Femara

Thought I'd share a little detail on my wife's current drug of choice: Femara, but first, a brief recap for those of you just tuning in:

• Aug. 2007: Visited IVF clinic in hopes of getting help with infertility


• Aug. 2007: Were told by IVF Doctor that chances of conceiving naturally were 0.6% each month, due to low morphology


• Sep. 2007: Kicked off IVF round #1


• Oct. 2007: Completed / failed IVF round #1 - two mature follicles, zero frozen


• Dec. 2007: Visit a second Doctor, who told us semen looks fine (low morphology is offset by a higher-than-average volume / count)


• Jan. 2008: Wife conducts post coital, which identifies more than sufficient, live, swimming sperm in cervical mucus


• Feb. 2008: Wife is determined to have lower-than acceptable Progesterone. Femara is prescribed. Doctor encourages us to try this route for 5 - 6 months.

Femara is the brand name for a drug called "Letrozole", which is traditionally used in treatment of breast cancer. It has been found to have a positive effect in treatment of infertility. To quote web-site ezinearticles.com:

Femara works by suppressing the production of estrogen. Thus, creating the effect of producing more hormones that work solely for ovarian stimulation. These hormones namely LH and FSH help in both the processes of ovulation induction and superovulation. As a result, Femara has become widely accepted as an infertility drug.

My wife ovulates regularly, so our Doctor prescribed this primarily as a means of increasing her Progesterone levels. I've read a few posts on StudyHealth.com from others who have tried a similar route (try THIS thread) and have had good success.

I really think it's just a matter of patience for us ... our second Doctor (the one we trust) told us that 80% of couples abandon infertility treatments prematurely (i.e. moving on to IUI or IVF) due to frustration.

Have a happy Easter, and good luck with each of your respective IF clusterf*cks.