TTC with PCOS

@Affy25 not an expert but that definitely looks like you're pregnant to me...

@lakejupiter hi, me too! PCOS is a fun one, isn't it? No telling to what extent it will affect each woman until we start TTC. I actually got pregnant on my first try and we were completely blown away - I thought maybe my PCOS wasn't as bad as thought. Fast forward 4 years and I'm having no success in TTC #2. I was 27 then and just turned 32 now, but the decline in fertility shouldn't be particularly noticeable between those two ages, so I can only think we had a very lucky fluke!

I'm currently a week out from my expected period and I feel like it's no luck again this month, though I have a sample size of 1 successful pregnancy and I can only compare to that 😅

Hi i have pcos and have been trying to conceive its been 4 months on this journey to get pregnant again i have had some really faint positives i had seen a video of someone who had a not pregnant on digital clearblue and opened it and had positives like the image i uploaded below the rest are faint positives i dont know what to believe as i had miscarriage 2 months ago x is this meant to mean im pregnant or not ...

Just wanted to check in here and say that I ovulated soon after I wrote this - 90 day cycle, and in the time since have had my cycle reduce down to 34 this month - considered normal. I’m incredulous at the improvement . I’ve focused on vitamins and I did a 3 month added sugar ban which I think helped too. Just wanted to say things can get better and I hope you’ve had the progress you want.

@MK85 you need to be asked to be referred to endocrinology as PCOS is treated as an endocrine disorder. They will be more knowledgeable than in gynae. I was diagnosed at 29 and endo consultant has been brilliant. When we were reading to TTC, referred me to ACU to get the ball rolling. Clomid is no longer the preferred drug for ovulation induction - letrozole is more effective with fewer side effects. We conceived on 3rd letrozole cycle (treatment delayed due to covid lockdowns pausing the ACU clinics) and shortly going for #2 (i was 35 when DD was born).

It affects everyone differently but generally for most Pcos sufferers it interferes with the ability to release an egg, although it's not just as straightforward as simply releasing an egg or not. Yes, it affects the maturation process of the egg and since you need a mature , healthy egg , most eggs don't get released being immature. Even if a woman does ovulate on her own every month, that dosent always mean she's releasing a mature egg that's ready to be fertilised. Most commonly we don't ovulate at all but some women with pcos do ovulate every on their own.
Some women aren't even aware they might have pcos until they start trying to get pennant. Others have absolutely no issue. There really is no one fits all when it comes to pcos .
The other concern is the eggs that do be released are often poor quality so therefore don't fertilise anyway. I've also read some where it's more difficult for sperm to penetrate a pcos egg. Even if all is successful, we still bear the worry that miscarriage statistics in pcos women are much higher , aswell as health problems with baby so it's important to try and manage pcos symptoms before achieving pregnancy.
Pcos is usually associated with excess androgens and insulin sensitivity which play their part in ovulation and egg quality aswell .
Of course many women with pcos do have successful, healthy pregnancies but the condition can make conceiving and staying pregnancy more difficult for some women with pcos.
Symptoms really vary from woman to woman and there's no cure sadly , so the best thing is just to try and manage any symptoms your having to increase your chances.
There's medication for women who don't ovulate like clomid , although there's no guarantee success with it.
For symptoms that are caused by insulin sensitivity there's metformin which can help restore some womens cycles and help them lose weight. ( I personally have not had much success )

I understand your frustration when it comes to gps. I'm 36 now due to turn 37 this year and It took me years to get a diagnosis of pcos. I wasnt diagnosed until I was 33, although Ive struggled since my teenage years with my irregular cycles. Gps solution was to stick me on the pill but after we got engaged , the pill wasn't an option for us anymore as we both wanted a family and began our ttc journey .I've been struggling with my cycles on my own ever since. we've been trying to conceive since around 2005 / 2006 and sought help after 5 years ttc but gps were really reluctant to refer or give me a diagnosis since we were still young in our 20s. Fast forward til 30s and it was really a different story because "time is starting to tick on " I finally got diagnosed with pcos and got referred to a gynaecologist in March 22. ( I was waiting on a list since 2019)
Gps aren't really knowledgeable in my experience and opks aren't always a reliable measure for alot of women with pcos since a common symptom is a constant higher surge of LH in the body which makes it tricky to know if you've accurately ovulated or not .
I've seen 3 difficult specialists now this year and to be honest none of them were that knowledgeable with pcos. They all share the same basic information. Ive scoured these forums for months and it seems to be a common complaint. Not many take a keen interest .
Most of the information I found was from websites or forums on my own.
It really is a lonely process . I'd be lost without these forums

I’m not trying to conceive yet but I’m trying to regulate (read: have any!) my periods in anticipation of TTC next year. I’ve been tracking BBT and taking myoinositol (MyOva brand). I’ve been doing some ovulation tests as well but not reliably. And they’re all over the place which fits with my PCOS. I’ve only had a handful of real periods in my life and yet to come on since having my coil out end of November so I’m on cycle day 62. It’s emotional for me without the TTC aspect so can only imagine what it’s like with that added pressure. Would love to keep in touch and see how you get on- not many people understand!

@IsabelHerna that’s so true, it can be so different for everyone.

PCOS affects everyone differently and the symptoms may vary from time to time. I really struggle to find a balance and when I do, it doesn't last for long.

I would say focus on eating and living as heartily as possible without raising your stress levels and follow your doctor's instructions

I struggled with even remembering to take my temp when I woke up. I’m too dozy in the morning!

I love the beginners enthusiasm! If only I could drag myself out of bed at the same time it would be fine.

Honestly the best thing to do it try to be as healthy as possible. Even if you struggle to lose weight, eat well and exercise and make sure you take the right supplements. I take MyOva which is myo inositol tablets, but you can get powders too, which does a similar thing to metformin (which is routinely prescribed for insulin resistance- there’s some evidence that myo inositol does the same sort of thing)

Definitely keep TTC. If you think you ovulate, try tracking it with OPKs and mucous watching. If you know how to assess your cervix and do baseline temping that might be good too. I’ve never managed to get accurate results from temping, my sleep schedule is too erratic.

I have PCOS and had DD1 in June (im 35). The help we had from endocrinology was amazing - they did scans and blood tests to check ovulation (i was taking metformin which regulated my cycle but i still wasnt ovulating). Can you go private for initial appt? I was overweight and a low carb diet helped my levels whilst waiting for referral. Currently about to start the fast 800 to lose the baby weight 😣

In the end, we couldn't conceive naturally after TTC for a year - endo referred us to the assisted conception unit, where we had 3 cycles of letrozole, resulting in DD1. I had no GD in pregnancy but i did really struggle with breastmilk supply. My consultant said there is lots of anecdotal stories from women with PCOS who have issues with feeding but not a lot of actual research yet. I breastfed to 6months but had to do formula top ups after each breastfeed and pumped multiple times a day. It was hard work and I hadn't read anything about that when pregnant so a bit of a surprise!

Don't bother with OPK sticks - PCOS messes with the levels so they are notoriously unrealiable. Given how much they cost, its not worth it. Mine were showing ovulation every month when hospital scans were showing that I wasn't.

Conceived twice with pcos by taking inofolic supplements and did not have gestational diabetes in either pregnancy. Worth looking into.

@lakejupiter thankyou!  To be honest it still feel real after so much time spent TTC.

Definitely change GP as you need people on your side for things to get done! And generally having a more positive attitude towards success rather than writing it off!
I found it quite lonely at times as I felt friends and family didn't understand how overwhelming the whole process was as they hadn't experienced it. Not their fault but I found it all consuming and didn't want to constantly go on about it. So having a supportive GP and fertility nurse really helped me.

Wishing you all the best in everything and will have fingers crossed for good news!

I discovered I had PCOS when I stopped taking the pill in order to TTC. After over a year of TTC I began to follow a diet and exercise plan and lost around 3 stone over the course of around 8 months. Was still TTC during this time and was ovulating most months but nothing was happening. I had an HSG done via the fertility clinic which confirmed there were no blockages in my Fallopian tubes so they basically "flushed" them out.
I fell pregnant the next cycle and I am expecting my first baby at the end of March!

I felt like giving up so many times after TTC for over two years even though I know many people try for a lot longer. But PCOS does not equal infertility and your GP should not be putting this onto you in a doom and gloom way! I found Instagram pages most useful during the TTC process as googling has the inevitable million skewed answers!

Wishing you all the best with TTC x

Hiya, I have PCOS. TTC DC1 did take a while but that’s because (as it turned out) I have underactive thyroid. Once that was medicated I got pg very quickly and same again for DC2.

There is a statistical link between PCOS and hypothyroidism so it might be worth asking for your thyroid to be checked. Specifically your TSH level should be ideally below 2.5 for conception (normal range is up to 4.5 but 2.5-4.5 is not ideal for many)

Also as a PP said, watch out for gestational diabetes, make sure you get tested for it when pg.

I have a friend with PCOS who got pregnant first time of trying… twice!

I have pcos and have conceived twice naturally, I’m now 24 weeks pregnant with my second. With my first pregnancy I was 2 weeks into taking metformin when I got pregnant, so this may or may not have helped. I requested the metformin as I’d heard it might help.

Both times I got pregnant I upped my exercise (nothing extreme, 15 min workouts 3x a week). I didn’t do much with my diet, but my diet is fairly healthy. It took 20 months to get pregnant with my first and just over a year with my current. Tbf, I am appalling at tracking my cycle and I think that definitely extended the time it took for me to get pregnant. With my current pregnancy I used OvuSense and got pregnant on the second month of using it. I’d definitely recommend something like that.

My symptoms of pcos are not too extreme though and I’m not overweight, I think my biochemistry responds well to exercise or maybe it relaxed me a bit :)