First medicated cycle

[u/ColdSeaworthiness276]

This will be a bit long, but please stick around and read :) Some backstory on our fertility journey so far:

- stopped taking birth control pill august 2024
- eventually diagnosed with PCOS (anovulatory) March 2025, prescribed metformin
- finally ovulating consistently by September 2025!!
- no success since then
- started seeing a REI in May 2026. Had full fertility workup (bloodwork, ultrasounds, SHG, SA for husband) and everything came back fine besides my PCOS
- diagnosed with unexplained infertility and prescribed letrozole + trigger shot with TI

Fast forward to today, I’m on CD2 and about to start my first round of letrozole (2.5mg) tomorrow and I guess I’m just looking for some of your input if you have done a medicated cycle before - any side effects with letrozole? Did you finally get pregnant? How long were you trying before you started letrozole? Were you ovulating on your own already?

It’s been a long time coming but it’s kinda hitting me that I’m actually starting fertility meds and I just want to hear from others that have gone through it too. Can you please share anything about your experience with letrozole? Thank you for reading 🫶

[u/Little-Cow1417]

Following because I’m also going to be starting a medicated cycle with a trigger shit and TI. I should be getting my period on Thursday so haven’t started the Letrozole but been reading lots on it (maybe not a good thing haha). I also have PCOS and I have borderline not good/not bad egg quality and my husband has great sperm count but low motility. Best of luck to you!

[u/ColdSeaworthiness276 → u/Little-Cow1417]

😅 I know, I feel the same way! I want to know but I’m also scared lmao. If you don’t mind me asking, how long have you been trying? Do you ovulate on your own already?

[u/Little-Cow1417 → u/ColdSeaworthiness276]

I got off birth control in Aug 2025 but really started trying and tracking January of this year. I’m turning 35 next week so I kind of wanted to speed up the process because I knew it would take a while. I don’t ovulate on my own but the fertility doctor never mentioned anything otherwise and I don’t even know how much mg they’re going to prescribe. I’m curious on what your symptoms will be! How about you?

[u/ColdSeaworthiness276 → u/Little-Cow1417]

That’s understandable! Honestly I feel like the majority of the success stories I see are for women who weren’t even ovulating on their own so my fingers are crossed for you!

I just turned 31 and my husband is 34. We’ve been seriously tracking and trying since September 2025 but had been “not preventing” for a year before that too.

[u/Professional-Ant9829 → u/Little-Cow1417]

I'm also starting my first medicated cycle and my period is due on Thursday! Cycle twins lol

[u/mentyb_oclock]

Also starting my first monitored TI cycle this week! Starting 5mg letrozole tonight - sending you good luck! 🤞🤍

[u/ColdSeaworthiness276 → u/mentyb_oclock]

Exciting!!! Thank you, good luck to you too! ❤️

[u/DJA2016]

We tried getting pregnant for a year after stopping birth control without success and then got seen by a RE because I wasn't ovulating on my own. I tried Letrozole/trigger shot 3 IUI rounds, then Clomid/trigger shot 2 IUI rounds, with the last round resulting in pregnancy. I had a headache with Letrozole for the first few days but nothing too crazy. Since Letrozole wasn't really working for me, my RE asked if I wanted to try Clomid.

[u/ColdSeaworthiness276 → u/DJA2016]

Thank you for sharing! That’s amazing Clomid worked for you, congratulations!!

[u/BlueWaterGirl]

I just finished 2.5mg of Letrozole for the first time and I didn't have many side effects, maybe getting hot flashes during taking it. The only thing it threw off was my digestion, it slowed everything down for me and caused some constipation, not fun. Another thing I noticed for me is that I started getting a lot of pressure where my ovaries are during taking the medication, the right side more than left. It had calmed down with how intense the pressure was since stopping the medication, but it's still kind of there.

I'm on cycle day 10 now, so I just started using OPKs yesterday, my doctor has us baby dancing every other day from cd12 to cd19 anyway, but I like data. I'm doing unmonitored cycles to start due to insurance, but am getting a progesterone draw on CD23 (would be CD21 but it's on a weekend). I don't ovulate and if I did, I haven't in years at least, I don't even have natural periods anymore and need to take progesterone every 3 months to withdrawal bleed.

I wouldn't say my husband and I have ever tried, but we haven't prevented in 10 years and I've never been pregnant.

Keeping fingers crossed that we both get that positive test!

[u/Otherwise_Tennis_398 → u/BlueWaterGirl]

If you ovulate with letrozole, you’ll have a period :) no need for progesterone, if you’re having to take provera then it may mean you did not ovulate

[u/BlueWaterGirl → u/Otherwise_Tennis_398]

Yeah, I know. This is my first cycle and I didn't word it correctly. I'm so used to taking it every 3 months because I don't bleed that I forgot I won't need it if Letrozole works.

[u/Otherwise_Tennis_398 → u/BlueWaterGirl]

Sorry was just clarifying because you had said that you needed to take progesterone before each letrozole cycle! Just wanted to let you know that that’s not always necessary

[u/LoveSuccessful]

I didn't have any side effects from the letrozole. Our first round I had 2 dominant follicles and we weren't successful. 2nd round, 3 follicles and we conceived. Still early days, but hopeful. We have been trying to bring home a living baby for about 5 years now and have had three 2nd trimester losses in that time. Just over a year out from our most recent stillbirth and we were trying the entire time. I was ovulating on my own previously.

[u/gogoooogs]

I’m on my second letrozole cycle, last month i took 5 this month its 7.5mg. I ovulate on my own as far as they can tell (one moth they did a cd21 progesterone test to confirm, another month I has a corpus luteal cyst which I think is just a left over egg from the previous month of ovulating that goes away on its own, but I haven’t had a progesterone post ovulation test each month) and get my period 28-29 days, but its light only two day bleed with spotting after. Ive been off birth control since nov 2025 and since then i had pre peeiod spottong with the exception of june (ive been changing a lot of lofe style things maybe thays why) and this month i didnt have pre spotting again but i dont know if thats because of the progesterone.

Side effects last month for me were mostly feeling pretty fatigued later in the night and a bit of a body tired/almost anxiety buzz.

I agree with others that i seem to see more succsess with letrozole for people who dont ovulate regularily so i am also wondering how exactly its helping in my case.

[u/supaafly_sam]

I am on my second medicated cycle (5mg letrozole). Last cycle, I took 2.5mg but didn’t ovulate and had to take provera on day 35 to induce a bleed (my period finally came on day 45/46). I am doing monitored cycles, and I had my ultrasound yesterday and there was a 20mm dominant follicle on my right ovary. So now I just have to hope 5mg will get my body to not just grow a good-sized follicle but also ovulate. If I don’t ovulate, I’d move into 7.5mg after provera. But my gyno seems very hopeful for 5mg because i responded so much better than my first cycle on 2.5mg.

the only side effects ive felt is very very tired o both doses. on 5mg, i was a bit more emotional. a bit wake in the evenings. my advice, take it right before bed as you can sleep off some of the side effects, if any. seemed to work for me. best of luck!

[u/Swishloves]

I’m on day 5 of my letrozole 2.5 + Menopur 150 from cd2-cd8 and then trigger. It’s a monitored cycle and till now, fortunately, I haven’t felt a thing except a little headache for an hour or so after taking letrozole. I’ll go for my tvs on cd9 and then take the trigger.

[u/SceneNatural6297]

I was on my first medicated cycle (cycle monitoring+ 5mg letrozole+ Ovidrel+ Prometrium) and happy to share that I’m 4 wks pregnant now, seems surreal honestly! I had no side affects with letrozole, but I would say my mood swings were there which I think is a part of my personality now 😂 I got married last year and was TTC since then, but I started to have long & heavy periods since Aug or Sept of last year, got diagnosed with PCOS & hypothyroidism a few mons ago.. honestly getting all these diagnoses at once was heartbreaking because I never had any issues before.

[u/Professional-Ant9829]

I'm starting my first medicated cycle within the next week too!! Thanks for posting, helpful to read the replies.

[u/WiseBeeSpeaking]

It took us 4 rounds of Letrozole + Trigger shot to get pregnant and ask why? Because till 3cycles, my husband wasn’t ready for SA. And we found out he has mild male factor issues. We corrected that (took 3months break to correct it) and 1st round post this, I got pregnant. Currently 14weeks.

So please PLEASE have HSG to rule out tube issues and SA to rule out male fertility issues because going on any medicated cycles.