Clomid - (a) weight gain?, and (b) will it throw off an ovulation predictor test

[Karen__0]

Posted By  hfhs.md.db on April 15, 1999 at 22:51:21
Topic Area: Pregnancy - Normal
  I am in my third month of using Clomid to try to help me get pregnant (I have been trying since last August with no luck so far).
  (1) I have noticed that I have gained weight recently, and someone told me that they gained weight as a result of taking Clomid.  Is anyone aware of any weight gain as a result of taking Clomid?  Is it supposed to be one of the side effects?
  (2)  Since I started taking the Clomid I have stopped taking my temperature and using ovulation predictor tests - I was told that taking Clomid will alter the results anyway.  Is this true?

[hfhs.md.db]

_
It is not unreasonable to gain "water weight" with clomid, since gonadotropin levels (FSH and LH) and progesterone are higher (this is the desired effect of the medication). However, any water weight gain would not be expected to be as much as with other fertility medications such as Pergonal (human menopausal gonadotropins).
Clomid should not influence the results of either temperature charting or ovulation predictor kits. You will still produce progesterone (in fact, probably at higher levels) in the post-ovulatory (second part) of the cycle which produces the temperature rise. In addition, Clomid will not alter the LH surge, which is what the ovulation prediction kits measure.