No periods doctor won't help

[PCOShell]

Hi,

My DH & I are TTC and I have PCOS. I have been to the doctors and they've done 3 sets of blood tests and nothing has come back and have apparently sent a referral to the fertility clinic but I have no idea how long that will take.

It's seriously affecting my mental health. I haven't had a period for 5 months and the GP are just being completely unhelpful. I've never actually had an appointment with a doctor. They just do a 2 minute phone call then send me in to get bloods taken. Then they say my hormone levels are too low and I need to get bloods on a certain day of my cycle which is impossible.

What can I do? I'm willing to pay to go privately but don't know where to start. If I take out health insurance will it cover fertility treatment? I haven't had any appts yet so don't think they can class it as pre-existing.

I've heard of clomid, can I ask the GP to prescribe it?

I've posted in the correct topics before and had no response so apologies for posting here. It's really starting to make me hate myself. My DH is great and doesn't apply any pressure but I know he's desperate for children and I feel like there's something wrong with me.

Have you tried gaining weight? Eating more carbs rather than less?

@PCOShell ignore all the advice about losing weight. As you are a healthy weight it isn’t necessary. There are different kind of PCOS in terms of how it affects women eg I tried Metformin and it did nothing for me
there are some good books out there to help - taking charge of your fertility Toni Weschler is well regarded.
I agree with finding a good nutritionist who can help.
the supplement Inositol can also help with fertility
good luck!

I'm not sure this would be beneficial, I'm a healthy weight and wouldn't want to put any on

Thank you I will take a look at that book and have a search for a nutritionist!

I'm fairly sure I got it from Holland and Barrett. Sorry, it's a long time ago now, so I'm not certain. Definitely not a prescription though.

I had to undergo numerous tests and examinations before being prescribed clomid and that was prescribed by the gynaecologist at the hospital and I could only collect it from the hospital pharmacy. So I don't think your GP will be able to prescribe it for you.

Just to add, mine was unexplained infertility but I was prescribed clomid and conceived both my children with it. (My second time of TTC, I had to undergo all the same tests and examinations).

Hope everything works out for you OP.

Keep chasing the referral for the fertility clinic. They are right when they say you need bloods taken on a certain day of your cycle. Getting a handle on PCOS is quite tricky and proper medical oversight is vital although diet and lifestyle changes can help. Private health insurance won't cover it. I'd start by checking what you local clinical commissioning group (CCG) cover for infertility. Lots of areas in England will fund one full cycle of IVF and/or IUI/other interventions like metformin. Almost all fertility clinics also accept private patients but I'd really chase the NHS referral first.

Sorry, I meant add that you must only take it up to ovulation as it can prevent implantation. You would need to chart temperatures to be sure of when that is. Then, hopefully, you would have a period after 14 ish days and start it again.

I was going fit so say Angus castus. I got mine from a health shop in liquid form you add drops to water, it was brilliant
I also used high concentrations of evening primrose oil at times too.
If you're a bit over or under weight then try to lose or gain a bit, hormones reside in fat (sone do) so can cause an imbalance - even small changes can apparently really help
Good luck

It doesn't sound like this is anything to do with weight so please just put that out of your mind especially if recovering from ED.

Insurance won't cover fertility treatment in your case, take that money and invest it in to a functional nutritionist, maybe some acupuncture, take a slow yoga class, do all the reading you can.

NHS is notoriously bad at PCOS / anything to do with irregular periods and you are better taking matters in to your own hands.

Here is a link to a good nutritional therapist: www.debbielewis.co.uk/

If she is unavailable/ too expensive she might be able to point you in right direction.

Look at people like Dr Aviva Rom, her book is excellent.

Lots of us with PCOS have healed ourselves and had babies so please don't panic but you do need to get stuck in.

Also, they do tend to label you with PCOS when they just don't know what's wrong with you - important to not think of yourself as broken, infertile, or anything in that vein. Your body is sending you a helpful message and it's your job to find out what it is and address it.

I feel very strongly about this topic if you couldn't tell!!

Thanks so much, I was hoping I wouldn't have to do anything drastic weight wise as it's taken me a lot of years to settle at a healthy weight and u really don't want to fall back into obsessing over it again.

I'm starting to see already that the NHS are not taking it too seriously which is why I'm happy to spend money on it if needed and if that's going to be the case, I'd rather pay from the beginning and speed things up.

I'll take a look at those suggestions! It's good to know there are others and that my GP isn't acting unusually, but sad that so many women struggle with this!

I'm surprised to see so many people saying GP won't prescribe Clomid. Ten years ago admittedly, but my GP (after telling me if I was a chicken I'd be scragged and on the dinner table - lovely bedside manner!) referred me straight to the fertility clinic as three years without period is not usual - who knew?! But she also did three cycles of Clomid with me whilst waiting for the appointment to come through. The fact she'd done that then fast tracked me onto IVF as we'd done the Clomid already.

Good luck op - hang on in there. IVF resulted in a very ds, and then a naturally conceived surprise dd two years later.

Any reason you aren’t considering what worked for me - ovarian drilling, small operation on the nhs? Any time I suggest this to women with PCOS who only have 2, 3 or 4 periods a year it is ignored. No idea why. I am going to stop suggesting it. Clearly no one is interested.

Putting weight on (healthily) usually gets ignored too.

Absolutely ask for metformin. My periods didn't return after having my first DC and finishing breastfeeding. GP ran bloods and ruled out PCOS as my testosterone was low but couldn't find a reason for AWOL periods. He offered to try me on metformin as they've been known to regulate periods, two weeks later I had a normal period and then got pregnant that cycle.

I'm confused - why do you say your doctor won't help? They've referred you to a specialist.

Apologies for not responding sooner, it's something I've never heard of before so added it to my list of suggestions from this thread to look into! I'm not against having a small procedure but would of course prefer to cancel out any less invasive options first

That wouldn't work for me, I have a history of eating disorders and it would be ruinous to go back into that

Metformin and clomid are both coming up quite a bit so I'll certainly try and ask the doctor about both!

Me too, you've had multiple bloods, know you have PCOS and have been referred to the correct service. If you are not overweight then there isn't much point in the GP telling you to lose weight. Not sure what else you want. It is very frustrating for everyone when waiting lists are long, but 'the doctor won't help' is cleary not true.

Because the doctor has never even had an actual conversation with me, never discussed options or even explained to my what my PCOS is. They sent the referral weeks and weeks ago

I feel ignored and helpless. I've asked several times for an appointment with a GP and I'm always told I only need a phone consultation. GP calls, looks at previous book work, says do another blood test and that's it. No information, no help.

And I found out I had PCOS 3 years ago!!

You can get ovulation tests, relatively cheaply, on amazon.
I have issues with my hormones so periods are all over the place. The tests helped me nail down my cycle & I was pregnant in a couple of months.
The lack of help with female specific issues is shocking.

If you want to speed things up then your best bet is a private consultation at a fertility clinic. Most will have a price list on their website or be able to send you one. So you can see if this is really an option.

With regard to health insurance I think you will find that you will have an exclusion applied for 'PCOS and any associated conditions' which would include infertility.