To clomid or not to clomid?

I just spoke to Dr. Brenner and now I am confused!!

I am supposed to start the provera (like TODAY!). I told him that IF I start it, chances are I won't be home during the time I might need monitoring (I will be on vacation). I asked him if I could put off taking the provera and that will guarantee I will be home for monitoring. He told me that I could do that (and come in for monitoring prior to taking the provera to make sure all is okay) or take the provera, get AF, start clomid and "have intercourse" when I'm away to cover all bases. In other words, not necessarily be monitored. Is that even safe? I'm confused. Any advice would be appreciated

Re: To clomid or not to clomid?

it's really a personal choice. My first two clomid cycles were with my OB/GYN. Month #1 was clomid w/BDing when I got a +OPK, Month #2 was clomid with 1 IUI. My OB did not monitor me during this time. Month 3-5 I was with my current RE.

Re: To clomid or not to clomid?

I know that many, many ob/gyns and even REs will let you do an unmonitored Clomid cycle but I personally wouldn't be comfortable with it. For me, after more than a week of monitoring we found out that the first round of Clomid didn't work, so my dosage had to be raised. I was able to do the second round without taking Provera again and getting AF. If I hadn't gone in for monitoring, I would have never known that it didn't work until AF didn't show 2-3 weeks after, and that I needed to have my dosage raised. If it doesn't work you could be wasting more time than if you just hold off on starting the Provera 2 weeks, KWIM?

Re: To clomid or not to clomid?

You can take clomid without being monitored if you use OPKs and temp. Personally, I would want to be monitored with blood and sono. However, this doesn't seem like what your RE is suggesting, it seems he is saying you should BD while you are away just in case you ovulate during the time he can't monitor you.

Re: To clomid or not to clomid?

Thanks for your responses.

I think to be on the safe side, I will wait two more weeks so I am home for monitoring. If I start provera on 2/8 and take for 12 days - when should af arrive?

Also, do you need to be monitored on provera? Or do I just call the RE the first day of AF?

ETA: I am going away 2/18-2/21 and want to make sure it's not an important time for me to be home.

Message edited 1/22/2008 12:47:28 PM.

Re: To clomid or not to clomid?

I got AF about 3 days after stopping the Provera. Everyone is different and it can take up to a week I was told.

You do not need to be monitored by the RE while on Provera, you just call on the first day of AF and they'll probably tell you to come in for CD3 testing (bloodwork and sono).

Re: To clomid or not to clomid?

I took Clomid with my OB/GYN before going to the RE and I had no idea at the time that someone would even monitor you at all during a clomid cycle! Dr. Brenner is also my doctor, and he's EXTREMELY conservative...so if he thinks its okay, by all means, if you lean towards that way, do it! He'll probably put you on a super-low dosage (50mg) if he's not going to monitor you.

Good luck!

Re: To clomid or not to clomid?