Re: Clomid, pregnancy, and confused by dr.s! Help
From: anonymous@obgyn.net
Mon, 13 May 2002 04:28:01 -0500 (CDT)
Hi Melisa,
seems that your previous doctor was not very knowledgeable or up to
date. Another question: are you taking metformin? Metformin, if you are
one of the pople it works for, may regulate your cycles and allow you to
ovulate normally. The procedure, I beleive, is to take metformin for up
to six months (at the therapeutic dose that works for you - anywhere
from 500 - 2000 mg/day - building up slowly over a number of months
until you see therapeutic effect) and see if you get normal ovulation
(many women do). If not, then clomid would be added, again starting at
the dose recommended for your weight and then increasing (though I have
not had any experience on this - some other women here may be able to
comment on what they know). Using such a combination, the success rate
for pregnancy is apparently pretty good. Metformin also apparently
reduces the high rate of miscarriage seen in women with PCOS.
I am sure that Dr. Sam or some of the other women could add to the
above.
Please do some research so you know your options. One thing I have
learned from this PCOS thing (and some other health probs I have) is
that one has to be very proactive in getting medical care and be able to
really discuss with the dr. the treatment options and approach (not all
drs. are open to this - though fortunately my endo is). Talk to your
dr. as an equal partner in your health care (not some god whose word
you just take as law - not to say that a good dr. is not knowledgeable
and you shouldn't follow instructions - but you should understand what
he/she says and the rationale). Try to learn enough to know if your dr.
is up-to-date. This is very important in PCOS because medical research
and advances are very recent.
One really good book which discusses PCOS and fertility issues in PCOS
in quite a lot of detail a book by a guy called Thatcher, called PCOS -
the hidden epidemic. It is available from AMAZON.com.
Sorry this is long, and hope it helps.
Sally
At Sun, 12 May 2002, anonymous@obgyn.net wrote:
>
>>Hi Melissa,
>>
>>Basal (sp) body temperature (BBT) is a very simple, cost effective method to monitor ovulation and also gives some additional info on luteal function and you are able to diagnose a pgy without doing any tests. Therre are two problems with it: the pateint has to measure it rigorously and the doctor has to evaluate it. Now most drs hate to do this (or don't have the necessary knowledge), therefore they fail to instruct their patients on BBT charts. In MHO it is a very good method.
>>For your info
>>
>>Sam
>
>Thank you for the information. THat is how my mom did it when she was
>on Clomid with me. SHe charteda graph with her temps that the Dr. had
>to look at.
>After my second dose of Clomid I have been counting the days since my
>last cycle. How long should I wait before I try a pregnancy test? It's
>been 32 days and the last month my cycle was 37 days. If I make it past
>37 days should I test?
>I went in for a full physical including a pap smear and a breast exam on
>Monday. The nurse who did the exam said she saw mucus and recommended I
>have intercourse with my husband immediately after the exam.
>Unfortunately she also found a lump in my breast which later turned out
>to be nothing but scared the heck out of me and I was unable to follow
>her advice. I am now producing a thick discharge I have never seen
>before and was wondering if this was a possible side effect of the
>Clomid or just evidence that I am not pregnant. Or if it means nothing
>at all. I am getting very angry with my previous doctor who seems to
>have given me such poor information. Even though I had read some books
>I trusted her above all. She told me that she could only prescribe
>Clomid for 6 months because it had been shown to increase the chances of
>ovarian cancer if taken longer than that and she told me I had a very
>short window for it to work since the initial dosage for my size (I am
>not huge but said it was a dose for someone of about 80 pounds)would be
>way too low to have any effect. She told me if it did work than it
>wouldn't be until the third month but most likely not even until the 4th
>month. She further advised that women with PCOS had a resistance to
>Clomid and for other women Clomid had about a 75% chance of working but
>with my PCOS it was reduced to about 25%. She never advised me about an
>increased risk of miscarriage. She never told me anything about any
>side effects other than I may be moody and more irratable which my
>husbands respnse to that was, so no change. So now I am wondering how
>much of the info she gave me was right and how mcuh was wrong. Thanks
>for all your help.
>
>--
>Melissa
>
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