Clomiphene citrate
Ancillaries & recoveryAlso known as Clomid, Clomiphene
The original oestrogen receptor modulator used to restart the axis. A mixture of two isomers with very different behaviour.
How it works
Blocks oestrogen feedback at the hypothalamus and pituitary, raising LH and FSH. What is sold is a roughly 3:2 mixture of enclomiphene, which does the stimulating, and zuclomiphene, which is oestrogenic and clears extremely slowly.
In the body
No plasma curve is shown for this compound.
Deliberately left blank, and no curve is drawn. A single half-life would be a fiction here: enclomiphene clears in hours while zuclomiphene has been detected in serum a month after the last dose. Averaging the two would describe neither, and the slow isomer is exactly the part responsible for the accumulation people complain about. Where a component matters on its own, log enclomiphene instead.
Your notes
Doses
25 to 50 mg daily in recovery protocols. The approved indication is ovulation induction in women, so no approved male dose exists.
Side effects
- Visual disturbance: floaters, blurring, trails after lights. Uncommon, and a reason to stop rather than push through
- Mood disturbance, more pronounced than with enclomiphene and attributed to the zuclomiphene isomer
- Hot flushes
- Nausea
- Monitor: total testosterone, LH, FSH and oestradiol
Cautions
- Taking a second oestrogen receptor modulator at the same time
- Any visual symptom that appears after starting
- Liver disease
Status
Prescription-only, approved for ovulation induction in women. Male use is off-label. Banned in sport at all times.
Reference information for personal record-keeping. Not medical advice, and not a recommendation to use any of these compounds.