The Clomid Branch

I've been waiting to write about my experiences with Clomid, until the first three rounds I was prescribed, were done.

Clomid is a drug that's used to help women ovulate. If I understand correctly, it unleashes a whole lot of progesterone into your system to help with ovulation. Since I have no issue with ovulation, my success rate on the drug was minimal. We chose to take three treatments in the hope that the extra stimulation might be the wee burst of je ne c'est quoi that was needed to get us 'up the pole'.... otherwise, the next steps involved a very expensive trip south where there would be fertility treatment facilities available to us.

I was excited to take my first round. There was a sense of relief that we had finally crossed the limbo threshold and was now in the arena of moving forward. We had some control over the situation, we were making choices and we had a little hope back in our lives.

I took the first pill just before bed on the night of November 20th. Taking the pill at bedtime was a strategic manoeuvre to sleep off the worst of the side effects associated with this drug. It seemed to work. That's not to say I didn't feel anything at all. I already had regular and constant breast ache, plus what I called pelvic pressure which felt like I was ovulating 24/7. In addition I did feel some morning sickness, some dizziness, at one stage my nipples were cray sensitive, swollen and for awhile totally erect. I was already pretty emotional, so I don't know if the drugs increased the sadness I was feeling or if that was just me...

My first period on this drug was due on my birthday, so of course I prayed it wouldn't come, two fold. Period day was a sad day for me and I didn't want that to get in the way of what should have been a happy day. Someone was listening; my birthday came and went with no period. I hoped this was a good sign, despite the loss of sensitivy in my nipples and the kinda crampy feeling that was creeping up on me.

At 4am, the morning after my period was due; I woke up with major cramps. I lay in bed trying to fight off tears and pain, all the while trying to get back to sleep. Finally I got up, hoping a hot water bottle would work, when that failed I tried tea and something to eat and when that failed, I just cried. (no pain killers in the house, nothing open at 4am)

I went to work despite the exhaustion. I felt too guilty about all the time I was taking off for Dr's appointments, etc. to call in sick. Surprisingly, despite the major cramps, my period still hadn't showed up. I walked through that day teetering between hope and dismay. I killed the day on the internet trying to find out as much as I could about implantation and early pregnancy signs.

The next six days were spent expelling mucus, blood clots and a wee bit of brown blood from my body, but my period never arrived. Confused and unsure what all of this meant I took a few pregnancy tests, all of which were negative.

For my last attempt to find out what was going on with my body I went to the Pharmacist who I thought might understand the side effects of the drug, she sent me away with instructions to talk to my Dr. So I called both my Gyn. and my Naturalpath who, surprisingly, gave me conflicting 'guesses' at what was going on.

The Gyn. thought that maybe it was a pregnancy, but due to an insufficient number of chromosomes I would miscarry, though he also said that may not be the case, that it could also be just my period. He recommended that I not take my next round of Clomid until I had a 'definitive' period.

The Naturalpath thought it was more than likely my cycle and that the increased amount of progesterone was making it behave oddly. He suggested I continue with the Clomid.

We decided to follow the Gyn's advice, since he was the one who prescribed the drug.

Part of the Clomid procedure was going in for a 'day 21' blood test, which I did. It wasn't until later that my Gyn. made a change since I have a 26 day cycle (not the usual 28) and told me to get my blood taken on day 19.

The blood test measures progesterone levels to see if you ovulated. The results came back a week later showing levels of 30. Drs. are happy to see anything over 10. (or was it 20?)

January 3rd (19 days later) my period arrived, again.

Three days later, I began my secound round of Clomid.

Leading up to my second round my breasts took on a whole new feeling. They constantly felt bruised, which ended when I got my period. Still not sure what that was about.

This round I also started taking 1500mg of Evening Primrose a day. It's a natural suppliment that you can buy at the drugstore. I got it to help increase my cervical mucus output... I found out later that it also helps with breast pain. The catch with Evening Primrose is that you can't take it after ovulation since it can cause contractions, so the best method is to take the EP from day one of your period until the day of ovulation and switch to ground up flax seeds until you start your period again.

This round I had some moring nausea, stabbing pains in my pelvic area and breasts, I was bloated, but my cervical mucus was improving. On day 26 my period arrived, again.

We found out after my period arrived that my blood test showed progesterone levels of 127, a huge increase over the last time, for some this means they're pregnant, for me, it just meant I ovulated really well.

Three days later we began our final round.

Symptoms much the same, but this time the morning nausea left me feeling like I might actually get sick and most mornings was afraid to get out of bed lest I disturb my insides. My nipples where once again sensitive and were changing colour (which they'd done off and on in the past.) And I had indigestion (from increased levels of progesterone.) On day 27 my period arrived.

This last blood test showed levels of 109, again a great ovulation, but no pregnancy.

The day before my period arrived we had a phone consult with a fertility specialist we saw while on vacation. She actually had an explanation for our infertility, which was such a relief and so sad at the same time.

She told us that I was borderline too old to have babies. That at the tender age of 36 my Ovarian Reserve was showing signs of age, she was also concerned about the shape of my husband's sperm and gave us a 1-2% chance of conceiving without medical assistance.

In a few days time we'll have a consult with a Canadian specialist (via conference call) to explore the miraculous world of IVF.

The positives of this outcome? Our likelihood of conceiving increases, greatly and we'll get a vacation from work in the big city with Indian restaurants and shopping malls! Woo hoo!