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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to worry that a baby will never happen for us?

18 replies

user1474383415 · 20/09/2016 16:08

Thought i'd post this as i cant find any similar threads with exactly the same situation as mine.

We've been TTC for a month short of 2 years. We were referred to the infertility department of our local hospital in January and they confirmed (what i already knew) that i had PCOS and wasn't ovulating. I started clomid approximately May time and i'm now about to start my 6th cycle of clomid. I ovulated and had a chemical pregnancy on my 3rd cycle of 150mg and was then put on to 100mg for the 4th cycle to see if i responded to a lower dose. i didn't so went back up to 150mg for the fifth cycle and didn't ovulate at all. In fact there wasn't even any growth. Not sure how this happened and this has been the worst thing to happen in mind, even worse than the chemical pregnancy. My consultant was away today so another doctor did my scan, so i'll be speaking with her next week.

Prior to my 3rd successful round, she mentioned ovarian drilling as an option but then decided against it when i ovulated on the third cycle. Is this now something i should push for, do you think? She did say at our last appointment that she would be willing to go up to as many as 12 cycles of clomid before referring us for ivf but now i feel so panicky and like im running out of options.

For those who have had IVF - how long from referral to actually starting did the process take? And do you pursue treatment while you wait for the ivf to start?

Where on earth is my baby???!!!!!

OP posts:

Katedotness1963 · 20/09/2016 16:13

I did not have IVF but I do have PCOS. Clomid did nothing for me even at a high dose. Due to our circumstances further fertility treatment was not on the cards. After 14 years of trying I was surprised to find myself pregnant, even got to 18 weeks without realising. Within a year of giving birth I was pregnant again. Only took 14 weeks to figure it out the second time.

Don't give up hope and I wish you all the luck in the world with your treatment!

Vixxfacee · 20/09/2016 16:17

Hi, I have pcos and I had 3 months worth of clomid. It did absolutely nothing for me. This was on the NHS. If I remember correctly I had the clomid in April, may and June and then started my ivf in September.
I had 2 years waiting on the NHS before the clomid but once that didn't work it was pretty quick to the ivf.
People with pcos respond well to ivf, I found ivf pretty easy and not like I had imagined at all. I wouldn't do 12 months of clomid.
Sorry to hear about your chemical pregnancy

Original poster

user1474383415 · 20/09/2016 16:19

Thanks so much for the replies!

Vixx would you choose not to do 12 months because it's ineffective or because it's an absolute pain in the arse?!

So glad to hear that you didn't find IVF too horiffic.

Thanks so much again

OP posts:

user1470132907 · 20/09/2016 16:24

I appeared to have mild PCOS before my DC, in that I ovulated some cycles but had a very short luteal phase (so it was difficult for embryo to implant). Progesterone (no Clomid) did the trick for me. Are they monitoring your day 21 progesterone levels at all? I also found working on my diet and things like acupuncture gave me something to focus that I could control on while I was waiting for the medical side to happen.

Given you have responded to Clomid sometimes, I would be surprised (based on nothing else but too much time on fertility forums!) if things didn't start to go your way fairly soon. The very best of luck!

Original poster

user1474383415 · 20/09/2016 16:40

Thanks! I think they also monitor my progesterone when i do the blood test shortly before period is due which also tells me if i ovulated.

OP posts:

Vixxfacee · 20/09/2016 17:04

User I would choose not to do it because from what they said to me the statistics are quite low. I have had horrific side effects from it and I was spending alot of time having scans and getting stressed trying to grow at least 1 follicle and then it was making me feel like it would never happen.

Have you decided how many more months you will try it for?

Katedotness1963 · 20/09/2016 17:18

I had horrible side effects from Clomid also.

AHedgehogCanNeverBeBuggered · 20/09/2016 17:26

I'd keep on with the Clomid if I were you, IVF is generally very difficult, costly and time consuming. DH and I are about to begin our 3rd cycle, and I can promise you that if Clomid had been an option we'd have jumped on it wholeheartedly.

AHedgehogCanNeverBeBuggered · 20/09/2016 17:27

Anyway though, come over to the Infertility boards, we're a friendly lot and there's tons of informed advice from people pooling what they know.

Letsgetreadytorumbleagain · 20/09/2016 17:57

Have you/they thought about Metformin to treat your PCOS, it worked wonders for me - I went from 50 day cycles (or longer) to 27/28 and fell pregnant quite quickly

Osirus · 20/09/2016 18:27

I had IVF. First appointment in Jan 2015, after referral from GP on Christmas eve. I had a few tests and several appointments before treatment started in August 2015. Positive test on 9th October and baby arrived June 2016. I first went to GP in August 2014, so a year before treatment started. Most of the time was spent waiting for appointments and my AMH test results took a really long time!

This was NHS and I think my treatment proceeded relatively quickly compared to some health trusts. I was very happy with the process and my clinic was brilliant.

Osirus · 20/09/2016 18:30

I have to say that I didn't find it time consuming at all but you do have to attend quite a few appointments. Most days it's just a quick injection in the morning, which I was really scared to do at first but it gets easier.

Theonlywayis · 20/09/2016 18:35

This reply has been withdrawn

Message from MNHQ: This post has been withdrawn

ConvincingLiar · 20/09/2016 18:42

I got pregnant on metformin for pcos but it might have just been that we'd been trying for so long (would have conceived within a week of starting it). Stopped it when pregnant and have since conceived twice, presumably my body's finally worked out what to do. Hang in there (and post in infertility rather than aibu).

honeylulu · 20/09/2016 19:06

I had mild Pcos but hardly ever had periods which is a bit of a pain when you're ttc! After almost a year with no periods/monitoring the fertility clinic decided to try prog and than a double dose of Clomid. Came back from holiday went to collect prescription, nurse did a routine pregnancy test. Positive (and natural). Sadly later lost that baby at 20 weeks. No periods. So tried the prog and Clomid. Pregnant first time. Miscarried. No periods ... more prog and Clomid. Pregnant straight away. .. twins this time. Miscarried. So it went on. Three chemicals later id had my allotted amount of clomid and was told nothing left on nhs except IVF and we'd have to pay (had one older child). Decided if we'd be paying we'd get the best. Found a clinic. Consultant told us not to rush into IVF as "no fertility is truly unexplained". I was gutted as totally geared up for it. So we had all manner of tests and it turned out I had an autoimmune condition. So the advice was to have IVF with a blood plasma transfusion. Got the prescription. .. can you guess what happens next? Yes pregnant naturally after a night on the prosecco - final few drinks before giving up for IVF. Had been trying five years by then. Had the blood plasma asap.
My little 2 year old miracle has just pissed on the kitchen floor! She was born a few days before my 40th birthday and I'd truly given up hope.
Don't give up. Despite everything (there were other issues too) it happened for us. When we came to the end of clomid it felt like it was the end of the road and it wasn't. Good luck!!!

CutterSquidge · 29/09/2016 09:44

I have PCOS and it took me 2 years to get pregnant. My gynecologist had advised me to try a low carb diet. I m not sure if that really made the difference or it might have been just a coincidence, but I got pregnant a few months after starting it.

Spanielsarecool1 · 29/09/2016 10:04

I have pcos. 4 yrs no trying with no luck. Had 1 yr of clomid/metformin combinations-only ovulated once!
Then had ivf, thankfully worked first time and she is now nearly 4.
One year ago we tried to use out frozen embryos and sadly they all failed. Decided to have a few months off to enjoy the summer, drink lots of wine and were planning to start ivf on Monday.
However on Monday we are having our 20 week scan with baby no 2 which happened naturally somehow in the middle of my cheese and wine summer!!

ThatBadHamster · 29/09/2016 17:37

Hi OP, I can't advise on pcos or ivf but thought I'd weigh in with my own experience in case it is of some help......I have always had irregular periods and occasionally they stopped all together which is what happened just when we wanted to ttc. I was referred for fertility testing and it all came back fine so they couldn't give me a reason. I ended up going for acupuncture and had a period/ovulated first time and my baby is now 6 weeks old. You can use alternative therapies alongside conventional medicine so it might be something to look into If u haven't already and if its your kind of thing.......anyway I will have my fingers crossed for u and hope u get your baby soon xx

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