Femara | The Blessed Barrenness

Busy Fertility Clinic Week

I was supposed to go for my blood test today, but it will be a total waste of time and money. My temps are showing a distinct dip today and I’m on the 15th day of my lutheal phase which is normally only 14 days so I’m pretty sure I’ll be on CD1 tomorrow.

So I’ve emailed Dr G and asked him to make a note on my file that I’ll be going for a CD2 scan on Wednesday/Thursday this week and starting another round of Femara and then we’ll be seeing him for a consultation on Friday and to discuss a POAgoing forward. I just didn’t want to waste this cycle doing nothing so we’ll be doing more of the same with perhaps another PC Test and then from next cycle we’ll do whatever we decide on in our meeting on Friday. I’m thinking a few IUI’s with some gentle stimms, but who knows.

I often wonder if he has a lot of patients like me? I mean most patients at least go for their blood tests when they’re told, I don’t. I know I’m not pregnant and therefore despite all their urging I refuse to go. People who have been doing this so long that we could, potentially do our own rounds of fertility treatment. As an example I emailed him this morning to ask that he make a note on my file that whoever scans me this week gives me a script for double dose of Femara to be taken from CD3 to CD7. I mean I know which meds I need, I know when they need to be taken, I know how the injections need to be administered. I can see my own follicles on the scan machine and can check my own lining as well. I’m sure all this experiencemust on some level make me a slightly more difficult patient. Also with my experience at my previous clinic, I have learnt to question EVERYTHING and accept nothing at face value and poor Vitalab are paying for the sins of my previous specialist. I’m sure Dr G would like nothing more than to see me get pregnant and carry past 3 months just so that he doesn’t have to constantly respond to my barrage of sms’s and email.

I dont’ want to do any hectic treatments a now, its only October and already the silly season as started. W and I are booked for something every single weekend till after Christmas so I really want to take it easy on the fertility front and just enjoy this time of year.

Posted in Infertility

Weird!

Comments:5 Comments

I’m having the most bizarre fertility cycle and I have a feeling it does not bode well for a positive result. Firstly, my temping chart is in a mess, my temps are so bizarre this cycle that I had to manually insert my estimated ovulation day (estimated as 36 hours after my trigger injection) because Fertility Friend has been unable to pick up ovulation. This despite the fact that for the FIRST TIME ever, I had a positive OPK on Sunday and that I had two scans prior to the trigger injection that confirmed that ovulation would occur late on Sunday evening. My first scan on Friday revealed a 16mm follicle and on Saturday morning, the follicle had grown to 18.5mm. In addition, I’ve had a cold on and off since last Friday which I have a feeling as wrecked havoc with my temps. Especially the last two days where I’ve had a sharp, totally unexplained temperature peak. I also had two dots of bleeding, which normally would have made me excited, thinking implantation, except that it was 3DPO which is like waaaaaayyyy too early. I think its the Femara which has also caused my ovaries to ache on and off since ovulation and I may have a slight urinary tract infection because I’m having to get up and go to the toilet a lot during the night and afterwards it feels like I still need to pass more urine, so this cycle is definitely looking like a bust. I have a follow up with my RE on the 17th and we’ll see what we should try from there. But don’t you just love Murphy? My first proper fertility cycle in months and everything goes wrong!!!

Posted in Questions About Infertility

Ok, Now I’m REALLY Confused!

Comments:11 Comments

So off I went, early Saturday morning, while the sparrows were still farting and (Stacey this is for you) with my butt in my face for yet another scan. I saw one of my RE’s partners for the scan, he assured me that my lining was perfect and that I was ready to trigger, which was quite impressive as it was only CD10. I asked him about the benefits of using Femara over Clomid and he explained to me that Femara has a greater physiological effect in comparison to Clomid and that it was standard for women to commonly only produce one follicle on Femara. He explained that one good quality follicle was preferable over multiple poor quality follicles.

Anyway, had my trigger injections and got my instructions for the remaining meds for the month. When I got home my RE phoned me to discuss the email I had sent him on Friday. He also explained that Clomid has a detrimental effect on EWCM (of which I’ve had NONE this cycle) and can cause thinning of the lining and therefore Femara was preferable, it also produced a better quality egg. He also explained to me that although statistically the chances of a pregnancy were slightly less because the follicle was on my right ovary, that trans location was not uncommon and so the possibility for a pregnancy were still there and that we should go ahead as planned.

Of course this morning while thinking about my blog posting for the day, I decided to google Femara versus Clomid and oh boy am I sorry I did that! I did not know this, but according to the articles I’ve read, Femara is a cancer drug used for treating breast cancer and that its safety for use in ovulation induction has not been established and its even believed it can cause birth defects!!!

http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/letroz_ids.htm

http://www.resource4thepeople.com/defectivedrugs/femara.html

So now I’m trying not to freak out completely and this is obviously something I will need to discuss with my RE when I see him in two weeks time, I trust him implicitly but really need to discuss this with him. I see its pretty standard practise for most clinics to prescribe this medication so I’m guessing they must know something the rest of us don’t, but still this makes me a little nervous because we all know how much Murphy loves to wreck havoc in my life!

Posted in Infertility

Ok! That Wasn’t So Bad!

Comments:18 Comments

So I did it! Yay me! I was really anxious and when my alarm went off this morning, I almost just switched it off and went back to sleep. But instead I dragged my ass out of bed and got down to business.

The scan went totally fine, everything is as it should be, the good news was that Dr G also checked my ovaries for antral follicles, of which there were many, which apparently bodes well for my ovarian reserve. He has also said that its not necessary to repeat any of my bloods just yet as its only been 6 months and things like AMH won’t drop that dramatically during that time. He has also assured me that its not necessary to repeat W’s SA as all of his SA’s in the past have been really good (aside from the CMA3 issue which is still not at a danger level) and that when they did my last PC Test his sample was above average.

And the best news………….

I don’t have to repeat that hideous HSG!!! Dr G explained to me that when they performed my Lap earlier this year, before closing me up, they pushed dye through my left tube then to double check that the tube was open and apparently the dye went through perfectly. He also says because I have no history of cysts, infections or endo that there’s no reason for my tube to just mysteriously block.

He is however concerned that the reason for no pregnancy over the past 6 cycles could be related to an egg quality issue stemming from my right ovary which is apparently not as great at the left one. So I’m on a double dose ( :-0 ) of Femara from tomorrow in an attempt to shake them ovaries up a bit and see what happens this cycle. If that fails he’s asked W and I to come and see him in about 4 weeks for a consult to discuss where to from here, obviously being on the wrong side of 35 is not really assisting the cause.

When we first started chatting, he ran through my entire file again and all my tests etc and he told me something I completely forgot about, but that does give me a little bit of hope. When I had my lap done, they also discovered a polyp in my uterus which was removed. Now call me crazy, but I have exactly 3 friends/acquaintances who had 2 or 3 recurrent miscarriages and when they had surgery and the polyp was removed they stopped having miscarriages. The last one, Dulce now has a beautiful 6 month old baby girl after 4 years of battling, so I’m feeling hopeful.

Just bummed at how expensive it is, almost started crying when I had to hand over my R1 220 for a scan and some pills this morning!