TTC with PCOS (Thread lucky #4!)

[RoseBud2016]

If you have been diagnosed with PCOS and would like a small group of very friendly ladies in the same position as you to talk to, then this is the thread for you!

You can find our first thread >>>>>>>> HERE

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Rosebud I'm so very upset for you and your DH. Take all the time you need. We'll miss you so much.

Rosebud I am so sorry!! Sending love and hugs for you and dh!! We are all here for you 💜😘 xxx

Hi all, a quick question I hope you PCOS-ers might have encountered.
Brief background is ttc 2.5years, hsg fine, tubes clear and ultrasound showed cysts only on one ovary (phew!) So think other one may be ok... Dh sa is ok, I have pcos and higher than ideal bmi (under 30 but above 25, currently losing weight to get it down over next few months before clomid in june). Wow- medical autobiography- sorry!
Question is: My doctor needs a day 21 blood test for progesterone (to check whether I ov- I can already tell her I don't but she needs to test).
She tells me This is based on a standard 28 day cycle and the day 21 they refer to is 7 days before my next period / 7 dpo, NOT 21 days after my last period. As I am very irregular in my cycle and can only identify that I ov every other month (if I'm lucky!) Wondered if anyone had any tips to help me identify when I should actually test? Don't fancy having more needles than I need. I do track on FF and so last month tracked ov (i think! With temps, cm and opk's) so logically this would be my non-ov month anyway. My cycle dates are anything from 17 to 75 days so no hope of doing it numerically. Anyone had any experience of this or got any tips? Thanks in advance.

Hi inthistogether I have one period every year but they still insisted they check I ovulated!!! They did a 21 blood test which confirmed I didn't (no surprise there) they then did a hycosy to check my tubes were not blocked then prescribed me clomid. They will prob want to do a bit of investigation as to why it may be every other cycle. Not much help sorry but thought I would share what they did with me xx

Hi another newbie here! I hope you don't mind me joining.
I have been trying to conceive for a year now and after a miscarriage last year I got diagnosed with PCOS. I am now on my second cycle of clomid 100mg and trying to stay positive but it's so hard when everyone around you is pregnant or got children. I'm 32 so worried about my age and feel very lonely as not many people know what we're going through and those that do already have children. I'm really hoping the clomid works, as I'm worried what the next stage will be and how long everything will take.
Did anyone have any luck on clomid?and do you know what the next stage is if they don't work?
Thankyou in advance xx

inthis if you're reasonably sure you won't ov this cycle I'd be tempted to go in at the same time as last cycle (ie if your last cycle was 34 days, go in at cd27). You can then ask for provera to bring on a period rather than waiting for 50 days+ once the test shows you haven't ovulated. If you haven't ovulated by cd25 it's v v v unlikely to happen so best to get on with it!

honeybee welcome. Personally clomid did nothing for me, but it does for a majority of women who take it. The next step after clomid is either to do ovarian drilling or move onto ovulation induction using injectables. I am doing injectables and they are easy to use and no stress at all, so don't worry! Remember that clomid only puts you in a position where you ovulate (ie in the same position as a "regular" couple) so your chances of success on a clomid cycle are the same as if you were ttc regularly - so around 20%. So don't despair if clomid makes you ov but you don't get pregnant first time around. Good luck!

stealthbanana thankyou for your reply. How long were you on Clomid for?Did you go privately for the injections?how much do they cost?the nhs consultant mentioned ovarian drilling but when I read up about it online it said it can cause early menopause and reduce your egg count! But I don't know if going private for the injections is something we can afford.
The dr did say you have really only started trying as I haven't been ovulating until the Clomid but it feels like a very long time and feels like last year went by without doing anything. Worried about DH as well as he had mumps when he was younger but I did get pregnant once so I guess there's still hope xx

I did one round of clomid on 50mg and it did nothing. Then did a second round on 100mg which also did nothing, after which I then took 150mg in th same cycle (on cd11-15) which gave me a 26mm follicle which I ovulated but thinned out my lining. After that the doctor didn't think it was worth pursuing clomid anymore as I needed so much to do anything that it was wrecking my lining so was counterproductive. So technically only had 2 cycles, which took 6ish weeks each.

I have been private the whole way through as have insurance coverage, but I'm sure someone else can advise on the NHS pathway.

The pathway will depend on your local CCG - some trusts will fund injectables for ovulation induction / ovarian drilling whereas others will go straight to IVF after Clomid. Xx

Hi guys,

I'm entering this thread extremely prematurely, but I need to keep myself occupied which I will explain in a bit.
I started a thread around 8 years ago called 'PCOS Anyone in the same boat?' but this seems to have died a death by 2014. At the timeI started tht thread (different name back then) I was TTC DS2.

Fast forward 8 years and I have DS2 (aged 6, nearly 7) who took 11 months to concieve, plus my 10 year old DS1 who previously took 2.5 years to conceive. I now have a new partner and I fell pregnant for the first time ever completely by fluke and by surprise back in January. We were due in September and all seemed to be going well and we were all very excited especially given my history of TTC and the evil PCOS.

I had a very small bleed on Weds night and again Thurs morning so went to get checked out for peace of mind. Sadly, we discovered our little baby's heart had in fact stopped beating.
We are obviously broken, devastated and just struggling to hold it together (we're in the process of house viewings for impending sale which we're doing ourselves so really need to put a brave face on)

So, here I am. After we both immediately agreed to try again, despite only being together 8 months. Our surprise baby really changed us as people and we're desperate to be parents together. This baby would have been DP's first.

Gosh, this is getting long, sorry. The news is so raw for us, and I'm going in for Surgical Management of Miscarriage on Monday which is going to be so hard, but I know this pregnancy was a fluke and am fully prepared for the next one to be painfully hard to conceive. That is why I thought I'd come in and introduce myself.
Also I have forgotten everything! I used charts and themometers for DS2 but that didn't really work and was incredibly tedious. It was only when I naturally gave up after having an HSG test that I became pregnant.
Also, there might be new things to try?

I think DP would like to try a few cycles naturally. Who knows, maybe it could happen quickly with him. But I think I might end up going to my Gynae at London Bridge for Clomid which I've never tried before. Last time I saw my Gynae he was quite keen for me to try Clomid if I decided to have anymore children - at the time I didn't as had only just met DP.

I'll shut up now. I think I'm waffling to distract myself from the pain of losing our precious baby and DP has popped out so just using up time I guess.

Anyway. Nice to meet you all.

Frazzle

stealthbanana thankyou. Have you had many rounds of injections?do they do scans with the injections? I didn't realise insurance companies would cover fertility issues so might look into it, thanks xx

bananafish81 thankyou. Have you had to have either of these?

I hope you are both having a lovely weekend

Frazzlerock I am so sorry to hear your devastating news. I can't imagine what you must be going through. Thinking of you at this awful time and sending lots of hugs your way 😘💗

honeybee I haven't personally as my PCOS turned out to be a very unusual genetic variant where my previously polycystic ovaries turned into peri menopausal ovaries in the space of 5 years - so I started ovulating, but was hurtling towards premature ovarian failure. So I ended up having IVF - but when I had seen my Dr before we discovered the case of the disappearing eggs, about the pathway if clomid didn't work, he was very pro ovarian drilling. This was all private and sadly no UK insurance policy will cover anything fertility related - only international insurance policies will.

BUPA will cover some investigations but no treatment whatsoever - so all mine has been self funded

Good morning!

How is everyone?

Bananafish how you doing?

Honeybee are you not going through nhs?xx

Thanks Dunlin1987 and stealthbanana for the ideas... I suppose given that I don't ov regularly it doesnt technically matter when they do my (non) Day 21. Just going to hazard a guess! Anyway hi to everyone, and sorry to hear about your news Frazzle - good luck for the future stuff!
Hope everyone's having a lovely Sunday. Isn't PCOS so blooming difficult!

bananafish81 I'm sorry to hear that did you get Ivf on the nhs?Did you start on Clomid?how is the Ivf going?x

shellbell0403 I went private to get Clomid as I wanted to move things along and feel like I was doing something as nhs appointment took ages. After seeing the private doctor he made me feel so much more reassured and knew what he was talking about. The Nhs consultant was very rushed and got abit funny with the fact we had already seen someone privately. We have another appointment with him in April so if nothing's happened by then I'm hoping he will arrange a lap & dye on nhs. But I just hate the waiting with nhs xx

I went through the nhs... Got ultrasounds, Mri scans and the dye test fairly quickly... Took awhile to get the tabs as had to lose weight first! Waiting patiently to start my second round 🙈

It's such an emotional time. Iv had many a time were I feel like giving up... To go back to the hospital on Tuesday and actually dreading it!xx

Morning ladies.....just a quick one, had the very real need to say rosebud I am so very sorry for you. Take the time to heal, my prayers are with you.

AFM - I am going to be a bit quiet this cycle, I am taking a cycle off from all the opk's, temp, charting, symptom recording and stressing. It has all got a bit to much, not necessarily all about TTC, work is proving stressful at the moment. I will probably just check in to keep up with what is happening here though x

Hi all, newbie here.

Diagnosed with pcos 6+ years ago after ttc no. 1 for 2 years. Finally got pregnant after trying agnus castus as a final roll of the dice before pursuing adoption. Now mum to a wonderful 5yo ds.

Stopped taking pill in Dec with a 'see what happens - no big deal' attitude (after the first time i am determined to manage my expectations better this time!) But although my periods have returned (weirdly shorter cycles than before) the second half of my cycle is just awful. Horrific weight gain and bloating, hunger and cramping throughout. And the spotting before/ after a period has returned. It's brought back all those ttc memories from 7 years ago! So as of today I'm back on the agnus castus - I'm sure it worked for me last time so worth a try!

Hi everyone, i've been mad busy with work so haven't been on in a few days.

Rosebud My heart aches for you. Somehow, someway, you will hold your precious baby in your arms. Until then, know you have so much support here.

Frazzle I'm so sorry, wishing you so much love & luck over the coming weeks.

Hello to all newbies.

I am on day 10, clearblue fertility monitor read low this morning, which is great as last month it read high on day 10 and I didn't end up ov'ing. If Feb isn't our month, then we are moving forward with clomid in April. Will give ourselves a break in March.

Oh Rosebud I am so sorry - I know you will not be popping in to see these messages yet, but when you do you will see that you are in everyone's thoughts all of the time.

I am at the start of what I am anticipating to be a long journey, but it is fantastic to see how much support you offer one another.

I am 25 - does anyone else have the comments that 'you are still young so it is nothing to worry about yet'? It particularly irritates me when a Doctor says it!

Devgal YES!!! im 26 and my GP says it all the time. I'm going to start responding with "you're about 56, Retirement on the horizon yet?"

No Devgal as didn't start ttc no.1 until I was 28! Finally gave birth when I was 32. To be fair though I kind of agree with the comments (sorry!) - it is positive that you are young because the sooner you start ttc and get diagnosed if/ when there are problems, the better your long term chances of pregnancy. Dsis started ttc around your age but unfortunately didn't seek help until they'd been ttc for many years and regrets it as by then her fertility had also been impacted by age. Just goes to show you have to be bloody proactive about fertility and keep pushing for the right help! I got sick of hearing 'lose weight and you'll improve your chances' like it's the easiest thing in the world to shed pounds with pcos. I wouldn't have minded as much if i'd been given advice on what I should and shouldn't be eating but I had to do all my own research and received no support at all to actually lose weight!

littlelion yes you are right I suppose. I do just feel really glad that I stopped taking my pill so long before we planned to TTC so I have had the opportunity to be proactive before. Yes that is also annoying, it is like they have no other solution so that is the best they can offer!

nurse15 Yes good plan!

shellbell0403 Aww bless you, I know how you feel. How long have you been trying? Have you already done a round of Clomid? We're all your other results ok?
Good luck for today, hope everything goes ok xx

ellewalk I stopped temping and using opks (as they were positive most of the time) and it feels a lot less stressful. I dont worry about reaching for the themoeter every morning and stressing over why it's gone down or stayed the same. I hope you are ok and are getting some much needed tlc xx