What exactly is Clomid? How does this work?

Question

I have never heard of that until i started looking at the Answers section of yahoo and getting involved with pregnancy questions. But what does this do.. i know it some how helps women get pregnant... How much does this cost, and is it for females that have nothing wrong with them and just have trouble conceiving? or what? i am having trouble.. been trying for 7 months now, but i am going to schedule an appt soon for my doctor? on what circumstances do they prescribe it to you?

Answer 1

All great questions. There are many, so I'll try to answer fully. Sorry in advance for the long response.

Clomid is a drug which helps women ovulate (produce an egg.) If you don't ovulate on your own, then you have an 80% chance with clomid. If you do ovulate on your own, then you may ovulate more than 1 egg with clomid, thus increasing your chance of twins.

Given what you have said, you have about a 50% chance of being pregnant by now, without any medicine.

85% of couples will be pregnant after 1 year of unprotected sex.

If everything is normal, meaning your tubes are open, your partner has normal sperm, and you are ovulating and you don't have signs of endometriosis (significant pain during menses, sex or bowel movements), then you likely have what is called "unexplained infertility."

Depending on your age, 50% of couples in this situation will get pregnant on their own within the second year of trying to conceive.

This means after two years, only about 7% of couples are not pregnant. At this point, treatment is definitely justified.

If you are 35 or older, investigation and possibly treatment are justified after 6 months.

That being said, to answer your questions.

1) Clomid is an anti-estrogen. When you take it, your brain thinks your ovary isn't working and sends a stronger signal to the ovary to make you produce more eggs. In women who don't ovulate, 80% will ovulate (produce an egg) when they take clomid, but only 50% of those ever get pregnant. (This is because clomid is an anti-estrogen and might have a temporary negative impact on the uterus.)

2) If you are not pregnant in 2 years and there is nothing wrong, then you have a 2% chance of getting pregnant each month. Clomid doubles your chance to 4%. (This means you ultimately may need additional treatment.)

3) If insurance doesn't cover it, it's generally about $50 per month.

4) You didn't ask, but 20% of women have side effects with clomid. Mostly hot flashes and mood changes. Visual changes are a reason to stop taking the medicine.

Finally, I think it's great that you're going to see your doctor. Too many wait too long.

I don't know a lot about you and there are many questions that I would ask which might help me more accurately help you with making the right decisions.

Good luck in trying to get pregnant.

Answer 2

You don't need a prescription to get clomid... you can order it through the mail! But I would track your cycles for 3 or more months before going to a doc or taking clomid.... take your temp every morning for three or four months, jot it down, then take that to the doctor and show him/her... lots of valuable info in that!!! Then they will do all the tests they need to do and advise you on what to do next. Good luck!!!

Answer 3

i was prescribed clomid because i did not ovulate i took one cycle of it on days 5-9 and am now 6 weeks prego with my first baby after 5 years and i think i only paid like 15 dollars with my insurance for it

Answer 4

Well you've had all your other question answered. So I'll answer the price. I got mine for only $10 with insurance. I think it was only about $30 or so without using it!

Answer 5

clomid is a pill that induce ovulation if your not ovulating, it is a pill that plays a trick to the brain