There are two conditions that will identify if there is any need of using infertility drugs. One, if the woman is unable to ovulate therefore there is a need for assisted development of the egg cells. And second if there is a need to increase the chances of pregnancy when a patient already has the capability to ovulate. These are termed as ovulation and superovulation respectively.

Letrozole or femara is the most recent addition in the long list of infertility medications found in the market today along with already-established medications that come in names like Clomid or Serophene and Gonadotropins.

Letrozole, (the brand name of which is Femara) is primarily a drug used by breast cancer patients. But recently, it came into use in the infertility industry.

In the recent years, Femara has been one of the most efficient infertility drugs. However, recent studies suggest that it is somehow associated with low number of birth defects. Birth defects arise when Femara is used during the period of pregnancy. Yet when administered before the establishment of pregnancy, no adverse consequences are found. Nonetheless, the manufacturer of Femara accepted absolute responsibility over those cases that ended up with birth defects.

Femara works by suppressing the production of estrogen. Thus, creating the effect of producing more hormones that work solely for ovarian stimulation. These hormones namely LH and FSH help in both the processes of ovulation induction and superovulation. As a result, Femara has become widely accepted as an infertility drug.

Treatment using Femara have shown substantially higher rates of success as compared with those produced by other drugs like Clomid. In fact, it is known that while patients have failed to ovulate using other medications, there are still possibilities that they will do when Femara is administered in their case.

Common Side Effects of Femara

§ Breast tenderness

§ Headaches

§ Hot flashes

Advantages over other major infertility drugs

So far, researches show no cases of miscarriage in women employing Femara in their infertility treatment. Only, the manufacturer advises that once pregnancy commences, the use of the medication must be automatically stopped.

Unlike with Clomid, Femara is readily released from the body. Thus producing no other effects that might affect the tissues and other organs in adverse manner.

When administering Femara, there is usually 60 to 80% increase in ovulation possibility. Nonetheless, assurance of pregnancy is decreased by half.

Women who are able to ovulate normally take 1 tablet of Femara a day. But this dosage may increase depending on the capability of the body to react to the medication.

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