I have mentioned in previous posts that the very first fertility treatment I tried was clomiphine citrate, more commonly called Clomid or Serophene. I was initially prescribed Clomid after my diagnosis of PCOS. Prior to starting the Clomid medication I had tracked my cycles and realized that I do not reliably ovulate each month – it was definitely hit or miss. The goal of Clomid is to induce ovulation and when I told my ob/gyn that I was not ovulating every month he assured me that Clomid had an excellent success rate and that he was confident that it would do the trick.
He remarked that I would only be allowed to take the Clomid for six cycles, but told me not to worry – that he saw many patients that just needed the ovulation boost that Clomid provides and that they are often pregnant within six months. I excitedly began to take the medication that would soon be dubbed “the crazy pills.” I actually did get pregnant using Clomid on the fourth month that I used it but endured an early miscarriage. My doctor advised that I take a couple of months off and try again with Clomid and he even said that I didn’t have to worry about the six month limit since I was giving my body a rest. It did not work and in the meantime other issues were discovered including fibroids and polyps and it was determined that although the Clomid did help me ovulate – the missing fallopian tube combined with PCOS and fibroids were more of a hindrance than previously thought and that it was time to move on.
Overall, I think Clomid is an excellent first attempt. Generally the side effects are supposed to be considered very mild and most people that I know do not have much trouble with the medication. For me, it was very obvious when I was taking the pills because they really, really affected my mood swings. On them I was very easily angered, anxious and uneasy, and depressed and weepy. I really did feel like I was crazy, even more so when others I knew who took Clomid said the side effects were relatively non-existent. I would break down in tears in the grocery store for no apparent reason, bite my husband’s head off and know that I was doing it but have very little control over my emotions, and find myself unable to concentrate on anything but our attempts to conceive. Eventually, I began to “research” Clomid side-effects to make sure I was not the only one. It seems that there are quite a few people who do have side effects from Clomid and it helped me to not feel like I was a real wimp or unable to handle the medication.
Besides mood swings, Clomid has been most commonly known to cause hot flashes and bloating or weight gain. Some other side effects that women experience on Clomd include nausea, dizziness, headaches, breast tenderness, vaginal dryness, blurred vision and rarely OHSS. I don’t tell you this to scare you off of taking Clomid, as I mentioned I truly think it is the best first step you can take (once you have had your partner’s sperm tested). I simply want you to know you are not alone if once you take Clomid you begin to experience some of the side effects. For me, I did have the mood swings, but also dealt with headaches, hot flashes and breast tenderness. It was definitely, definitely worth it and if we had not been advised strongly to try more advanced fertility options we would have continued to take the crazy pills and cross our fingers for success. I will say, though, that of all of the fertility medications that I ended up taking I do believe the Clomid had the most pronounced side effects of any of the medications that I eventually ingested and you are definitely not alone if you think that Clomid is causing some odd behaviors, feelings, or effects!
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