Advice about Fertility
Only interested in drug therapy
November 2001
I am looking for a fertility specialist in the Berkeley area. I have
searched the UCB Parents archives and found the information there to
be from 1998 and 1999. I am forty one years old with two kids eleven
and sixteen. I really want another baby. However I do not feel that
I need in vitro or artificial insemination. I am just interested in
drug therapy. Any advice or recommendations would be good.
Alexandra
If you're only interested in trying a medication such
as Clomid, you can probably get that from your regular
ob/gyn, and use it alone without IUI or IVF. Clomid is
inexpensive and a relatively simple treatment but it
has it's drawbacks, too. If it takes more than that, I
would suggest you see a knowledgable specialist other
than your regular ob/gyn and I highly recommend the
doctors at Pacific Fertility Center in SF. It doesn't
come cheap, but they're really top notch. Good luck.
In addition to consulting an M.D. fertility specialist, you may
want to consider seeing an acupuncturist who works with infertility
patients. My fertility specialist (not in California) actually had
his patients work with an acupuncturist as a complementary therapy.
Here in Berkeley, Dr. Nancy Rakela (an oriental medical doctor, not
an M.D.) has a lot of experience working with infertility patients.
I worked with Nancy before my in vitro cycle, and I saw medical proof
(Doppler ultrasound) that the acupuncture improved the blood flow to
my ovaries and uterus. Dr. Rakela is located on 10th Street, and she
is listed in the phone book.
Maria
to the woman who only wanted drug therapy, I'd strongly urge her to find
out first what the problem is. Personally, I feel with all the
potential problems associated with fertility drugs, particularly for
women over 40, you're much better off finding out if there's an even
simpler solution (or less invasive one). (Aside from the increased
likelihood of multiple births, and the possibilty that they could dry
your cervical fluid, hindering pregnancy, there are some noteworthy
health risks.) And as someone else mentioned, if you're determined to
take fertility drugs, you don't need a fertility specialist, just a
willing ob/gyn. If you're more willing to be proactive and methodical,
I'd suggest a few things: A book by Toni Weschler, called "Taking
Charge of Your Fertility," and checking out some of the information on a
few websites (www.resolve.org, www.inciid.org). If you conclude that
you do, in fact, need a fertility specialist, Susan Willman in Orinda is
wonderful. But I suspect, from what I've seen in her care, that she
probably wouldn't consider just randomly prescribing drugs to you. And
not every fertility treatment involves IVF or IUI. It really depends on
what is going on for you. Dr. Willman has a fairly long wait (up to 2
months) for the initial appointment, and she strongly recommends a
series of tests before you even see her, to rule out some common
problems.
Dec 1999
Has anyone ever had experience with taking the drug Clomid (clomiphene
citrate)? If so, was there ever an adverse reaction that showed up in
your menstration? I recently took a test for my ovarium supply (to see
if I still had any eggs left). I only took Clomid for five days. Two
months later I suddenly had very heavy periods, like flooding, for two
cycles. Since then my periods have resumed to normal but by OB-GYN wants
to run a test (biopsy) and does not think the heavy bleeding could be due
to the Clomid. I am trying to avoid the biopsy if possible, since it sounds
pretty invasive (endometrial biopsy). I would love to hear feedback by
anyone who has had a similar experience, or had this biopsy procedure.
The first advice I have is to discuss the side effects of Clomid with
your doctor again. I am very shocked that the doctor thought that Clomid did
not cause your heavy periods. Is it a commonly known side effect, from what
I have read and experienced. In addition, there are several sites about
Clomid on the Web. You can just search on the word "Clomid" in any
search engine and get many sites. Check out
http://www.parentsplace.com/fertility/infertility/qa/0,3105,11578,00.html
for starters or search on infoseek.com.
I took Clomid for about 4 months last spring and summer for infertility.
It made my already bad PMS even worse, and did lead to heavier periods.
Another side effect is ovarian cysts, and my OB/Gyn had my ovaries
palpated before each new prescription. Perhaps your doctor is going one step
further and doing a biopsy as well?
I hope this information helps. Best of luck to you!
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