PCOS and TTC! Anyone want to join with me?

[AnnieBeansMum]

I ladies. I have DD1 (almost 3) and DH and I have begun talking about TTC #2. It took nearly 4 years to conceive DD1 and we finally had success with a course of clomid.

I am now in Canada and have just been referred to a new gynecologist who is apparently the leading expert in PCOS in Canada. So hopefully he will be able to help speed things along. I don't think I could take another 4 year wait.

Does anyone else want to join??

Morning all,

Have been for my scan. Definite poly-cystic on my right ovary. Very enlarged with lots of follicles. Left side looks normal. Bi-cornuate uterus (which I knew already though).

Need to go back to GP in a week to ten days for follow up.

What will be the next stage?

Sorry to hear that Coconuts What's a Bi-cornuate uterus?
Do you still get alot of pain with your PCOS?
Is it just when ovulating?
Fingers crossed I havn't had any more pain since I ov!

Have they mentioned surgery?
Hope you get sorted out soon! My scan is on the 1st Dec!

A bi-cornuate uterus is like split in half, like heart shaped or horned see here

It makes it hard to get pregnant as the egg can implant on the septate (the piece in the middle) not the outer wall.

I get pain all the time on my right side, which is the side that is polycystic. I havent ovulated since June.

Don't know what the next step is, got to go for a follow up appointment with GP to discuss next step.

Good luck with youir scan.

What area are you in if you want to say?

Really sorry to hear that - hope they can sort you out.
My pain was on my left side (ovary area) sharp pains - went to hosp, gave me codeine. Went to GP who referred me back to hosp for an ultrsound scan for possible PCOS or an ovarian cyst. The funny thing is 14 days or so after the pain I got my AF, so could have been ovulation (never had it that sore before though).

Good luck! x

Hi ladies I have pcos ttc number 2. Had one cycle after having DS. This cycle came after nearly a year after birth.

I'm currently confused- I'm not sure if I am late or just not going to have a period. Pretty sure I did ovulate- lots of ewcm and tiny bit of pink in it too. Looked like levels Rose afterwards due to yet more ewcm boob pain and ovary pain and now nothing but a bunch of bfn's. I don't know whether it's game over and I am back to square one- clomid which didnt really agree with me or work- conceived the cycle after I came off it. Don't have any pg symptoms other than tired and occasional boob and ovary pain. I am so fed up! Sorry for huge whinge. Any one experienced anything similar? Tia

Oh and I'm on day 34

I just worked out that I'm on day 136!!

allthatjazz how long ago did you have your ds? how long have you known about your PCOS? Can you return to your GP and explain you are TTC again? How long have you been TTC#2? sorry for all the questions!

My DD is 2.7 and I came off the pill before she turned two, had one or two cycles after and that's all.

wallydog I have never had pain upon ovulation. I have always been on the pill since my periods started at 14/15. To cut a long story short:

I got pg on the pill,
had mc,
went back on pill,
came off pill when with DH to TTC#1,
got pg 1st cycle,
mmc,
ERPC,
got pg 1st cycle,
had DD,
went back on pill,
came off pill 2 years later to TTC#2
last period June this year,
taken 6 months to find out about PCOS

When I go back to the GP next week to discuss my scan will they have to refer me to gynae? I need to get a period induced and somehow ovulate.

Lovely bunch ds is a year and 3 months old. Gp was of the opinion I conceived so I should either be grateful or I will conceive again one day. She spoke of metformin in a I'll look into it way. Think I might go see another tbh!

I just get so cross that I appear to know more than her regarding my condition.

Known about 7 years had no treatment until we wanted to conceive.
I am not over weight but am wondering if a low GI diet would help me anyhow?
Not been ttc for a year yet so perhaps early days but DS took nearly 2 years to arrive!

Lovely- so sorry to hear of your mc. The gynae gave me provera to induce bleed then clomid 50 at first it worked once then up to 150 and it didn't work at all. Had lots of monitoring. Though if I had clomid from Gp I wouldn't have any monitoring at all- sigh!

Yeah I was thinking they might use Provera then CLomid. Don't think Metformin will be needed as I don't have the hair or bad skin, although I am noticing my skin is getting worse as the weeks go by.

Will come back and post once I have seen my GP :)

coconuts Hope you get on ok at GP. If you don't mind me asking are you getting treated at a fertility clinic or is it just GP?

allthatjazz I can totally sympathise with you, like coconuts my last cycle was a mammoth 130 days long. Just another PITA symptom of PCOS. I really recommend The Ultimate PCOS Handbook as it has lots of advice re trying to manage PCOS & regulate cycles.

Just G at the minute boba not being referred to fertility til we've been TTC for a year which I told them will be January (even though it was April)

But maybe now I've been scanned they might push it through.

I have oredered that book :)

Yeah I think that you've got good reason now you've been diagnosed coconuts. You'll enjoy the book although it's pretty big, I'm still working through it & had it about 8 weeks! It's a lot to take in but v.v. interesting. x

well - read up on the different cases above..and it just goes to show that folks with PCO / PCOS / PCOD are really on different places in this wide spectrum that is this condition. Also seems like our ovaries can go from being PCO to normal to PCO on different cycles.

I was diagnosed with PCOS in Dec 2009, did an Ovarian drilling in Jan, have only ovulated one cycle with clomid since..though my periods previous to the operation and post have been regular. Hormone levels (FSH / LH ratio) are all normal and for the past three cycles have been going through follicle monitoring and each cycle there is a dominant follicle that grows (this often doesn't happen with PCOS women) but ovulation is yet to happen..or if it has then we haven't been able to track it. IE - the Progesterone blood tests were done too early in the cycle.

I too have a weight issue and have to lose about 18 kilos to get to a normal BMI. I reallly struggle with losing weight and can very easily put on weight... Since Jan, I've managed to lose 12 of those 18 kgs and have six more to go will perhaps take me till February. It is a very slow and very challenging process though I am REALLY happy about having finally found a method that works for me - - This is the tough part because I've been on diets and exercise plans forever...and each time I failed to reach my goal weight... this time though it is different and as I type this I feel nervous in acknowledging that it is really different.

My diet plan is to follow a low GI/GL regime which means that I have five small meals a day, each meal is 50% vegetables, 25% protein and 25% carb. I stay away from all processed stuff - white bread, sugar (all colors), fried stuff and processed ready to eat meals etc (due to the extra salt, fat content).
I have fallen in love with running - - It really suits my temperament (am not into fast, stressful sports - eg Squash) -- but can run at my own pace for as long as I can.. I typically run 6km a day, and two days a week I try to do a longer 8 - 9km run.
I lose about 1.5 - 2.0kgs a month and though I track my food and exercise everyday - - I've noticed that my weight can go up and down based on my cycle.. ie weight peaks during ovulation (CD 14 - 21) and then again at the end of the cycle (CD 27-32) - - So I do not go by the numbers on the weighing scale.. I just persist with the diet and running and as my cycle progresses, the weight drops away.
I do emotionally eat EG: Today I have a progesterone test and I've been dabbling in the processed stuff since last night TERRIBLE -- and feel all kinds of guilt... but I am learning to be OK with these lapses and not expect to be on the plan 100% of the time.... the thing is even if I manage to be on the plan 50% of the time, the weight does come off.
Medication wise - I am on Clomid and Ovitrelle injections this cycle hopefully if this results in ovulation we'll be that much closer to a bfp.. but regardless my particular brand of PCOS (and we all have ours) it is an adventure getting pregnant.. and I feel I need to accept that unknown quality and brace for the ride.

btw - the book I recommend highly for PCOS is this - Polycystic ovary syndrome / Mohgah Elsheikh, Caroline Murphy

It's a slim book but an EXCELLENT one.

bump

Hi all - sorry I've been crazy busy at work and charting (and BD ) so not keeping up with the threads. Just dropped in to say I got a BFP today though very wary as I don't 'feel pregnant' - not at all how I felt with DS. THat means just three cycles of trying (four months) compared to 14 months with DS.

Personally I found that charting worked for me - I got a clear temperature shift - and I used the saliva ferning monitor. Good luck to everyone.

Agree womanly we all seem to have our own variety of PCOS - you've done amazingly well. Suspect that I'll soon be on a similar diet plan as I had gestational diabetes with DS and they recommend the kind of diet you've followed.

Congratulations gruffalo hope you have a H&H 9 months

YYAYAYA Gruffalo, how exciting!

womanly, congrats on the weightloss. I too followed a low-GI diet and lost around three stone. I am rubbish at losing weight normally but I found it helpful to imagine everything I eat that I shouldn't turning immediately into cysts on my ovaries... um that sounds a bit weird and obsessive but that kind of visualisation really helped.

So after vaunting soy to high heaven last time around it doesn't seem to be working now - I perhaps should have upped the dose. Anyway on cd30 and still pre-ov, which I know is still nice and early but I persuaded poor old DH that we should start SWI every other day from CD12 ... we haven't had so much sex in years but I don't want to stop because that's what happened the last two cycles when we completely missed it. Annoyingly my temps have been perfect, pretty much 36.36 or so every day (and I have check the thermometer's working), my chart is a lovely long horizontal line...

Gruffalo, interesting about saliva ferning - since opks and ewcm don't seem to work for me could look into that... does it generally work for PCOS ladies?

Womanlytales - you are certainly right to surmise that PCOS is a very indidividualistic disorder. It certainly does affect each woman with it very differently. The commonality is the cystic follicles on the ovaries. BTW the cystic follicles associated with PCOS can and do disappear; this is why the ovaries can appear polycystic one month and not say the next. However, the cystic follicles always return.

Good luck to you with the clomid/ovitrelle combination.

BTW what are your LH/FSH levels now?.

Do not be too hard on yourself, be kind to yourself instead!.

Attila - I am not sure what my LH/FSH levels are now - when I tested for them at the start of my cycle and was diagnosed with PCOS they were both normal individually and relative to each other. interestingly this cycle with Clomid and Ovitrelle - I gave myself the inject on CD 9. On CD 16 and CD 19 my progesterone levels were 5 and 6 -- today on CD 23 I have something that looks very much like AF - - so am very confused.... cause it's here this early ...my average cycle length is 32.

Well, hello from me too.

Just dropping by to say that I have been feeling pretty strange for the last few days, and...BFP this morning on day 41 of my cycle. I am totally at the moment. If this is a sticky bean I am going to have a 16 month age gap!

Wally - I had pretty bad pains on my left side this month (it was on the right last time round) - would love to know if it was ovulation...

Good luck to you all x

"I am not sure what my LH/FSH levels are now - when I tested for them at the start of my cycle and was diagnosed with PCOS they were both normal individually and relative to each other. interestingly this cycle with Clomid and Ovitrelle - I gave myself the inject on CD 9. On CD 16 and CD 19 my progesterone levels were 5 and 6 -- today on CD 23 I have something that looks very much like AF - - so am very confused.... cause it's here this early ...my average cycle length is 32.

Hi womanlytales,

re your comment above:-

I asked that as with PCOS there is usually an imbalance of LH to FSH (too much LH, not enough FSH). How were these tested at the start of your cycle, was this through blood tests?. In any event you should have up to date results; anything over six months old should be discounted.

It sounds like AF is on its way:(.

If your progesterone level is still low I would hazard a guess that your LH and FSH levels are still awry as well despite the clomid and ovitrelle. In any event as well clomid should always be given with a degree of caution to PCOS patients. LH and FSH are important hormones because these two hormones kickstart the ovulation process.

When do you next see the cons?.

Huge congrats pinkypanther, fingers x it's a sticky bean and congrats to gruffalo how lovely to have some BFPs on this thread.

I'm now cd24, feeling v tired and a bit nauseous so wondering if these might be good signs. I used OPKs this month but no positive. However the cons warned OPKs aren't very reliable for women with PCOS.

Thank you reallygrumpy. Fingers crossed you ovulated this month! I was using OPKs and never got a proper positive, yet I clearly did ovulate...hope that helps.

And yes, in my excitement I forgot to congratulate gruffalo - yay for you too!