CLOMID FOR INFERTILITY: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

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CLOMID FOR INFERTILITY: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

For over 50 years, clomiphene citrate (also known as clomiphene, Clomid Side Effects, or Serophene) has been used to help treat infertility. Clomid is an oral medication prescribed for infertility, but unlike more advanced fertility technologies, pregnancy rates with Clomid have not changed over time.

Many people are aware of Clomid as a low-tech, lower-cost option than in vitro fertilization (IVF) and are happy to learn they can try this type of treatment with their existing OB/GYN or primary care physician. While many women are able to conceive with Clomid, for those who don’t, the decision about when is the appropriate time to move on to a different treatment can be unclear.Clomid is most successful as the first line of treatment for women who experience irregular or absent menstrual cycles. Clomid can also be used for women who ovulate normally, but who have otherwise unexplained infertility. Clomid treatment generally results in a 10 percent pregnancy rate per cycle, even when combined with intrauterine insemination (IUI).

Women who do not ovulate due to low body weight or hypothalamic amenorrhea (when menstruation stops for several months) rarely respond to Clomid.The goal of treatment with Clomid is to normalize or induce ovulation by taking a 50 mg dose per day on days 3 through 7 of the menstrual cycle. Eighty percent of women taking Clomid will successfully ovulate and 10 to 12 percent will conceive per cycle.

Though Clomid is generally well tolerated by most people, in some cases it can lead to changes in a woman’s cervical mucus and have endometrial effects that can negatively impact success rates. There is no evidence that shows increasing the dosage of Clomid will result in an increase in pregnancy rates. Increased dosages of Clomid may actually worsen the side effects.

Another factor that limits the success of Clomid is that many people have other unknown infertility factors. A previous study showed that 87 percent of women who ovulated but failed to conceive with Clomid had an additional cause of infertility such as pelvic lesions, tubal disease, endometriosis, male factor infertility, or a combination of these factors. Diagnostic testing such as a hysterosalpingogram (HSG), semen analysis, and ultrasound should be performed prior to Clomid treatment to rule out other fertility factors.