QuestionI am on my first cycle of clomid, (50 mg) I am 34 years old and had a 28 day
cycle. I was expecting to start my period on Saturday the 28th but I began a
"period" on Sunday the 22nd (a week early). On Sunday I was also bloated
severely where it hurt to breath. (I am not sure if this is a period because it it
light and brown and has been that way for 3 days. There are only a few drops
on a pad and a little more on a tampon worn for 3-4 hours.)
Anyway I wasn't sure if this is a normal side effect: spotting or a very early
period. I guess my other concern is when I need to start my next cycle of
clomid since a don't know if technically I have started a period. I did finally
do a pregnancy test just to double check and it was negative. SO do you
think this is a side effect? Is it normal? Is this a period or should I expect to
"start" on Saturday? THANKS
AnswerHello Kristin from the U.S.,
The definition of a "period" is flowing red blood. Brown is considered a discharge and not a period. I can't tell you exactly what the "bloating" was caused from or why you had the discharge. It is not usually a side effect of the Clomid but there have been multiple terms given for this such as ovulatory spotting, ovulation, implantation bleeding, dysfunctional bleeding, etc. No one knows or can know for sure what is causing the effects. One of the side effects of Clomid is that you can have more "pain" and "bloating" feelings if you formed more than one ovulatory sized follicles, and these follicles will refill with fluid after ovulation leading to the luteal phase symptoms. You would know this because you doc should have done an ultrasound to see how many follicles were being formed from this dose of Clomid. Ultrasound is also used to determine whether or not you are even responding to this dose. I would recommend that you check out my blog under the heading "how I do Clomid cycles".
A home pregnancy test at this early stage would not necessarily detect the pregnancy because it is around the time of ovulation. If you don't have a regular period by 30 days into the cycle, then you should have a blood pregnancy test done. If you are on progesterone supplementation, which I recommend with all Clomid cycles, then you won't necessarily have a natural period even if you are not pregnant, so a pregnancy test is automatically done before stopping the progesterone. If you used a vaginal progesterone such as Crinone or Endometrin, vaginal spotting is common around this point.
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
