To ask for success stories TTC with no/irregular periods?

[bee123p]

We're waiting for test results. Having periods every 2-3 months, if at all. I'm only in my mid to late twenties, and hadn't thought there was a rush to TTC, but now it's all I can think about. My mental health is suffering, as I didn't think we'd be in this position at this point in my life. Sat downstairs in tears.

Any success stories for people in a similar position?

I have irregular periods, no diagnosis. I can go 3+ months between and totally irregular. I had blood tests done in my early twenties but nothing came up, the doctor basically said 'come back when you want kids'.

I had nagging worries about my fertility all through my twenties so when I was settled down at 31 and feeling broody, DP and I decided to get cracking in case it took a long time to conceive/needed intervention.

Conceived second cycle trying! Still can't quite believe it. DS is now 2 months old

My advice would be to chart your cycle so you can try to pick up any patterns. I'm lucky in that I can tell when I'm ovulating (clear, slippery discharge, sorry for TMI but worth looking up the signs) - in the past this helped me know when a rare period was coming because I'd come on a fortnight after ovulating. But when TTC it was exceptionally helpful in knowing when to make sure to DTD.

All the best, good luck x

I have irregular periods, anything from 5-9 weeks between them. No pcos as far as I know.
Having irregular periods means you can't always predict when ovulation happens. In theory, you can get pregnant by having unprotected sex in the 5 days leading up to ovulation and 1-2 days after. With normal cycles ovulation would happen on day 14 so it's easy to time lots of sex in that 7 day window.
You can get ovulation predictor tests, which will tell you if you're about to ovulate. Amazon sell these really cheaply, also cheap pregnancy tests. I found these useful until I was able to tell when ovulation was about to happen by changes in my body. Your body temp goes up around ovulation, so if you track it each day then you should be able to see when it's about to happen.
When I was trying to conceive a lot of people in a forum I was on recommended the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility. I've not read it as there's a lot of info available on the internet, but it was the go to book for ttc.
I used an ovulation app, I can't remember which one it was now so that's probably not useful sorry! It was handy to have one place to log periods, ovulation predictors tests, and other symptoms and signs.
It took 10 months for me to get pregnant, which looking back isn't a long time, but it felt like ages. Irregular periods definitely made it harder, I felt like my body was working against me.
I wish you the best of luck!

I had this happen when I went off the pill after 10years, periods all but disappeared- went upto six months without one. Gp ran hormone tests and all was normal. I cried all the time because I thought I'd never get pregnant. I had a always had a regular cycle before pill. Anyhow after 12months trying to conceive we were referred to fertility clinic. They gave me northisterone to induce a period to do a scan. They did the scans, I asked sonographer if she could see anything and she said looks like it's pcos. After the appointment I researched pcos and found it's sometimes insulin resistance related and low carb diets can help. I cut out all sugar and did a low carb Atkins/Paelo style diet, my period came back that same same month, another one a month later and third didn't happen because I was pregnant after 18 months total trying. I now have a second baby too.
I don't know if it was the diet or the northisterone pill that may have given me a kick start to my periods returning.
Also read up on tracking cycle by paying attention to cervical mucus. I could tell me cycles were normalising again because it started following a normal pattern.

I took inositol too, recommended in a pcos book for regulating insulin. A lot a people have insulin resistance because of the high sugar diet. I think lots of refined sugar can play havoc with hormones!

Hi everyone - I'm new to mumsnet but have been reading posts like yours over the past 2 years of ttc. I thought it would have happened by now so never thought I would need to join. It hasn't and here I am!

Sorry to hear that you are all having such a hard time. I don't even know what to post - it seems it has all been said before by so many women (and some men I am sure) in the past.

I'm irregular and just got my 21 day blood test come back ok saying I ovulate. But instead of being happy I'm just frustrated as now they won't put me on clomid. I swear it is probably the only (or one of few times) I ovulate over 2 years of ttc. I told them that too - mentioning that from Nov - April 16/17 I only had 2 periods so I'm obviously not ovulating when I should be. Doesn't make a difference apparently as now I ovulated this time they will monitor me for a while before prescribing clomid.

So I just thought I would vent. I'm not a very negative person but that just got me so annoyed. I kinda wanted to start on clomid asap as I read about so many success stories.

Anyways thanks for reading my little post. Good luck to everyone - I hope we all manage to get pregnant soon x

I’ve got pcos as well. Stopped in Feb 2016 for ttc and didn’t have a period til April 2917! So 14 months without one !
On the 1st day of the period I was visiting the doctor in a reproductive centre. I couldn’t believe it !

2nd cycle on clomhid and got pg. I still can’t believe it and keep thinking I’ll go back to the nightmare from a few months ago. Right now I’m 14w pg

I know people with pcos that got pg naturally so each body is different

Had very irregular periods after having a coil removed (to be fair I have no idea how regular they were before my coil as had been on hormonal contraception for 10 yrs!) It took 2 years of trying with no medication for pregnancy #1 which I sadly miscarried and was pregnant again 2 months later with my daughter. She is now 6. We decided not to have more children so didn't TTC again and I had my coil put back so no idea what my periods might be doing now (I don't bleed with a coil fitted!)

The year before I got married I had 1 period only. Just before I got married I was really worried as DH and I both wanted children.

I had some tests and had/have PCOS and so lost some weight (weight was BMI 24ish and reduced to BMI 21ish) and took metformin. Not sure which did most help (I think the metformin) and then had 3 periods and got pregnant.

Now finished family (4 DC)/ttc and I have monthly periods! Why?!

I have PCOS. My periods were all over the place - nothing for months and then 2-month long, non-stop bleeding for example. My GP thought I wasn't ovulating at all and basically told my partner and I to start trying immediately so they'd "have time to help me".

I got pregnant the first week of TTC, during one of my really long periods. I was taking metformin and low-carbing with intermittent fasting, but I have no idea if that made a difference or not. Since my DS was born, my periods have been like clockwork, but it took us a few months of TTC for me to get pregnant with #2.

I feel really lucky as I know that many women with PCOS do struggle and can be infertile. Until you've tried I don't think it's always clear if things are working or not though, even if you have symptoms of things being a bit broken!

I am 36. Never had regular periods. Had mirena coil removed and pregnant within 2 months.

Make sure you are having sex every day for the 7 days around likely ovulation date. (usually the week before your period is due to start). Hold your legs up in the air with hands on your hips holding them aloft a good 10 minutes after - sperm is subject gravity like everyone else.

If it doesn't happen in a month or so, ask your doctor for the hormone pill that bump starts ovulation.

And don't worry about the crying - crying is normal, not a mental health problem.

DontCareBear - probably an annoying stupid question, but are you really scientific about having sex? By which I mean do you estimate when you think you are ovulating, go at it once a day for the 3 days either side, and hold your legs up after? Or have you been off contraception and doing it when you romantically feel like it?

I think making a baby is best to think about in terms of having a petri dish and a pipette, and working back from there - you have a vagina and a penis instead, but you basically have to accomplish the same task if you are going to get pregnant.

My periods were very few and far between when I was TTC, up to five months apart. The doctor put me on Clomid for a while with no success and you can't take it for too long so I was put on the list for further tests at the fertility clinic which was rather a long wait. Finally the appointment came round and I was asked to do a routine pregnancy test beforehand. Very surprised to find out I was actually pregnant with Dd! We started trying sooner for Ds as it had taken so long with Dd. He was born when she was four years and three months.

So basically, yes if your periods are a bit haywire it may take a long while to get pregnant but that doesn't mean it's impossible. It's hard though I know, you do start to feel desperate, even the second time round when you know how lucky you are to have one already. I think the stress creates a vicious circle and makes you less likely to get pregnant. I'm sure that I only fell pregnant the first time because the clinic appointment was so far away and I focused on that and sort of relaxed about everything else iyswim, as I resigned myself to nothing happening until then!. Easy to say find something else to focus on but I'm convinced it makes a big difference.

I had irregular periods with cycles between 6-12 weeks, with no PCOS.
I got pregnant with DS after 9 months , and took 18 months for DD. No treatments required.

Dil of a friend of mine was told she'd never have a baby - she just wasn't ovulating and treatment wasn't helping. They had been TTC for some time - this was not long ago.
Only a year or so after this, she conceived naturally and went on to have a healthy 'miracle' baby.

I heard of someone else (single) who was told it was a million to one against her ever conceiving, though I forget the reason. On a work trip abroad she had a quick, unprotected fling - BINGO! Luckily she was happy about it - after the initial shock...

Yes - I have PCOS and endometriosis but have 2 wonderful boys! Periods were very few and far between (the longest was about 9 months) and was about to have ovarian drilling to help conceive number 2 but very fortunately fell pregnant naturally. I honestly thought it would not happen again when I got both diagnoses together and had essentially given up hope.

Husband and I went back to enjoying sex because we like having sex with each other rather than TTC. I firmly believe taking that pressure off of myself helped me conceive spontaneously.

Good luck OP