US 03.23.11

care&ali

this is officially the cycle that will not end! LOL.. today's US gave us a tiny bit of hope for salvaging this cycle.
RECAP

Provera induces AF.

DAYS 3-8: 75 Bravelle

DAY 9 US: follicles not maturing, increase dose to 150 Bravelle

DAYS 9-11: 150 Bravelle

DAY 12: US, still nothing, doc says body is not responding well to medication, new plan

DAYS 12-16: 5mg Femara

DAYS 16-17: 75 Bravelle

DAY 18 US: doc says we have one at 14, continue 75 Bravelle for days 18- & 19, next US DAY 20.



Okay, so maybe this cycle isnt a total bust.. this may be a stupid question but i'm still so new to this. the doc says that this is good news, because we're seeing some progress. What exactly does it mean that i have "one at 14"??

mommylove

One follicle 14mm in size...that's what you have apparently.
Supposedly you only need one within good size range to get pregnant, but I'm not too sure about that chances wise which is probably why your doc is trying to get you to produce more and larger follies before the IUI.
Every month a womans body will normally produce several follicles on either ovary, only one becomes the dominant follie that will then release an egg for ovulation.
That's the basic explanation...tons of info online if you search it out.

indigoscot

holy crap after all those drugs and all this time and you only have ONE follicle at 14mm? no offense but your re should be cancelling this cycle and figuring out what protocol to try next. how much $$$ have you dropped on all of this?

to answer your question - you have one follicle at 14mm. by 18mm that would be considered "mature" since you have been using injectables. follicles grow 1-2mm per day on average. that means in approx 2 more days that follicle should be mature and ready to be triggered (assuming of course that your doctor is planning to trigger you). a better way to measure viability of that follicle would be to run e2 bloodwork. that should be 150-200 per mature follicle (and >200 is preferred).

fwiw, it looks like your untreated pcos is not working with this particular drug combo. in a normal injectable cycle you should be looking at 3-4 follicles all of which would have matured much earlier than cd18.

it if it were me, i would fire this re and find one who has a clue. sorry to be so blunt but i feel you are being strung along so your doctor can make more $$$ from you.

g

mommylove

I didn't want to be so blunt since I've never done medicated, monitored cycles like this but I tend to agree with indigoscot based on what i've heard from others going thru this. Sorry.

care&ali

hmm.. well, thats a bummer. im not really sure though, because so far our insurance has covered everything. I knew that it would take a while to figure everything out being that I've tried unsuccessfully before and i've never had a regular cycle. I hope that this isnt the case though, he seems so genuine. well, i guess we'll finish this cycle and see what happens. i do appreciate your honest responses. thanks.

indigoscot

i am very surprised that you are not on metformin. our re (who is amazing, i wish everyone could use her) told us when we started ttc #2 that she wished metformin was in the tap water because she sees so many women who have pcos. thankfully my dp only has a mild case (re called it "closet pcos") so the metformin plus clomid plus trigger worked for her.

there are several other women on here who would sing the praises of metformin to you also. gabeekeeper and praying.for.a.miracle come to mind immediately. or you could check out the soulcysters messageboard to see what kinds of protocols they use.

there is no harm in educating yourself online so you can ask your re the right questions. i would be asking "why is it taking so long for any follicles to mature?" "should i be taking metformin for my pcos?" "is there another drug combo that could work better?" "can we run e2 bloodwork to see if this 14mm follicle will even be viable by the time it matures?" "should we cancel this cycle?"

i should mention that we have fired a doctor due to incompetence. 2 cycles later dp was pregnant.

good luck!
g

minnie0672

I just started Metformin and I have to say, while I'm not taking as much as the doctor wants (3 pills a day...I'm doing 2 because my body can only handle that)...it has done wonders for me! I've never responded to Clomid before and now I am...this month I did Femera and while it took a little longer for the follicle to mature (4 extra days) everything else was so perfect this month that I didn't care.

FWIW, when I was not on Metformin I was on VERY high doses of Follistem and never got my BFP but now that I'm doing this med it has done great things. I also have "closet PCOS"...not all of the symptoms but we're treating it as if I have it. No other doctor was willing to do that for me.

I would see what it says at the next ultrasound and if you aren't getting any results ask why and see if cancelling this cycle and moving forward would work. I had to do my homework before these past few cycles and I can say I'm much happier with my new RE and the protocol.

BabyBugsArrival

I am also on Metformin for PCOS. I started in November and was just moved from 1000mg per day to 1500mg per day. It seems to be basic protocol for anyone with PCOS. I would definitely ask about starting the meds - apparently it takes a couple of months in your system to get optimum benefit. But I wouldn't necessarily assume he is trying to rip you off either. Especially since this is your first round and you started on such a low dosage. Maybe you just haven't asked the right questions because you weren't sure what to ask? I'd just try to read up as much as you can and ask more questions and see how he responds or includes you in his process. I would definitely ask those questions indigo mentioned and then, if you still aren't feeling like you're getting the best and most proactive care, I'd certainly go elsewhere.

care&ali

Thank you all for the suggestions.. I will be asking more questions tomorrow, and hopefully that US will answer more questions. I appreciate the concern over my well-being. I'm hoping he really isn't out to get my money ... I really don't get that vibe, but who knows. I'm thinking I should at least finish this cycle since we're only days away from the end. Isn't it possible that (like he says) we need to find a drug combo that works?.. After all, this is our first try with him... Idk, whatever happens I'm very grateful to have all of you here.