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.......

Have you tested amy?

Yes, tempted to go for it anyway but will see what they say on Friday at the next scan.

Oh Boggle, sorry to hear that. At least the ovulation part is working. It's not much comfort though is it?

I was 100% convince I was pregnant this month, was going to test at the weekend. But AF showed up this morning, so I guess I am out until the new year. I'm pretty upset about his one. I want my baby! Now!

Like Amy, I think I will probably go quiet for a bit. The clomid seems to be working, so there's not much more for me to do until mid-January.

Just had a call from the clinic cancelling Fridays scan and telling me to cancel this cycle. Then to drop my next cycle of clomid to 100mg... that was my last round of clomid. How do they NOT know that!!!!!

I woudln't TTC this round though Boggle. With 6 follicles, your chances of conceiving multiples would be:

not pregnant: 9%
single: 27%
twins: 33%
triplets: 22%
quadruplets: 7%
quintuplets:2%
sextuplets: 0.1%

So that is a 64% chance of multiples!

How do you know that satsooma? As in, where did you get those figures?

I am still considering what I'm going to do at the minute xxx

OK, so there are no data on what would happen if you TTC with 6 follicles, as it would be unethical to try given the risks of multiple pregnancies. Those numbers are based on my own calculations, although I've checked them against fertility websites and some academic papers that I have access to through work. I'll try to summarise for you.

Assumptions:

• If you DTD on the most fertile day of your cycle you have approximately a 33% chance of getting pregnant. Loads of fertility websites have numbers like these.
• You are really invested in this and will make sure that you DTD on the correct day.
• All of your follicles will produce eggs. (We can't know this, but let's go for the worst case scenario).
• If you have multiple follicles, they will all be released at the same time (I am not a medical doctor, but to the best of understanding, this is true).

That means that each of the 6 eggs has a 33% chance of being fertilised. I did my own calculations on how that would work out, but you can use an online calculator.

Just put in these numbers and then scroll down:

• What’s the probability of any given trial being a success? .33 (i.e. 33%)
• How many trials are there total? 6 (i.e. number of potential eggs)
• How many trials were successful? 0 (minimum number of eggs that could be fertilised)
• How many trials were successful? 6 (maximum number of eggs that could be fertilised)

I checked these numbers against some academic papers showing the incidence of multiple births per number of follicles for women on clomid. They seem accurate for twins/triplets, so I think we can extrapolate to higher multiples.

Sorry for the essay! As you can tell, I went a bit overboard thinking about this when I had just two follicles.

I meant unethical to experiment on people with 6 follicles, not that you are being unethical for thinking about TTC.

It's interesting as I've read that follicles don't release an egg at the same time, they happen at different times. I've also read that in any given month there's a 20-25% chance of getting pregnant.
I've also read that once a follicle becomes the most dominant, the others tend to stop growing (not that this means there isn't a chance of an egg still be released). It's fascinating stuff really when you sit back and look at it all, just find it frustrating being in this position. I will talk more with DH tonight and see what he thinks. I am leaning towards taking the chance, despite the risks and dealing with what is thrown at me. I know I'll sit and think what if otherwise. Last time I had 3 follicles, we didn't get pregnant at all.

Thanks for the information satsooma xxx

Well the 20-25% chance is for a normal person, who may not have ovulated, or may not DTD on their most fertile day. We have scans and OPKs, so we are likely to get that right.

The same is true about follicles releasing eggs at the same time. It is not normal for 6 to have developed, one should have become dominant, but because you were on clomid, they all kept growing.

If you are really thinking about giving it a go, I would phone the clinic and ask them for their educated opinion on things like your chances of multiples under the circumstances. It is not like they can stop if you decide you still want to go ahead.

Hi Boggle i would go with it personally!
Its unlikely youd get more than twins looking at the figures.
We dtd Friday and Monday and going to again tonight so we'll be covered. Got a positive opk Monday at 1pm and dtd at 11pm so hopefully we caught it

I would go for it as well Boggle.

Another Drs appointment for me tomorrow, apparently all my hormones came back within normal range, but I'm pretty sure I'm not ovulating at all so I want a clearer idea of what's going on with my body!

Boggle I'm so sorry to hear your news. Can you ask for injectables and trigger next rather than IVF? Much less invasive for you, cheaper for NHS, but much more 'subtle' than clomid - they can vary the dose day to day so it is much less likely to end up overstimulating your ovaries. I had menopur, which had far fewer side effect than clomid for me. I don't like needles but the injections were honestly a doddle.

Baby Robber is 17w and currently has something (foot? head?) right in the middle of my bladder. Keeping everything crossed ahead of 20 week scan.

Wave to everyone else, I wish you all lots of luck.

If I actually get a call back from clinic and they explain!! I'll see what they say about injectables. If they're happy for me to do more clomid and lower the dose then I'm happy to do that but I just find it so frustrating they don't know that it was meant to be my last round!! Bah.

So glad little robberbean is doing ok, I hope you're doing ok too robber xxxx

hi just been diagnosed. 30 years old.
have regular periods and have used opk and ovulated so its hit me like a ton of bricks.. have cried most of the eve having googled (i know i know) i have a sweet tooth so now worried about diabetes 2 grrr

Welcome walsh.

What's your next steps with pcos? Have you been prescribed anything? Told to lose weight? At the fertility clinic?
Don't worry, these ladies have been life and soul support over the last 14 months

the report from the ultrasound is being sent to my gp then she said I will have bloods taken.
I am not really overweight.. i have a bit of a belly but always have even when i was a size 10, definately will spur me on to go to the gym though. I like my takeaways so will be concentrating on not doing that as much.
does everyone else have regular periods? mine are like clockwork (1 day out at most)

Don't have periods here, at all haha!
Most, apart from 2 have been induced.
Lots of different symptoms with pcos though. Did the scan nurse tell you you had pcos?

Hi Walsh. I very rarely have periods on my own. How long you been trying?

not very long fluffyEWok this is our first proper time of dtd several times during FW, DH and I work loooong hours so always put it off.
She said they look like them bogglemymind,- I haven't had any pain before just from 2 months ago and allt hroughout the month-- could there be a reason why they've hurt all of a sudden through PCOS?
I've always had bad skin and have always said I'm hairy for a female lol but actually no more than anyone else really- I think i'm in the denial phase but my AF are 3 days max- not heavy nor light, not painful so I just don't know until I get bloods. At least its made me stop looking out for symptom during theis 2ww, AF is due 23rd.
sorry to ask loads of questions but googling just means I find out the worst

Can anyone tell me what questions I should ask my GP? I have no idea what to ask-

There's no reason to suggest you'll have any issues conceiving if you know you are ovulating, however, the bloods will show this so you can be certain. Ask how long it takes to be referred into your fertility clinic and how long you have to be trying for before this can happen. The bloods are taken at the beginning of your cycle and on day21 (if you have a 28 day cycle). The day 21 blood test will show if you've ovulated and you can go from there.

I've just had the clinic phone me back... sending me a prescription for another round of clomid at 100mg with metformin. I was also offered letrozole but either would have to fund it privately or wait for it to be approved which could take months. I wasn't will to wait so more clomid, here I come!

How is everyone? Xx

Boggle are you going to ttc this month?

Hi fluffy, thanks for asking, we decided to not try but not prevent and if it happens, we'll deal with whatever consequences, good or bad if they occur. We've only DTD on cd9 and cd14 so we'll see.
Today is cd17 with nothing more to report. Won't be testing until 8th Jan which should take me to about 5 weeks if this cycle works. If not, I've got more clomid to take. Grateful for Christmas being ahead to keep me distracted!

How are you?

Im good 6dpo so we'll see but i dont get excited anymore.