Letrozole for TTC with PCOS

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Posting here for traffic 🙃

Hi! My husband and I are currently TTC. We have a 6yo DD and have previously suffered 3 miscarriages. I've got PCOS and I've had gynae tests to find the cause and they've said that all looks fine apart from PCOS which I knew about. I also have T2 Diabetes and have been told the reason for our losses was poor control. Been taking metformin for a good few months now and levels are much better. We're desperate to conceive and so far it's not worked. I know that it's probably not been long in the scale of things but I'm in my late 30s now with a high BMI. I've looked into Letrozole and everything I've read says it's suitable for me, but the point to this post is to ask if anyone similar has had any experience with Letrozole and could give me some insight please.
I'm going to discuss with my GP about it but just need to hear from others who have been through similar. Thanks for reading to the end & sorry if I'm rambling.

I have PCOS and have done a few cycles of letrezole and a few of clomid. My PCOS means I ovulate very rarely. Both clomid and letrezole have induced ovulation for me, although I have never conceived on either. If you are ovulating regularly I don't know if they would help, I have read of people being prescribed them (particularly letrezole I think) to induce a kind of "super ovulation" and make you release more than one egg.

I doubt your GP will prescribe (although you may get lucky!) but may either refer you to reproductive medicine, or you could look at going private.

I don't know how long you've been trying but has your DH had any tests on his sperm? That may also be worth looking into if it's been a while and they can't find any issues on your side. Have you had any recurrent miscarriage blood tests - thrombophilias etc? Thyroid? So sorry about your losses, I have had 3 too and understand the heartache.

You'll neee to go through loads of testing to get letrazole or clomid usually. The full works including a hycosy, sperm analysis. It's super slow.

I conceived on clomid but then had loads of letrazole and it didn't help me conceive.

YABU.

Sorry for your losses, OP. I have PCOS and DD1 was a letrozole baby. She took 3 cycles to conceive, with the dosage increased after the second cycle.

First stop should be a visit to your GP for a referral to the fertility clinic as GPs cannot prescribe letrozole. Some GPs might offer you clomid instead. I was told that clomid is less effective with high BMIs so up to you if you want to try it. I preferred to go straight for letrozole as a newer and more effective drug. You will have blood tests and ultrasounds, and your DH will need to do a semen analysis.

But there are a couple of issues with the NHS - one is that they might try and say that as you already have a child, you are not eligible for treatment. I know people who this has happened to. This is true for IVF but i think the NICE guidelines for ovulation induction are different and we were told that we could have a second prescription of letrozole for DD2 (didnt need it in the end) so dont let them fob you off without checking. Second is that the trust may have a BMI limit for treatment. Ours was 30 so i did the Fast 800 diet and lost 12kg to be able to be eligible.

Last year, it took us around 11months from referral to the point of treatment, so there's also waiting times to take into consideration.

Obviously if you can afford to go private then you dont need to worry about some of the above.

By the way, there are loads of threads on the conception board relating to letrozole, so you might find them more helpful than posting in AIBU.

Why?

This is so helpful. Thanks so much. I've posted there too but thought I'd post here for the traffic.