Last night was my last dose of Femara for this cycle. I took the 2.5 mg pill each night at bedtime for 5 nights (cycle days 5-9) starting on Friday.
The reason the Dr. decided to go with Femara rather than the previously discussed Clomid is that Femara has less side effects and is out of your system within 48 hours. Clomid can hang around for weeks. That was a positive, but I was a bit freaked out to learn that Femara is actually used to treat breast cancer in post-menopausal women. The little informational sheet from the pharmacy warned about taking this drug if you are pregnant or intend to become pregnant. I had done my research earlier in the day, but the Husband did not read anything until Saturday morning. I got an early morning wake up from him wanting to be sure I had been given the correct drug.
As far as side effects, I have to admit it was not too bad. Possibly because I was expecting to be hit with it all. Early Saturday morning, about an hour after I took the pill, I woke up and thought I felt dizzy. I went back to sleep and when I woke up a few hours later I no longer felt dizzy, but I did feel a little nauseous. The nausea was probably real, but I think I might have imagined the dizzy part.
Saturday and Sunday felt normal. I do believe that I did get the loss of appetite bit, but not too severely and frankly, I kind of liked that part.
Monday I woke up about 3 am with a stomach ache. It was gone before I got up for the day, but I was fairly nauseous all day and very achy.
Tuesday was normal and now it is Wednesday, the day after my last dose.
I am scheduled for a scan on Friday morning. I am hoping the results are good, because I really don't feel any different. I have not felt anything going on in the pelvic area. I have read several stories of women who were doubled over in pain because their ovaries had produced so many follicles. I don't feel any different than normal. Maybe my ovaries are just naturally tough. I am fairly sure I have a very low tolerance for pain, so that can't be it, but maybe those women were just imagining the pain.
Well, I will know soon enough if it worked for me. More updates as they come.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Lots of news, some of it is even good
I got the results of my blood work back and everything is normal. They did put me back on Metformin once a day, to be upgraded to twice a day if I do well with it. My progesterone levels were low, but that is normal at cycle day 3.
Good news that I am mostly normal, but bad that we still have no explanation for the mid cycle breakthrough bleeding. I still think that my mid cycle progesterone levels are low, but that's just a theory and is not really a problem since the Clomid will resolve that problem anyway.
I expressed my concern about the bleeding to the nurse who called with my results. She said she would speak with the Doctor and call me back. She called the next day to say that the Doctor was not at all concerned that the bleeding was related to my past cervical issues. She did order an ultrasound of my uterus and ovaries to check my lining thickness and make sure everything was normal. This set us back another month, but I just need to be sure that everything is good to go before we proceed.
I had the ultrasound Monday afternoon. I had to drink 36 oz of water an hour prior to my appointment. I have done this before, when about 5 weeks pregnant, and remember forcing the Husband to stop at every Gas Station we passed so I could pee. I was really hoping that it was the pregnancy hormones that made me so miserable last time and that it would be less traumatic this time. Wrong. Very, very wrong.
I have never been to this office from my house. Based on a friend's estimate, I planned on a 20-30 minute drive. I had to be there at 3:30 to register for my 4:00 appointment. I left my house at 2:50. I started drinking right at 3:00 and finished by 3:30. At this point I was still no where near the office. Apparently my friend was the only car on the road when she timed this trip. To make matters worse, once I got there I had no idea exactly where I was going. This would normally not be a problem, but by this time I was screaming at other motorists and cursing the Florida Dept of Transportation for the poor road conditions that caused bladder torturing jarring.
I made a command decision to go into the Women's center (attached to the main hospital and the home of my OB/GYN office) to find a bathroom and pee (just a little, I swear) and get directions to the radiology department. In my agony, I rushed right past the restroom, and busted into the Mammogram area. I was practically dancing as I asked for directions to the nearest restroom and radiology. First she slowly typed in my name and told me that I needed to go next door. Then she questioned if I was allowed to use the restroom. I informed her that it was not negotiable and she pointed to the restroom that I had run past in my hurry to get directions.
After a quick tinkle, I headed over to the main building and was given directions to the registration desk. I quickly signed in with the volunteer and then told her I was going to be in the restroom across the lobby for a minute if they were looking for me. I spent the next three minutes trying to justify skipping this test. I am usually good at justification, but I knew I needed to get it over with. I swear I just peed a tiny little bit. It didn't even help. As soon as I sat down in the waiting area, they called me over to register. I wanted to scream as I answered the same questions I had already answered on the phone when I made the appointment.
After a 5 minute inquisition, I was pointed over to the radiology desk. I stood there for about 20 seconds listening to several employees talking in a room right beside the desk. I finally got someone's attention and they were kind enough to call back and see how long my wait would be. The tech came and got me in under 2 minutes. I had debated having another tiny pee, but wasn't sure I could make it all the way to the restroom without wetting myself. I just stood there praying the room was close by. It was.
The tech assured me that she would only need about 5 minutes. I had to drop my pants and panties to my knees and she did her thing. I had a good view of the screen and while I am no expert, I did not see anything obviously out of place and she didn't circle anything. I was allowed to pee and then strip from the waist down for the fun part. She was a bit brutal with the wand, but it's really not her fault. My left ovary is in a funky place and it takes a bit of work to get a good view of it. She would not give me a hint about anything. I spent the second part of the ultrasound studying her face and looking for clues since the screen was no longer in my field of vision. She should really play poker. I got nothing. I could have had a third ovary and she would not have flinched.
I finally got the results Friday. It all came back normal with the exception of a small cyst on my right ovary. This explains the occasional twinges I get. From the brief conversation I had with the nurse, this is not a bad thing and can even help sustain a pregnancy. I need to research that more to fully understand why, but it sounds like a positive thing.
So, we are on for a clomid cycle. I have to call on cycle day 1 and they will call in my prescription and give me the instructions. I will start having ultrasounds on cycle day 12 until they tell me to shoot up with the ovidrel.
More as it happens.
Good news that I am mostly normal, but bad that we still have no explanation for the mid cycle breakthrough bleeding. I still think that my mid cycle progesterone levels are low, but that's just a theory and is not really a problem since the Clomid will resolve that problem anyway.
I expressed my concern about the bleeding to the nurse who called with my results. She said she would speak with the Doctor and call me back. She called the next day to say that the Doctor was not at all concerned that the bleeding was related to my past cervical issues. She did order an ultrasound of my uterus and ovaries to check my lining thickness and make sure everything was normal. This set us back another month, but I just need to be sure that everything is good to go before we proceed.
I had the ultrasound Monday afternoon. I had to drink 36 oz of water an hour prior to my appointment. I have done this before, when about 5 weeks pregnant, and remember forcing the Husband to stop at every Gas Station we passed so I could pee. I was really hoping that it was the pregnancy hormones that made me so miserable last time and that it would be less traumatic this time. Wrong. Very, very wrong.
I have never been to this office from my house. Based on a friend's estimate, I planned on a 20-30 minute drive. I had to be there at 3:30 to register for my 4:00 appointment. I left my house at 2:50. I started drinking right at 3:00 and finished by 3:30. At this point I was still no where near the office. Apparently my friend was the only car on the road when she timed this trip. To make matters worse, once I got there I had no idea exactly where I was going. This would normally not be a problem, but by this time I was screaming at other motorists and cursing the Florida Dept of Transportation for the poor road conditions that caused bladder torturing jarring.
I made a command decision to go into the Women's center (attached to the main hospital and the home of my OB/GYN office) to find a bathroom and pee (just a little, I swear) and get directions to the radiology department. In my agony, I rushed right past the restroom, and busted into the Mammogram area. I was practically dancing as I asked for directions to the nearest restroom and radiology. First she slowly typed in my name and told me that I needed to go next door. Then she questioned if I was allowed to use the restroom. I informed her that it was not negotiable and she pointed to the restroom that I had run past in my hurry to get directions.
After a quick tinkle, I headed over to the main building and was given directions to the registration desk. I quickly signed in with the volunteer and then told her I was going to be in the restroom across the lobby for a minute if they were looking for me. I spent the next three minutes trying to justify skipping this test. I am usually good at justification, but I knew I needed to get it over with. I swear I just peed a tiny little bit. It didn't even help. As soon as I sat down in the waiting area, they called me over to register. I wanted to scream as I answered the same questions I had already answered on the phone when I made the appointment.
After a 5 minute inquisition, I was pointed over to the radiology desk. I stood there for about 20 seconds listening to several employees talking in a room right beside the desk. I finally got someone's attention and they were kind enough to call back and see how long my wait would be. The tech came and got me in under 2 minutes. I had debated having another tiny pee, but wasn't sure I could make it all the way to the restroom without wetting myself. I just stood there praying the room was close by. It was.
The tech assured me that she would only need about 5 minutes. I had to drop my pants and panties to my knees and she did her thing. I had a good view of the screen and while I am no expert, I did not see anything obviously out of place and she didn't circle anything. I was allowed to pee and then strip from the waist down for the fun part. She was a bit brutal with the wand, but it's really not her fault. My left ovary is in a funky place and it takes a bit of work to get a good view of it. She would not give me a hint about anything. I spent the second part of the ultrasound studying her face and looking for clues since the screen was no longer in my field of vision. She should really play poker. I got nothing. I could have had a third ovary and she would not have flinched.
I finally got the results Friday. It all came back normal with the exception of a small cyst on my right ovary. This explains the occasional twinges I get. From the brief conversation I had with the nurse, this is not a bad thing and can even help sustain a pregnancy. I need to research that more to fully understand why, but it sounds like a positive thing.
So, we are on for a clomid cycle. I have to call on cycle day 1 and they will call in my prescription and give me the instructions. I will start having ultrasounds on cycle day 12 until they tell me to shoot up with the ovidrel.
More as it happens.
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