I had my post coital test this morning. Since the only instructions my RE gave me was to have intercourse either the night before or the morning of my appointment, I opted for the night before. No need to put pressure into "having" to DTD right before going in, right?
So. It was about a 14 hour lapse between doin it and getting the test completed.
I have been nervous about clomid depleting my fertile juices since I started it. And,even though I had a couple of episodes of EWCM, it was NOTHING like I am used to. Normally, I have lots of the clear stuff, which steadily increases until I ovulate, for five days total. It is very predictable, and I cling to that predictability in the midst of TTC hell.
This month....not so much.
And it showed. My cervical fluid had plenty of sperm in it, they were just all dead. Not one of them had an ounce of life in em. The nurse kindly told me that this could mean the live ones are all up in my tubes already, or- that my lady juices are killing them off faster than that virus in I am Legend. She suggested an IUI next cycle.
Which I am firmly declining. WTH?! I am ovulating fine without clomid, so you put me on clomid. Then Clomid dries me up and I have to give up all my dreams of conceiving my baby during the throes of passion-instead, with my legs in stirrups and my husband's sperm in a syringe?! Maybe I am just too sentimental, but I have not given up on sex leading to conception just yet.
I left the office in tears. Dr.Google assures me that the post coital test isn't completely reliable, but Dr. Endo wants me to switch gears and move to IUIs. Stupid clomid. Stupid, stupid clomid. Thanks for taking the one thing that was normal about my reproductive organs.
14 comments:
Clomid did the exact same thing to me. Except I had the added "bonus" of it thinning out my uterine lining. My RE switched me to Femara and it worked much better - fewer follicles, but EWCM and a nice juicy lining. Even though I ovulate on my own, my RE's plan was to get me more targets and to give DH's swimmers a "taxi ride". I have had 3 IUIs, and they weren't bad at all. We learned a lot about DH's swimmers in the process. During our 3rd cycle, we got our BFP, but we aren't sure if it was the IUI or the sex we had two days later since everything is dating 2 days after the IUI. Good luck!
Wow times have changed. When we had to do the post-coital it had to be within an hour of DTD. My ob at the time came into the exam room and jokingly said "I bet it is a little embarrassing that we all know what you just did"..I wanted to die--hubby thought it was hysterical. But, my CM was killing off his swimmers and I had to start douching with baking soda...do they still recommend that?? I should tell you that was about 20 years ago so I am sure they have more updated techniques now :)
Clomid dries me up too. I take a lot of Guaffinessin (sp?) about 5 days pre-O all the way to O and make sure I'm getting 64 oz of water & that all helps.
I don't get why the doc never did a post-coital WITHOUT Clomid. IT seems dumb, because it's quite well known that Clomid dries the cervical fluid up.
I wouldn't necessarily want to run to an IUI just yet either.
So sorry!
Loren, that sucks! (Btw I am sorry I have been bad about commenting on your posts lately--I have been reading and thinking about you, though). Do you think the doc will consider redoing the post-coital test without Clomid? Also, if it was the night before it seems really likely that the living sperm was already in the tubes. Anyway I am hoping that Clomid works for you just fine without IUI, nurses/docs' advice be damned.
I have horrible cm and have been told by doc and lady friends to do the following 3 things:
drink grapefuit juice pre-ovulation time
drink an f-load of water all of the time
use pre-seed
maybe they can help? were you on antibiotics at all this month?
I left the office crying after post coital test also... I dont understand why they did it the while you are in clomid... It would be better to have it done in a non medicated cycle to really see if it is clomid that is causing this. Did they see the pH of your mucus??? It seems to me that 14 hours is its too long of a time to go do a post coital, I had it done after 4 hours (still got crappy results). Have you heard of pre seed? it is a fertility friendly lubricant that helps when clomid affects the EWCM.
As I said before clomid also dried me up, but here I am... dont lose hope my friend
It's not over til its over this cycle- remember that :) You deserve a positive hpt! Still hoping for the real deal this cycle for you!
I suggest lots of gin and tonics for you next cycle!
And, here's hoping that all of your hubster's super fast swimmers were long gone in search of your baby fruit by the time of that test!
As always,
Lots of love.
Sorry it was disheartening to hear that...I do not have any experience with clomid--but I do hope they can figure out the right combo for you to give his swimmers the best chance! Thinking GOOD thoughts for you=)
Post-coital testing is controversial. There is no consensus about whether there is any point to it (as the nurse said, the good ones would be up in the tubes already anyway).
As for IUI, I can see the rationale for doing it with Clomid (as I did one cycle)...but that was one UN-romantic day. And stressful. The hubby doesn't like to splooge on command before heading off to work.
Have you tried PreSeed lubricant?
Or taking cough syrup or mucinex to thin the mucus? They may not carry guarantees, but they are cheaper than IUI. And you'd still have some romance associated with your babymaking attempts.
Hey!
After looking more into the dissolving rates of multis and prenatals, there is also a test you can try. Just put your prenatal in a glass of water and do not disturb it for 30 minutes.
It should dissolve and crumble into tiny particles. This test worked WAY better than the vinegar.
I use Target prenatals.
I never had those problems with clo.mid. I hope things get straightened out.
So sorry about your test. I've never been on Clomid, so I'm not that familiar with how the body reacts. I do know that I've added Vitamin E to my vitamins that I take every day. They say it helps CM. Good luck!
Just to elt you know that I ahve been thinking about you! Hugs!
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