Secondary infertility TTC baby #2 with PCOS - help!

[Umadi]

Hi everyone, I couldn’t find a post on here about this so I thought I’d post and see if anyone has had these experiences or has any input.

I’m 36 now and my partner is 33. We have an amazing 18-month-old daughter. When we were TTC her I suspected I had PCOS due to symptoms I had, but I had a very regular 29 day cycle so I dismissed this. When we had been TTC for a year and a half, I went to the GP and we had all the tests. After blood tests and ultrasound, I was diagnosed with PCOS and it turned out I was having anovulatory cycles. I went on Metformin and overhauled my lifestyle. I cut out caffeine, sugar, gluten/grains and dairy and ate low carb. I took regular exercise and supplements like Vitamin D (I was very deficient – common in PCOS) and Myo-inositol. I tracked daily using BBT. Over the next 18 months I lost a stone and a half. We were approved for NHS funded fertility treatment. Then one cycle I finally ovulated and we conceived! She stuck, and I fortunately had a healthy pregnancy. I count my blessings every day.

We would love to have a sibling for our daughter and started TTC again in Jan 2020. I’ve done all the above again and I’m a stone heavier than I was when we conceived last time as it’s harder to shift this time (not that it was easy before, but now we have a toddler waking up in the night and exercise isn’t quite as appealing). Anyway, this time, I have been consistently ovulating! BUT- I’ve been having 26 day cycles and ovulating on cycle day 17/18 meaning my luteal phase is very short. Also, my post ovulation temps have been lower than they were when we conceived. Now they are 97.3-97.9 whereas they did not dip below 97.8 last time and went up into the 98s. I think this means low progesterone. I’m taking agnus castus/vitex to help regulate, I’ve researched this and am happy with it. I’ve taken it for 2 cycles now.

The thing is that I’m now 36 so don’t want to hang around too long. I’m thinking to contact my GP and ask for some tests. I would like to check progesterone level and check for Thyroid as my mum has underactive Thyroid and it runs in families. Does anyone know what support is available for secondary infertility on the NHS? Like, I know that I won’t qualify for IVF as I already have a child, but would they investigate and/or prescribe drugs that may help?

Any pointers or advice much appreciated.

Take a look at the fertility family website and look up inofolic, conceived both of my children within 3 months of taking this and I have PCOS

Thank you so much for the reply @longtimelurkerfirsttimeposter I think Inofolic is a mixture of inositol and folic acid which I already take just a different brand, and yes I definitely credit it with helping me the first time around too :-) I take Zita West brand which is Inositol and folate.

@longtimelurkerfirsttimeposter I will have a look at the website though, thanks!

I'm going to steal your thread and ask you some questions as I also have PCOS and am trying to conceive.

But first to answer your question :-

1. I'd go to the GP straight away, if he asks how long you've been trying just say 1 yr (I know we shouldn't lie to our doctors but if I hadn't done that I would have been waiting for a year to get my PCOS diagnosis when I clearly wasn't ovulating). I do think they help with secondary fertility. Someone I know is currently pregnant and she is having her second child but had to be given Clomid before she conceived and that was all done through a gynae at the NHS.

2. You mentioned low progesterone. There are 2 natural things you can try for that. One is seed cycling and the other is eating brazil nuts. Maybe try those whilst you wait for tests etc.

My question to you is can you give me an example of what you ate in a typical day as part of your low carb diet?

@Elakiya thanks so much for your reply. I will definitely take your advise and call my GP surgery. I was just worried they'd say I don't get any help because I've had a baby, but you've reassured me.

I'll have a look at seed cycling too, and I love Brazil nuts so happy to have some of those :-)

As for the low carb diet I follow, I'm not sure if this is allowed (so apologies if it's not) but I'm actually on Instagram with an account where I take photos and share recipes to stay accountable and basically keep an index for myself (and others) of what I'm eating. I'm called lowcarbcyster on there if you have an Instagram account.
If not:
When I was physically going into work I would have a couple of scrambled eggs for breakfast or baked eggs with veggies in muffin tins (you can find recipes on line) or a nush almond milk yoghurt or half an avocado with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar (just my taste).

For lunch I would take a salad to work with a protein of either feta cheese, tuna or chicken and a mixture of colourful salad with a very simple dressing of just olive oil and lemon. Or I would make up a soup to take to work. I love veggie soup I would just avoid potatoes, parsnips and other starchy veg, there are a lot of veg that are much lower in carbs.

Then evening meals would vary. For simple meals, can't go wrong with burgers and salad or a steak with veg, or I would make a cottage pie with celeriac or cauliflower mash, The Hemsley sisters cookbooks are excellent for this type of meal as well. Apologies as I don't know if you're veggie or vegan but I eat meat so these are the sorts of things I would have.

This time around I'm working from home so I don't tend to eat breakfast. I'm moving around far less so need fewer calories. I've discovered low carb baking which is a game changer. I make flaxseed/linseed rolls (another hemsley recipe free on their website) and they are high in fibre and only a couple of carbs each. I can have a sandwich or cut in half and have toppings on. I've also found Erythritol, a natural sweetener which has zero carbs and calories and most importantly, doesn't spike your blood sugar. I've baked a few sweet treats (still reserve as treats and not had them everyday) and I'm still managing to shift the pounds albeit slowly.

Hope that helps, other sites that helped me in terms of diet are Clare Goodwin the PCOS nutritionist and Mum Campbell at Smart Fertility Choices, who if you sign up to her free 30 day challenge (you don't have to follow along with it) you get a free PDF of healthy low carb recipes.

That was meant to say Kym Campbell in my last post, not mum Campbell, bloody autocorrect!

@Umadi thank you very much for going through low carb dieting with me. I have found your Instagram page everything looks so good. You have inspired me to do something similar. Thank you so much. Wishing you baby dust. Hope everything goes well with the GP

@Elakiya you're so welcome, I'm glad you've found it useful. Baby dust to you too xx

Hi @Umadi how are you getting on? I'm in a v similar situation to you. I have PCOS and conceived our 18 month old DD after two years of trying, just as we were about to get IVF on the NHS. Just started trying for a second but unsure what help (if any) is available for us second-timers. Currently on folic acid, inositol and metformin. I need to start BBT-ing again!

Hi
I’ve just had my first DS 7 weeks ago. I was diagnosed with PCOS last August after not having a cycle for 3.5 years! My GO actually told me to consider adoption as I was going through early menopause!
As I didn’t ovulate at all I was prescribed Clomid and was lucky to fall pregnant in the first month. It sounds like you’re ovulating and so our experiences are totally different but as far as PCOS goes I can say what helped me!
There’s a book by Amy Medling about managing pcos, I think it’s available on Amazon and it was so useful. I didn’t cut caffeine at all as I was a total addict (think 15+ cups of coffee a day) but significantly increased my water intake! Also took mayo-inositol, folic acid and pregnacare pre conception.
My hormones were definitely to blame for weight gain, the day after I gave birth i was 15kg lighter than I was at my fertility clinic initial appointment, and only gained about 5kg over the 9 months of pregnancy! I can totally sympathise because it’s so frustrating when you know you eat healthy but still can’t shift the weight...
I did also find that a good, consistent weight training programme was the only type of exercise that helped me at all, no matter what else I tried I never lost weight. If your budget allows I would definitely say speak to a PT or even an online coach and explain your background and they may be able to help. Some specialise in female hormone imbalances too!

Oh, and first thing every morning, juice of half a lemon And boiling water (drink it as hot as you can manage). A nutritionist told me this helps stimulate the bowels into action and keeps everything going especially in women. No idea how or why but it made me feel better in the mornings!

@Hopeislost

Hi *@Umadi* how are you getting on? I'm in a v similar situation to you. I have PCOS and conceived our 18 month old DD after two years of trying, just as we were about to get IVF on the NHS. Just started trying for a second but unsure what help (if any) is available for us second-timers. Currently on folic acid, inositol and metformin. I need to start BBT-ing again!

Hi @Hopeislost, I situations do sound really similar!! We were just a couple of weeks off our first appointment to get the IVF ball rolling when we got our BFP!

(As an aside, annoyingly because of that, a lot of people asked if I thought that maybe I'd got pregnant because I "relaxed" because we were going to have IVF. I was like, "no, because I've actually got a hormone imbalance which causes infertility, and if anything I was more anxious because we were about to embark on IVF which is amazing but not without it's challenges!")

Anyway... I have got the ball rolling with my GP. The doctor that I spoke to was lovely and very understanding. I did say we'd been trying for almost a year, when actually it's been 9 months. I asked for some blood tests to get an idea of what's happening and she said that depending on that, she can refer me to the fertility clinic again. If that were the case, then we'd have to do the whole thing from scratch and my husband would need sperm analysis again etc.

I have already had one of the blood tests that apparently showed my thyroid and the hormones of day 3 of my cycle that they were checking to be in the normal range, which is good, but I haven't yet seen exactly what they were and I always like to have a copy of my results to see where in the range I am.

I haven't been able to do the progesterone ("day 21") yet as will be away this month at that point so will have to book that one on for October. Shame really as that one will be the most revealing one I think to know for sure if I'm ovulating.

I know that we wouldn't qualify for IVF in our CCG as you have to not have any children, but it's been reassuring that I would still potentially get a referral to the fertility clinic.

BBTing is hard when you have a LO who doesn't sleep through! Don't know how yours is- but it's def worth doing, I have no idea what's going on in my cycle without it.

Hope its a short and successful TTC journey for you this time around!

@amysara24 Thanks so much for replying, and congratulations on your new baby :-)

I so know what you mean about hormones and weight gain. I didn't put much on during my pregnancy either and lost that fairly quickly, it was the weeks after where I gained a stone+ that is so hard to shift, so technically it's not even baby weight as I gained it after (not eating differently) - for some reason I find that funny, got to laugh or I'll cry!

Thanks for your tips, I had been wondering in investing in some PT sessions at the gym as I've no real idea what I'm doing with weight training. I did used to do a kettle bell work out at home before DD was born but I tried that recently and I'm so de-conditioned I really can't manage that size weight without doing myself an injury. I need to build up again safely.

I will check out the book you mentioned too. I did go through a hot water and lemon phase but stopped, so maybe that's something I should re-start :-)

@Umadi thank you 🥰 I swear by the water & lemon! Definitely worth trying again.
A PT would be amigos investment I reckon, I’d have a google for a specialist, especially if you live in a bigger town / city with lots of choices!
Honestly these hormones can be so so cruel! I’m just hoping that bf helps me keep the weight off now and that it doesn’t pile on once I stop!