Here’s an easy to understand definition of clomid, plus how it affects your chances of getting pregnant. It’s not the most fun drug, but it can help you conceive a baby.

I found a great source of information for couples trying to conceive, called East Coast Fertility. Their fertility tips are too good to keep to myself!

Here’s an excerpt from their fertility blog:

“You don’t know where it will lead, but your dream is at the other end. Can you feel it?” writes Tracey Minella on a recent East Coast Fertility blog post. “It is going to be costly… draining you emotionally, physically and financially. But not going forward is simply not an option. And finally, after struggling and holding on to hope for longer than you ever imagined you could, the dream appears over the next horizon.”

Is your dream to get pregnant – and does it seem impossible? Hang in there, my friend. Don’t give up hope – and don’t stop trying.

If you haven’t tried tracking your ovulation so you have sex at your most fertile times, check out the Clearblue Easy Digital Ovulation Test. It’ll help you know the best time to get pregnant.

And to learn about how clomid works, read on…

How Does Clomid Help You Get Pregnant?

This information is adapted from an article by Dr David Kreiner, MD, of East Coast Fertility. 

It has become commonplace for women who have been frustrated with repeated unsuccessful attempts to conceive naturally to see their gynecologist. Clomid therapy is often used to help women get pregnant.

Clomid, the traditional brand name for clomiphene citrate, is a competitive inhibitor of estrogen. It stimulates the pituitary gland to produce follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) which in turn will stimulate the ovaries to mature follicle(s) containing eggs. Estrogen normally has a negative effect on the pituitary: Clomid blocks estrogen and leads to pituitary FSH production and ovarian stimulation.

How Clomid Increases Your Chances of Getting Pregnant

Infertility patients — those under 35 having one year and of unprotected intercourse without getting pregnant and those over 35 having six months without pregnancy — have a two to five percent pregnancy rate each month trying on their own, without fertility treatments.

Clomid therapy increases a couple’s fertility by increasing the number of eggs matured in a cycle and by producing a healthier egg and follicle. The pregnancy rate with clomid therapy alone is approximately ten percent per cycle and 12 -15 percent when combined with intrauterine insemination (IUI).

Women who are unable to ovulate on their own experience a 20 percent pregnancy rate per cycle with clomid, the equivalent to that of a fertile couple trying on their own. So, clomid can help women get pregnant.

Clomid and Your Cervical Mucus

Women who are likely to get pregnant with clomid usually do so in the first three months of therapy, with very few conceiving after six months. As clomid has an anti-estrogen effect, the cervical mucus and endometrial lining may be adversely affected.

Cervical mucus is normally produced just prior to ovulation and may be noticed as a stringy egg white like discharge unique to the middle of a woman’s cycle just prior to and during ovulation. It provides the perfect environment for the sperm to swim through to gain access to a woman’s reproductive tract and find her egg. Unfortunately, clomid may thin out her cervical mucus, preventing the sperm’s entrance into her womb. IUI overcomes this issue through bypassing the cervical barrier and depositing the sperm directly into the uterus.

However, when the uterine lining or endometrium is affected by the anti-estrogic properties of clomid, an egg may be fertilized but implantation is unsuccessful due to the lack of secretory gland development in the uterus. The lining does not thicken as it normally would during the cycle. Attempts to overcome this problem with estrogen therapy are rarely successful.

Side Effects of Clomid Therapy

Many women who take clomid experience no side effects. Others have complained of headache, mood changes, spots in front of their eyes, blurry vision, hot flashes and occasional cyst development (which normally resolves on its own). Most of these effects last no longer than the five or seven days that you take the clomid and have no permanent side effect.

The incidence of getting pregnant with twins is eight to ten percent with a one percent risk of triplet development.

If You Try Clomid to Get Pregnant, Limit Your Clomid Cycles

Yet another deterrent to clomid use was a study performed years ago that suggested that women who used clomid for more than twelve cycles developed an increased incidence of ovarian tumors. It is therefore recommended by the American Society of Reproductive Medicine as well as the manufacturer of clomiphene that clomid be used for no more than six months.

After six months of clomid, it is recommended that patients proceed with treatment including gonadotropins (injectable hormones containing FSH and LH) to stimulate the ovaries in combination with intrauterine insemination (IUI) or in vitro fertilization (IVF).

In Vitro Fertilization and Clomid

Clomid helps women who fail to ovulate get pregnant in nearly 70 percent of cases. All other patients average close to a 50 percent pregnancy rate if they attempt six cycles with clomid, especially when they combine it with IUI. After six months, the success is less than five percent per month.

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a successful alternative therapy or fertility treatment when other pelvic factors such as tubal disease, tubal ligation, adhesions or scar tissue and endometriosis exist or there is a deficient number, volume or motility of sperm. Success rates with IVF are age, exam and history dependent.

The average pregnancy rate with a single fresh IVF cycle is greater than 50 percent. For women under 35, the pregnancy rate for women after a single stimulation and retrieval is greater than 70 percent with a greater than 60 percent live birth rate at East Coast Fertility.

Young patients sometimes choose a minimal stimulation IVF or MicroIVF as an alternative to clomid/IUI cycles as a more successful and cost effective option as many of these patients experience a 40 percent pregnancy rate per retrieval at a cost today of about $3,900.

This is from Do I Need Clomid to Get Pregnant? on the East Coast Fertility Blog. Visit their website to learn more about Dr Kreiner, fertility treatments, and getting pregnant.

To learn about my experience with clomid and getting pregnant, read Clomid Challenge Test – A Fertility Test for Women.

Tags: acupuncture for infertility, clomid challenge test, clomid for pregnancy, pregnancy tips for beginners