PCOS - support

I have PCOS and have two children. I have actually conceived five times but dealt with some losses. I echo what PP says about doing your own research as the doctors I spoke to knew far less about it than I did. With my PCOS I had wildly erratic cycles but with change of diet and taking various supplements, metformin, NAC, magnesium etc I managed to regulate my cycles and ovulate regularly which obviously is half the battle with PCOS as you can’t even attempt to get pregnant if you aren’t ovulating!

Do you know if you’re ovulating at all or do you particularly long cycles? I managed to get might down to a regular 31-34 days without the help of doctors so it is possible.

I do think a lot of it is down to dietary changes so cutting out any refined carbs, sugar etc.

As I found out the wait for fertility referrals is forever and it’s worth putting a few changes to lifestyle in place beforehand and you might get pregnant before you even get to see them which is what happened to both myself and my twin who also had PCOS.

If I can be of any help please do let me know, I know how rubbish it can be. Good luck OP

I conceived with PCOS, I took 1500mg of metformin a day and it worked for me. After over a year of trying with no luck I became pregnant the month I started metformin. When TTC my second I started taking metformin the month before we ttc, and I got pregnant on our first try. The only other thing I did apart from metformin was to take conception vitamins from the month before too.

Sorry that was long!! 😅I should also add, it was all NHS, not private.

Happy to share my story! I've spoken about it quite a lot of these threads. Diagnosed with PCOS around 8 years ago - very irregular periods (around 3 a year), weight gain, excess hair and blood tests showed odd hormone levels (i had high prolactin despite never having a child at that point).

I started controlling my symptoms with diet and exercise (low carb / keto / fast 800 style diets are v good for PCOS) for several years but then moved onto metformin when actively TTC (late 2019). It took around 4 months of 2000mg to start working - i started having regular periods but blood tests showed i still wasnt ovulating. This was all organised through endocrinology outpatient clinic.

At the same time as being prescribed metformin, i was referred to the fertility clinic. Our appt took around 6months to come through so we started treatment in summer 2020. We had repeat bloods, scans, DH had a semen analysis and then we were prescribed letrozole + monitoring (an internal ultrasound 2-3 times a week to track how the follicles were responding to the letrozole). I did a first cycle of provera to bring on a period and then took the letrozole. The monitoring showed it didn't lead to ovulation. Second course we repeated but on a higher dose and i did ovulate, but no pregnancy. Third cycle was unmonitored as it was clear i was low risk of OHSS on the basis of the first two cycles, and that one resulted in DD, who was born in 2021.

We are now hoping to have a second child - we were referred back to fertility clinic (although different hospital as we have moved house since then) in Jan, had initial appointment in April, have repeated all the scans and tests and have our next appt in July when we are hoping to start treatment again. Annoyingly i have a whole stack of leftover letrozole from last time but it has all expired now! When the appt letter came through, it said a 24 week wait time, but it has been much quicker than that. Maybe we are just lucky? Or maybe they over-estimate the wait times? I've lost 9kg in preparation - i really recommend trying to lose weight if you are overweight as that can also kickstart more regular cycles again.

Did they diagnose PCOS based on just the USS results? There are diagnostic criteria for it. Women with PCOS who have regular menstrual periods have the same lifetime fertility as those without (although around 33% of women with PCOS will have anovulatory periods - they will be having regular menstrual bleeds but not ovulating every month). If you are having regular periods, your GP should request a day 21 serum progesterone level - it will tell you whether you are ovulating. If you are not having regular periods it is more tricky and then referral to a fertility clinic is the best option

@Megs26 I have also been TTC with PCOS. This is month 12 and 9dpo so fingers crossed. I went to the GP as soon as we started TTC as I have had very irregular periods my whole life and kind of knew I had PCOS or something like that. I got diagnosed and referred on to a reproductive endocrinologist fairly quickly. We have gone down the route of ovulation induction using Letrozole. This is our second medicated cycle. From all my research it seems most people with PCOS conceive eventually with a little bit of help. I am in Ireland so things probably work a little different in terms of how quick you can get appointment. I decided to go private rather than wait but I know that’s not always an option.

The wait time for fertility clinics on the nhs can be years, and they’re utterly useless for PCOS. You’re better doing all your own research and working out what supplements you need. I’ve been ttc with pcos for 5 years now.