TTC with suspected PCOS

@YorkshireTeaCup I need to lose another 9 pounds by middle of June for my next fertility appointment 🙃 I might give the 800 diet a try

@MK85 good luck for cycle two. Great news that you've ovulated though! The first cycle we did with letrozole for DD1, the dose wasnt quite right and it didnt work so at least you know its working.

@NLO94x fast 800 is a diet by Dr. Michael Mosley. He uses it to treat pre-diabetes but because PCOS can also cause insulin resistance, i was recommended it. Its 800 calories a day for 12 weeks + intermittent fasting (i do 16:8). Then after 12 weeks, you switch onto the 5:2 diet to be more sustainable. I started it 4 weeks ago and I've lost 6kg 💪🏻💪🏻 Hoping for another 6kg before my next appt. There is an online progamme to follow and im finding the recipes really easy to stick to. Its a lot of eggs for lunch though! 😅😋

@YorkshireTeaCup were due our second fertility appointment next month.
I'll be 38 this year but we have no prior children. Just completed my first month of clomid and successfully ovulated but didn't get pregnant . On CD2 now . Hoping this cycle goes better

@sl7uk

so the laparoscopy was suggested I guess because they can root around inside and see what’s going on better!
they’ve said they can check/ flush my tubes / Check for endo (as mum has it) see if they need to remove anything.

And I guess they can do ovarian drilling if they needed as well (I hate the term used for that so much!)

I really didn’t want a surgery, but as we have a child together (7.5 years ago!) they have said this is the end of the NHS line for me post the surgery.

I won’t get any meds either due to my cycles and ovulation being regular. So it’s this then onto IVF.

Dipping back into this thread! We had our first fertility appointment in April - next one booked for July. We had all our original tests done in 2020 when we had DD1 but this is a new hospital and they want to renew as more than 1yr old. So bloods ordered (although haven't had a period since March so still waiting to do day 2-5 bloods), TV scan done and DH has his semen analysis next week. I might not need to have my tubes checked on account of carrying a pregnancy to term in the past, but they said they will make a decision about that at the next appt. Next appt is July and i'm currently doing the FAST 800 diet to try and get my weight down further as my BMI is currently awful (i basically lost 0kg after having DD).

Plan agreed with the Dr that pending the results of the tests, it will likely be another 3 rounds of letrozole to start with, which i'm happy with. This worked for DD1 and although i'm a couple of years older, hoping we'll have the same success. So DH and i are both focusing on being as healthy as possible in preparation - i'm 37 later this year and so we have agreed we will give it another year and if it doesn't happen, we will be thankful for our DD. But we are not going to go for IVF and OI is as far as we are prepared to go now.

In terms of timelines for anyone interested, i had first GP appt in Nov, referred to our women's clinic for initial scan in Jan, women's clinic referred to me Gynae at end of Jan, letter said it would be a 26week wait but first appt was beginning of April. So not quite as bad as expecting (we are in London).

@lottieb92 thanks for sharing. What type of surgery is your laporoscopy? And what was the reason they suggested that to you?

@NLO94x

same happened to me - i got bored waiting around then the appointment came as i booked a holiday... typical
i called the department and they got me a cancellation earlier than my offered slot! So call and beg?!

They did internal scans on me as they had all my blood work etc.. so prepare for that even though I was on my period at the time - lovely. lol. height and weight etc was done.

Then they suggested I started Inofolic which I take now - then waitlisted for a laporoscopy ... 8 months wait apparently.. so I am hoping I get that surgery by September/ october :)

@NLO94x ahh no, I hope they reschedule you quickly! I agree, the waiting around for the next step is unbearable.

I’m not sure what tests you’ve already had done but at my first consultation they wanted to do an transvaginal ultrasound scan, full blood work, with the most important being to check being my AMH levels. My AMH level basically decided my fate and next step! They will also want to get your tubes checked at some point, to make sure no blockages. If there is a blockage, my consultant said we’d need to go straight to IVF.

Hope that helps a little!

@NLO94x are you taking anything supplement wise like myo inositol

NLO94x so sorry to hear that, what a mess, thank god you checked in with the hospital! Really hope this fast tracks things for you. Remind me, are you getting periods at the moment? I really hope my Ovarian Drilling operation in 3 weeks helps me ovulate, feels like a waiting game not being able to do anything at the moment.

Also, does anyone have any other PCOS symptoms? I have lean PCOS so I’m in the minority and therefore my symptoms and treatment might be a bit different to others, but my acne had flared up massively, so any tips on that would be much appreciated!

@NLO94x I'm in Northern Ireland .Things move at a snails pace

@NLO94x I was originally referred to gynaecology and they requested the semen analysis. Gynae originally wanted me to complete a 6 month OI induction since I have pcos before being referred however we saw a different doctor who put us straight through to fertility clinic due to several factors really. His results aside, we'd waited 4 years on a waiting list to see a gynaecologist and when we did get referred we spent an entire year getting messed around by gynae. They essentially just threw drugs at me without any proper testing or instructions and refused to see me when i requested clarity. I had to go all the way back to my gp and complain about the inappropriate care I'd been receiving. Around that time we saw another doctor and given all these factors, Including how long we've been trying (18 years) and my age now since I'm late 30s, he felt referring us to the fertility clinic was the best option. That had taken us ANOTHER 9 months waiting on first consultation and we're due out review in June. 4 months after the first to decide the appropriate treatment, which we were told would be ivf and that's another 12 months waiting list. 😴
If its any help , everyone seems less concerned about his results. Unless he's shooting blanks then it's not impossible. You just need one sperm . All of the conversations between doctors seem to really be focused around the female.
Gynaecologist referred us to another doctor, and while I was initially very pleased ,he finally gave me an ultrasound and hsg, something no one else thought about , which is was so frustrated with since I was having lots of random bleeding which should have been checked out to rule out the C word . He told us go ahead with OI induction while we're waiting for next fertility clinic appointment . I've just completed my first cycle of clomid . It was a bit of a disaster to be honest. They called us in way too early for the scan, and now we can't get bloods so its has been an entirely unmonitored cycle, which I'm not happy with at all. Now that docs refusing to see me also. I've contacted his secretary and complained and everything. Nhs are arseholes, thats the conclusion I've came to

Do you get periods OP? If you don't / v irregular I would be asking if your GP will prescribe clomid whilst you wait for Consultant (they may not want to as not many do, I was lucky and had one that did).

When you see your consultant expect more tests and then a delay until you get those results and next appointment before course of action is decided - just warning you as this could still go on for months after first appointment.

I fell pregnant on my 3rd round of clomid and the day 21 test showed I would not have got pregnant without it. Nb my clomid was from the GP still and the consultant was of the view I should wait longer before going on it (it had been 3 years! I had done 2 rounds and decided to use my last round on a whim a few months later).

I also used to eat a lot of oestrogen rich foods eg houmous. No idea if it helped but made me feel
Like I was doing something. Good luck!

@NLO94x what is your weight/diet like?

I have PCOS, insulin resistant too and had very irregular periods, it took 3 years to conceive and we had reached the point where we had accepted it wasn't going to happen.

The only thing that regulated my periods and led me to ovulate was losing weight and going low carb. As soon as I lost 10% of my body weight my periods started to come regularly every 28-30 days. If I put weight on they go again. The low carb is important, I just cannot lose weight by calories alone, I also find myself starving hungry, but if I can make it through the first week of a diet with no refined sugar, no bread or pasta, just carbs from green veg and berries then the hunger disappears and the weight starts to come off.

Negative on a clear blue ultra early and on another IC 😢
Absolutely gutted x

@NLO94x yes , in the same boat here. His results were bad, low count and poor morphology.. very high abnormal count . Advice from andrology was to refer to fertility clinic. Consultant at hospital told us its not completely impossible to get pregnant even with those results ( it only takes one) but would take longer so we were put on fertility clinic waiting list in October as weve been trying for an extremely long time . Pcos has wrecked havoc with my cycles (1 to 2 a year) and one my first back to back period in december I got pregnant ( ended in a loss ) . But yes, clearly it's very much possible . I put him on supplements but they made absolutely no difference at his 3 month repeat test