Fertility Tests

[Bex1805]

Hi! I’m after some advice! I’m TTC but I’m worried that I may have something wrong. I was on the pill for 13 years and only come off 4 months ago, My Cycle has been okay up to this month where it’s all gone awry. Has anyone had any fertility tests before the 1 year if you’ve been concerned? If so, have you got any recommendations on places to go? Thank you!

Hi!!

I stopped the pill in October last year and my periods have been all over the place! I have PCOS which was diagnosed a few years ago and now have a 2 year old.

I spoke to my GP who wants to send me for a scan and then said they’d refer me to fertility centre but it’d take a while with most things still being on hold. I contacted the fertility centre myself and paid privately. I had a consultation on Friday, I’m going for a scan/bloods on Thursday and should hopefully be able to start treatment in the next 2 weeks.

I’ll be put on metformin and clomid as I’m not ovulating but the consultant also advised me to take inofolic which I ordered online.

I contacted the fertility centre that the GP mentioned so maybe speak to them? Or just google? I was told by the fertility centre that I’d have to pay for anything anyway as I already have one child and where we live there’s no funding except for one ivf cycle as long as there have been no previous pregnancies!

Hope this helps!!x

I would say 4 cycles is very early to be concerned. How old are you if I may ask? As that will play a role in how rushed you should be feeling/how likely the NHS will even be in considering tests for you. Guidelines are 6 months TTC if you're over 35 and 1 year if under 35, for them to start looking into things for you. There's obviously nothing stopping you from claiming it's been longer...

Give it some time though, 4 months is early days!

I was also on the pill for 13+ years and didn't have anything like a normal cycle for about 5-6 months. We then concieved the following month. If you're under 35 and don't have any other medical conditions then you won't be able to get any testing on the NHS at the moment, particularly as you've only recently come off the pill.

The only way you'd be able to get something now (and you're under 35) is if there are other factors at play. For example we had to decide whether to TTC or start chemo for me, which could make me infertile. In this situation the GP (and oncologist) were more than happy to refer us for fertility testing as soon as we started trying because there was no point in TTC and delaying chemo if we were always going to need help.

Are you tracking your cycles and know when you ovulate etc? I found temp'ing very helpful in ensuring we stayed on track, and it meant that I was pretty sure that I was pregnant before I took the test.

84% of couples get pregnant in the first year, 92% by the second year of trying. 4 months is really quick to be concerned that one odd cycle requires fertility testing. It's completely normal to have occasional annovulatory/long/short/heavy/light random cycles!

What do you mean by awry? There's loads of helpful people on here that might be able to ease your mind or identify what could be the issue quicker than waiting for testing, even if the GP does send you on for further investigations.

Hi OP

I'm on cycle 7 and I've just had a blood test because of irregular periods. I did have to push the GP a bit.

I think the main reason I got a test was because I said I was concerned about PCOS or fibroids or something. She agreed to send me for a blood test and (despite GP telling me it was probably nothing) I've come back with markers for PCOS. Next step is a scan and then I'm going to ask if I'm ovulating. If I'm not I'm going to ask for met or clomid. If they say no I'm going to pay privately.

The thing that kickstarted investigation for me was emphasising that I'm really unhappy with my cycle. It's out of the ordinary and I'm concerned about me health. Rather than saying that I'm just concerned I've not conceived yet as I would have had the brush off as it's under a year. Obviously I was concerned about both of these things but the kicker for me is not conceiving rather than PCOS.

I'm 30. Im also slim build and don't look like I have PCOS. I could stand to lose maybe 4-5 lbs to move me firmly into the centre of the healthy weight category on the NHS scale, but I'm also into the gym, active and eat a balanced veggie diet.

The OPKs tell me I have an LH surge at the same time each month but apparently that doesn't mean I definitely am ovulating if I have PCOS.

In short, I think it's worth being a bit pushy. Feel free to DM me! I was very upset when I received news of PCOS and women on this site really supported me and reassured me.

Agree with PP it's probably too early to worry. That said you can get tests done privately for peace of mind. I have PCOS (found out during an ultrasound for something else) so was considering getting checked out to how much change there has been since my diagnosis 10 years ago.

Hi everyone! Thank you for your responses. I know it’s early days after 4 months but I’ve had difficulty with my cycle a couple of years back when I took a break from the pill so a little concerned about the possibility something may be wrong. My cycle was normal for the last 4 months and this month, started really light for about 5 days then got heavier for 2, then pretty much stopped for a night then heavier the following morning and it’s now been 9 days bleed. I haven’t been tracking my cycle very closely but purchased an ovulation test kit for this month but this has happened. Thank you @myfavouritefudgecake, I’ll probably have to be a bit pushy as I was given a bit of the runaround the last time this happened. I’m sure I’m being concerned over nothing but feel as though I need to put my mind at rest! @Tillyisabelle2018 what tests did they run if you don’t mind me asking?

It's a blood test, internal scan and then a semen analysis for my husband!!

I know it's lots of people say to wait, and I agree that you shouldn't rush falling pregnant or be impatient about it, but if you feel like somethings wrong or you need clarity about what's going on with your body then there shouldn't be an issue.

As PP said, the doctors are sometimes more relaxed if you express concern for your body rather than pregnancy. A lot of it is about the mental health impacts too and you also need a healthy mind!

Maybe just speak to your GP and push a bit? I know sometimes they're great but a lot of the time they're rubbish with things like this - they aren't fertility experts even though they think they are! I also found my GP to be really dismissive and when I spoke to the fertility centre about it they said I should raise a complaint!

Let us know how you get on 😊 x

@Bex1805 when it was really light for 5 days, would you say it was as light as spotting? CD1 is when you get bright red blood rather than dark/brown blood, are you counting from the right day? I get pre-period spotting a lot and have quite a few days where I go "is this CD1? Or will it be tomorrow...?"

Spotting can be an indication that progesterone levels are low. Now you are supplying your own progesterone rather than taking it in a pill (and particularly as you've been over 3 months which is the length of time for the maturity of the Graafian follicle), a progesterone dip would be natural and should pick up. There's plenty of diet advice, eating basically leafy greens, oily fish, sunflower seeds, cashews, dark chocolate but look up "progesterone boosting diet" to see in more detail.