Question about Follie Size and Ovulation

[goldenlove3]

In a normal, non-medicated cycle, does anyone know what the typical follicle size is before ovulation? And what triggers your body to have an LH surge? Is it estrogen from the follie saying it's ready?

[requiressnacks]

My doc said a good, normal follie before ovulation is 17-22mm. No idea what triggers ovulation though, aside from the LH.

[ghostmonkey]

Sept 25, 2015 6:42:15 GMT -5 goldenlove3 said:

In a normal, non-medicated cycle, does anyone know what the typical follicle size is before ovulation? And what triggers your body to have an LH surge? Is it estrogen from the follie saying it's ready?

Essentially yes. There seems to be a little bit is disagreement on which one is actually driving the relationship, but it is related.

[ceejay]

This image shows everything that happens during a typical cycle (and it's from a developmental biology textbook, so hopefully that means it's accurate).

It looks like estrogen tends to peak right before ovulation.

[goldenlove3]

Thanks for the responses. I'm just haunted by my one huge follie last cycle so I was thinking about this. My acupuncturist is wondering why I didn't have an LH surge sooner. I guess my thinking was that my body ignored the Clomid and the one follie was basically what a normal cycle would have been like.

[requiressnacks]

Sept 25, 2015 11:41:08 GMT -5 goldenlove3 said:

Thanks for the responses. I'm just haunted by my one huge follie last cycle so I was thinking about this. My acupuncturist is wondering why I didn't have an LH surge sooner. I guess my thinking was that my body ignored the Clomid and the one follie was basically what a normal cycle would have been like.

My doc did tell me that if you ovulate already on your own (which I think you do), Clomid may not increase the amount of egg/follicles you get, but  may only increase the quality of the egg.  

[goldenlove3]

Sept 25, 2015 11:43:45 GMT -5 requiressnacks said:

Sept 25, 2015 11:41:08 GMT -5 goldenlove3 said:

Thanks for the responses. I'm just haunted by my one huge follie last cycle so I was thinking about this. My acupuncturist is wondering why I didn't have an LH surge sooner. I guess my thinking was that my body ignored the Clomid and the one follie was basically what a normal cycle would have been like.

My doc did tell me that if you ovulate already on your own (which I think you do), Clomid may not increase the amount of egg/follicles you get, but  may only increase the quality of the egg.  

I do ovulate on my own but never heard that. I have done 3 previous cycles with another RE last November-January and had great response on the same dosage (2-4 follies each time). It was upped for this round so I'm hoping that helps. If not, time to move on from Clomid. 

[ghostmonkey]

Sept 25, 2015 11:41:08 GMT -5 goldenlove3 said:

Thanks for the responses. I'm just haunted by my one huge follie last cycle so I was thinking about this. My acupuncturist is wondering why I didn't have an LH surge sooner. I guess my thinking was that my body ignored the Clomid and the one follie was basically what a normal cycle would have been like.

Maybe your acupuncturist should stick to their area of education. 

And one mature follie is not a failure of a medicated cycle.

[goldenlove3]

Sept 25, 2015 12:13:59 GMT -5 ghostmonkey said:

Sept 25, 2015 11:41:08 GMT -5 goldenlove3 said:

Thanks for the responses. I'm just haunted by my one huge follie last cycle so I was thinking about this. My acupuncturist is wondering why I didn't have an LH surge sooner. I guess my thinking was that my body ignored the Clomid and the one follie was basically what a normal cycle would have been like.

Maybe your acupuncturist should stick to their area of education. 

And one mature follie is not a failure of a medicated cycle.

I know it's not failed but since I ovulate on my own already, it didn't feel like it did anything to increase my chances. Oh well. I was just curious about the science behind it.

[ghostmonkey]

Sept 25, 2015 12:23:51 GMT -5 goldenlove3 said:

Sept 25, 2015 12:13:59 GMT -5 ghostmonkey said:

Maybe your acupuncturist should stick to their area of education. 

And one mature follie is not a failure of a medicated cycle.

I know it's not failed but since I ovulate on my own already, it didn't feel like it did anything to increase my chances. Oh well. I was just curious about the science behind it.

But if the egg was higher quality, then you did increase your chances. I only had one at trigger for my Clomid cycle. Only reason it wasn't considered a good cycle is because my lining failed to exist.

[requiressnacks]

Sept 25, 2015 11:53:01 GMT -5 goldenlove3 said:

Sept 25, 2015 11:43:45 GMT -5 requiressnacks said:

My doc did tell me that if you ovulate already on your own (which I think you do), Clomid may not increase the amount of egg/follicles you get, but  may only increase the quality of the egg.  

I do ovulate on my own but never heard that. I have done 3 previous cycles with another RE last November-January and had great response on the same dosage (2-4 follies each time). It was upped for this round so I'm hoping that helps. If not, time to move on from Clomid. 

Yes, I think you are right to start talking about moving on.  From what I've read (which is a lot, but not everything), Clomid has the greatest effect in the first 4 cycles.  If you don't get KU in those cycles, your chances of getting KU on Clomid do not increase after that, vs. a natural cycle.

ETA: the above is for those who already ovulate.  

[goldenlove3]

Sept 25, 2015 12:40:15 GMT -5 requiressnacks said:

Sept 25, 2015 11:53:01 GMT -5 goldenlove3 said:

I do ovulate on my own but never heard that. I have done 3 previous cycles with another RE last November-January and had great response on the same dosage (2-4 follies each time). It was upped for this round so I'm hoping that helps. If not, time to move on from Clomid. 

Yes, I think you are right to start talking about moving on.  From what I've read (which is a lot, but not everything), Clomid has the greatest effect in the first 4 cycles.  If you don't get KU in those cycles, your chances of getting KU on Clomid do not increase after that, vs. a natural cycle.

ETA: the above is for those who already ovulate.  

The only reason we started with it this time is because it did technically work with the 3rd try so this new RE wanted to give it a chance to work again.

[lilsneezy]

I don't think having one follicle necessarily means that you didn't respond well. I had three follicles for my first IUI, one for my second, and three again for my third - all on the same dosage of Clomid. For all three IUIs, I had my ultrasounds done on CD14 and my biggest follicle to date was the lone one during IUI #2. So, no scientific information backing this but I feel like my ovaries put all their energy into making one good egg, versus 2-3 lesser quality ones. Obviously BFN for all three cycles, so what the hell do I know.