First Fertility Clinic Appointment Tomorrow

@thislittlebird My consultant seemed quite pleased that I had high egg reserves, even if I wasn't managing to pop them out... as there are many 'easy options' for encouraging ovulation.

I must have 2 x symptoms: The multiple follicles and the wonky/long cycles then I suppose. I do get some cycles that are a more 'normal', in fact the last two were 32 days long with supposed ovulation on day 18/19. I have been singing the praises of Concieve Plus Ovulation Support (which I started just before these two normal cycles) but maybe I still haven't been ovulating?

I need to think about whether to try Metformin, or whether I just jump straight in with the Clomid?

My OH suggested we freeze some eggs too (Which really made me laugh as he has previously said he only wanted 1 x child max, and he'd be happy if we had none... maybe he secretly wants a small tribe?!) but I think I'll give one of these treatments a go first and see how we get on, if no pregnancy in the next 6 months, maybe we can freeze and look at other options. I'm 36 in July by the way.

@thislittlebird cyst is a misnomer, you don't actually have cysts with PCOS - it's just lots of follicles if that helps. Is there anything in the NICE guidelines on the diagnosis of PCOS? Certainly sounds like you and @kay00 are in similar situations but are getting very different care.

And honestly, even as I read this it’s confusing because, when is a follicle a cyst and when is it a follicle? Very confusing, I’m none the wiser. Maybe I’m not even PCO, no one has said much other than I could be borderline or just have a good reserve. 🤷‍♀️

@Kay00 it’s not the must fun gang ever . Maybe AMH is the difference. You have the higher AMH. I have an AMH of 36 and normal ish cycles. From about 25-36, but mostly 29. I just reading this when you posted:
www.dralexpolyakov.com.au/blog/polycystic-ovaries-or-pcos-whats-the-difference/

They say you need 2/3 symptoms for PCOS. Guessing I’m only ticking one box, which is high-ish AFC.

No diagnosis, just suboptimal ovulation, that’s why I assume I’m PCO without the S. Lister doc mentioned official PCOS diagnosis is 20 follicles on each side when I raised it, so guessing they all vary slightly in opinion.

@thislittlebird hehe, thanks for the meme and for welcoming me to the 'not ovulating gang'!

Its very odd that you have been told you don't have PCOS? Did they give you any diagnosis? My AMH was 64 pmol/L and my cycles have been all over the place (between 32 days and 47 days with a few annoulatory cycles in there too... although maybe they were all annovulatory??)

13 follicles on the left, 10 on the right

@Kay00 I was going to start in August so no follow up until August for us means September 🙃. We got our SA results weeks later, maybe three or more. There was a delay and post problem or something.

Glad it’s done, that’s a lot of wees! What was your AMH, Kay? I can’t remember.

“And straight away she found my left ovary was enlarged and poly cystic (13 follicles), my right ovary was borderline (10 follicles). She re-confirmed that she thinks this + my high AMH levels + my wonky/long cycles means I have probably not been ovulating.” >>> Yeah this is exactly the same numbers as me except I’ve been told I’m not PCO/S lmao. I expect I’m PCO and not S. Welcome to the probably not ovulating gang, I guess.

How long/regular are your periods?

@Juno231 exactly! Get back from holiday, I’m not getting any younger here.

Morning ladies. I'm just back from my HyCoSy. I'm going to type out my experience/findings quickly now, before I forget them , so here goes...

I was encouraged to empty my bladder before I went in, and the nurse made me comfortable before my consultant explained my previously high AMH result to me. She said it was unusually high and indicated that I had A LOT of eggs in there. She suspected at this stage that I have not actually been ovulating at all . My other results (Prolactin, FSH, LT, Testosterone etc) were normal, so she said they indicated that i didn't have PCOS.

The started with the ultrasound scan of my ovaries. And straight away she found my left ovary was enlarged and poly cystic (13 follicles), my right ovary was borderline (10 follicles). She re-confirmed that she thinks this + my high AMH levels + my wonky/long cycles means I have probably not been ovulating.

Then I needed another wee (full bladder was getting in the way). Speculum went in (uncomfortable, but none more so than a Smear). The catheter I didn't feel, but the expanding of the balloon was pretty painful, like sever period cramps. Once in though it got a little easier to manage and the consultant and nurse did lots to make me feel calm. She injected the foam and we all watched the shoot up my fallopian tubes. They are both open and no blockages to be seen.

As soon as it was over I went for my third wee which raised a few eyebrows lol. And the consultant came back in to chat. She said that I have PCOS and has given me some leaflets. She said she will happily prescribe me Metformin, and I need to think about whether its right for me. And she said in out follow up consultation she will offer me Clomid.

The other good news is that my OH's SA was all good. He has been sent the results (which we will look at together over lunch) but she said to be 'in broad terms, there is nothing to worry about there' - yey!

@kay00 call about the results - technically they're ready the same day as the SA as it's done as soon as the sample comes in. Officially I think it takes max 2 weeks.

@thislittlebird gah that's typical! A bit like @dogmam and the clinic closing for cleaning lol...

@thislittlebird urgh, thats annoying! I suspect my consultant will be on holiday during July as she hinted she might be away and so we should expect our follow up call in August! Hopefully she's not on holiday for the whole of July though!?

I wondered how long did it take your fellas to get their SA results back? Its been 2 x weeks now and I thought we'd get them by now?

@Juno231 I felt the balloon a bit, like a cramping. But I was too busy being stressed and anxious to compute exactly what I was feeling.

So Mr Ramsay is on holiday in June 🙃🙃🙃. No idea when we’ll get our results since his secretary is also off it seems. Need to email in July. The results aren’t due until the end of June or first week of July but I was hoping to get an appointment booked in for the week after they were due. More waiting it is!

@kay00 best of luck, those are tough meetings to have!

@thislittlebird haha tbh I've wondered that too - I didn't feel the cervix dilation at all!

@Juno231 sounds legit. I had it twice and the cannula thingy went in easily apparently, maybe the liquid also rushed out easily lol

@Juno231 Yes, I have introduced my new starter to the team this morning, and will then have to give the bad news this afternoon. I'm sure there will be some raised eyebrows, but the logic behind the hire/redundancies is sound and the roles are very different.

I'll defo bring a pad don't want any embarrassing patches appear on my jeans in the post office queue

@thislittlebird bermuda triangle foof? No but seriously, some don't seem to notice it but I've read stories of others going for restaurant dinners afterwards and soaking through the dress...

@Juno231 there wasn’t any dye for me, interesting. I wonder what happened to that 🤨

@kay00 I would have been fine to do errands afterwards - I'd recommend wearing a pad though as the dye might make a comeback in your pants otherwise.

Ouch to your job tasks today - will it be harder to swing the redundancies if you have a new hire joining?

@thislittlebird Thank you. I won't be walking too far as I'll probably park my car quite close to the post office. It's Monday... eek! Wish me luck!

@Kay00 hey, I don’t envy that Monday 🙃. You should be fine to walk to the post office after the hycosy, I walked around London after. They told me I had to sit down for a little while though, said it can hurt afterwards. It did hurt afterwards but it was worse in the afternoon for me. Cramps and migraine kicked in, assuming the migraine was my body being overwhelmed by antibiotics but I don’t know for sure, it was all very PMS.

Hi ladies! Hope you all had a relaxing weekend? I have a super busy week ahead: I have a new starter joining my team and I'm making two people redundant... all in one day! Joy! 😑 I'm really not looking forward to Monday. AND I have my HyCoSy first thing on Tuesday.

My question is... Will I be up for walking to the post office after my HyCoSy? I have some errands to run (including collecting my elderly neighbours pension) and I'm not going to get many other chances to leave my desk next week. Or will I be too sore to be walking around afterwards?

@Juno231 yeah I have a list as long as my arm of tests I need to get done, including a smear. Mine is due anyway so good timing.

Congrats on the job! I totally would have moved jobs by now but didn’t want to lose my benefits, it’s a good maternity package and I would like to access that.

@dogmam gosh what another prime example of a nasty receptionist!

I thought you had to be up to date with your smear before ivf ladies so make sure to get that sorted.

I got that job offer i wanted so maybe 18-22 weeks wait is no bad thing!

@dogmam yeah I’m glad it’s done now, less pleased about the bill incoming. It’s so disappointing the nhs didn’t offer me any of this stuff really. The AFC is where all my hope lies right now 😬.

Doctor’s receptionists are really mean, more so now than ever. I need to book a smear soon.