Choconan - Welcome. I've never taken clomid, but I know that it has helped some ovulate earlier (if they were generally a late - cd20+ - O'er). You're the first on the board who has ever had the ovary drilling. What exactly is that? I've heard about it, but never paid much attention.

You're welcome to join in the monthly chat, too. There are several of us there in IF and many who might be able to give you some insight on IUI, injections etc.

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http://rchiprean.abmp.com/index.html

Thanks for welcoming me! I'd love to join the monthly chat. Where can I find what time it is and on what day?

Ovarian drilling is a surgical procedure where they give you general anesthetic and is done laproscopicly (sp?). So they go in through two or three tiny openings in your abdomen and using a special laser instrument, drill holes into each ovary, depending on how thick the ovary wall has become. Some do a different variation of this by doing an ovarian wedge, where they just snip off a tiny part of the ovary. And I'm just 23 and mine were really really thick from the cysts each month that would accumulate and when no ovulation happens, it just adds to the layer already on the ovary and it builds, making the ovaries very insensitive and unresponsive. This is usually the reason why a woman with PCOS may not ovulate on Clomid.

Here's some more information:

VARIAN DRILLING


Ovarian drilling is a laparoscopic procedure, where instruments are
introduced through very small incisions in the abdomen, and the
surgeon uses a camera to guide him or her. A small needle punctures
the cyst in the ovary, and then an electrical current is used to
destroy part of the cyst. At Pregnancy-info.net, they state that
success rates are less than 50%, but they do not specify what outcomes
determine “success” in their opinions. At any rate, side effects, such
as scarring, could further impact the ability to become pregnant in
the long run.
Getting Pregnant: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome - C01

A study published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
in March 1998 discusses success rates in achieving pregnancy after
ovarian drilling. The study enrolled 118 women with documented cases
of PCOS and then performed the procedure on them over a five-year
period. The total conception rate within the first 12 months after the
procedure was 54%. Women who successfully conceived had had “a shorter
duration of infertility, were treated with diathermy (rather than
laser), had higher pre-operative luteinising hormone [LH] levels, were
younger and were more likely to have ultrasonographic evidence of
polycystic ovarian disease.” When considering only women who had been
infertile for 3 years or less prior to the procedure, the success rate
increases to 79%.
Factors affecting the outcome of laparoscopic ovar...[Br J Obstet Gynaecol. 1998] - PubMed Result


In March 2005 a study regarding laparoscopic ovarian drilling (LOD)
was published in the European Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and
Reproductive Biology. In this study 45 women who had been
unsuccessfully treated with clomiphene (Clomid) were selected to
undergo LOD. “Serum testosterone (T), follicle stimulating hormone
(FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), fasting insulin and glucose
levels, body mass indexes, modified Ferriman Gallwey (FG) hirsutism
scores of the subjects are recorded before and after the procedure.”
After LOD, 93.3% of the women reported normal menstrual cycles, and
64.4% achieved pregnancy spontaneously. “The serum levels of T, free
T, LH, LH:FSH ratio, insulin and FG scores were significantly reduced
after LOD, although glucose levels and glucose/insulin ratio remained
unchanged.”
Laparoscopic ovarian drilling in polycystic ovary ...[Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2005] - PubMed Result

A smaller study was performed in 2002 at the Ayub Medical College in
Abbottabad and the Khyber Medical College in Peshawar, both in
Pakistan. Sixteen women with PCOS were selected to undergo LOD. They
all had a full infertility workup before the procedure, including a
6-month trial of clomiphene. After the procedure 14 (87.5%) women had
regular menstrual cycles and 11 (68.8%) achieved pregnancy.
MINILAP


In a study published in 2004 in Human Reproduction, they list factors
related to pregnancy success after LOD. They state that, “marked
obesity, marked hyperandrogenism and/or long duration of infertility
in women with PCOS seem to predict resistance to LOD. High LH levels
in LOD responders appear to predict higher probability of pregnancy.”
Ovulation induction using laparoscopic ovarian dri...[Hum Reprod. 2004] - PubMed Result


A study reviewed in the Cochrane Database in 2006 shows no significant
difference in pregnancy rates after LOD versus treatment with
gonadotropins (LH, FSH, HMG, etc.). About 50% of women will have a
live birth and about 16% will have a miscarriage after achieving
pregnancy. There were fewer multiple births associated with LOD,
however.
Laparoscopic 'drilling' by diathermy or laser for ovulation induction in anovulatory polycystic ovary syndrome


A 2003 review article in Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology
discusses various treatment options for infertility and PCOS. The
authors reviewed multiple studies and compiled the data to determine
overall success rates. They report that 82% of women in the studies
experienced ovulation following LOD and 63% achieved pregnancy. This
data compares favorably with a similar Cochrane review. The authors
also state that if ovulation has not been achieved spontaneously after
2-3 months following LOD, adding an ovulation stimulator (like
clomiphene) is more successful at this point than it would have been
before LOD.
The management of infertility associated with polycystic ovary syndrome


Other patient information sites seem to report the same 50% success
rate for LOD (although I did see rates as high as 75% after 3 years).
For the most part, it looks as though they are using birth rate rather
than pregnancy rate to determine this success. This is the statistic
that will be most important to patients.
Female Infertility: Endometriosis, PCOS, and Unexplained Infertility
ivf-infertility.com | Surgery for polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
Fertility, Infertility, Infertility Treatment, Fertility Drugs, Fertility Clinics, Male Infertility, Female Infertility, Statistics, Online Community and Message Board
http://health.ivillage.com/gyno/gyno...,,677r,00.html

Welcome!
This is the link for monthly Infertilty Chat January Infertility

When I was onl Clomid, I ovulated a little earlier too.
Sorry you have been through so much. Hopefully this cycle will do the trick for you!

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Welcome. I have experienced both clomid and Gonal F. I ovulate and have normal cycles on my own but have yet to get pg in 2 years. I did 5 cycles of Clomid. It didn't really make be ovulate any earlier. However I did 1 cycle of Gonal F and I did ovulate about 2-3 days earlier. We also didn't do IUI with the Gonal F. The great thing is that my RE heavily monitors you with the injections with bloodwork and ultrasounds. There really is no chance of missing ovulation and doing timed BD. The Gonal F helps to stimulate the ovaries even more than the clomid. Unfortunately I still haven't gotten pg. I go this month for removal of 2 polyps, which might be the issue.

There have been a couple of other ladies that have used clomid as well as the injections. As the others said please join us in the January Infertility thread. You'll get lots of help and input!

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