Femara or Clomid...

[LA_Girl]

Hi!

So my online doctor said he’s happy to prescribe me Femara. Is Femara as good for a girl sway as Clomid? I know it hasn’t been used as much so we may not have the results/studies (I believe there’s only one Femara study showing it sways).

I feel comfortable taking Clomid as I’ve taken it before and feel nervous about Femara having read the possible side effects. I know Femara is better at my age (41), but I was just starting to feel more confident about a new pregnancy as my doctor prescribed baby aspirin from the first day of BFP as he was concerned that I may have blood clotting issues in pregnancy.

Can you give me the low down on Femara please Atomic?

Thanks!

[atomic sagebrush]

Yes it is just as good as Clomid if not better. Studies, even if there's just one of them, are worth way more than our experiences.

What side effects of Femara are you worried about? Femara has less side effects!

What criteria has your doctor used to determine that you may have a clotting disorder??? Taking aspirin as a preventative without hard evidence that you need it may actually increase your odds of future losses (and could even be seriously harmful for you personally) and so I hesitate for you to go down that road without proof that you need it. Doctors have been far too cavalier about handing out aspirin to younger women for all sorts of reasons and it is falling out of favor now.

[LA_Girl]

I was worried (scared by!) the one about your bones being more susceptible to breakage!!!

I’d asked about the test for blood clotting and you have to wait 12 weeks after a pregnancy to have a blood test and then have a second test 6 weeks after that, which I have no intention in waiting for. The doctor wrote me a prescription for baby aspirin and told me I should take one a day from the first day of a new pregnancy. I asked why he prescribed it and he said that, given the number of miscarriages I’d had in a row (4) he had the discretion to prescribe it. I said that I’m not a fan of any medication and asked if the purpose was to thin my blood. He said it was, but it was such a small dose it would hardly be noticeable.

I have no intention of taking it, however I had thought about including some flax seeds in my diet daily at that time instead. I had completely avoided flax in this last pregnancy as, in my previous pregnancy I’d had loads daily and had a subchorionic haematoma. I was going to aim for somewhere in the middle (lower end). What do you think?

[atomic sagebrush]

The bone breakage is in women taking it for a cancer treatment, for much longer than 5 days a month. Doesn't apply to the way we use the medication.

Doctors know a lot of stuff (way more than me) but one thing I do have more knowledge about is the blood thinners. So so wrong that it's not noticeable, if you Google the news this very week you will read another study indicating daily baby aspirin can actually be harmful for young women (younger than 65!) DO NOT take it daily. Go for 3x a week and see how it goes. If you are noticing massive amounts of bleeding, bruising, super heavy periods, etc, then wean back off it, it's unlikely you'll need it because your blood is probably very thin already.

I am honestly very hesitatn to even suggest this route given the history of subchorionic hematoma!

Please no flax seeds or oil. Not only due to the blood thinning nature but also because newer evidence is coming to light that indicates flax may be harmful during pregnancy and I no longer recommend anyone to have it more than a light dietary use 2-3 days a week absolute max.

[LA_Girl]

Thanks for the explanation about bone breakage.

I totally agree about doctors handing out pills like sweets without a thought for side effects. Are there any other natural alternatives I could take instead of flax, like Chia seeds or walnuts or something?

[atomic sagebrush]

Of course, the catch is, that if blood thinning is the concern, everything that thins the blood can have an effect of thinning the blood too much.

I think it's a step in the wrong direction given that one of your previous losses was an SCH, to give you anything that could thin the blood. But doctors have a huge disconnect between telling people to take things that they consider "harmless" and seeing what the results are, because they don't always treat you in an ongoing way (and even when they do they don't always recall who we are.) I have seen so many people have SCH-related losses, both natural conceptions and IVF when on these blood thinners that I really distrust them. So I don't see the wisdom in switching out one thing for the other - especially since things like chia seeds and walnuts have other chemical components in them that may have other effects that we don't know/understand yet (walnuts have some of the same chemistry that flaxseed has, and chia seeds have phytoestrogens in them, among other things). At least aspirin is just aspirin with nothing else happening in it. I would BY FAR rather you took aspirin 2-3 times a week rather than to try to imitate the effect of aspirin eating/taking something else that may be equally harmful (since they do all thin the blood) or even more since these things all have other elements to them that while ok in dietary amounts, may have cumulative effects if you eat them in medicinal quantities.