Anyone a bit lost?

[camrywagon]

Seeking a bit of wisdom please! I'm now on CD 84 (sob). Bloods show high testosterone but everything else seems ok. Ultrasound shows lots of cysts on ovaries but doctor doesn't think it's PCOS syndrome just poly cystic ovaries - didn't offer any further advice or a way forward so I'm a bit lost as to what this all means...are the cysts stopping me ovulating or are they a symptom of something else? Why would my testosterone be too high? What should I do???

I keep weeing on sticks (compulsively) as it seems the only proactive thing I can do, except shag whenever we have the energy. Feeling flat today as I'm probably not going to ovulate this late on and the poas daily ritual is becoming a self-flagellation activity to remind me that I'm not ovulating.

My husband is being no help as he's all zen and in touch with the universe and keeps saying incredibly frustrating things like god punishes us for what we can't imagine. I think he's trying to be helpful but is also a bit scared so it's making him come out with shit like this.

This is all a bit jumbled but it's all come to a head tonight as I stupidly watched Jeremy Kyle on youtube (don't judge - emigrated to Oz and it gives me an odd feeling of being at home!) and these stupid buggers just seem to get pregnant by looking at a willy.

Any advice, similar experiences or a kick up the arse would be greatly received.

I have very long cycles too. No explanation yet.
I started tempting at the beginning of this cycle (50 days so far) and I feel so much more relaxed about the whole thing. I can tell from my chart that I haven't ovulated so I don't have to waste money on hundreds of pregnancy tests like I have in the past.

Have they taken Day 2 and Day 21 blood tests as well as doing the scan? They have to put it all together before they can rule out PCOS. Also as you have long cycles you will most likely OV later (if you do at all) so they would need to do the day 21 tests once a week from day 21 until AF arrives

camrywagon

PCOS is often detected through both bloodwork and scans; given that you have more than one symptom PCOS is very likely the cause. Some GPs can indeed be ignorant when it comes to PCOS and it is not a condition that should be messed around with by such people. High testosterone is indicative of PCOS anyway.

As for the cystic follicles on the ovaries, many are dormant and others contain hormones. These particular follicles pump out hormones which further disrupts ovulation. Such cystic follicles do disappear only to be replaced by other cystic follicles.

It is NOT worth using OPKs at all in your particular circumstances, they are a complete waste of your time, money and effort. You need to stop using these as of now. They are not helping at all and are simply making you feel worse.

What you can do is insist to your medical practitioner that you are now referred to a subfertility specialist in such a unit. If the GP is unhelpful change GP practice.

Its a UK site and I realise that you are in Australia now but it could well be helpful to you, knowledge after all is power!!.

www.verity-pcos.org.uk

I don't know about the cysts but wanted to ask if you are or have recently been taking vitamin B6?
I took it to try and regulate my cycles, at a higher than recommended daily dose. My testosterone went high. I stopped taking it and within 3 months my testosterone was normal with no further problems.

If cycles are irregular then blood tests can infact be done according to calendar days so the 2nd/3rd and 21st of each month. That test does not need to be done any later than that nor repeated weekly till AF arrives. Done monthly as well, these can also give a clearer picture as to what is actually happening.

You should really be under the care of a specialist now.

Consistently long cycles are more likely than not to be ones in which ovulation does not occur. It is certainly in your interests BlanketOfStars to find out exactly why your cycles are like this; PCOS and or thyroid gland problems are often to blame. If there is no explanation this is likely because of lack of proper investigation and actual specialist knowledge.

I would suggest reading Understanding Your Fertility. It's really good at showing you how your cycles work. By taking your temperature every day you can see if your ovulating or not and it doesn't have the same crazy disappointment when you POAS.

I did this with similar cycles to yours but no cysts in evidence. I ended up on Clomid and am currently pregnant.

The trouble with doing the blood tests by calendar days is that it may not show whether Ovulation does eventually occur during the long cycle. I'm not sure if that makes any difference to what they might diagnose and/or prescribe.
I'm having all the tests and whatnot with the fertility clinic now - took a while to get the referral though.
I believe that with long/ irregular cycles the GP should be able to refer you to fertility specialist after 6 months no matter your age.