PCOS and AI - 1st fertility appointment

[justjodie92]

Hi.
I hope this is the right place to post this.
I'm looking for some advice really.

I'm a single gay woman who made the decision last Christmas to have a baby. I am a teacher so I have a good job, a wonderful network of friends and family, and I know I am ready to be a Mum.
Fast forward a year - I have tried AI at home with known donor sperm each month. I've used OPKs and charted my temperature throughout.

When no conception occurred after 11 months, I asked the GP for tests. My day 21 blood tests showed I didn't ovulate, and my day 2-4 blood test indicated PCOS.
I've now been referred to the fertility department at the hospital at the end of January. Does anyone know what I can expect from this appointment? Or what they might suggest is the best way for me to get pregnant?

Thank you so much if you have read this far, and if you can offer any advice.

i think they might suggest to treat PCOS so you would ovulate and then monitor you really did, as the first step. If they did not suggest that i would insist on.

Hi just, I can imagine they would confirm the pcos but then request a scan to make sure. On my first appointment I was given clomid straight away for 3 cycles I did ovulate on it for 3 cycles but didn't get my bfp. He has given me another prescription but said I should ovulate this month on my own which I think I have! Just waiting on AF now which is due 3rd Jan ish. I also dont bother with opks as they don't work well with pcos

Thank you for your replies.

I've heard a lot of people mention Clomid. How do you know you actually have ovulated? The OPKs indicated I did, yet the blood test gave a result of 11 which indicated I didn't.

Im not exactly sure on the ins and outs of it but I think pcos raises your hormone levels which result in positive opks its a false reading basically. I only knew my clomid had worked because I ended up getting a period every month which I dont normally have. The doc can do scans mid way through your cycles or blood tests i think to check if you have but they never did with me

I had severe pcos, but still managed to conceived through ivf.

This was 10 years ago though and can't remember the names. The injections didn't work for me but the nasal spray did.

Your lifestyle shouldn't come into it. The biggest shock I got was in the presentation. There was 30 couples and the doctor told us that it was likely that only four couples would probably get to take a child home. That's the reality though. You need to be realistic about your expectations.

Good luck

Did he mean IVF only works for 4 out of 30 people?

Is IVF the procedure they would go to straightaway or is IUI a step before that?

4 couples out of 30 couples.

We went to ivf straight away, but in one cycle I didn't produce enough eggs for a harvest, so they did iui instead, that didn't work for me though.

I was offered two free cycles of ivf but the iui didn't 'count' because they hadn't gathered the eggs.

Thank you feckit.

If the two funded cycles didn't work, would you have to go private and fund it yourself from then on?

Yep, and did.

We did 4 then splashed out on one final attempt. We would have given up after that.

Funnily enough I passed my driving test when I'd said...one last go then I'm giving up.....too

Congratulations on your final and successful attempt!

Thank you! I'm thankful everytime I see her.

You have to count your blessings

Good luck

With PCOS the main issue is lack of regular ovulation. But you should make sure they do a thorough work up and check for other issues too - it's easy sometimes to get stuck on one issue and miss others that might also be combining to affect your fertility....physical problems can be checked by a scan or HSG, and if you want to continue to use your known donor, he should be checked too as sperm issues can change over time. They may discuss weight issues or dietary management for PCOS, for me, metformin works very well to ensure regular ovulation, and needs far less monitoring than clomid, but it doesn't work for everyone and fertility specialists may prefer to go to the 'big guns' sooner. It's worth finding out a bit more yourself....there are some good books out there. Good luck.

Hi ladybee, thank you for your message.

The thing that baffles me is that I have really regular periods. Pretty much to the day, every day. I thought this wasn't the case with PCOS.

I've written down some questions to take with me because I want to make the most of the appointment.

I feel that if IVF is the only realistic way it's going to happen, then perhaps that should be put in place straight away. Or maybe it doesn't work like that?!

They may then want to re-do the test, perhaps on several days of the cycle, and possibly do some monitoring scans over the month. When is the appointment?
IVF is expensive and tough, they may be obliged to explore other options first. That might be frustrating, but if an alternative plan works out then that's great and if not then they would still have IVF in reserve. Better to have a few options than none, perhaps.