[yarngirl]

I saw your posts in my other thread about taking clomid to increase my LP. I'm curious about this. My RE said because all my testing turned out normal and my monitored cycle was good, that he didn't think it was a problem on the front end (i.e. the egg or estrogen quality). He said he was actually stumped at why my progesterone was doing this, but thought that it could just be that my body is taking a long time to adjust to the ten years on bcp, four of which were on seasonal. He said that some doctors do put women on clomid for LPs, but since I had consistent CM and wasn't O'ing late (he said he didn't consider even up to CD28 late) and that I had follicles being recruited (whatever that means in technical terms), that he was concerned that clomid would actually do my body more harm than good. I was honestly so worried about other stuff at the appointment that I really didn't follow-up with him on this point (like why would it harm me). What he had suggested was that in July, if my LPs were not regulated, we could do one of two things. Either a straight clomid cycle followed by a trigger shot or instead clomid and AI. At that point, it would be six months of progesterone to try to increase the LP.

Now, I live in Massachusetts, where fertility treatments are mandated to be covered under insurance. So I realize my doc may be a bit more aggressive than other docs. But, I'm curious what you guys think? Would you suggest just a few cycles on clomid to increase my LP? The only thing that seems to be wrong is my short LPs.

[Ash]

Well, I had short LPs and ovulated late so my doctor thought that having the clomid would help me to have more normal length cycles, ovulate earlier and lengthen my LP. That is exactly what it did. Now, when I am not on Clomid, that isn't the case. Like, I didn't talk it this month and I just ovulated yesterday. We will have to wait and see about my LP. Last cycle my LP looked pretty good, but I spotted from 8 dpo until AF started. I am not sure I answered your question, but that has been my experience.

Also, I find it a little premature that your doc would go straight to clomid, trigger, and IUI. This is totally JMO, but I would do a few unassisted Clomid cycles before going to all of the other.

[~*Jackie*~]

If the months of progesterone don't work, it's definitely worth a shot. I think what he's concerned about as far as "harming" you is that Clomid is known to dry up CM and even in some cases create hostile CM. If your CM is good now, he probably doesn't want to mess that up in any way. It's also possible that if you are already ovulating ok on your own (and not terribly late), Clomid could produced a number of mature follies, rather than just the 1 or 2 that you already get on your own, and you would have a greatly higher risk of multiples.

I didn't have an LP defect when on Clomid (my body randomly stops ovulating on its own, and when it was ovulating, it wouldn't be until CD 22 or so). Clomid did lengthen my LP by 2 or 3 days though, even with my 14 day LP before it. IMO, I'd try the few more months of progesterone (maybe it is taking a little longer to adjust to being off BC), and if it doesn't work, maybe try a cycle or two of straight Clomid.

I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide!

[yarngirl]

Originally Posted by Ash

Well, I had short LPs and ovulated late so my doctor thought that having the clomid would help me to have more normal length cycles, ovulate earlier and lengthen my LP. That is exactly what it did. Now, when I am not on Clomid, that isn't the case. Like, I didn't talk it this month and I just ovulated yesterday. We will have to wait and see about my LP. Last cycle my LP looked pretty good, but I spotted from 8 dpo until AF started. I am not sure I answered your question, but that has been my experience.

Also, I find it a little premature that your doc would go straight to clomid, trigger, and IUI. This is totally JMO, but I would do a few unassisted Clomid cycles before going to all of the other.

I think the reason he is doing it is because as I said in MA, after a year of trying, insurance covers it, so he's like "why not". I hear that is how a lot of REs are here, especially if you are over 30 (I'm 33). I have been off BCP since last July, so under the insurance, I can be one year then, even though we didn't start actually trying until Sept. Although, in reality, we weren't preventing as soon as we stopped, I just wasn't thinking about all of these things, so I don't think of it as trying.

He wasn't saying I should do clomid, he was pushing me away from it, saying just to do the progesterone for a bit longer. I was asking about the clomid, because Jackie said it could increase the LP and my doctor had said that if I wanted to in July, I could do that or do AI.

I think we will see how we feel in July.

[yarngirl]

Originally Posted by ~*Jackie*~

If the months of progesterone don't work, it's definitely worth a shot. I think what he's concerned about as far as "harming" you is that Clomid is known to dry up CM and even in some cases create hostile CM. If your CM is good now, he probably doesn't want to mess that up in any way. It's also possible that if you are already ovulating ok on your own (and not terribly late), Clomid could produced a number of mature follies, rather than just the 1 or 2 that you already get on your own, and you would have a greatly higher risk of multiples.

I didn't have an LP defect when on Clomid (my body randomly stops ovulating on its own, and when it was ovulating, it wouldn't be until CD 22 or so). Clomid did lengthen my LP by 2 or 3 days though, even with my 14 day LP before it. IMO, I'd try the few more months of progesterone (maybe it is taking a little longer to adjust to being off BC), and if it doesn't work, maybe try a cycle or two of straight Clomid.

I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide!

Humm, now I think I understand why my RE said that. I have enough follicles being recruited (or matured?) in a cycle, and my CM is good, so he probably didn't see the point of clomid unless I really got frustrated. I think I will just keep trying and hope my LP increases with the progesterone.

I just hate the side effects of the progesterone. The last three cycles, I couldn't go to work the first day on it. I felt horrible.

[~Lynda~]

hi there, just my 2 cents... i am on clomid for the "super o" theory. if you O already, clomid can help boost your O and help get a bfp. i have taken clomid for three cycles in the last year and two of the three cycles I got bfps!!!! i'm on my fourth this cycle and hoping and praying it works again and i get a sticky bfp this time.

i'm not trying to sway you either way, but it is an agressive approach cause I O just fine on my own. i guess with the clomid you produce more follies and therefore have a better chance of conception. hey it's worked for me but it does dry out your CM. I just use pre-seed to battle that side effect.

good luck!!!

[yarngirl]

Thanks!!!

Ash - for some reason, my gut is what you say. I mentioned in the other thread that I felt awful when DH brought up AI and I think that for me, it's a bit too early to think about that and I will just see how I feel month to month. Although there are those moments where I'm like just stick a baby in me!

[Ash]

Another word on CM...Clomid *can* dry out your CM, but doesn't always do that. It hasn't affected mine at all. Just so you know that for future reference. I do think that trying the progesterone for a few more cycles is definitely appropriate.

I am also with Lynda about the super O....maybe my doc just wanted to give it to me so that I would shut up! LOL!

[SavaAngel]

I know you didn't write this to me - but I thought I would add to it. I went in to my OB because most of my LP was spent spotting. Before I went on the clomid (I looked back the other day) I would start spotting at 7dpo and spot until AF came. You would think I had low progesterone but my OB wanted to see if clomid would help lengthen my LP. I had no tests done at that point. And it did lengthen my (non spotting days) LP. I spotted one day before AF showed on CD 29 my first cycle of clomid. My spotting is more now, I get anywhere between 10-12 days before spotting occurs. So it can help you LP length.

I had done my research going in and asked why clomid over progesterone and he said that the egg helps the production of progesterone and he wanted to see if he helped my egg if it would help my spotting. I have never been on anything higher than 50mg. Most doctors monitor you every day or two via ultrasound any higher than that because if you get over stimulated ovaries you can end up either octomom (LOL) or with a ruptured ovary.

I hope that answers your questions. Oh and just for a few more facts about me - I have PCOS and in February when I was finally tested for progesterone on a clomid cycle, my number was 30 at 7dpo. Good Luck.

[KMH]

I'm going to throw my 2 cents in here, too, if you don't mind

I spot starting on about 10-11dpo, and it continues until AF. In 22 months of trying, I have never gotten a BFP. The only diagnosed problem that I have is hostile CM...it literally kills DH's sperm on contact IUI/IVF are our only options, because we have to work around my CM.

My RE put me on Clomid starting in March to hopefully help the spotting and also boost ovulation. So far it has given my nothing but headaches. The first cycle I tood 25mg of Clomid days 5-9, and I didn't develop any follies big enough to ovulate. I have ovulated fine on my own for 15 years, but the Clomid screwed me up. After 3 weeks of birth control, we tried 50mg of Clomid days 5-9. I developed 2 follies, and did a trigger shot to ovulate before the IUI. The bigger follie ruptured, but the one that was slightly smaller did not, so now I have to take another month off to shrink that follie back down to size. My RE said this is common with low doses of Clomid...you'll develop one big follie and one that is lagging a little...and the lagging follie doesn't always rupture. If I increase the dose, though, then I'm putting myself at risk for multiples, and we really don't want that. On top of all that, my spotting didn't go away at all with the Clomid.

I'm definitely not trying to be a downer here, but I can definitely see why your doctor was hesitant to jump to Clomid...sometimes it can definitely do more harm than good!

Good luck to you, and I hope you can find the right combination to get you that BFP!!

[yarngirl]

Originally Posted by KMH

I'm going to throw my 2 cents in here, too, if you don't mind

I spot starting on about 10-11dpo, and it continues until AF. In 22 months of trying, I have never gotten a BFP. The only diagnosed problem that I have is hostile CM...it literally kills DH's sperm on contact IUI/IVF are our only options, because we have to work around my CM.

My RE put me on Clomid starting in March to hopefully help the spotting and also boost ovulation. So far it has given my nothing but headaches. The first cycle I tood 25mg of Clomid days 5-9, and I didn't develop any follies big enough to ovulate. I have ovulated fine on my own for 15 years, but the Clomid screwed me up. After 3 weeks of birth control, we tried 50mg of Clomid days 5-9. I developed 2 follies, and did a trigger shot to ovulate before the IUI. The bigger follie ruptured, but the one that was slightly smaller did not, so now I have to take another month off to shrink that follie back down to size. My RE said this is common with low doses of Clomid...you'll develop one big follie and one that is lagging a little...and the lagging follie doesn't always rupture. If I increase the dose, though, then I'm putting myself at risk for multiples, and we really don't want that. On top of all that, my spotting didn't go away at all with the Clomid.

I'm definitely not trying to be a downer here, but I can definitely see why your doctor was hesitant to jump to Clomid...sometimes it can definitely do more harm than good!

Good luck to you, and I hope you can find the right combination to get you that BFP!!

OMG. I'm so sorry about your cm issue. If you don't mind me asking, how was that diagnoised? I don't think I was tested for anything like that. And thank you for the advice. I do appreciate hearing everyone's experiences. I'm O'ing just fine, so I think I will keep seeing if the progesterone works.

[KMH]

We had a post-coital test to diagnose the CM issue. We had sex at home, then I went to my RE's office 3 hours later. He swabbed my cervix (kind of like a pap), and put the CM on a slide to see if/how the sperm were interacting with the CM. He actually let me look at the slide under the microscope, which was pretty cool.

If everything was normal, the slide should have had about 10-15 forward progressing sperm. Instead, there were several dead sperm, and a few that were swimming in circles. Clearly these sperm had no chance of getting all the way up to my eggs!

After the post-coital test, DH had a sperm antibody test as well. The issue could have been that my CM was okay, but that DH had antibodies on his sperm that kept them from swimming and moving properly through the CM. His test came back a-okay, so my CM was confirmed to be the problem.

What my RE has suggested in the future is that we do the 50mg Clomid again, do a trigger to induce ovulation, and then 2 smaller trigger shots after the IUI to kick the corpus luteum into gear and make sure it is producing progesterone properly. He thought that this would stop the spotting and ensure that if fertilization occurred, I would have every chance at a healthy pregnancy. Maybe you could do the trigger shots without Clomid?!?

[yarngirl]

Melissa, that sounds so stressful! I hope that the next cycle with clomid and triggers works for you!

[KMH]

Thanks, Addie. I hope another month or 2 of progesterone will be all you need for your BFP

[SavaAngel]

I was told that the post-coital test is the last they test for and most of the time you have to ask for it. If my HSG turns out normal next month (providing I don't get a BFP) I am asking for the post-coital test.

[KMH]

The first doctor I went to (OB/GYN) wouldn't do the post-coital test...he told me it was unnecessary and a waste of time and money. When I switched to an RE, it was one of the first tests he did, and thank goodness for that!! Our insurance covered it, so I didn't pay attention to what the cost was, but I wouldn't think that it would be too outrageous.

[snsgirl336]

Originally Posted by ~Lynda~

hi there, just my 2 cents... i am on clomid for the "super o" theory. if you O already, clomid can help boost your O and help get a bfp. i have taken clomid for three cycles in the last year and two of the three cycles I got bfps!!!! i'm on my fourth this cycle and hoping and praying it works again and i get a sticky bfp this time.

i'm not trying to sway you either way, but it is an agressive approach cause I O just fine on my own. i guess with the clomid you produce more follies and therefore have a better chance of conception. hey it's worked for me but it does dry out your CM. I just use pre-seed to battle that side effect.

good luck!!!

I'm also adding my 2 cents here too... When I met with my Dr to discuss our issues ttc, we came up with the plan of trying clomid to help try for that "super O" like Lynda... I O very regularly and seemingly have no other problems, but he wants to give us our best chances. (We'll be likely starting in July and we'll be doing the clomid with a HCG trigger and of course monitoring through the cycle)...

Which ever way you decide to go, it is ultimately your decision (well your DH too), as long as you're happy, then you should be all set! Good luck and I hope you get that BFP soon!