Clomid Questions - Saint Paul,MN

Hi K.,
I don't have clinical answers, just thoughts from my own experience takig clomid. So, do with this however you would like. I had hot flashes, felt like I was in menopause. And I was crabby. My husband used the word "mean" a lot to describe my personality while on it. Frankly, I thought it was terrible. I did not get pregnant using it; although I have met several women who were able to and delivered healthy babies. Good luck!

I would recommend the book Taking Charge of your Fertility by Toni Weschler. It teaches you how to take your basal body temperature each morning before you get out of bed and how to spot trends and possible problems with your cycle. Also check out TCOYF.com. As for Clomid, I too have really long cycles and did end up conceiving after using clomid but did it as part of an intrauterine insemination procedure. Clomid just helps you ovulate more reliably, and didn't help me with the long cycles. The only side-effect I had was bad hot flashes in the middle of the night. I think you have to go to the dr. anyway to get Clomid so I'd ask him/her if it's right for you. It's not something to mess with if you don't need it as studies have shown that use of Clomid for several months can increase your risk of come cancers.

My periods were like that too, and have seemed to regulate a little bit more after taking Clomid. I was on it for 3 months. It was unsuccessful at getting us pregnant, not sure why. But, what I've been told about Clomid, is that it ensures that your body drops an egg, the fertilization is up to timing. I'd try a 25 day ovulation kit one time. It turns out, I ovulate around my 20th day, even though my cycles have regulated to be generally approx 29 days. It's not always 14 days after the first day of your last period like people think...it's different for everyone. I found mine after I did a 25 day ovulation kit,...then, the 7 day kits I started right around the day that I would expect to ovulate. (for me, around day 17) That way, I'm waisting less money on the 7 day kits. Sometimes, the 7 day kits would last 2-3 cycles. The side effects very for everyone, moodiness, water weight, ovarian cists, etc...you can look them up online on webmd.com I didn't experience any symptoms.

I also had screwed up periods and never knew when I was ovulating. You generally ovulate 14 days before you get your period. What I ended up doing was getting a thermometer and putting it next to the bed and taking my temp every morning BEFORE getting out of bed. When you see a big spike and drop you are probably ovulating. I also bought some ovulation predictors and when I saw the spike and drop I used one, they're just like a pregnancy test, and I was ovulating. We got pregnant right away. We had been trying on our own for months and as soon as I started charting it I got pregnant.
There are tons of websites on the internet that let you either chart online or print off a chart to mark down your temperatures.
I don't know anything about clomid but I would try charting before using any drugs. It was so easy.
Best Wishes and feel free to email me with any questions,
J.

I'm not quite sure clomid would work. Clomid is designed to make you ovulate...since it sounds like you already are, it won't really help, but it sure would increase your chances of multiples :)

I used metformin, a diabetic medicine, to concieve my first, but I had been diagnosed with PCOS. My doctor didn't want to put me on Clomid at first, so we tried Metformin. That made me ovulate and it regulated me, but if you don't have PCOS, you won't want to take this.

Best thing I can do is tell you to buy some over the counter ovulation kits, buy the ones with 7 and since you'r so far appart, you probably might need 2. (I had longer periods and had to use 2 in most cycles). They are kinda spendy at about $20 each, so you might want to look into if buying a digital one is better. They run above $100 (not sure exactly how much) but if it takes a few months, that might be about what you spend on kits.

I used clomid for 3 months and got pregnant. Check out the side effects online. We actually miscarried our first pregnancy after taking the Clomid but previously had not been able to get pregnant for 3 years of trying. After the miscarriage, I was devastated, but ended up getting pregnant the very next month. After getting pregnant with my 1st born we have had no problems and have 4 children. Good luck to you.

I know everyone has said something differnt but I myself would talk to my OB about whats going on. See what they think and what the next step should be. Get some testing done to see if anything has changed. Just because your having a period does not mean your ovulating.
I had no problem getting pregnant the first time but it took yrs to concieve our 2nd. It turns out that we/me did have issues now and needed help to concieve. I was on clomid off and on for a yr. I myself didn't like the side effects (big time mood swings) but I know some other women that didn't have any side effects. I ended up taking letrozol (it very close to clomid) and metformin. I also took birth control pills for one month before we tried. It worked like a charm and I got pregnate the first month we used letrozol.
I know of some great support board on the internet that have great info also. I know how emotional trying to concieve can be. If you want ant other info let me know.
Take care and good luck
K.

Have you been tracking your cycle using basal body temperature and/or using ovulation predictor kits? If I'm not taking hormones of some sort I have very irregular periods and usually don't ovulate. If you track that way and find you are ovulating, that will determine your fertile times.

If you're not ovulating, Clomid may help you to ovulate. I used it to conceive both of my children and didn't notice any side effects in terms of how I felt, but that may vary from person to person. It's not a drug you can take continually because it can increase your risk for ovarian cancer - most doctors will limit you to six consecutive cycles of use. (not sure how much time off you would need to takebefore resuming it.) It also carries a higher risk of multiples because it can hyperstimulate your ovaries. (almost always twins, not higher order multiples as with some other infertility treatments.)

I would encourage you to first figure out whether or not you're ovulating. Clomid may regulate your cycles but you may not need it.

Clomid is used for women who do not ovulate and it helps to increase low progesterone. I'm not sure if it's used to regulate cycles though. I know birth control is used to regulate cycles. Since you want to become pregnant maybe you should use an ovulation kit so you know when you ovulate. After you nail those days for a few months then see an infertility doctor. I tried to conceive for a year and the doctor recommended to wait a year before seeing a specialist.