Time to get stroppy with the doctor?

[KnittingKnots]

I came off the pill in Jan, periods still weird and cycles really long ? i've really only had two in 6 months. How on earth am I meant to get pregnant if I'm not ovulating? I am so fed up. I know the pill can muddle things about but this can't be normal?
I went to the doctor a month or 2 ago. You can't book appointments, so I sat in the waiting room for an hour and a bit, and when I eventually saw the doctor she basically told me off for wasting her time. It's really put me off going back. What would you do? I guess if you're counting cycles then we haven't actually been trying that long. I know 6 months isn't long compared to some people on here, i just can't bear not knowing what's happening adn I'm starting to wonder if we'll ever get there. My and DH are trying everything we can, but there's no point DTD all the bloody time when there's nothing there to fertilize! When do I start demanding blood tests? We waited so long to be in a position for a baby to be practical and I can't bear that nothing's working. I had so many things planned in advance this summer, weddings, festivals etc, and I imagined I'd be pregnant for all of them! Now every time I reach one of those little landmarks and there's still nothing I just feel like a big failure. DH is disappointed too, but he just says "It'll happen one day". I know it was stupid to expect it to happen immediately, but I've been waiting and planning so long...
Sorry this has turned into such a rant. I just feel so helpless and useless. I can't even chart or count days or anything because it's all so unpredicatble. Any advice from anyone?

Its too early to expect your cycle to kick back in, it can take up to a year.No point getting stroppy with your GP!

Seasickgirl unfortunately is incorrect; the pill leaves your system very quickly after taking the last tablet and cycles do not normally take up to a year to revert back to a "normal" patterm.

I would ask you what your cycles were like prior to taking the pill, if they were irregular then this would happen post pill taking too.

There is no real evidence to suggest that the pill is responsible for failure to ovulate. What the pill can do however, is mask symptoms of underlying problems.

I would find another GP practice to register at as this one seem so unhelpful.
Do not be fobbed off further.

Two periods in six months is patently not normal at all; this is usually because of hormonal imbalances. Blood tests can and should be done to see if PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) or thyroid problems are present. It is unlikely that you are ovulating regularly if at all currently. I would put money on it that you have some sort of hormonal imbalance causing all this to arise.

Seek further medical help by changing GP practice. If you can as well pay privately to see a gynae and have some initial blood tests done. I would also be looking at having an internal ultrasound scan done as well to see if your ovaries are polycystic.

Hi there KnittingKnots. Unfortunately it can take a while for your body to readjust after coming off the pill, you've already waited 6 months so hopefully you won't have to wait 6 more but there's no way to know. If the doctor wasn't particularly helpful last time then it would probably be best to wait a while longer and hope your body is nearly finished sorting itself out. You have my sympathies for the way they treated you last time though, it does annoy me when they treat patients with such disdain as though we're meant to know what we've come in there to ask, they're the ones with the medical training, that's why we go to them!

I would change GP practice - yours sounds awful! I went to GP after only five months of trying because I had been charting and it showed my luteal phase was both short and variable. She took it really seriously, I had blood tests booked straight away, and have now been referred to a consultant. It all takes time to sort out (waiting for 7dpo for blood tests - I also have log cycles), waiting for consultant apt etc so you want to get in the system ASAP. Good luck finding a new and more sympathetic GP.

Log = long!

Hi Knitting!

Think we've met before! [hi!]

I came off the pill in October (microgynon I think)- cycles settled down to 28-29day cycle almost immediately. Then in May, as you may know, I missed a period and had an odd 58 day cycle!!

I went to the Drs when I was a week late - she told me to go away, wait a week then POAS, if still BFN then book in for a blood test to check hormone levels. Had the bloods done and results back within a week to find out that it was v likely I had PCOS, which needed a scan to confirm. Had the scan done privately within 4 days and confirmed there and then that I had PCOS (and to expect a period in the next 2weeks because she could see the post-ovulatory cyst)! Period finally arrived and the doc has now referred me to a gynae to see what are our fertility options.

So with that long story, it only took 1 missed period for our Drs to spring into action, surprising really, since I'm 26 and only been trying since Jan. So I would recommend you go back to a different Dr in the practice maybe and at least ask about getting your hormone levels checked out. If you were regular before you went on the pill, it's not normal to have periods so sporadically post-pill and would push to get it investigated.

Good Luck and let us know how you get on!

How old are you? NICE recommends that if you've been having unprotected sex for a year, or 6 months if you're over 35, you should be referred to a specialist.