Tamoxifen or Nolvadex?
5 Replies
Long2bmum - February 9

I was just wondering if anyone had been prescribed Tamoxifen or Nolvadex (same drug) after Clomid? I am on my third month of 40mg Tamoxifen days 2-5. Blood tests have shown that it is getting me to ovulate successfully which i couldn't naturally or on Clomid. Just wondered if anyone else has had any success with this at all? I f this doesn't help me conceive this month my doc has told me that IVF is the next step. Many thanks, Laura x

 

pmblake - February 9

Hi Long2bmum, I took a simliar drug called anastrozole. It's in the same breast cancer drug family. I did ovulate on it although late in my cycle and was fortunate to have gotten pregnany twice! within 3 months of eachother. They both ended in a very early m/c. About 5 1/2 weeks. The little bit of research that I did showed that there is a high m/c rate w/ these drugs. I was happy to have been able to get pregnant w/ the help of anastrozole but due to the m/c's I'm no on it anymore. It was just too taxing. I am now on Serophene (another form of clomid). also, I couldn't ovulated on Clomid at all. Not one time, but I can O almost every month on Serophene. It's complicated as they are the same drug. My Dr. best describes it as how the 2 drugs are mixed. same ingredients, just mixed differently. Well, good luck to you!! Have you tried an IUI while on Tamoxifen?

 

Long2bmum - February 11

pmblake - Thankyou for your response. I am so sorry about your 2 m/c's, that must have been very destressing for you. I am sorry for your loss. It is such a shame about the high risk of m/c with these drugs as i was so happy to have just successfully ovulated let alone conceive! I have not tried IUI on Tamoxifen, i get the impression that they do not want me to take this drug for longer than a few months. To be honest, although my HSG showed that my fallopian tube (i only have one) was not blocked, there was a comment about the end of the tube slightly external to it was not as open as they would have liked so i'm not sure if any eggs are even getting through? Therefore, i will not push for IUI and will accept the IVF if i return next month not yet pg. Fingers crossed that this will be our month - we have tried to get pg for 3 years. It's so hard. Thankyou again for your comments and the very best of luck to you! Laura :)

 

KitCat - February 12

Hi Long2bmum.....this is my second month taking Tamoxifen. I am taking 20mg on days 3-7. I'm 37 and have a 7 y/o ds. I've had 8 m/c's during the last 9 years and have been diagnosed with a blood clotting disorder, Factor V Leiden. Have you asked your ob about IUI (intrauterine insemination)? Some women want to skip right over that and go to IVF, but I hear IUI is much less costly and ranges right around $400-$1000 per IUI. My ob said her office has had great success with Tamoxifen versus Clomid and it usually takes 2 months for it to get into your system. I guess we'll see how well it works, won't we? :) Good luck!!

 

Long2bmum - February 12

Hi KitCat, thanks for the advice. So sorry to hear about your losses over the last 9 years. You must be a strong woman to keep getting straight back in there and trying again. I really admire your determination! What happens with you now then? Can they treat your blood disorder? I have not discussed IUI with my doctor as i am not certain that my fallopian tube is fully open, i have lots of scar tissue around the top of the tube (noted during my HSG) and i'm convinced nothing is getting through so i'm keen to skip to IVF if it's offered as a next step. Good to hear the positive things you have said about Tamoxifen, this is my third month so fingers crossed! Thanks again - best of luck to you - Laura :)

 

KitCat - February 14

Hi Laura.......as for what do I do now, dh and I are at the end of our ropes for ttc. I am 37 and dh is 40 and the more we think about it, the more we realize that soon it will be time to stop ttc. We've actually been thinking of becoming foster parents maybe with option to adopt. We'll see. My ob's practice is catholic and so are we and they don't do IUI or IVF or referrals. They won't even tie your tubes if you have a c-section because they believe in natural birth control. In regards to the blood disorder, there are two kinds of Factor V Leiden. They are heterozygous and homozygous. I am hetero, which is the better of the two and means that I inherited it from my mom only and that my blood clots 10x more than the average person. Homozygous means you inherited from both parents and you clot 100x more than the average person. People that are hetero, like myself, can usually control the clotting by only taking a low dose aspirin daily. If I were to get pg, then I would give myself heparin shots daily until 6 weeks post partum to insure no clots get to the fetus. People who are diagnosed as homozygous really should be on heparin every day whether pregnant or not since they are more likely to clot. So, as for now I just take the low dose aspirin and hope for the best. I only know of one couple that did IVF. They did a total of 5 IVF's and put it all on credit cards, can you believe that? lol Three months after the last IVF failure they got pg on their own and now have an 18 month old boy and are now trying to pay off the debt. Go figure! Good luck to you and dh in whatever you decide. KitCat

 

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