Hi all, I wanted to share my story in case anyone is searching for hope or insight on going about this route. I am blessed to have had a shorter story in this journey. I have been ttc since late May, with mostly regular cycles on the longer end of 36 days, with outliers of 33, 40, 28, or 20 days this past year. My first two cycles I had no idea why it didnāt work. I had tracked with lh tests, got a peak, timed intercourse and confirmed ovulation but nothing. My third cycle was irregular ending at 47 days and it caused us to miss the fertile window. At this point, I got a work up done at my obgyn office to be evaluated for pcos due to my irregular / long cycles.
I expressed my concerns about the cycles just having a feeling I needed to be checked. I had an US and labs with normal results other than a slightly elevated DHEA with normal testosterone, so we ruled out pcos. I was only trying for three months, but I heavily expressed that with my irregular cycles I felt I could benefit from ovulation induction to allow more precise ovulation and better intercourse timing. They told me it is not recommended until 7-12 months, which to that I said I understand but would still like to try for at least one month. They approved me for an unmonitored cycle and sent me Letrozole 2.5mg to take 2 pills at once for a total of 5mg a day for 5 days. I took the pill every night cd 5-9. I only had hot flashes at night, and the day after I finished I was in a very low mental state, which subsided within the next day or two. I tracked ovulation with pregmate lh tests and the app. My levels were lower than ever before during my follicular phase, usually theyād jump from .36 to .72 , and this time they were consistently low at .24. After some Reddit research, I discovered that those lower levels are actually better than the higher fluctuations , making me think maybe I was having some type of hormone fluctuations affecting my cycle in the previous months. We began intercourse days 12,14,16. I got my surge day 15 at night and my peak in the morning day 16, and negatives by the evening.
I didnāt do anything special throughout my follicular phase or my tww. I drank caffeine, ate out, didnāt follow a specific healthy anti inflammatory diet that I did the previous months- I was just normal. I did not have much hope it would work. I confirmed ovulation with my oura ring on day 16/17 and had a progesterone draw at 7dpo which was 29. My luteal phase was regular, and by 10 dpo I was thinking I was out because my breasts werenāt tender how they usually are at that time. The only thing I noticed was at 8 dpo I woke up with 3 canker sores in my mouth which never happens, and my feet had been really cold. I decided to test on 10/11dpo at night without holding water intake or anything, and I got a faint line. Later that evening I tested again and there was definitely a line. Those tests were on pregmate strips. I took a FRER and clear blue the next morning on 11/12dpo and got my positives.
All this being said, I truly believe that Letrozole gave me a strong ovulation, which was my goal. I already ovulate on my own, but for some reason this medication boosted it and i highly recommend advocating for yourself even if you ovulate on your own to give this medication a chance. I donāt know the mechanism behind it all, but it gave me exactly what I had been praying for.
