Taking Your Temperature When TTC

Sorry, I don't have any direct advice about clomid. However, I had been on the old style birth control pills since I was 16, and didn't stop them until I began to try to conceive at age 35. I never had any perceptible "female" issues, I just had never tried to get pregnant. I stopped taking them in January, and I conceived on the 31st of August the same year. So, even if all is well, it can still take months if everything works as intended! The only tracking I did was keep track of when we had sex, and the dates of my periods. So, try not to get too stressed, and I wish you the best and speediest of luck!!

Hey - you must take your temperature before you make a single move out of bed! I would wake up, slowly reach over for the digital thermometer and take it immediately. I read that the simple act of shaking down a glass thermometer will raise your temp. I had great results... give it a try. My temp raise was less than 1 degree on ovulation day. Good luck!

No, it is not possible to ovulate and not have your temperature increase. Progesterone increases your body temperature in preparation for a baby with ovulation.

However,

1. The temperature changes are small and restless sleep, waking up or taking your temperature at different times can all mask the change.

2. According to a quick Google search, Clomid and other fertility drugs raise your temperature when you take them. So, they are likely to mask the temperature shift.

You likely want to monitor other fertility signs such as cervical mucus.

Good luck. Personally, I always ovulate later in my cycle than predictions would suggest (like day 21 or so).

Best of luck to you. I know this can be a very stressful and upsetting time. I also took Clomid and it worked for me. I was told I should chart my temperature for a year before asking for help... this, after showing my ob/gyn my completely erratic charting of 3 months. I tried the Clomid (and I think progesterone) and I have 2 girls (3 and 5). I think the most important things I learned are:

1) Get an ob/gyn who genuinely cares about you, your health and your desire to conceive.

2) If you are charting your temperature, keep the thermometer on your nightstand and barely move to take it.

3) Try to find ways to relieve the stress! They say you get pregnant a lot easier after you have a child. Because your physical changes??? No, you also get pregnant easier when you adopt. It's because the stress goes down. You are too busy with the child to worry about your cycle and temperatures. I worried myself sick with the temperature taking because everyday I took it, it was in the wrong place. I was so upset and stressed and worried I wouldn't be able to conceive. I'm naturally an anxious person but when I felt like it was all on me and my physical problems... wow it sky rocketed. I went to bed stressed and woke up stressed, especially when every morning I woke up to taking my temperature and knowing it would be an upsetting thing.

Try to relax. I know that is so easy to say and hard to do. Just keep in mind, you need to have lots of things to divert your attention. Don't dwell on it all the time and keep your schedule busy. Work out to release tension and maybe start a new hobby. I think your mental health is just as important as your physical health.

I really do hope things work out for you. I hope you are able to get pregnant soon and you have a wonderful experience.

Good luck.
Liz

I also charted temperature when trying to concieve on Clomid and found it to be erratic, no clear pattern. My doctor told me (when she saw me during my second cycle) that prometrium could throw the temperatures off. Wish she would have mentioned that before I spent 2 months worrying! Anyway, I relaxed more during the third cycle and have a 16 month old boy.
FYI- I'm now pregnant with baby #2, concieved without any charting, medication, etc. about 3 months after starting to try again.

when you take your temperature it is supposed to be as soon as you open your eyes and before you move in bed. another thing you can do is buy the packs of ovulation tests on ebay pretty cheap and test that way everyday at anytime. i think you ovulated monday or tuesday though. good luck.

I agree with the other posts. You MUST take your temp before you move and get out of bed. The time is not as important. Keep the thermometer right next to your bed and take it before you get up. You may see a slight flux but nothing dramatic. When you ovulate you will see it jump drastically. If you are really worried get an ovulation prediction kit (a friend of mine got one and loved it). She said it was a little more expensive then she would have liked but she conceived the first time she used it.

Good luck!

Please see a fertility specialist to be sure that you don't conceive more than twins.It is a lot but worth the assurance that you wont have more than two babies.

You probably already know this, but make sure you take your temperature as soon as you wake up. I used to keep my thermometer right next to my bed, and as soon as I woke up, I would pop it in, before talking, before moving around too much.
Definitely try to relax:-)!! Your nervousness could affect your sleep cycle, and that can affect your basal body temp. Good luck!!

A study just came out last week proving that clomid actually does not work. it results in less pregnancies than trying naturally. http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/337/aug07_2/a716

also

http://blogs.parentcenter.babycenter.com/momformation/200...

I do not ovulate so the ovulation sticks did not work for me. I tracked temps and made sure to get busy the night of and day after the high spike.

if you want some REALLY detailed, easy to read info on this, you can get Dr. Shettle's book "how to choose the sex of your baby" by landrum shettles.

even if you do not want to choose the sex of the baby, it gives REALLY incredibly detailed and easy to read info about the temps, the ovulation, etc.

Though i dont ovulate, i got pregnant on the first try both times (at and over the age of 35)

When I was doing the basil temperature technique, I had to take my temp the moment I woke up, not after getting out of bed. Once you move around, your temp rises to the "waking" level, not the basil level. So keep the thermometer by the bed and use it as soon as you open your eyes in the morning.

Good luck!

Hi
I took clomid and did the charting only to have erratic spikes. I did take it at the exact same time(I set the alerm early to make sure.) In those erractic spikes I actually found a .5 shift around day 18. My infertillity doctor saw the chart said these don't work and proceeded to prescribe provera. I didn't take it and 2 days later had my 18th high temp and was pregnant! I changed doctors and followed my gut. Also not getting at atleast 6 hrs of continues sleep will effect your waking temp.
Good luck.

Hi N.,

I sympathize with you and your husband. We needed help to conceive as well and now have a beautiful son. When I stopped taking birth control pills, I stopped getting my periods. We tried 3 cycles of Clomid unsuccessfully. I didn't ovulate with it and I also didn't get my period without progesterone. I tried a combination of Clomid and glucophage as well, unsuccessfully. Finally, my dr. sent me to get a sonogram of my ovaries and they looked like bunches of grapes. I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). When I researched PCOS, I didn't meet ALL of the criteria, but you don't necessarily need to have all symptoms to have the disorder. We went to an infertility clinic and successfully conceived with artificial semination. The reason I'm going into such detail is that I would hate for you to waste your time with Clomid if you also have PCOS since it wouldn't be effective. I wouldn't stress over your body temp. and would ask your physician if you meet the criteria for PCOS. An early diagnosis would help to know your best course of action. I hope that this information helps!

I highly recommend buying an ovulations kit if you don't get the results you want this month. It doesn't have to be one of the super expensive reusable ones, the cheap ones work just as well.

I am like you in that I rarely have a period and probably don't often ovulate on my own. I never found a solid pattern after taking my temperature every day for 6 months (both on and off infertility meds), and I think it is just because my body reacts differently to hormones since I have fertility issues.

In any case it was way easier for me to just pay the $15 or so and just pee on the stick every morning - totally worth it to be sure.

I highly recommend the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility". It was a godsend for me when TTC. It really does teach not only how to chart correctly (or effectively) but how to read the charts.