Monday, February 13, 2012

Clomid Update

Well, its day 17 of my current cycle, and no good news so far. My doctor has instructed that if I don't get a positive OPK (ovulation prediction kit) by tomorrow, to call him. I'm not sure if that means more blood work, ultrasounds, etc, or if he simply wants an update. It's hard not to be a bit upset that the clomid hasn't worked so far. I really had such high hopes that this would work for me. My doctor seemed so optimistic, but now I can't help but start to wonder if I might be clomid resistant.

When I first started I was so confident that it was working. I didn't have any horrible symptoms, but I could certainly tell that it was doing something. The first few days I was incredible moody; feeling the need to cry randomly, and getting angry over really small things. Even more noticeable have been the pains in my lower abdomen. It started out as a mild discomfort and grew into sharp pains when I would move or bend on both sides. After about a week of that it has become less severe and only really hurts on my left side. To me it seems like the pain should have grown until ovulation and then receded or gone away completely, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Clomid resistance is ultimately not responding to the medication with ovulation. My research sums it up like this, "Sometimes ultrasound will show the follicles growing is response to clomid, but the midcyle LH surge isn't strong enough to bring on ovulation. In this case, your doctor may prescribe clomid along with an injection of hcg to trigger ovulation and boost the mid cycle LH surge." 1 After that it appears the next step is to move on from clomid to other medications, which aren't as widely used and have higher risks involved. And after that, it appears the next step would be IUI (intrauterine insemination). This is probably the last step that Sam and I can afford at this point as it can cost up to $5000 (It can be much less, so lets hope it is if we need it!)

Here's to hoping that tomorrow is the day and all this worrying is for nothing!

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