Some women are blessed with a long cycle - some up to six weeks. This can seem like a real boon when you are young, after all, who wants to start a new period every 28 days?! However, once you start to try for a baby, your cycle becomes a huge issue. Understanding your menstrual cycle is a really useful part of trying for a baby and worth tracking, especially if you have been trying for a baby for six months or more, or have a history of irregular periods.
Women who don't have periods or have irregular periods
Although the top tips for conception certainly include having lots of unprotected sex as often as you can, there is a very definite window of opportunity around your ovulation each month, when you can get pregnant. Thus, if you don't ovulate regularly, this can hamper your chances of conceiving.
What is clomid?
Ovulation induction is when a drug helps stimulate your body into producing eggs in the way in which your body should normally react.
For some women, producing eggs more regularly is enough to achieve conception, without having to go down the route of IVF and other forms of assisted conception.
Clomiphene citrate, also known
as Clomid, is the most common fertility
drug anmd can prescribed direct from a GP. Taken as a pill, it tells your brain
that you are not producing enough
oestrogen, and that the body needs to produce more eggs.
Possible side-effects
Your GP will discuss your medical history and decide with you if you have a good profile for taking this drug. However, possible side-effects could include hot flushes,
sore breasts, insomnia, mood swings, nausea and
heavy periods. In some cases, there might be weight gain or your complexion might become more spotty.
In extreme cases, basic research has led some to link taking clomid for extended periods (more than a year) with ovarian cancer. But it is a common and safe option to help kick-start the pregnancy process for many women.
