Femara for fertility

Question

I have read recently that studies show taking Femara pre-pregnancy will not cause birth defects. It is taking the drug while preganant that can cause the defects. What is the latest info on this topic?

Also, I ovulate on my own my Dr. has prescribed Femara for superovulation just to speed up the process and make it a little more "perfect". Any insight to this protocol?

Brandi

This discussion is related to Femara, Endometriosis, and fertility.

val921 · Answer

I did 2 rounds of femara which were unsuccessful. Only one follicle was produced and I am not pregnant. My doctor took me off femara since it wasn't working and now this cycle I am not ovulating! Can the first cycle after you stop taking femara interefere with ovulating? I always ovulate with or without drugs.

bam1014 · Answer

That was absolutely beautiful.  It brought tears to my eyes. It goes a long way to renew the faith that is sometimes lost in this journey.

mamom15 · Answer

This is such an inspirational story. Everything this morning felt bleak and gray, and then I read your story.  It restored my faith in god and to keep trusting him.  I am sure he will do what's right for me.

Thank you so much for restoring my faith

selaiwa · Answer

That is a truly inspirational story that sent chills up my spine!   Oh my gosh, I ovulated on 04/28 as you can see on my chart. What a coincidence. I am 7dpo today.I will be testing on Mother's Day.If I get my BFP I will let you know.
      Congratulations on your pregnancy and I wish you the best at your sono appt.

brandibar · Answer

I had an IUI about 2 cycles ago that was unsuccessful. At that time I started talking with some of the wonderful ladies in this thread. I kept my chin up and kept trying. The next cycle I switched from clomid to Femara and tried timed intercourse, but my cycle was thrown off and out of wack from the IUI and only lasted 19 days. the next cycle started on April 1st. I went to the RE with my DH and we put the game plan together...femara CD3-7, FSH shot, and then trigger shot. I started thinking about when I whould take my next test... thought it would be at end of april. about that time I was in deep thought riding in the truck with my DH, stopped at a stop light I looked up at a digital billboard. I am a christian lady, but I never believed in signs until now. Starring at the different ad flashing across the billboard suddenly I saw something amazing. It was ad but all that was there was the numbers 4.28 and a picture of a storck with a bag in its mouth. No company name ....what so ever. I looked at my DH and he starred straight ahead not seeing this crazy thing. It was like a moment out of Field of Dreams and I wondered if I had just imagined it. 

Anyway I could not stop thinking about it and I used it to give me faith that God wanted me to be pregnant as much or more than I did. My next appt was on the 10th of April. On the way to the RE (alone this time) I saw the ad again on a regular billboard. I knew now it was for some business that something was coming or happening on April 28th, but still no company name. That Dr. visit was awesome. We saw on the sono that I had two perfect follies one in the right ovary and one in the left. I felt better leaving the Dr. and more positive thatn ever before. While sitting in the RE office I picked up one of the wheels that tell you your due date. This one had a mark for "firts missed period". Guess what it was pointing to??? Yep..April 28. Chills ran down my spine and I knew that this was God telling me to not stress this time. He was going to take care of it. On the way home when I passed the billboard...I took a picture of it. I have attached it in my profile...please take a look. That weekend I took my trigger shot and me and DH were together. 

I am pregnant and not with just one baby, but two. We did an early sono yesterday and both of the eggs took. It is still very early, but RE says at this point 50% chance of twins. Friday the 15th we have 2nd sono. If two strong heart beats then 80% chance of twins. If both heartbeats stay strong till wk 10 then 97% chance of twins. By the way, I went in for a beta on the 27th and was suppose to find out the results on the 28th. My nurse called me that night becasue she just could not wait....close enough right? 

I am telling everyone this story because I feel like it should be told. God really did have a hand in this. I am a natural worrier and I think that has alot to do with some of us being , because we put ourselves under so much pressure. I used to get pissed when people would tell me to relax and ask them "how"? My suggestion is that you look for the hand of God and when you really feel it at work then it will boost your confidence and give you the results you want. 

I hope I did not bore any of you with this. God bless you all!

kmgr32 · Answer

Hello Brandi, I just read your post about your positive BETA - congratulations. That is very exciting. I just filled my first perscription for Femara which I'm supposed to take tomorrow and I'm a bit nervous. I've been "sitting on" the perscription for over a year and finally just filled it after AF started yesterday. A couple questions for you: Was your second cycle on Femara the one that got you the BFP? Was it 2.5 mg dose? Did you in fact ovulate later than normal? What were your side effects? Were you already ovulating on your own? I ovulate on my own so I'm a bit worried about super ovulating but am at a point to try anything. Thanks for your time and Congrats again!! Kara

brandibar · Answer

I had a positive beta yesterday!!!!! Yippieeee!!! Just want to let you know since you helped me with most of my questions about femara. Thanks!!

bam1014 · Answer

I typically O on CD 14, and didn't until CD17 this cycle.  But it very well could have been from stress.  I'm 15DPO today and AF should be knocking at my door any minute now.  It she doesn't show by tomorrow, then I'll test again.

brandibar · Answer

hey there...have you heard anyone say that Femara caused them to O much later than usual? I am cd19 and still no + OPK!! Driving me nuts. I started testing on cd10.

brandibar · Answer

I was just wondering how things were going. What did you find out?

brandibar · Answer

Did I read somewhere that one of you guys thought maybe you ovulated later than usual when you took Femara. Maybe I just never really new for SURE when I was ovulating?Usually by now I have a little cramping and clear stringy CM. Not so much this cycle!! Just wondering.

Hope everyone has a good day!

brandibar · Answer

I am using the Target brand, it says "Compare to Clear Blue Easy" on the box. My RE recommended them. I think I will go get the real Clear Blue and maybe try both of them tomorrow morning and see the differenc! Thanks. Yes please do let me know! SSBD!

Brandi

bam1014 · Answer

I'm on 6DPO and really itching to test!  I'll let you know how it goes.  Have you ever tried using the Clear Blue Easy digital OPK's?  They are a little pricey, but it takes all of the guess work of reading lines.  I started using them after my RE recomended.

Where are you at in your cycle?

brandibar · Answer

bam1014:

What cycle day are you?? Please let me know how it turns out!

mlb1234:

I am seeing an RE. I had an unsuccessful IUI last cycle(blood test and HPT showed negative). This cycle just doing Femara and timed IC. No Sonos for me this cycle since Femara has a low % of multiples. My only concern is being abel to catch my ovulation at the perfiect time! For some reason I have trust issues with the home ovu tests! What's up with that? Oh well. Seems like know matter what I do I find something to worry about. Its absolutley draining.

blueyes34:

Congrats! I love hearing success stories! I looked at your profile (something I dont usually do) and I read your info. I also delivered a stillborn at 6mos.(Feb 2006). Reading yours sent chills down my spine. I understand completely the pain and sorrow and I am soooo sory. Your new baby will be such a blessing!

blueyes34 · Answer

I just found out that I'm pregnant after 2 rounds of Femara.  I was told to take it from days 3-7 and it was 2.5 mg (I had stopped ovulating and it made me ovulate again).  It's very important that you don't take it if you're alredy pregnant since it can cause birth defects but for me personally it worked great!

mlb1234 · Answer

I can't remember what dose I was on - I just took it for ovulation.  I "think" it was 5mg but I could be totally wrong and it may have been 2.5mg.  I know it was a small dose since it was the first time I had used any meds.  I also had ultrasound monitoring of the follicle and an hcg trigger on that cycle.  Are you seeing an OB or an RE??  (REs will monitor you more closely usually).  We did timed intercourse as well.  I had heard of taking the robitussin (make sure it is not the DM) and I did try that previously but the cycle I got pregnant I just did what the RE told me to do.  Best of luck - I thought the femara worked great and I will try it again in a  month or two when we begin TTC again!! SSBD!!

bam1014 · Answer

This is my first cycle of the Femara at the 2.5mg CD3-7.  Fingers crossed it worked - I'll let you know.  I also tried taking Mucinex to help with my scanty CM.  I honestly didn't notice any differance from this cycle to the prior one.  I was only taking 600mg and I would take it at night before I went to bed (we tend to BD in the very early morning).  So maybe I wasn't taking enough or at the wrong time.  One of my friends tried Robitussen this cycle (we were comparing notes) and said it worked like a charm.

I also take EPO the first half of my cycle, and since I started it is the first time I have even had EWCM.

Thanks, sending a little prayer your way too :)

brandibar · Answer

Wow!! Thank you to every one who responded to that question! It was exactly what I was hoping to here. I had a blood test before I started taking femara, because I had just had an IUI the cycle before. It was a stupid BFN. I am just going to try Femara and timed intercourse for a while. I will start checking for ovulation tomorrow..cd10. I hope those little sticks dont get me all confused. I have heard some girls say they never see the lines the same color and end up missing the boat!

Femara has been pretty good to me thus far, except for a couple of massive headaches, but they didnt last long. 

Questions: 

Have any of you conceived on just 2.5 mg a day?

Have any of you taken over the counter cough meds to help thin your cervical mucas? I read that in the book "Everything Prednant". Just curious!

bam1014: Just said a little prayer for you, good luck!!! 

mlb1234: Your story makes me hopefull! Were you taking it for ovulation or superovulation? Were you on 2.5 or 5 mgs?

mlb1234 · Answer

My RE did an ultrasound on cd1 or cd2 prior to prescribing femara to make extra sure that I was NOT pregnant while taking it.  I would recommend this to anyone considering femara as it does cause birth defects if taken when pregnant.  That being said, I took it and got prego on the first round and now have a 14 month old dd to show for it (and she is *perfect* of course!!) :)

bam1014 · Answer

My RE too told me I had to take an HPT even if I did get AF, just like waiting4#1 said.

Atia_Julii · Answer

My RE only prescribes Femara because he finds it superior to Clomid.  Femara doesn't thin the uterine lining, which is huge.

wanting4#1 · Answer

I just found out from my RE that Femara is off-label for fertility, I didn't know that!  He said that he gets a letter a week from the drug company telling them not to use it for fertility treatment since it can cause massive defects if used while pregnant.

With that said, he still uses it for assistance, as it has benefits.  It does 'wear off' so there is little danger for use while ttc.  The biggest threat is for women who are having a 'light period' while pregnant, so they start taking it.  Therefore, he strongly recommends taking a pregnancy test, if after AF shows to confirm that you aren't pregnant before starting it!

I took it for many cycles and I truly think that it has helped me to 'kick-start' my body to be able to do it on it's own now!

bam1014 · Answer

Brandi - I have read the same thing as you and bny.  It would only cause birth defects if taken while pg.  I too am taking Femera this cycle to cause superovulation.  I found it much more tolerable then the Clomid which I took my last two cycles.  Plus femera doesn't have the side effects of Clomid.  I'm currently in the TWW, so praying that this works!

bny807 · Answer

yes femara has a short half life, so its out of your system way before conception starts! a lot of people on here have used it to get pregnant.. i used it on many cycles combined with injectables.. it helps with ovulation and endometriosis suppression as well, and has less side effects for most people than clomid! GOOD LUCK! : )