PCOS and ttc

[kqb95]

Hi,
I have PCOS and am currently losing weight because my bmi is too high, I started taking metformin the end of January but don't think it's doing anything 🥴 I have an appointment Wednesday with the GP and I'm going to ask for Clomid (cannot be referred because of my bmi atm)...

Anyone in a similar situation? I'd love to hear your story x

Hi,

I have been trying to conceive for over a year now and was also put on metformin. I managed to lose about 10kg but I still have another 15kg to be at my healthy weight and another 2 kg to go into the overweight category rather than obese.

Unfortunately I don't have a positive story for you. I did pregnant in January of this year but miscarried at 6.5 weeks.

Have you been tracking ovulation. I get the cheap easy at home strips. I know they say that if you have PCOS to not use it, however they work for me and there are other women with PCOS that I know who use it so if you don't I would recommend it. You can just get the cheap strips online that's what I use with PCOS don't bother with the more expensive ones is my opinion.

Has metformin not helped your cycles at all? Mine used to be longer (like 34-40 days) and are now shorter (29-32 days) and I do think it helps me ovulate

Hi OP,

I was diagnosed with PCOS 7 years ago. I was two stone overweight and didn't do any exercise. They scanned and saw a lot of cysts and made comments about future infertiliy.

I lost the two stone pretty much straightaway with My Fitness Pal and I started running/cycling/HIIT etc. I have been at about 20 BMI since then.

I started TTC in November and got pregnant on cycle 4 (for context I am 30). I tracked ovulation via temps which was happening a bit late but otherwise all was fine.

I really think it is down to the weight loss and active lifestyle. My periods are now consistent (if long) when they never were before. You will feel so much better for it and life becomes easier (including TTC) when you're fit and a healthy weight!

Good luck!

I was first diagnosed with PCOS 5 years ago, well before we were TTC, but it was after a referral from the GP to the endocrinology specialist at the hospital.

When we started to TTC, i did a year of weight loss, my consultant then put me on metformin for 12months which helped with my weight and brought back my periods. My endocrine specialist said metformin can take 6 months to start working so that may be why you haven't seen a result yet.

I still wasnt ovulating (don't waste your money on ovulation tests. Those said i was ovulating every month but the hospital blood tests that i had showed I wasn't. You need blood tests to be sure), so then we went down the drug route.

I was told that clomid doesnt always work very well if you have a high BMI - mine was 28 at the time, so i was given Letrozole (which is a more modern drug similar to clomid). I had internal scans every 3 days after taking it to track follicle growth (and check whether OHSS was developing). Its very dangerous to take clomid or letrozole without monitoring. Theres no way a GP could have facilitated this, so if you dont have a consultant at the hospital, i think you need to push for a referral. My endocrine consultant then made sure i had access to the Assisted Conception Unit, for all the scans etc. Once they had checked one cycle via the scanning process, i was allowed to do the next two at home, but in the end, we conceived on the second cycle of letrozole - currently 28weeks pregnant.

Good luck!

Hi, OP,

I'm a Cyster who had a long fertility journey despite 100lb weight loss and regular ovulation. It was all about egg quality for me and vitamin levels. I didn't have a high enough Ferritin level, which is so important for conceiving. 6 weeks on a high dose of iron and I was pregnant after 7 years of trying.

My advice to you - get your Dr to run a full vitamin profile on you, to make sure nothing is lacking. Iron, Vit D and B12 deficiency can all factor in to infertility. And metformin stops the absorption of B12, so if on Met, you should be taking a supplement for this anyway.

Also, vitamins for egg quality. Women with PCOS have a high quantity of eggs (AMH level), but sadly that doesn't mean they are of good quality. I used to take Royal Jelly, Ubiquinol (the purest form of Co enzime Q10) and L'Arginine to help with this. Evening primrose oil is also good.

I wish you all the luck in world, OP. It's a long, tedious journey at times but a massively worthwhile one. x