Cycle 1, Day 5

We have officially started the first cycle of fertility treatments. I am currently taking 7 pills per day which is a lot. The bad part is that each medication has its own side effects so I haven't been feeling the greatest. (That on top of Brett being very sick for the past several days. This place has been a little nuts lately.)

Here is a summary of what I am taking:

• Prenatal Vitamin - Pretty standard but gives me some nausea throughout the day. Lately, it has been worse than normal, probably due to all the different medications I am taking at once. The worst part is that I can't throw up when I need to or the medicine will all go bye-bye.
• Metformin (3 pills) - This is for my PCOS and helps improve response to fertility drugs. They are insulin sensitizing agents. And for me, the side effect is a little bit of upset stomach to go along with the already upset stomach I have from the prenatal vitamins. They can also cause diarrhea and bloating but thankfully, I have not experienced either.
• Low-Dose Aspirin - This is taken to improve ovarian responsiveness as well as improve uterine and ovarian blood flow. Also increases pregnancy rates. No side effects with this one.
• Z-pak - This is a precautionary antibiotic that B and I both have to take to prevent infection in the reproductive tract.
• Femara/Letrozole - This tiny pill is the beast but it is the most important of all of them. It inhibits estrogen production which helps stimulate the growth of follicles in the ovary. I am having much worse side effects this time around than I did the first time I used these drugs. I am getting hot flashes (although not very severe). And mostly I am having some bad mood swings. I know it's the medicine so I try to sort of suppress or ignore them but about once a day the crazy just can't be contained and I get pretty emotional. The other day the emotion was anger at Brett basically for being sick and not paying attention to me. I felt like a selfish you-know-what after that one. And today it was sadness as a result of being overwhelmed and anxious. I don't stress easily and this week I am learning what it feels like to have some anxiety. Yikes! Other side effects that I have not experienced (yet) are headache and ovarian enlargement.

The good news? Only 3 more days of the Femara and hopefully I am back to myself for a while. (Of course once the pregnancy starts we will just have more hormone issues.) The bad news? About a week from today is when I have to give myself the dreaded shot of Ovidrel. It isn't that bad and the needle is so tiny I can't even feel it but I just couldn't get myself to do it last time. Hopefully I'm tougher this time since I know what to expect.

So although we are dealing with lots of not-so-fun side-effects, we know it will be worth it in the long run. I think at this point we are both hopeful that we don't go through too many cycles this round because I'm not sure how much more Femara either of us can tolerate!