Today I wanted to talk about the wonderful drug that we used to get pregnant with little miss Miriam. It was clomid. Clomid is used to stimulate ovulation and produce better eggs in order to get pregnant. Clomid can be taken either CD 3-7 or CD 5-9. It comes in 50mg, 100 mg, and 150mg doses. Days 3-7 produce more, but less mature eggs and days 5-9 produce less eggs but they are more mature. So doctors will try a few cycles one way, and if that doesn't work, they will switch to other days. The downside of clomid is that it thins the lining of the uterus (after multiple uses) and drys up cervical fluid, which is essential for conception. The other side effect of clomid is emotional instability, also sometimes affectionately referred to as the "clomid crazies." This side effect is usually seen in higher doses and prolonged use. I've heard it's like PMS on crack.
Although I would not trade Miriam for world, I wish we had a Naprotechnology doctor sooner, because then we would have figured out the underlining infertility issue (which we are still working on) instead of getting pregnant right away with clomid and having to deal with the underlining issue now that we are trying to have another child.
Femara is a cancer drug that is off labeled to be used like clomid for ovulation stimulation. It is also taken days 3-7 or 5-9 of your cycle. The doses are 2.5mg, 5mg, and 7.5mg. It has none of crazy side effects of uterus thinning, cervical dry up, or emotional instability. The usual side effects are headaches and hot flashes. It is not as widely used as clomid because it is still off labeled as a fertility drug and not enough testing has been done. The process that a drug needs to go through to be approved by the FDA is quite extensive, and right now I don't believe femara being approved as an infertility drug is top priority. There is also a chance of birth defects and miscarriage (as is the case for most non-FDA approved drugs in the fertility realm) If clomid has not worked for you, please do some research and ask your doctor about prescribing femara.
Last but not least is licorice root. I don't have any real science to back up my claims here except for one study. But with all the fertility forums and sites on the internet, I do think there is something to licorice root stimulating ovulation. Here is the one study I was talking about, http://medherb.com/Materia_Medica/Glycyrrhiza_-_Licorice_root_and_testosterone.htm The one real side effect to licorice root is that prolonged use can raise a persons blood pressure. I think if you are only taking it 5 days during a cycle, it shouldn't do much harm, but always ask your doctor if you have questions or concerns. Licorice root should also be taken cycle days 3-7 or 5-9 to stimulate ovulation. The dosing is a little tricky. Since there is no hard science, I've had to experiment. I started out with one pill (420mg) 3 times a day for one cycle, taken days 3-7. I saw no change with ovulating earlier or stronger. The next cycle I upped it to two pills (420mg) 3 times a day with no change. I finally settled at three pills (420mg) 3 times a day, taken days 3-7. I have stayed at this dose for 5 cycles now, have had ovulation pains and ovulate between CD 13-15, right where I should.
These remedies are all in line with Catholic teaching, so if you have been trying for some time to get pregnant with no luck please ask your doctor about these options. The licorice root is something I did on my own, but it is best to run it by your doctor first.
I hope this sheds some light on a few options to try, and if there are any others out there, please feel free to share! I always love doing more research on ways to help and improve fertility.
Blessing.
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