both of us began to understand the side effects and how the drug truly works. I began my first round of Clomid this morning and Mike and I are both really nervous about how it will affect me, but we know the short-term consequences are well worth the long-term gain.
Since many don’t know that much about Clomid, I thought I would share what I know.
Clomid is the most commonly used fertility drug and is used for both male and female fertility problems. 25% of females who struggle with infertility have trouble with ovulation, by either ovulating early, late or not ovulating at all. Clomid is a pill you take on day 5 of your cycle for 5 days, and is supposed to induce ovulation around day 14. The most common dose is 50mg, but you can take up to 150mg with your Dr.’s approval.
Clomid works by helping the ovary develop an egg follicle by increasing the Follicle Stimulating Hormone (a hormone released from the pituitary gland in the brain that stimulates an egg follicle to grow each month) and the Luteinizing Hormone (a hormone that works with the FSH hormone to recruit and stimulate an egg follicle to grow each month). Basically, when an ovary makes an egg, it will send an estrogen hormone to the brain telling it to quit releasing FSH and LH hormones. The Clomid essentially tricks the brain into thinking you have less estrogen than you do by blocking the estrogen hormone from reaching the brain. This allows your body to make more follicles and increases your chances of releasing an egg.
The symptoms of Clomid include but are not limited to, hot flashes, bloating and abdominal discomfort, weight gain, mood swings, nausea, dizziness, headaches, abnormal menstrual bleeding, breast tenderness and change in cervical fluid. Another side effect of Clomid is the risk of multiple births. Your chances of having twins while using Clomid is 10%, while the risk of triplets or more is only 1%.
Clomid will “jumpstart” ovulation in 80% of patients and 45% of women on Clomid will get pregnant within 6 cycles of use. If you do not get pregnant within 6 cycles, it usually means Clomid will not work and it is time to move to alternative methods.
Sorry for the biology lesson! I just think it’s all pretty interesting.
4 comments:
Hi! You don't know me but I saw your blog on Chelsea/Alex Osborne's and 'Chlomid' caught my eye. Once I saw your blogstalking post, I figured it would be ok for me comment. :) I know this is random, but I had to take Chlomid with both my babies and I had so many of the same worries. I hadn't heard about it making people crazy but after the first month, my doctor came into my appointment with this look like "So... how was it?" waiting for me to spin my head around and puke green. :) But I didn't notice a SINGLE side-effect. This is coming from someone who can't take the slightest amount of a birth control pill for fear that I might start killing people. :) But Chlomid was great. No side effects. It didn't make me ovulate day 14, though... ever. One time, I didn't ovulate until day 30- so keep your eyes out for that. :) But I've had 1 3/4 healthy pregnancies from it and no twins. Good luck with your journey!
Hey-shout out to my friend Heather up there! So I thought I'd let you know my side effects (there weren't many, so don't worry!) I gained some weight-like 10-15 pounds. Sorry-I know that sucks, but I think it's worth it if it works, right!? BUT, I did ovulate really weird like Heather said. Dr. Terry told me that sometimes you can have late fertilization and late ovulations, so that threw me off. And I did have a false pregnancy on it, hopefully you won't ever have that! And I had to take it for 6 cycles-so if you get to the fifth and still nothing, try again! I am seriously always praying for you to have a lil' baby and I'm glad you started this blog so I can follow EVERYTHING in your life!!!
Oh, and no twins for me. My husband would freak out everytime they would give me more and have to give me the disclaimer that it could cause multiple births, but it never happened. But tell Mike it's normal to freak out about that.
I'm grateful for the biology lesson. I think most of us have heard of chlomid (sp?), but I didn't know what it REALLY did. I'm just praying you are blessed with a precious baby and know that everything will be worth it in the end.
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