# Does Clomid affect readings on fertility monitor



## Guest (May 26, 2010)

everyone  I was wondering if anyone could give any advice about fertility monitors - partly regarding which are the best, easiest to use, most reliable etc (they certainly seem very expensive!!







) - but also wondering whether Clomid would affect them. I'm not actually on Clomid yet but it may be an option to ask my doc to prescribe it in the future as I'm in my 40s - but we want to get the fertility monitor now really. 
Bit of info about me: I'm about to start trying to get pg, but it's a surrogacy journey, rather than a baby for myself. I have 2 lovely IPs who live a couple of hours drive away so it's important to get the timing for insems right so that they don't have several wasted journeys each month  . 
I've got a supply of the little sticks that show the LH surge prior to ovulation but they seem a bit hit-and-miss? Would Clomid affect them? What does everyone think?

I'm also posting on the "over 40s" board, so apologies if you read this more than once!!  
I've been reading some of your posts and I'd like to wish you all lots of









Luv Jaz x


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## ☼♥ Minxy ♥☼ © (Jan 13, 2005)

Hi there

Sorry did see your post on over 40's board but must have missed the bit about clomid on there...anyway thought I'd respond on here.

Firstly, what a wonderful thing you're doing in terms of surrogacy....I'm afraid I have absolutely no knowledge or experience of this so can't help you out there...there is a separate board though which you may find helpful.

Secondly, in answer to your questions about clomid, yes it can effect OPKs and fertility monitors. OPKs and fertility monitors only detect your LH surge (and some fertility monitors will detect rise in oestrogen levels)....they don't actually indicate or confirm ovulation. Once you get a +ve OPK then you'd normally ovulate around 36 hours later. Here's some info...

http://www.ovulation-calculator.com/ovulation-tests/clomid-opks.htm

_"Clomid (Serophene/clomiphene citrate) can cause a false positive in OPKs if taken too soon after finishing the prescription. According to most of the manufacturers you should wait at least 3 days before using an OPK. If you take Clomid days 3-7 you can begin testing on day 10. If you take it 5-9, you should wait until day 12"_

...and some more info....

http://www.ovulation-calculator.com/ovulation-tests/opk-faq.htm

"What is the best time of day to take the ovulation test?

_Unlike pregnancy tests, morning (first morning pee) is not the best time to collect samples for ovulation tests, as LH is synthesized in your body early in the morning and will not appear in your pee until the afternoon. The ideal time to test is in the afternoon, around 2pm, though testing may safely take place from 10am to early evening._

Q: Should I take the test the same time every day?

_Yes, be sure to test at the same time each day. Also, reduce your liquid intake around 2 hours before testing as a diluted liquid sample can prevent or hinder LH detection_

Have you had any recent hormone blood tests done ? I'm assuming you have if you're doing surrogacy ? What are your progesterone levels like (these are often done on cycle day 21) ? Is there any reason to feel you may require Clomid ?

Clomid is usually prescribed to women who do not ovulate on there own. Some consultants will prescribe to women who do ovulate to boost ie release more eggs so more target practise for the sperm. I was prescribed 6mths of clomid 5 years ago (when I was 36) because after 2 naturally conceived early mc's, alternate months of my cycles started to go a bit erratic (lengthened by couple of days)...whilst I ovulate fine on my own every month, our consultant prescribed to help regulate me back and also to boost and I did respond well (2/3 eggs every month - blood tests and follicle tracking scans confirmed) but no pg. Obviously ours is a completely different situation in that we're ttc for ourselves (not surrogacy), I'm 41 and we're further down the line in terms of having had quite a lot of IVF and 6 pgs (5 of which early mc's/chem pgs) so very different from what you're going through.

I can't recommend an actual fertility monitor as never used one but I've read that Clearblue is pretty reliable. I did use OPKs for several mths when we first started ttc 7 years ago but I stopped using them since I know I ovulate and when and they became way too obsessive but I can understand your reasoning behind wanting to use them. How long have you actually been ttc ? From reading your post, I'm assuming this is self-insemination ? How are you timing things at the moment and I presume the male donor has had sperm analysis ? Sorry, I'm not clued up about surrogacy at all !

You may also want to consider charting your basal temperatures, cervical mucus and cervical position....plus any ovulation symptoms you notice...putting all together can help you build up a pattern of your cycles. A good book is "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" by Toni Weschler and her website www.tcoyf.com ...and here's some links to some useful websites...

http://www.fertilityplus.org/faq/bbt/bbtfaq.html

http://www.webwomb.com/checking_cervical_fluid.htm

http://www.webwomb.com/cervical_mucus_page.htm

http://www.webwomb.com/cervical_position_frame_page.htm

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Cervix_checkup_(no_description).svg

Good luck and take care
Natasha

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## Guest (May 28, 2010)

Hi Natasha   

Firstly, I'm really sorry to see all that you've been through yourself, and it was really kind of you to take time to reply to me when you've got so much going on personally.   

Thanks so much for your lovely post with such a wealth of info in it!! It will take me ages to go through all the links in detail but I shall certainly do so as I need to learn all I can about these things!!   

We haven't started the insems yet - it will be this coming month (once AF has been and gone ... bit of a delay this month ... excitement I think!!    grrr...)  And yes it will be self-insemination so we have all the joys of getting used to doing those!   

We haven't had any blood tests or anything like that - it's not normally done for "straight" surrogacy - (I expect it would be standard if we were doing IVF?)  I don't know whether we'd be able to have them done privately ... ? I don't suppose my own GP would do them, as it's for surrogacy, and not for myself.

The reason that we were thinking about Clomid is that, although I'm assuming I still ovulate, I don't know for definite - I believe that just coz people have AFs doesn't necessarily mean they ovulate?  And considering my age, I've heard that as you get older you don't ovulate every month anyway.  So my IPs and I wondered whether we could get Clomid in order to boost the number of eggs released and enhance our chances. 

Again, I don't know whether a GP would be willing to do that for surrogacy arrangement (I could start another topic on the Surrogacy board asking about that).

So the fertility monitors don't actually prove an egg is released, is that right? - would blood tests be the only way to prove that?


  to everyone on this board!

Luv Jaz x


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## ☼♥ Minxy ♥☼ © (Jan 13, 2005)

Hi again

Although you're doing surrogacy, you're still using your own eggs so I would have thought that having some hormone blood tests was pretty essential.  Does your GP really need to know that it's part of surrogacy, could you not just ask for them for yourself and not mention anything else ?

If you're trying to conceive naturally (for surrogacy) then I really think it would be a good idea to get some standard blood tests done to check your ovarian reserve (ie how many eggs you have left) - FSH and LH as well as getting oestradiol, prolactin, thyroid and rubella.  These are standard tests to have done when ttc, not just for IVF.....I've had all of these tested quite a few times over the years and we're still ttc naturally now as I can conceive, just can't sustain pregnancy.  If your GP is unwilling then try and get them done privately.

That's correct, OPKs and fertility monitors do not confirm you've ovulated ie released an egg.  All they do is indicate when you get an LH surge and you should ovulate around 36hrs later but some instances you may get a surge but no ovulation.  The only way to confirm you've actually ovulated and released an egg is by having follicle tracking scans through your cycle or progesterone blood tests.  Progesterone is usually tested on cd21 but this assumes you ovulated on cd14.  It peaks at 7dpo so ideally this is when you should be tested so if you ovulate earlier or later than cd14 try and get tested accordingly at 7dpo.

Some GPs will prescribe clomid but usually it would be a fertility consultant and you would have to have hormone blood tests done before they would prescribe....I'm not sure they would just prescribe it to you if you have no known ovulation problems and have only been ttc for a short time.  It's normally prescribed only if you don't ovulate on your own or if you've already been ttc naturally for some time already.

Yes, some women will still have periods but no ovulation but unless you have the blood tests you're not going to know what's happening.  Despite me being 41 I have very good hormone levels and ovulate every month.

Anyway, I wish you luck    
Take care
Natasha


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