Clomid on unmonitored cycle?

[nicoleE]

Hello all.

Now I'm one that normally recommends that you have to have monitored cycles on Clomid however Im wondering how important it is if past Clomid cycles have been pretty straightforward and perfect (except for conception of course!) I track my BBT so I know when I have ovulated and can easily estimate when I am likely to ovulate.

I have been seeing Repromed in Adelaide who are the Fertility Specilists. I have just started on my second round of Clomid, the first went pretty perfectly, my body did exactly what it was supposed to do (except conceive). I was on 50mg and got 1 mature folicle. I had many bloods to check on hormone levels which showed everything was working well. The first round, with initial appointments cost us $458 out of pocket and now each cycle is going to cost us $335 out of pocket for each month, which is for the monitoring and a follow up appointment afterwards. None of our our of pocket costs are covered by a health fund, we are in full private hospital and extras.

I have been thinking if this second round is unsuccessful and all my hormones do well again, should I either do it myself or find a GP or gyno who would be cheaper? I certainly wouldnt be silly and up doses or anything myself and if something didnt seem right would go and seek help. I have 4 repeats of the Clomid prescription left which is more than I will ever need since 1 prescription lasts me 2 months.

What do you all think? :confused:

[sexy_minx]

Hi i havent used this drug befor so i wouldnt know what to do but i hope you know what your doing and i feel that you should play around with this like this, but if its safe and you do know what your doing then why not? hmmm

[cmd'smum]

Nicole,

to be honest I would still keep getting your bloods, etc monitored. When I was on clomid with DD my first cycle was like yours, perfect, the second....my levels went up and down and were being funny............ I Od late (CD21) but I did still conceive. My point, even Clomid cycles can vary from cycle to cycle and you don't wanna miss the boat! Plus you might have more than one folicle mature, its possible to have 3 or more follicles mature and release an egg! Which is another reason why its good to have an internal scan. I realise you're doing you BBT but to be honest, I don't think FF is as accurate as we think!

As for cost, maybe have less BTs? Also maybe have a chat to Repromed and see what they think?

B****Y private cover! We have top cover too, and sometimes I wonder if its really worth it! There's still so much it doesn't cover! We will def be downgrading our cover package after we've had number 2!

Good luck for this cycle, you might not even have to worry about unmonitored cycles soon ;)

:fingerscrossed:

[skyejax]

firstly :fingerscrossed: ttc.
with my first preg it was clomid assisted (i m/c at 9wks). i went bak for the whole monitoring thing at the fertility clinic and ended up preg angain, this time resulting in birth of my dd. both these times i had unsuccessful cycles and in my mth off (u hav to hav these every few cycles to let hormone levels rebalance, and mine where through the roof!) i fell preg. when i was ready to ttc#2 i just went to my dr who prescribed me the clomid and monitored me to c when i ov which ended up being same as previous to other preg. once again i was unsuccessful till my mth off and whammo ds came. so i say till u know exactly what is the prob with not getting preg (like me i just dont produce mature eggs to ov at all) i'd stay with the clinic for now. but on the flip side u copuld hav a talk with your gp and c what they say cause they may well say the will watch u. mine didnt hav aprob as he had worked in fertility before, so i would ask...cant hurt.
soory this is long, hope it makes sence.
mary
:fingerscrossed: :fingerscrossed: :fingerscrossed:
p.s also speak to your gp cause there may be a clinic that is public over your way. i know here in wa there is at KEMH cause that is where i went and all i had to pay for was my ultrasounds (the first was about $20 then went up every time i had more cause medicare only covers a certain portion and aparently this amopunt drop the more u hav in a year. i had 6 in total and the mast i paid was $54)

[cmd'smum]

Skyejax...hmmmmm interesting! I didn't realise KEHM had a fertility centre! I go to Hollywood FC. If I'm not successful with the first couple of cycles, then I might consider KEHM.

Although I don't remember being too out of pocket at all with treatment for DD? I think about $200 out of pocket all up???? I guess i'll wait and see how it all goes this time!

[nicoleE]

I wanted to answer my own question here as I just had an appointment with my FS but wanted to put it here incase anyone else wonders the same thing and does a search in the future or something...

I didnt bring it up (I didnt want to look stingy!) but he said that because everything ran perfectly in the last cycle if this next monitored one also goes well I can go unmonitored by myself on Clomid for a few months, if Im not pregnant after that they will start to check my tubes etc...
Apparently people's Clomid cycles can vary but generally 9 out of 10 people have quite constant cycles (i.e where your hormones do what they are supposed to do after the Clomid).

So thats good news :D

[JordansMummy]

Hi just out of curiosity I was wondering why you are on Clomid? Sorry if this is a bit personal is it because of a medical issue? Asking because I've been off the pill for a while now and it took about 9 months to fall pregnant with ds, so I was thinking of seeing a gp this time or a herbalist to help speed the procedure up for the next. I don't think I can handle going through the 9 month wait again.

[cmd'smum]

Jordansmummy

Clomid is usually prescribed for women with PCOS. It makes you O. Lots of women with PCOS don't O regularly or hardly at all. If you think that you're not Oing maybe ask your GP to do BTs to confirm whether or not you are. I know TTC is a hard and long business sometimes, but remember it takes up to one year for the average cple to get pg. So there may be nothing for you to worry about. Your Dr will only prescribe Clomid if you're not Oing as they would'nt want to put you on it if you're already Oing as this may overtimulate your ovaries.

Hope that helped and :fingerscrossed: you get your BFP very soon.

NicoleE...good to hear you can go unmonitored if the next cycle goes well. I have a feeling you might not need to worry about that though! :thumbsup: :fingerscrossed:

[nicoleE]

nothings too personal at this place! :D

I have PCOS, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome which is a hormonal disorder which generally (but not always) also presents with cycts on the overies, basically immature folicles which didnt quite ripen (due to hormones). For a run down on PCOS go to http://www.posaa.asn.au/index.php as they have allof of information about it. PCOS is quite common.

Basically I dont ovulate by myself, my bodys hormones dont do what they are supposed to for the cycle to happen. I went off the pill in March and never ovulated until I saw a Dr, then Fertility Specialist, both diagnosing PCOS and I was put on Clomid. Clomid tricks your body to produce the right hormones (estrogen i think) to kick start ovulation.
Both my sisters also have PCOS, apparently if your sister has it you have a 50% chance of having it. Symptoms and signs vary allot, some people do ovulate kid of regularly, some once or twice in a year some not at all.

If i were you I would track my Basal Body Temp (BBT) to check if you are ovulating because if you are not then you can take the next step as to why you find it hard to conceive, perhaps you are not ovulating every cycle? There could be all sorts of reasons of course and anovulation is not always caused by PCOS. Generally you have a 1 in 5 chance every month to conceive even if you and your partner are completely healthy so really they say to try for 12 months before you seek help. However because I knew I could have PCOS and i wasnt ovulating (was charting my BBT) i wasnt going to wait! If you keep an eye on your ovulation you might get an insight into what may, or may not, be the problem. Check out www.fertilityfriend.com for info on BBT recording. BTW you can still 'bleed' and not ovulate but it is normally unusual for your normal cycle (if you have one!).

Hoep that helped.

[nicoleE]

lol cmd'smum I took too long to type all mine out that you beat me to it! :p

[HelenHasTwins]

Hi NicoleE

I don't know why your gp didn't send you to a specilist to get your tubes checked out first?

I was going to go straight onto clomid also, but decided to see a specilist and she did some scans and I had day surgery to check my tubes and found that they were upside down:eek: Yes my tubes are facing up and no where near my ovairies......

So if I have gone onto clomid it whould have done nothing! I am going in for a operation on friday to get this fixed, she is very positive about me getting pregnant but she is also putting me on clomid to help.

[nicoleE]

Thats what I thought but both my GP and FS indepentantly told me that they will do that if I dont fall on Clomid. I think they look at your history and what is wrong and figure that they will start with the less invasive treatments first.