New Here

Kaycee25 · #1 (**permalink**) 02-10-2008, 02:25 PM

Hello all,
This is my first time to post to this site. First of all, let me just say how encouraging this site has been to me, and I just found it last night!! My husband and I have been married for 5 years, and have been ttc for 4 years. Because I went back to school a few years ago, we have never really pursued infertility treatment, but we have been consistently ttc. A year and a half ago, I was diagnosed with insulin resistance, and a PCOS diagnosis followed soon thereafter. My general practitioner wanted me to try a year of metformin before seeing a specialist. Well, a year later, I'm still here and still not PG. So, Friday was my first visit with my new specialist. He did an u/s and found that I do indeed have PCOS, and he wants me to start, this cycle taking Femara on CD3-7. I'm not sure of the dosage, the perscription is being filled right now. I will also be using OPK and having follicular monitoring done throughout my cycle. Then, I if I have big enough follicles they will give me HCG. Is that what's known as a trigger shot? I'm so new to all of this and it's a bit overwhelming! I will also be continuing the metformin. My husband is scheduled to have a semen analysis in the near future. I'm graduating in May, and my DH and I just can't wait any longer. We want to start a family so badly, and everyone around us seems to pregnant.
I'm so relieved to have found this site, because I don't know anyone else who is going through this or has gone through this. I'm glad that I've found a place where I can ask questions and turn for support. Prayers and Baby Wishes to all!!!!

gtmom · #2 (**permalink**) 02-10-2008, 03:18 PM

Welcome Kristen, I am also new here.. This is my second month of using Femara. I had no problem getting pg the first time. But the second time has taken me at least a year. I am still being monitored by my ob/gyn and have not made it to an RE.

Kaycee25 · #3 (**permalink**) 02-10-2008, 04:02 PM

One quick question!

Has anyone used the OPK test strips you can buy online? Are they reliable? Are they as reliable as midstream tests? They are certainly cheaper, and seeing as I could go through quite a few of this things... what do you think?

Thanks ladies!

Mommie2Ava&Presley · #4 (**permalink**) 02-10-2008, 05:12 PM

Kristen! Glad you found us and decided to post. This is a great group of ladies. I am Shannon, the host and one of the original members from when this board was started. I have not used Femara in over 5 years, but found lots of support here when I was using it during our 3 years of TTC prior to getting our little miracle, Ava, and I just keep sticking around to try to give support. I ended up finding out that Femara was not my answer because my problem was auto-immune (my body attacking DH's sperm and/or our embryos) and was fixed with a $4 steroid instead. Femara did help me to make more than one follicle each cycle - usually 2 , but occasionally 3. I've seen it do some wonderful things for ladies that have come and gone from this board over the years. I hope that it along with the Met will be the right combination for you.

I know several ladies that have used the online OPK strips, some have loved them, and some haven't. Depending on where you get them, I think some don't show up as dark and have caused people to think they weren't getting their surge when they actually were. If you are being monitored at your doctor too, they might be worth it though. You could just pay attention to the change you see over the days, and get used to what a surge strip looks like, even if the test line isn't quite as dark as the control line. I was monitored by my doc via u/s starting on cd10, so I never used them - just relied on the u/s to keep me abreast of what was going on.

Sending you loads of

: bd and best wishes for a fast

. I look forward to getting to know you better and to sharing this journey with you.

Constance_13 · #5 (**permalink**) 02-10-2008, 07:16 PM

Hi Kristen....WELCOME to this board!!!! I hope your stay is short and sweet and you get your

very soon. You will love the ladies here, they are truly amazing and such an awesome support network.

I am currently PG with my first baby after trying for 6 years. She is our little Femara miracle. I had tried many different things and had to have surgery due to my endo. After my last surgery, I took Femara from CD 4-8 (I missed starting it on day 3) but my doctor reassured me that 4-8 would work if it was the right med for me. I then had a scan on CD 11 to see how my body reacted to the drug and to make sure I did not have too many follicles as I did not want to have any more then 2 at once. Everything looked great at the scan - I had one mature follicle and one that would be by CD 13 when I was instructed to take my Ovidrel shoot (HCG Trigger shoot). Then we had to BD for the next few days. This happened to be my first round on both these drugs but we hit our miracle recipe

and I got my

that CY.

I am so excited for you and hope that this is your miracle recipe too. It is extremely good that you are being monitored by your doctor as I am huge advocate of that. This will help take some of the stress off and let you know exactly what your body is doing and how it’s reacting to the drugs. The HCG shoot is the trigger shot and it does force ovulation. It general happens 24-36 hours after the injections so it’s best to take the shot and then have timed BD’ing the day you do it and a few days after - this gives your HD's little swimmers time to get to the right spot to catch your eggie

With the online test I have heard good and bad things. They are much cheaper and then you do not have to feel bad about using lots of them BUT they do not tend to show the positive they way the store strips do. They work once you learn how to read them with your body. I have heard the test line often does not get as dark as the control line BUT it does not mean it’s not positive. I would get them and use them with the doctor monitoring you and then see how they react to your body. They you will be able to use them accurately.

OH...one other thing....when taking a trigger shoot makes sure you do not use a PG test too soon. Everyone’s body is different but the general rule of thumb is not to do a home PG test till 14 days after as if you test too early you can get a false positive. The only other think I would possibly suggest is using the internet cheep PG test and test every day after your trigger till you get a negative and then you will know exactly how long your body takes to metabolize the trigger shot and then when you get your real positive you will not wonder it is false.

Let us know if you have any questions or can help in any way. I wish you all the best and send you lots of

mommaphoebs · #6 (**permalink**) 02-11-2008, 08:38 AM

Welcome! This is a great spot with great ladies who understand what you're going through. TTC can be so frustrating, especially when you see pregnant ladies everywhere! I hope Femara is just what your body needs to get a BFP!

Kaycee25 · #7 (**permalink**) 02-11-2008, 04:33 PM

Thank you all for the warm welcome!!! I got my first Femara Rx filled today. He's starting me off at 2.5mg. So, now all I have to do is wait for AF. Wow, I can't believe I'm actually waiting for AF... weird. I'm just so ready to get all of this started! Praying the Femara/Metformin combo is a good one for me!!!

Looking forward to getting to know you all!

Celi · #8 (**permalink**) 02-11-2008, 04:43 PM

Welcome!! I hope Femara is the lucky recipe for you and your BFP come fast on it! You can track my IF history on my signature, but I just want to say that you found really a great support group! The ladies here are just amazing! I have PCOS and As you can see I'm more than 24w pg

it happened on a break cy but I was using only Metformin (1500mg)

Ohh and as Shannon I was monitored with u/s by my Doctor, but used some opks first, never bought the internet ones... LOTS of