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Clomid: Is this Fertility Drug Right for You?
Using Clomid Could Help You Conceive
By Gail Johnson
Tammy Feldman always assumed that once she and her husband were ready to have a baby, she would simply stop using birth control and get pregnant. For many of her friends, it really was that simple. But for Feldman, like millions of others, the road to pregnancy was difficult.
After a year of trying to get pregnant, Feldman says that she and her husband had a hard time admitting that there may be an infertility problem -- but she knew it was time to look for outside help. After a thorough examination by her OB/GYN, she learned she was not ovulating. "I was infertile – and I was devastated," she says.
Feldman is not alone in her infertility. According to RESOLVE, a national infertility association based in Somerville, Mass., more than five million people of childbearing age in the United States experience infertility – defined as the inability to conceive a child despite trying for one year. Often a diagnosis of infertility means that becoming pregnant will be a challenge, but this challenge is becoming less difficult for some women with the use of fertility drugs.
One of the most commonly prescribed fertility drugs is Clomid. Dr. Scott Roseff, reproductive endocrinologist and director of the West Essex Center for Advanced Reproductive Endocrinology in West Orange, N.J., says that Clomid is the brand name for a drug called clomiphene citrate. Two major companies market clomiphene – one calls it Clomid and the other calls it Serophene. A generic form is also available.
Clomiphene (Clomid) is typically prescribed as a "fertility pill" for women who do not ovulate. "There are many reasons a woman may not ovulate, and she should first be screened by her doctor to assure she is an appropriate candidate for Clomid," Roseff says.
Clomiphene is thought to work by "faking out the brain into thinking the ovary is not producing an egg," according to Roseff. The brain responds by pumping out more of the appropriate hormones for stimulating egg development. Clomid is most commonly prescribed when a woman doesn't ovulate properly and if her infertility workup reveals she is an appropriate candidate for Clomid therapy.
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Re: Clomid: Is this Fertility Drug Right for You? by anonymous on 12/11/2008 10:51AM
I feel the frustration every month too. I am a diabetic so I have to have my blood glucose very tightly controlled. I totally understand about crying every month when my period comes as well. I have pcos. I was just diagnosed with it 3 months ago. I am only 28. I thought the same, "Throw out the birth control, and I'll get pregnant." Well that didn't happen, and with me and my husband trying and doing every thing right a year and one lost, and I'm more depressed than ever, so I hope soon I will get on Clomid and it will do the job. Baby dust to all here. Good luck......
Re: Clomid: Is this Fertility Drug Right for You? by anonymous on 12/03/2008 06:43AM
Hi.I am from India. I have PCOS, and may be due to that I don't ovulate. My periods have always been irregular. On showing the doc, he gave me medicines and asked me to take the follicular test. After 12 days of the test, today, the 13th day, there is just one 18.7 mm follicle in the left ovary. I started thinking I am infertile and to not have a baby would simply shatter me. After reading about Clomid, I do feel hopeful and optimistic. Hope we all come out of this and conceive. So happy conceiving, and keep trying!
Re: Clomid: Is this Fertility Drug Right for You? by HH on 12/02/2008 09:43AM
I share the frustration of everyone else and the feeling of, "Why they heck is it so easy for all of my friends?" I never imagined it would be difficult to get pregnant. We've been trying for a year with one miscarriage. It is such a roller coaster. Every month I cry and feel awful when I get my period. Then I feel hopeful during the month when we are doing all the right things at all the right times. Then my hopes are crushed when my period comes along again. It is very difficult to deal with feeling like you are doing everything right but not getting results. My husband is having his sperm tested this month, and then we are going to try Clomid and hope for a miracle. Good luck to everyone else.
Re: Clomid: Is this Fertility Drug Right for You? by anonymous on 11/29/2008 02:53AM
Seventh month on Clomid. First 6 months was at 100 mg. Ovulated but no pregnancy. Upped it this cycle to 200 mg. Also trying egg white and Preseed. Hopefully this is MY CYCLE. Lots of baby dust to all.
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Re: Clomid: Is this Fertility Drug Right for You? by anonymous on 12/18/2008 10:15PM
Just letting some of you know not to pin all your hopes on Clomid ... it may not be right for some of you. I have been through two cycles of Clomid and got pregnant both times but also miscarried both times. Clomid may help you conceive, but it doesn't guarantee the fertilized egg will implant in your uterus, which Clomid can adversely effect. Talk to your docters about Clomid potentially causing implantation problems. Good Luck to all of you, and in the end, it's all in God's hands. We just have to trust our dream of motherhood to Heaven.