QuestionI am writing from Portland, Oregon.
In August of 2009, I found out I was pregnant. It took me taking 4 pregnancy tests even though I was 2 weeks late, to find out that I was pregnant. The first week I was late, I took 2 home preg. test. They both were negative. I waited an additional week and tested again and got a faint positive. I didn't know if I should believe it since it was negative twice already. So the next day I took another test and it again was a faint negative. I scheduled an appt to see my OB, mid September 2009. When we went in to see him, he delivered the news that there was a sac but indeed no baby(Early Pregnancy Failure). That was very hard to hear, especially when we were trying to get pregnant. My OB told me that I would be miscarrying within a couple of weeks. As he had stated, 2 weeks later I miscarried. We have been trying ever since to get pregnant but we have had no luck. In August of 2010 I went back to my OB and told him that we had no luck. He did blood work and found that I was not ovulating as well as having irregular periods. So he started me on Provera and Clomid 50mg. During that menstrual cycle after taking Provera and Clomid, I had blood drawn on Day 21 to see if I ovulated. The test results came back that I did not ovulate. I skipped taking Provera and Clomid for the month of September since there was a lot going on as well as us going on a family vacation. When we got back from vacation, I resumed taking Provera and Clomid. I started the Provera on Sept. 27th for 7 days. 3 days after I took the last Provera, I started my period. It last from Sept. 8th to Sept. 15. I started Clomid 100mg on Sept. 12th til Sept. 16th, which was supposed to be CD 5-10, but I think I took it a day early since I started my period on Sept. 8th. One week later, on September 23rd, I started spotting red, late at night. which was CD 15. The next day it was light bleeding, which then lead to regular bleeding. On CD 17 it became very heavy where I was having to change pads every hour to 2 hours and even then it still leaked all over my underwear. It was heavy for 2 days and then went back to the normal bleeding that I usually experience. There were no blood clots at all during the whole time. Today is CD 21 and I went in to the OB's office to have blood drawn again to check my progesterone level. So I am waiting to find out the results. I have another appointment to see my OB next week. So until then I am sitting here waiting to find out what's going on. I would like to know if this could be a side affect of taking Clomid? I hope I'm not confusing you.
Some history background:
I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 20. It took 5 years of trying before I became pregnant with no medication intervention.(Doctors just kept telling us to keep trying naturally). A year and a half after my son I was pregnant again with my daughter. Again without any kind of intervention. The miscarriage came along a year and a half after I had my daughter. I was also breast feeding my daughter up until 3 months before I found out I was pregnant. I had an U/S done after my miscarriage and my OB said he didn't see any cysts, even though I had other evidences of PCOS, such as high testosterone levels, overweight, irregular periods and excess hair on my upper lips.
Thanks you for taking the time to read my long letter. I really look forward to hearing from you.
AnswerHello Landa from the U.S.,
The bleeding you had is called dysfunctional bleeding which is an indication that the ovarian function is still not restored. That is, the Clomid dose you are on is not working or adequate. With a history of PCOS, that means you have a baseline ovarian dysfunction. The purpose of the Clomid is to try to get the ovaries to function correctly and ovulate. It may require doses up to 250 mg per day.
Good Luck,
Edward J. Ramirez, M.D., FACOG
Executive Medical Director
The Fertility and Gynecology Center
Monterey Bay IVF Program
www.montereybayivf.com
Monterey, California, U.S.A.
for additional information check out my blog at http://womenshealthandfertility.blogspot.com check me out on twitter with me at @montereybayivf and facebook @montereybayivf
