Femara or Clomid

[enigo]

Just curious...which would you use and why?

[brichole1214]

I used Femara with an injectable for my final cycle and FINALLY got pregnant...so I liked the Femara better. My OB and RE told me that Clomid works on some women but it's usually the first drug they just try to see if you will respond. if you don't respond after a few rounds and after raising the doseage then you will want to go to something like femara if you wanted to try clomid first. G/L and i am sending you lots of baby vibes!!!

[enigo]

I was doing some reading and it seemd that Femara had better results and gets out of your system more quickly. I do already ovulate on my own, but sometimes it is a late ovulation. The last 2 months have been normal, but I am considering trying it for my next cycle. I just don't know which to use.

[brichole1214]

I would use the femara at it's lowest dose to see if it will help with bringing on Ovulation earlier for you. I had really long cycles before getting pregnant so it took me a little longer for the femara to start working for me but i think i ended up oing around cd 20 or so and then i got a pos on 11po so that was WONDERFUL!!!!

[corrieoseal]

I got pregnant with DD on 200mg of Clomid with IUI's. However, the side effects were absolutely terrible for me. I had strobing vision problems that my current doctor (an RE) said could be a precursor to stroke! (My previous ob ignored my complaints for three cycles!) Anyway, we are going to start Femara cycles as soon as DD (age 2) weans fully (she nurses about 10 minutes a day currently.) We will get monitoring and then do a trigger shot and timed intercourse before moving on to injectables. Good luck, and I hope you get your BFP on your first cycle with whichever drug you choose.

[Jane]

I'm a big fan of monitored cycles, with day 3 blood work, an ultrasound to check follicle growth near ovulation. Whether that's with femara or clomid...doesn't matter. Clomid's cheaper, has a smaller risk of multiples. But it only makes sense to do 3 ovulatory cycles with clomid before jumping onto something else. Most women who get preggo with clomid will do it with 3 ovulations.
In the case of someone who ovulates, the goal is just to get more high quality eggs. If nature says (due to age or chromosome problems) that 80% of the eggs are not viable to get fertilized, either clomid or femara will work to get multiple eggs per cycle, and then pure stats says that at least one will work!

[millefleur]

Subbing!

[enigo]

I'm not doing either, every once in a while I feel like I need some help. I mean, I'm ovulating and getting pregnant, just not staying pregnant. I keep hearing about a "stronger" egg with Clomid or Femara and I start to sway......

[Pickleopolous]

I tried two or three (it's been a few years ago now) cycles of clomid, and found it to be horrible. I was moody, had headaches, and the hot flashes were something. I did ovulate on it, but the lining of my uterus was never that great, and I had really poor cm with it too.

My doc switched to femara, and I conceived on the first cycle with it. The side effects for me were much less severe, and it worked.

That was three years ago, and I'm back on femara now. Once again it's my first cycle with it, and I produced a good follicle, lining looked good, decent cm. I'm just waiting now and burning through the pee sticks to monitor when the trigger is out of my system.

Good luck to you with whatever you decide.

[corrieoseal]

I think the only advantage that Clomid has over Femara is that you can continue to breastfeed. I would start with Clomid while still b/f, but if that's not an issue, I would definitely go with Femara due to the better track record with fewer/less severe side effects.

[enigo]

I've heard that too, that Femara has less side effects. Just wondering why they would still prescribe Clomid if there was something with fewer side effects that did the same thing

[soso-lynn]

Originally Posted by Apricot

Clomid's cheaper, has a smaller risk of multiples.

That's not actually true. Do you have any studies to back up that claim?

Originally Posted by enigo

I've heard that too, that Femara has less side effects. Just wondering why they would still prescribe Clomid if there was something with fewer side effects that did the same thing

In terms of side effects, it varies a lot from one person to another.

Femara is a drug that is approved for breast cancer not for fertility, that is one of the main reasons it is not prescribed as often. It is also relatively new compared to clomid so safety studies and such are harder to come by and many doctors just don't have personal experience with it yet so they don't prescribe it.

However, it is important to understand that Clomid and Femara are 2 completely different drugs that do different things in your body. Clomid blocks your estrogen receptors so your pituary does not get the message that a (or several) follicle is growing and continues to produce FSH. It also blocks estrogen receptors in your uterus so that's why it can affect your lining.

Femara, on the other hand, is an aromatase inhibitor. Aromatase is the enzyme that converts testosterone into estradiol. So, once again your brain is tricked into producing more FSH as it is not getting the message from extra estrogen that a follicle has taken the lead.

Essentially, the difference is that, on clomid, you will produce more estrogen as more follicles grow while on femara, you will produce less estrogen. Either way, your follicles will get more FSH and more opportunity to grow. Which one is best for you will depend on your preference (I personnally much prefer messing with enzymes in my ovaries than with receptors in my brain) as well as your situation. Usually, Femara works best with women with a very low antral follicle count and with women with high estradiol levels. Clomid tends to work best with women with a better ovarian reserve, some women with PCOS, in cases with a male factor or such where we want more eggs. Some think that Femara works more on egg quality while Clomid os for quantity but it is hard to tell since egg quality can only be measured when doing IVF.

As far as prices go, if I recall correctly, here in CAnada it is about 53$ for 5 days of 100mg Clomis and 66$ for 5 days of 5mg Femara so the price difference is really not that significant. It is also important to note that since Femara is not a fertility drug as per label, many insurance plans that do not cover fertility will still cover it.

[Jane]

D'oh - i got follistim and fermara mixed up. Sorry.