PCOS, Periods, Provera & Pals. Plus All The Bits In between.

[AmyC86]

Welcome to our third thread on PCOS. What we don't know isn't really worth knowing. We're a friendly bunch of women who have a few things in common. We all have either PCOS or unexplained infertility and we're all on a mission for a BFP!!!!

For new members, and old alike here are the links to our 1st and 2nd threads:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/2481523-when-to-expect-period-provera

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/2685865-pcos-periods-or-lack-of-and-a-lovely-bunch-of-ladies?pg=1&order=

Now without further ado, let's continue on our journey.......

It just makes me feel worse.

No holiday. Just won't start clomid tomorrow.

Oh boggle, sending you lots of love. It's so shit A little break might do you the world of good. Look after yourself xx

Hi all, would love to join this thread, feeling a bit alone with it all and could do with knowing others are struggling too.

My story, 25 years old, periods stopped at 15. Always told I would need help having a baby and put on pill for years to induce a period every month. Went off pill in May last year, had few days of spotting in July and 7 weeks later found out I was pregnant, somehow naturally. Sadly lost my baby at 8 weeks in September and finding it really hard to get over. I wanted to get pregnant again straight away, doctor said to try on my own for a while. but periods have been all over the place since and had tests to show I wasn't ovulating anymore so I have now been given Provera and Clomid. Just finished 7 days of Provera and waiting for AF to start Clomid.

I'm feeling so sad about everything still. It was so lovely to have conceived naturally and I miss my baby all the time. Best friend has just annouced her pregnancy and it hit me like a brick. Baby would be due in April and it would make it a little easier if I were expecting again by then...

Hi Saz44 welcome to the thread. I am relatively new here too but I have found it really helpful speaking with these ladies who are all experiencing similar things.
I am sorry to hear of your miscarriage, I have never been pregnant before and I can't even imagine how awful it must feel.
Its good news that you have clomid and are ready to start that. Try not to put too much pressure on yourself I am sure it will happen for you a little help might be all it takes to conceive again. Try to keep positive if you can

Hope someone can help, I'm 32 and have what's classed as severe PCOS, I e had irregular periods for years and sometimes go years without seeing one, basically I have a 6 year old to who, myself and doctors are mystified how biologically it happened. Anyway now, I'd love Luke to have a sibling, I'm currently on month two of proverb and clomid and also take metformin twice daily, my periods have been quite light lasting 4 days, is this right ?? At what point do people start retaking the provera after heir period ??

Thanks for all your kind words everyone. I've sulked all weekend and drank my body weight in prosecco and eaten my body weight in chocolate. Back on it today.

Boggle I'm so sorry to hear your rubbish news. You definitely need to take a little break and gather your thoughts. I think counselling would be really worth it for you.

Welcome to everyone new. Saz, your story about lack of periods sounds very similar to mine. I've only ever had 1 natural period, ironically it turned up on my 28th birthday, which my husband thought was really funny that at the age of 28 I was celebrating my first period! I hope things settle down for you soon, I can only imagine how difficult a miscarriage can be.

Hi i havent been on in a while for all you having a shit time x

satsooma. Im on day 36 no period bfn this morning
Weve been listed for ivf and waiting time is 8 weeks xx

Satsooma, your last paragraph could have been written by me - I am exactly the same as you with age, feeling behind, questioning my plans of multiple children, and wishing more than anything I knew about my PCOS before ttc.
Our NHS referral hasn't even come through yet, so the only progress we've made has been funded privately. I've been pretty positive the last week or so but then it's like BANG, and I get sad again.
I've not even started any clomid or anything. I keep feeling so in the dark!

boggle for you my dear friend xxx I can't even fathom how you must be feeling right now xxx have your break xx I'm more than ready after my 2 month break to get going again. You must feel so bad for ovulating but not catching the little bean xx chin up xx we're all hear if you need us xxx

boggle definitely up for a chat if you need one!

I think my appointment with the endocrinologist went quite well, he didn't just fob me off like I thought and discussed with me that some women with PCOS do really struggle with fertility and that being young won't change that fact, which felt really good to hear that my concerns are valid. He wants to do a glucose tolerance test so he can see how my body is handling things since while my ultrasound and symptoms match PCOS, my hormones don't, they're in line with what you would expect any women's to be, but obviously I have symptoms so he thinks it could be more to do with insulin for me than anything else and that if that's the case I can take metformin, although he said he might try it anyway, and once I'm taking it we can do some bloods to see if I am ovulating or not.

Sorry to hear that fluffy. Are you going NHS, or private for the IVF? So did they move you straight from clomid to IVF? I only have a couple more rounds of clomid, so I guess I am kind of hoping that there are other things I can try before IVF, as people only get one round in my area.

Thanks Summer. It is always helpful to feel that I am not alone in feeling like this. Hope you get some progress soon. When/what is your next appointment?

Wow, your endocrinologist sounds great Never, very jealous

As for me, I think AF is on the way in. Very very light at the moment, but it looks like I am back in the game!

Thanks satsooma. I still havent come on my period. Im actually positive about ivf and the Dr told me not to bother with private as the waiting list is so small. We get 2 rounds. I still have one more round of clomid too but theyve put the ivf referal through.
Im not really bothered anymore tbh.

oh, that is interesting that they referred you before you finished your clomid. I have been wondering if I should go back to my GP and/or clinic a few months before I finish clomid. Otherwise I could be waiting forever while they sort out the referrals for whatever comes next.

So I decided to just ring up my fertility clinic and ask about this and I was surprised at their answer.

They said that I can book another appointment with them to discuss my treatment whenever I want. Also, there won't be any waiting lists at all for future treatments, because they do everything in house. So even if I went straight to IVF, there would be no wait. They also said that the process of referral and the waiting lists are exactly same regardless of whether you are an NHS or private patient.

I think that is really an amazing service, although it is crazy how much of a lottery this is (and to be honest I might trade in no-waiting-lists for a clinic that offers more than one round of NHS-funded IVF).

So I guess I will wait until I've actually started my last course of clomid before I start stressing about what to do next.

Thats good satsooma. The Dr told me its eight weeks from referal to first ivf appt which i think is good. Where you sats? Im in North West x

I'm in the southeast.

Satsooma thats great that you know more now - but isnt it so annoying how much effort we have to put in to get answers with this? I cant believe how much research and even calling around I did to understand my options so that when I went for my appointments I could ask the right questions. I know I must have come across as one of those really annoying patients but once I even disagreed with what they told us and asked them to confirm......when they did I was actually right, but it worried me how much of what they were saying about waiting times etc might not actually have been the case!!

Its not right! grrr

That's great about no waiting lists satsooma and sounds like a really positive process - it's good to hear.

That's really interesting about your hormones never I wonder if it is just the insulin resistance stopping ovulation then. I'm really keen to get a glucose check. It's all so complex isn't it!

Does anyone know if PCOS can rank in severity? Or is it a case of you have it and at any one time can be more severe or less severe depending on what your hormones decide to do at the time?

I'm not quite sure what you are asking Lady. I think that one person can have worse PCOS than another (maybe measured by more underdeveloped follicles, more hair, or more unbalanced hormones).

Of course this can change if for example you take medicines, lose weight, or due to natural changes in your hormones etc. Outside of big medication, or lifestyle changes I don't think that many people notice a lot of short term changes in their sympoms though.

Yes that's what I was asking really satsooma just whether the severity can differ from person to person, and not just that but also differ yourself too like from month to month. I can't wait to sit down with a fertility doc I'm going to ask aaaaaaall the questions!!

It can definitely vary-that's why some people have children and don't even know they have PCOS until further down the line. I'm not sure if it varies throughout an individuals life. Maybe through your teens and when you are developing perhaps?
Def a good idea to write down your questions. It can be really daunting in that appointment even though you've wanted it so long. I so wanted to remember everything I was being told that I kind of lost my trail of thought with my questions. That's why I had so many unanswered queries about DHs SA because I was too focussed on my issues.
When is it again SLAdy?

Thanks summerhopin makes sense. I haven't got one yet I have done all the tests now bar CD2-5 so I'm waiting on AF until I can get my referral (she's always the bane of my life)

So day 39 bfn whats going on? Did i not ov this month or am i pregnant?