New to TTC and Not Ovulating- Any advice?!

[DairyleaAndPickleOnAStick]

Hello everyone- I'm a newbie and a long time lurker and hoped that I could get some advice/reassurance from those in the know- so to speak!

Basically I came off the pill in Aug 08 and since then my periods have been very erratic, I've had maybe 5 periods in all since then. DH and I have been sort of playing it by ear since,(it's obv been v difficult trying to pinpoint my fertile time but I suppose I naively thought that it would just "happen"!)but being pretty casual about the whole thing.

Anyway as nothing is happening I have just been to the doc to discuss and had a blood sample taken to check hormone levels etc, she talked about sending me to have an ultrasound to check for cystic problems? and prescribing me Clomid? Can anyone advise me what is likely to happen next?

Feel a bit nervous about the whole thing so sorry if this has been long and rambly. I am 30 btw.

[DairyleaAndPickleOnAStick]

Sorry, newbie as in this is my first post- been lurking for a while now!!

[AttilaTheMeerkat]

Hi Dairylea,

I think your GP suspects that you have a very common condition called polycystic ovaries or its related syndrome called PCOS. It certainly can cause all you describe. One in every five women has signs of polycystic ovaries and these certainly interfere with periods (making them very irregular) and thus ovulation (making that basically non existant). You would not have a fertile time in these particular circumstances and it is quite possible to have periods without ovulating. Irregular cycles make that even more likely.

It does not go away and there is no cure as the cystic follicles associated with this always return but it can be managed.

If either PCO or PCOS is confirmed neither are conditions that your GP should be messing around with!. It is outside their remit of expertise and a GP cannot even begin to monitor you properly. You need to be ideally seen by a gynae and be under the care of a subfertility unit in hospital. I would be asking for a referral to such a unit upon receiving the results and letting the gynae prescribe any clomid instead for the above reasons.

Although clomid is widely given in these cases it is not always suitable for all such women to take as clomid resistance can occur. You should be monitored whilst on this with blood tests and internal (not external) ultrasound scans, preferably both.

You may want to look at Verity's website which is www.verity-pcos.org.uk.

You will need to be persistant in order to get answers. Do not be fobbed off.

Any other questions just ask. Have PCOS and am a parent after treatment.

[AttilaTheMeerkat]

What blood test has been carried out? Is it a day 2 or day 21.

BTW blood tests can also be done according to calendar days i.e the 2nd and 21st of each month.

[DairyleaAndPickleOnAStick]

Hi Attila,

Thanks so much for replying,I have no idea what you mean about day 2 or day 21 Argh?!! I have been given the results back of the thyroid test which was normal but have to wait another week for the "hormone" result- Is this merely the first step of the investigative procedure?

The GP did mention refering me to a fertility expert and that the whole process would start moving pretty quickly now. Sorry that my OP wasn't very clear! I think that has caused me a to panic a bit but I suppose having a GP on the ball is no bad thing?

I had a look on the website and I have symptoms,if PCOS is confirmed does this mean it will be more difficult for me to fall pregnant without any medical intervention?

When talking about this the doc was pretty relaxed that any treatment would work well, but as I mentioned earlier I think I have been a tad naive about the whole thing- I am blaming this on a convent education where we were told that you only had to look at a man and you would fall pregnant.....