Power Up for PCOS: Clomid

Showing posts with label Clomid. Show all posts

Thursday, January 17, 2013

TTC Thursdays

It worked!!! I'm Pregnant!!!!!!! I'm so excited and happy!!! It is very early still in the pregnancy, I will be 6 weeks along on Friday. Although most people say you should wait 3 months, we learned after our son was stillborn at 7 months that you are never safe, therefore we are sharing this news and enjoying every minute of this pregnancy! I am considered high risk for this pregnancy since my son was stillborn, but it means they will watch me very closely this time, which is a good thing. We already have done 3 blood tests to ensure my numbers were doubling and we had our 1st ultrasound on Monday and the baby was right where it should be for how far along we were. We are going to be followed by a regular doctor as well as a high risk doctor. So after 8 years and 7 months of trying and our only pregnancy resulting in our son being stillborn, we are now pregnant with our 2nd child! I love Pregnitude!!! I would be the spokesperson for them if they wanted. We were actually getting to the point of starting to give up hope, the first 2 months I didn't ovulate and we were getting nervous that we were wasting time. Then on my 3rd month, I ovulated, which was a miracle and then we got pregnant, a double miracle!!! I just can't believe it. I have never ovulated on anything besides Clomid before. I am considered anovulatory and I ovulated and got pregnant on Pregnitude. It is a miracle supplement. I think everyone with PCOS who is trying to conceive should consider giving it a chance, just check with your doctor first to make sure it is safe for you to be on it, it does interact with some medications and things. If it could work for me after 8 years and 7 months, my hope is it would work for you too. So my message is never give up hope, we almost did. There is always hope, keep trying, take Pregnitude, eat healthy, exercise, track your ovulation (we use ovulation predictor kits), and time your TTC. I am wishing you all lots of luck in your TTC and hoping to hear about many more Pregnitude babies. This could be a miracle supplement for women with PCOS.

Disclaimer: Please note that Pregnitude is an official sponsor of Power Up for PCOS 5K. However, the individual listed below is not affiliated with Pregnitude or a volunteer for Power Up for PCOS. Power Up for PCOS posted a request for someone starting Pregnitude to blog their personal experiences for the Power Up for PCOS blog. This should not be construed as medical advice. Please see your doctor for further information.*

Written by: Lauren Williams

Power Up for PCOS which provides support to women with PCOS and their families through educational Power Up Groups, building connections with other PCOS women, calendar of upcoming PCOS events, professional referrals and reviews, PCOS store, and other specialized events to raise money for PCOS research. She can be reached by visiting http://www.powerupforpcos.com, emailing Beth@powerupforpcos.com or by calling 810-545-PCOS (7267)

Power Up for PCOS - emPowering Women to Manage PCOS

*Please note that I am not a medical professional. I am not qualified to give out any medical advice. I am a woman with PCOS who is sharing my personal experiences in this blog and I advise you to consult a professional.*

Thursday, December 27, 2012

TTC Thursdays

I am now 3 months into the Pregnitude, getting ready to start my 4th box and I have some very exciting news to share. I ovulated for the first time on Pregnitude and it's also my first time ovulating without the help of Clomid! This was so exciting for me, I never thought I would be able to ovulate without the help of fertility drugs and now the Pregnitude has helped me to ovulate! It is definitely working and on my 3rd month, I was so excited! Getting the positive ovulation test was almost as exciting as if it had been a positive pregnancy test.

So here's what happened, I started testing with OPK's on Day 9. On Day 14 my OPK gave a positive digital result but when I looked at the two lines they were not the same darkness, plus my cervical mucus was not indicating ovulation, so I had the feeling it was a false positive. But we still TTC'd every day for the next 3 days in case it was a real positive. In the meantime, I kept testing with the OPK to see if we would get another positive. Then on Day 19, I got another positive and when I checked the lines, they were of equal darkness indicating ovulation plus my cervical mucus was indicating ovulation, so I knew this was the real ovulation and the other one was a false positive. Since the OPKs indicate you will ovulate in the next 24-36 hours, we TTC'd for another 3 days in a row. We are now on Day 26 and we are hoping for a miracle! We are going to take a pregnancy test in 8 days if I don't get my period by then, so keep your fingers crossed that this cycle will be the miracle we have been waiting for over 8.5 years. I feel hopeful but don't want to get too excited either.

So I hope my message can be of hope to you. Keep the faith, keep trying, never give up hope and Pregnitude can work and hopefully make you ovulate too! Wishing you all the luck of ovulation as well!

Disclaimer: Please note that Pregnitude is an official sponsor of Power Up for PCOS 5K. However, the individual listed below is not affiliated with Pregnitude or a volunteer for Power Up for PCOS. Power Up for PCOS posted a request for someone starting Pregnitude to blog their personal experiences for the Power Up for PCOS blog. This should not be construed as medical advice. Please see your doctor for further information.*

Written by: Lauren Williams

Power Up for PCOS - emPowering Women to Manage PCOS

Thursday, November 15, 2012

TTC Thursdays

I have now been on Pregnitude 1.5 months. On Cycle Day 43 I started spotting and Day 44 I started a very light period. So that means I had about a 42 day cycle with the Pregnitude. This is very encouraging as I don't usually have cycles this short unless I am on Clomid, so I am very happy to have had a 42 day cycle on my own. The only thing I am worried about is my period is extremely light, so light I'm not even sure I can count it as a period. I'm not sure what that means or how that will affect ovulating on my new cycle and TTC. I know you need to shed a certain amount with your period to ensure your lining isn't too thick for implantation, so I am worried my lining will be too thick this cycle if my period doesn't get heavier. At the same time though, I am ready to start a new cycle and hoping that the Pregnitude will help me ovulate this time. I really hope this will be a good cycle for us as we are now at 8.5 years of TTC and going on 22 months since our son was stillborn. My patience with waiting is wearing out, I feel I've been very patient and I long to get pregnant and have an alive healthy baby.

*Disclaimer: Please note that Pregnitude is an official sponsor of Power Up for PCOS 5K. However, the individual listed below is not affiliated with Pregnitude or a volunteer for Power Up for PCOS. Power Up for PCOS posted a request for someone starting Pregnitude to blog their personal experiences for the Power Up for PCOS blog. This should not be construed as medical advice. Please see your doctor for further information.*

Written by: Lauren Williams

Power Up for PCOS - emPowering Women to Manage PCOS

Thursday, October 18, 2012

TTC Thursdays

It has now been 18 days on Pregnitude! Here is what I have noticed so far. My facial hair has been growing in much slower and it even grew in blond instead of dark brown and it felt soft instead of coarse. I have gained 1.5 pounds but I haven't been doing the exercising enough, so my goal for this week is to get back into my walking routine. I have had only 1 episode of loose stool. I did however, have headaches 2 nights in a row, I used to get migraines on Clomid, so I will settle for only headaches.

Now for the ovulating, as of Cycle Day 17, I still have not ovulated based on the OPK's I have been using. I am however starting to get signs that ovulation is coming, for example, my face breaks out in acne around ovulation and my period and I am starting to break out with some acne, so I am hoping that ovulation is in my near future. Based on when I have ovulated on Clomid, it is usually between Cycle Day 18-24, so I am hoping to ovulate within the next week. Even though this is only my first month on Pregnitude, I am desperately hoping to ovulate this month, as we don't want to lose a month TTC.

On a more somber note, I thought it would be appropriate to mention that October is National Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month. I find this important to mention as I have read that PCOS has a higher miscarriage rate than the general population, so many of us may have experienced this devastating loss. I also know it can be really scary to TTC again after the loss of a baby. This past Monday October 15th was National Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Day. Every year on October 15th, we light a candle from 7pm-8pm in our time zone in memory of all babies gone too soon to create a wave of light across the world. I lit a candle in memory of my son Colin, who was stillborn, and all his angel friends and family. We remember all babies no matter how short their time on earth was.

*Disclaimer: Please note that Pregnitude is an official sponsor of Power Up for PCOS 5K. However, the individual listed below is not affiliated with Pregnitude or a volunteer for Power Up for PCOS. Power Up for PCOS posted a request for someone starting Pregnitude to blog their personal experiences for the Power Up for PCOS blog. This should not be construed as medical advice. Please see your doctor for further information.*

Written by: Lauren Williams

Power Up for PCOS - emPowering Women to Manage PCOS

Thursday, October 11, 2012

TTC Thursdays

I have been on Pregnitude now for 11 days! Unfortunately, I have also been sick for most of those 11 days so it is hard for me to judge possible symptom relief like getting more energy since I've had no energy being sick. I had diarrhea 3 times but not sure if that was my body adjusting to the Pregnitude or my illness. Now that I'm feeling better, I look forward to seeing if my energy increases with the Pregnitude. The benefit I am most hoping to receive from the Pregnitude is the ability to ovulate a healthy egg on my own without medication & then hopefully conceive a baby. That alone would make Pregnitude awesome & miraculous! Some of the other benefits I am hoping to see are weight loss, less facial, chest & stomach hair, increased energy, regular periods, less acne, an improvement in my anxiety & depression & for my hormones to go into a normal range. Even though I am hoping to receive many benefits, honestly, I think Pregnitude would be worth it even if only one of those things gets better for me.

So we are on Cycle Day 11 today. I started testing with an Ovulation Predictor Kit (OPK) on Day 8. So far I have not ovulated but it is still really early & I tend to ovulate late even on Clomid, but I wanted to start testing early to make sure I don't miss a possible ovulation. Through our infertility journey, we have heard that it is good to start TTC early in case the OPK's are wrong; we usually start around Day 10 (and TTC every other day until I ovulate, then we TTC every day for the next 3 days, nothing says romance like a schedule :) ) but you can start earlier if you like too. We figure it's better to cover a wide range just to be safe. In the past, when I have taken Clomid, I have usually ovulated between Day 18-24, so it will be interesting to see what happens on the Pregnitude this month. Now that you know way more information than you ever wanted to know about my personal life...

My biggest fear taking the Pregnitude is if I will ovulate and how long it will take for me to start ovulating, since it takes 3-6 months to see the full effects. I now know when I take Clomid, that I will ovulate and at least have a chance at conceiving those months. The thought of not ovulating this month and losing a month TTC is what scares me the most right now, especially as we've been trying for 8 years 5 months, and trying 20 months since the loss of our son, each month is so precious. On the positive side, what gets me through is knowing I won't have all the Clomid side effects this month, like 48 hour migraines and the risk of cancer with use of Clomid. I feel hopeful that with taking Pregnitude that it will work for me with less side effects plus it may even help my other PCOS symptoms and that gives me lots of hope which outweighs the fear.

Written by: Lauren Williams

Power Up for PCOS - emPowering Women to Manage PCOS

Thursday, October 4, 2012

TTC Thursdays

Hi my name is Lauren Williams and I'm going to be blogging on Thursdays about my personal experiences with taking Pregnitude. First some background information on me. I have PCOS and have been trying to conceive for 8 years and 5 months. In that time, we have had 1 miraculous pregnancy which devastatingly ended in our son being stillborn. The PCOS symptoms I currently experience are:

Infertility
Anovulation
Irregular periods - can go for months without a period
Much lighter menstrual flow than when younger, it was very heavy when I was younger
Extreme fatigue & lack of energy
Weight gain more in waist than hips
Difficulty losing weight even with healthy eating & exercise (Have not been able to lose any of the weight from my pregnancy and it's been 20 months)
Hair loss
Decreased sex drive
Excess hair growth on face, chest & stomach
Acne
Anxiety & Depression which I take anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication to control

My only pregnancy was conceived with Clomid since I don't ovulate and since our loss, we have been using Clomid again with no success. I just finished another unsuccessful cycle of Clomid on Monday and started my period and started Pregnitude. I've only been on Pregnitude 2.5 days now, but I would like to share my personal experiences with it and share my journey of Pregnitude with you. So far, all I can report on is I've had diarrhea but I also had that on Clomid as well, plus I have been sick this week, so it could be from that, I will update next week once I feel better. I was very nervous to start the Pregnitude as it is still so new but I did a lot of research on myo-inositol to see how it had helped others & when I read the research it really gave me hope. I was nervous to stop Clomid as I know it makes me ovulate & I don't know yet what will happen when I take Pregnitude, but the side effects of the Clomid were wearing me out & I am pretty close to maxing out my use of Clomid, so it was time for a change. I look forward to what may happen as I continue on this journey.

Written by: Lauren Williams

Power Up for PCOS - emPowering Women to Manage PCOS