PCOS and Clomid

The first and foremost treatment while treating women with anovulation is prescription of Clomid. Little is known about the fact that Clomid was initially manufactured as BCP. And the fertility outcome was an added advantage. Clomid is supposed to make infertile women fertile by making them ovulate regularly. Each woman will respond to different doses of Clomid. The common prescribed dose is 50 mg. I responded to 25 mg of Clomid. It is better to start with a low dose of Clomid and gradually increase it. Starting with high doses straight away can result in ovarian hyper stimulation in women.

Your doctor might be able to prescribe the correct dose of Clomid and see how you respond using an ultrasound scan. As the main risk with Clomid is ovarian hyper simulation, your doctor will be the monitoring the number of mature follicles around your ovulation time. Usually Clomid is taken from Day 5 to Day 9 of your cycle. But, some doctors might prescribe you to take it on different dates depending on your situation.

Regular ovulation is required to increase your chances of getting pregnant. As most of the women with PCOS, don’t ovulate regularly the chances of getting pregnant is greatly reduced.

Women not ovulating regularly don’t secrete enough LH and FSH in correct amount for the egg to mature. This results in an immature egg that is not released from the ovary.

How Clomid works

Clomid is a drug available upon prescription and should be taken with a doctor’s supervision.

Clomid works by binding itself to the estrogens receptor sites in the brain. This disallows the estrogens receptor sites from binding with the naturally circulating estrogens.

In response to this, the hypothalamus releases more Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH), stimulating the pituitary to release more FSH and LH. The FSH will cause the ovary to produce more eggs and follicles.

Once the Clomid intake is stopped at Day 9 (or Day 10) of the cycle, the follicles in the ovary will produce oestrogen. The oestrogen will bind with the estrogens receptor sites in the body. As the follicles mature towards the mid-cycle, oestrogen (oestradiol) level peaks resulting in LH surge. The LH surge will cause the ovaries to release the egg resulting in ovulation.

Clomid is an effective fertility drug that doesn’t require any hormone injections. As Clomid works by binding with the oestrogen receptor sites, brain is fooled to think that there is not enough oestrogen in the body and will start producing more oestrogen.

Hence, women in a Clomid cycle might have high levels of oestrogen when compared to a normal cycle.

Side effects of Clomid

Most of the side effects associated with Clomid or minor and usually disappears when the drug is stopped. The most common side effects of Clomid are discussed here:
 Nausea
 Tiredness
 Headaches
 Moodiness
 decrease in cervical mucous
 A thinner uterine lining ( sometimes too thin for conception to occur)
 hot flushes
 ovarian hyper stimulation
 Abdominal bloating
 Blurred Vision