I talked to my doctor finally she said that my progesterone level was .50 and i did not ovulate last month, she said to go ahead and start taking clomid tonight days 3-7 and after my last dose i believe if it works i should ovulate 5-11 days after, i am just going to get a whole pack of opk's and start testing a day after my last dose to be safe, she told me body temping would help as well, but i have no idea how to do it so i will be looking it up, Also on CD 21 she wants me to come back in for another progesterone test to see if i have ovulated or not this cycle, and if i don't she wants to raise the clomid dose, anyways wish me luck ladies i am really hoping this works!
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@BrentLee88: are you seeing an RE or an OB?
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I am seeing OB 2 doctors in the same place they are pretty good, one has wrote 3 books or so about infertitly
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@BrentLee88: I would hesitate to take Clomid unmonitored like that. I know other bees wouldn't have a problem with it but I refused. An RE is the only infertility specialist, not an OB.
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@BrentLee88: Did you say she would plan on doing a CD#10 ultrasound as well?
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@BrentLee88: I have to agree with @swedishfish:
I saw an RE. My OB wouldn't touch clomid with a ten foot pole.
My monitoring included an ultrasound to see how many follicles I had (3+ meant a cancelled cycle) and blood work to confirm E2 And LH levels.
Bloodwork on CD21 is a moot point if you haven't even ovulated yet. I generally ovulated between CD15-21, and had bloodwork the morning of a positive OPK to confirm a surge.... Or would get a trigger shot.
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@swedishfish: I am not quite Sure what Re means to be honest, she is going to do follow up blood work for just progesterone i guess, i was thinking she should take it while i am on clomid as well but apparently she thinks i will be fine with it, She is just an OB and doctor i see here regularly when i go in, and then the other doctor i see is a feritlity expert he only comes in once a month from out of town to talk to the main ones like me, so going between both of them confuses me a bit sometimes, but they both are very good it seems have lots of success stories. Here is a website if it helps out i see Dr.Chung and Chad Friedman he is MD
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@FliegepilzHut: She didnt say anything about an ultrasound unless i am late on my period
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@Mrs. Jump Rope: wow i had no idea i guess i should call her again tommrow and ask her a few questions, i go back on july 21st
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@BrentLee88: a RE is a reproductive endocrinologist. This is an OBGYN who advanced his/her education to become a RE. They give up their OB practices to become REs. RE = helps you get pregnant, OB = takes care of you once you are pregnant.
Clomid can cause multiple follicles to ovulate and it can thin your lining. To put you on Clomid and not monitor you is dangerous in my book. You need to be your biggest advocate here which means you need to do your own research. Do not rely on your OBGYNs to lead the way. This is not their speciality.
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@BrentLee88: Did you meet with Dr. Friedman already? He looks to be well-respected AND an RE (!)...but what really matters is that you are confident in your treatment plan and that you are safe. You might ask whether they would be willing to do ultrasound monitoring (maybe you could contact Dr. Friedman through his clinic or maybe your clinic has a nurse/coordinator for IF or RE patients?). As @swedishfish: was saying, some people respond very poorly to Clomid (don't ovulate, develop cysts, have an inadequate uterine lining, or release multiple eggs per cycle). Also, most physicians will only give you a limited number of Clomid cycles over your lifetime. (As far as I understand) there is absolutely no way to be sure exactly how the medication is working or what side effects you might be experiencing without this kind of monitoring. This is not meant to be medical advice and you have to operate within your comfort zone. Some doctors do prescribe, and some patients do take, Clomid without this kind of monitoring. But you do have to to be safe and able to act as your own advocate. Wishing you the best of luck!
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@BrentLee88: at least in my area this is pretty typical procedure, both my friend and I had the same protocol. They do it for 2 months if it doesn't work they start an in-depth investigation. It worked the second month for both my friend and I. I had been TTC for 18 months and she was over 2 years, both of our diagnosis was unexplained infertility. For what its worth we went to different dr and delivered at different hospitals.
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@BrentLee88: I'm sorry to say but I agree with many of the other posters as well. You should be having monitoring (bloodwork and ultrasound) while taking Clomid. As I understand the lifetime limit is generally 6 cycles. Also have you had a HSG done before. I think it is almost negligent for any treatments to be done before ensuring that your tubes are clear.
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@swedishfish: aww okay Dr Chad Friedman is a RE, but i am still going to call and see why they aren't monitoring me on it, never knew that thanks!
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@FliegepilzHut: yes i met with Dr Friendman last month about everything, yeah he seems to be a great doctor, I will be calling them today about that, it has me a bit worried as well, thanks!
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@jetsa: I am glad it worked for you ladies, i hope it works for me as well, yeah they said they just want to see how i do with this dose and and go from there, if this dose doesn't work they are going to up it, they are taking my progesterone level on CD 21 so see if i even ovulated this round. So we are keeping our heads up! fingers crossed!
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@mrswin: yeah i am calling them today about it, it has me concerned as well, no i haven't, i have just had the ultrasound on my ovaries, and he said if i keep having troubles on clomid and not ovulating that he wants to do a HSG to make sure nothing is in my tubes
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@BrentLee88: I'm confused. Is he a RE who's working out of an OBGYN's office?
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@BrentLee88: yep that's exactly what I did. I didn't ovulate the first month and so I did another dose and still didn't ovulate. So we took a month off to get in with the head dr in our office and she said they'd schedule the HSG so to call when I got my period. Well it never came, I was finally pregnant! I was told lifetime max was 6 doses so they'd try 2 to see if they could make me ovulate and if it didn't work then try to figure out what was going on.
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@swedishfish: He is a Re Its an obstetrics and gynecology office he comes in once a month to help patients that have more troubles with infertility, he has studies Obstetrics & Gynecology since 1982 and Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility. this should help its his profile
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@jetsa: wow well congrats!! i hope this works for me i am going to call in today though see if i can be monitored like i should be it scares me not being monitored on clomid.
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@swedishfish: @mrswin: @FliegepilzHut: @Mrs. Jump Rope: I just talked to a nurse and she said the doctor is doing it this way because i do not ovulate at all, so he wants to see if this round of clomid 50mg will work on helping me ovulate which is why they want to take my blood on CD 21 and still ttc, he said if this doesn't make me ovulate then he will repeat provera and up my dosage of clomid and go from there on the ultrasound to see if clomid is even working for me.
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@BrentLee88: Okay, but here's what you need monitoring:
Clomid can overstimulate your ovaries. It can and likely will make you ovulate, but who knows if you have 1 follicle or 3.
Here's how my typical monitoring went:
CD 3-9, Clomid for six days
OPKs staring on CD12-15
If I got a positive surge at home, I went for same day blood work by 7am to confirm AND a same day ultrasound for a follicle count
If a surge was detected, ovulation was successful
If a surge wasn't detected, but I had mature follicles I'd get a trigger shot in offer to force ovulationIf I had more than 2 follicles, my cycle was cancelled.
Doing bloodwork on CD21 doesn't mean anything. If you ovulate on CD15, it will be too late. If you ovulate on CD22, it will be too early. You can't just pick a random day to test for progesterone. It has to be timed and based on your surge.. which they aren't monitoring.
And, if they aren't monitoring your follicle count you could end up with twins or triplets.
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@Mrs. Jump Rope: that makes sense it still has me thinking about it as well, the doctor said he thinks most likely this first dose of clomid wont work, but i still have no idea how he knows that, its got me lost at this point, i love going to them but if they are doing it this ways its just weird, at this point we dont care how many babies we have as long as something works, i know its high risk but i would give anything to be a mother.
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@BrentLee88: good luck.
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@Mrs. Jump Rope: thanks and i may look into other doctors for a different opinion
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@Mrs. Jump Rope: can I also throw one more thing in there? They should do what is called a baseline ultrasound. That's to make sure there are no cysts to begin with.
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@Happygal: they have done one of those all ready and there is none, but i still have pcos apparently
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@Happygal: yes! Thanks
My RE would only do a lifetime of 6 clomid cycles, which means even if I don't ovulate I just used a cycle.
I wanted every single cycle to count. As it is, I'm out of chances with clomid... so if we want a third kid some day, I've got to go another route. For as much money we spent on IF treatments, I'd want it to count!
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@BrentLee88: I bet what they have you doing is a Clomid challenge... Good luck!
(BTW-- if I could make a suggestion: in the future, you might consider creating a single thread with a more general title and updating it, as you get more information. We all seem to have a pretty good attention span here. 
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@BrentLee88: How far away is this RE's home office? If I were you, I'd consider driving to the RE and being a patient there in that office, rather than through your OB. That way, you can have all the monitoring and expertise available to you all the time, rather than once a month.
ETA: not sure where exactly you live, but here is a list of the fertility clinics (RE offices) in Ohio: http://216.119.85.5/src/listclinics.aspx?state=OH
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@BrentLee88: I feel like a good and competent RE would be monitoring you with ultrasounds and blood work throughout your Clomid cycle. I would find an RE who does not work out of an OBGYN's office but that's me. I was monitored with multiple ultrasounds and blood work appointments while on Clomid.
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@BrentLee88: even if you choose not to see an RE, I encourage to to learn more about PCOS, IF treatments and how your cycle works, and ask more questions while seeing your doctor. Take pen and paper to write down questions and answers, and read old posts on the IF boards.
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@FliegepilzHut: thank you! and yes i should do that had no idea that i could!! Haha
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@Shutterbug:Well he is a professor at ohio state university for Ferititly and still does doctor work on the side which is at the clinic i am going to and it is still 2 hours away, so going twice to three times a week gets hectic but worth, just our work schedules.
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@swedishfish: thank you! i am thinking if he doesn't monitor me soon i am looking into someone new.
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@Mrs. Jump Rope: The man i am seeing is a RE and i do take notes as well i just get a little nervous while i am in there i forget to write most of it down, plus once i get even a little bad news makes it had to concentrate thank god my husband is with me in there.
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@BrentLee88: no, you said you see an OB and in occasion an RE who pops into their office now and again.
If you were exclusively seeing an RE you'd be getting monitored and have a schedule.
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@Mrs. Jump Rope: Well i believe the OB does everything that the Re Tells her to do, so officially its the Re's Advice, even if he isn't present,yes i know she is just an OB doctor but she has also helped thousands of patients with the help of the RE get pregnant successfully, So far they have been really good with me and are just trying a clomid challenge right now, if this round doesn't work then they are getting into more serious treatments, plus i am not really sure if my insurance covers most of it but i think its worth a shot, better then not having anyone to go to for help, i am proud of myself for making the effort of getting this far, and if your going to be negative then you shouldn't even be posting on my blog, i just asked for advice, i appropriate that you are trying to help me out but every Re has a different way of doing things, I am just seeing how this one goes plus he is the only RE closest to me and that's still 2 hours, not only that but with his success rate on helping families it gives me hope, sorry i don't have a perfect RE like you do.
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