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Another fertility cycle has just started for us. With every new menstrual cycle comes a new hope… a chance to start all over again, a chance to make the dream of getting pregnant become a reality…
For this cycle, we will be having a “stimulated cycle” alongside the IUI treatment. Right now, I am taking fertility drugs, Femara (Letrozole) 2.5mg, 1 tablet a day for 5 days, so that is from Day 2-6. Femara is a relatively new fertility drug. It is actually a medication used for women with breast cancer. It is an aromatase inhibitor meaning it suppresses the production of aromatase, an enzyme that is responsible for the production of estrogen in the body. By doing so, Femara helps to decrease the amount of estrogen in the body sending a message to the brain to increase the production of the hormones, FSH and LH that stimulate the ovaries.
Fertility drugs are usually used to induce an egg to develop and be released in women who are not ovulating on their own. This is known as ovulation induction. However, in my case, since I ovulate on my own, the fertility drugs are used to increase the number of eggs developing in my ovaries thereby increasing my chances of pregnancy. This is known as superovulation.
Usually, clomiphene citrate (Clomid, Serophene) is the first fertility drug given by most OBs in the Philippines. It is generally effective, however, it last longer in the body and may therefore have an adverse effect on the cervical mucus and uterine lining leading to vaginal dryness or cervical mucus changes that interfere with the motility of the sperm. Some women, especially those with PCOS – polycystic ovary syndrome, also do not respond well with clomiphene citrate. One important thing to take note in taking Clomid is that it should not be taken for more than 6 months at a time because studies have shown that there is an increased risk of ovarian cancer with 12 or more cycles of clomiphene.
Femara, on the other hand is usually the second choice of infertility specialists using it only when Clomid did not worked. Femara is also much more expensive than Clomid and has not been studied as much as Clomid for fertility use. It costs Php365.75 per tablet in Mercury Drugstore.
Some say that Femara is better than Clomid because it is metabolized rapidly in the body and is not thought to have significant levels in the blood or tissues for a prolonged period of time. It is also less likely to cause the lining of the uterus to thin. Let us see if it will work this time…
By the way, side effects of both fertility drugs include headache, nausea, hot flashes, night sweats, joint pain, blurred vision, bloating, and fatigue.
I will update you again soon… Check-up with OB on May 24, 2011. Happy Infertility!
