Which fertility pills to get pregnant work? More importantly, which ones don't work or are dangerous? Dr Randy Morris MD-The BOARD CERTIFIED fertility expert with weekly TTC tips on InfertilityTV

Fertility pills to get pregnant

The are several different #fertilitypills you can use to get pregnant. I’ll discuss the ones that work first but stick around to the end to hear about the ones that don’t work or are dangerous.

#Clomid, or clomiphene citrate, is probably the most widely used fertility pill in the world. Clomid is used to help women who don’t ovulate but also for women who already ovulate to produce more eggs at one time.

A typical course of Clomid goes for five days. Monitoring for ovulation is important. With clomid you can use a home ovulation predictor test or be monitored in the doctor’s office with blood tests and ultrasound.

Like all fertility treatments, the success rate with Clomid decreases as women get older. Plus, out of every hundred pregnancies on Clomid, about 15-20 will be twins. Triplets and more are pretty rare.

Clomid will not work for everybody. If clomid is going to work for you, you will usually get pregnant in the first four months. So if you are not pregnant by then, think about moving on to something else.

#Letrozole, also known as #Femara, is another fertility pill. Like Clomid, letrozole is also given over five days. Its most common use is to induce ovulation in women with PCOS. In fact, well done studies have shown that for PCOS patients, letrozole is better than Clomid. More women will successfully ovulate and more will get pregnant.

You may hear about women using letrozole for other reasons. But there is no good evidence that it works any better than Clomid in other instances.

The risk for multiples with letrozole is about the same as it is with Clomid.

Metformin or Glucophage is a pill that was originally used to treat people with Type 2 diabetes. Metformin helps treat a problem called insulin resistance. Insulin resistance in women can interfere with ovulation. The two groups of women are most likely to have ovulation problems due to insulin resistance are women with PCOS and very overweight women with a BMI over 30.

If your doctor wants to start you on metformin, here are some quick tips. The optimal dose of metformin is 2000 mg a day. But don’t start at that dose. Metformin can cause side effects such as bloating, cramping and diarrhea. Start on 500 mg or one pill a day and work your way up gradually. Also, there are long acting versions of metformin. These will have the letters XR or ER which stand for extended release. We recommend extended release to make your life a little easier and further lower side effects.

The biggest benefits to metformin are that it does not increase your risk for multiple pregnancy and even if you don’t get pregnant, it will lower your chance for getting Type 2 diabetes

Which pills don’t improve fertility?

First, although prenatal vitamins are recommended before you conceive, they don’t actually do anything to help with fertility. You should absolutely take them, however, because they will reduce the chances for birth defect and help with fetal brain, eye and heart development

Supplements such as CoQ10 and DHEA are often sold on the internet as fertility pills but there is little evidence for any benefit for fertility

Herbal supplements should also be avoided. A review of scientific evidence failed to find a benefit of herbal supplements. People using herbal supplements, especially women trying to conceive, should be aware of the possible risks associated with lead exposure from herbal supplements.

Exposure of a fetus to high lead concentrations in the uterus could result in neurological defects, lower birth weight, premature birth, and an increase in birth defects. Adverse effects may even occur at lower levels than previously thought. All patients should consult their physician before beginning any such treatment.

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