Ttc with PCOS

[EDW1]

Hi all, I’m ttc my second child and have been since September 2019, my first born is 3 in Nov and had no complications other than emergency c section for delivery. Have just been diagnosed with PCOS having had an irregular cycle for years and years. My bmi is 29 so need to lose a little weight, am 5 ft 7 and a size 14 so wouldn’t say I’m hugely overweight... I had 2 miscarriages this year, one in April and 9 1/2 weeks and a second at 4 weeks.... they’re not investigating into recurrent mc as need to have 3 in a row... has anybody successfully given birth with PCOS? Am totally new to this and petrified! Any stories welcome

Also trying for baby no2 and have pcos.

It took almost 3 years and 10 rounds of clomid and metformin to conceive my DS.

I have already done 1 round of clomid and metformin that didn't work so have been swapped to letrozole for this final round on the NHS before we need to look into private treatment.

My goodness! Wishing you the best of luck with your final round!! They didn’t offer me any of this? I’ve just been put on the waiting list to have the ovarian drilling op?! Which will take months and months! So frustrating.

I have PCOS as well as Endometriosis. I had a laparoscopy to treat some of the endometriosis late last year but I was never offered any help with the PCOS. I was on Metformin for quite a while last year but it just made me feel unwell and in all honesty it didn't make any difference in terms of helping with weight loss or regulating cycle etc so I stopped taking it in the end.
I'm currently 7 weeks pregnant, it's my first pregnancy and it's taken 2 years to get pregnant (as I had to wait over a year for the laparoscopy so wasn't offered any additional help and never offered anything for the PCOS) so it may take a bit longer than usual but hopefully it will! You already have one child so I assume that you had PCOS at that time and it didn't affect you getting pregnant, as cysts can come and go depending on where in your cycle you are etc.

I think the general guidelines for PCOS are if you haven't conceived within 6 months then you can see your GP for medication such as clomid etc. With you already being referred for the ovarian drilling you should be fine!

princesstiabeanie congratulations! That’s lovely news! The gynaecologist I saw said that I don’t have ‘cysts’ apparently the name is misleading as people assume it’s ovarian cysts but it’s just sacs of follicles, large ovaries and many eggs?? No room for them to grow/mature?? It took us quite a while to conceive our first baby, we also had a mc before him and then 2 this year, I wasn’t aware of having PCOS until yesterday despite having scans years before I had my first child as always had irregularities! But a family member who is a retired midwife told me I would have had it all along?! I was so upset and shocked upon receiving the diagnosis that I couldn’t think of all the questions I wanted to ask! It would explain a lot to be honest! So you don’t think pushing the drugs is worthwhile?! X

If you don't have cysts then I'm not sure how ovarian drilling will help. The drilling is to "remove" the cysts to restore natural ovulation though there is no guarantee it'll work.

I was asked to re do my blood work again and due to my history my Dr was happy to put me straight on metformin (extended release for less side effects) and I was referred straight to the fertility clinic and given clomid. It didn't have any effect so they swapped me to 7.5mg letrozole for this last round. I start provera next week to induce a bleed.

Your ovaries should show 1 or 2 follicles which then grow to be dominant and that then releases an egg. PCOS ovaries are enlarged and have a lot of smaller follicles which hold immature eggs. Due to hormones being out of whack, you don't produce a dominant follicle so no egg is released. If you're ovaries are showing lots of these smaller follicles then ovarian drilling may be suitable but there is also a risk of ovarian failure associated with the operation so do do your research. I declined it due to the risks.

Thanks for the heads up! In my scan there were lots of sacs filled with follicles with no room for the dominant egg to grow, my ovaries are also larger? Will look in to it for sure. So confusing! There’s so much conflicting research isn’t there x

A dominant follicle will make room to grow if the correct hormones are doing their job properly. You can have PCOS and still ovulate, it might not be regularly that's all. In my case, I don't at all without drug intervention really.

LOD: The ovaries are surgically treated using heat or a laser to destroy the tissue that's producing androgens (male hormones).

LOD has been found to lower levels of testosterone and luteinising hormone (LH), and raise levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH).

This corrects your hormone imbalance and can restore the normal function of your ovaries.

@YouBoggleMyMind thank you! Have just bought myself the PCOS plan book by Nadia Brito and Jason Fung, soooo much time take in but want to learn as much as poss! The gynaecologist didn’t really offer up much info and spoke as if it was nothing!! X

Unfortunately PCOS is ignored a lot and you're fobbed off with "go and lose some weight" or "take the pill" which doesn't actually get down or sort the root cause.

@YouBoggleMyMind very frustrating and unfair!! So desperate for baby number 2 now x