Clomid is not popcorn! 🍿 (And should be used with caution!)

If you take a gander at the Glow community rooms, you will see countless women who are given the fertility drug, clomid, as a first line of treatment by their OB-GYNs, with little to no monitoring or supervision. Clomid is cheap. It is relatively mild, for a fertility drug. And it can lead to successful conception for many women with minor ovulatory problems. But that does not mean that you should take it prior to a full fertility work-up and you should certainly not take it for months at a time. Simply put, it is not popcorn, but a serious drug that can have a negative impact on your fertility! So please proceed with caution!

How does Clomid work?

Clomid helps your pituitary gland produce more FSH, which in turn helps nurture your follicle into a mature egg in time for ovulation.

The way it work is very clever (and a little sneaky). Clomid is an antiestrogen, meaning that it blocks your pituitary gland—your center of hormone production—from recognizing your own natural estrogen. The pituitary gland, worried that your hormones will be off balance, kicks into overdrive, making even more FSH to compensate.

This FSH gives your follicle a boost, helping it to develop correctly and encouraging it to release estrogen at the middle of your cycle. This estrogen in turn triggers the pituitary gland to start releasing luteinizing hormone (LH), which signals to your follicle that it’s time to release its egg.

So what's the catch?

Because Clomid blocks estrogen, the hormone that helps make your cervical mucus the right consistency for sperm to get through, if you take it all month long it can actually make it harder to get pregnant by making your cervical mucus too sticky. That’s why doctors only prescribe Clomid at the beginning of your cycle, and why they often recommend that you only be on it for three to six months at a time.

What else?

Well, if your tubes are blocked, or your partner has sperm issues, you taking Clomid will do little to help you get pregnant. That's why we strongly recommend that you AND your partner do a full fertility work-up including an HSG for you and sperm analysis for him before you start on Clomid. Once you get the all clear still keep in mind that Clomid works better if you can couple it with an IUI or at the very least a trigger shot. (A trigger shot helps you ovulate in a timely manner.)

Clomid is a wonderful drug and we are happy to have it as a first line of defense against infertility - but it should be used under doctor's supervision and mindfully. If your doctor hands it to you, month after month, with no results and no follow-up (believe us, this happens a lot) then it is time to find a different doctor. One that takes your fertility seriously. 

PS. If you have PCOS - ask your doctor about taking Letrazole instead of Clomid. More on that later! 

Also here is a brief snapshot on Clomid success rates, when coupled with insemination vs taking it by itself.