PCOS, Clomid & TTC

[StepMumto1]

I am currently TTC and am on my third round of clomid due to having infertility as a result of PCOS.

I am on my third round and 2dpo at the moment but my mental health is suffering more than ever. The pressure it is putting onto me and my relationship is alot. Having to track ovulation/time BD'ing and the continuous negative pregnancy tests is so draining and disheartening.

I am slightly concerned as I have been prescribed the medication before having the HSG testing to make sure my tubes are not blocked however this is the last month of clomid before being referred back to my consultant for the next step which I am not sure of.

I do know that I am not entitled to IVF on the NHS due to my partner already having a child from a previous relationship.

Has anyone ever been in a similar situation and got any success stories? I am starting to loose hope!

Thank you in advance

Hello :-)

I am possibly a step behind you. I also have pcos and struggling to conceive - although we had two early losses last year. My husband already has a child from a previous relationship so I won't be able to have ivf on the nhs (don't get me started on that 😩)

I have just had my metformin increased to see if that helps and or not I will be put on clomid. My consultant said the HSG will be done if the clomid doesn't do the trick so it must be ok to do in that order I'm assuming!

Also stay strong - it's such a trying time. Our consultant is so insistent on us not being too rigid in how we do things and not putting too much pressure on so we try and keep that in mind especially with the bd'ing. I find not putting my obsessive testing onto DH helps as I don't think men will ever understand how it gets in our heads.

Xx

Hi @Kath2021

Thank you for replying. I'm so sorry for your losses .

What dose of Metformin are you on at the moment? I take 1500mg per day but I think this is the maximum so I can't up the dose.

If Metformin alone doesn't work for you, I have done a brief 'history log' if you like of mine so you know what to kind of expect. Understandably though all trusts are different in their processes- I am with St Mary's Manchester.

On round one I had a monitored cycle, BD'ing wasn't allowed without protection until I went for an ultrasound scan to check for follicles -if there is more than 2 they have to cancel the cycle! They struggled to find my left ovary but gave us the go ahead to start BD'ing. I had my bloods taken at 7dpo and this confirmed ovulation.

Second round they didn't monitor me, but I didn't show signs o ovulation so I'm not sure if I ovulated or not.

This round they said I needed to do another monitored cycle because my left ovary wasn't visible on the first round (don't know why they didnt do this on the second round!!). I had an ultrasound scan on CD12 which showed a 13mm follicle - I went back 2 days later (CD14) and it had increased to 17mm which is a great sign. I also had pain in the right side the day after.

I have been very relaxed with the testing this month- I have barely taken an ovulation test as I tend to get too obsessive but, I did catch my peak!

It sounds like you have a really understanding consultant there which is great and I 100% agree with men struggling to understand. In regards to the HSG, I am just shocked as I have never fallen before so I thought they would of counted blocked tubes out before prescribing the medication. You are only allowed 6 rounds of clomid I believe so it could of been a complete waste of time!!

Sending you lots of luck with your TTC journey

Oh wow that's all so helpful to know thank you.

Oh yes it doesn't make much sense that they've not checked your tubes yet....

I have just been put on 1500 as my GP previously had me on to lower a dose and I have been waiting 6 months for a referral to be formally diagnosed. I've had to gp private as the gp is honestly clueless about pcos and felt like we weren't being taken seriously.

Sending lots of love and hoping you get your bfp soon xxxxxx

@Kath2021

Oh wow that's all so helpful to know thank you.

Oh yes it doesn't make much sense that they've not checked your tubes yet....

I have just been put on 1500 as my GP previously had me on to lower a dose and I have been waiting 6 months for a referral to be formally diagnosed. I've had to gp private as the gp is honestly clueless about pcos and felt like we weren't being taken seriously.

Sending lots of love and hoping you get your bfp soon xxxxxx

Unfortunately a lot of GP's and consultants are clueless about PCOS which is why they send you off with BC unless you have been TTC for over 2 years in some places!

I take all 3 of my metformin tablets at night also due to the side effects of taking them throughout the day!

Fingers all crossed for you and your journey, and same to you- hopefully you will get your bfp without having the stresses of clomid! xxx

Oh that's interesting that you take them all of a night I have really been struggling since increasing to 1500 I feel so queasy and rubbish I may try all at night - thank you xxx

@Kath2021

Oh that's interesting that you take them all of a night I have really been struggling since increasing to 1500 I feel so queasy and rubbish I may try all at night - thank you xxx

You are welcome, you may feel you need to go to the toilet soon after waking up for the first couple of weeks but you will soon get over the initial shock! xx

Hi @StepMumto1 @Kath2021 bit late to the thread but I'm in a similar boat and the mental health side is so tough! I have pcos and take metformin and inofolic alpha supplements. We got pregnant with clomid last year bug sadly ended in MC, now back on it, no luck first cycle and I'm so gutted! Hoping cycle 2 is better. I use provera as well as no periods, feel like all I do these days is take pills! Love and luck to you both, hope you're getting on well now x

I would guess they haven't done hycosy as they have proof of ovulation? So at least one tube is open. Since clomid is making you ovulate, my understanding is they try up to 6 cycles when theyve found a dose that works. You might also want to ask about letrozole as it now has a better evidence base than clomid for PCOS. You also might want to ask how long they will let you take clomid for as it is helping you ovulate.

Ive just finished round 1 of letrozole. Didn't work but we started at lowest dose so need to increase for attempt 2.

What is your BMI? I conceived DD on my 3rd round of letrozole (increasing dose each time) + I'd been taking metformin for 6months. My consultant told me that letrozole is more effective than clomid if you are a heavier person (i think my BMI at the time was 28?) If you are having no luck, it's worth asking whether a switch to letrozole would work for you.

@TheDaydreamBelievers @Sunnyshoeshine thanks for your replies! Interesting to know letrozole comes well recommended now too, my bmi is 23ish and I think our consultant will move onto letrozole after clomid. Had hycosy last year before starting clomid and it was all good, 50mg didn't work for me then 100mg did and I got pregnant that cycle! This is the first cycle back after mc but I didn't go for follicular tracking this time, just went for it as it worked last time with good response. Now thinking I should go for the scan for cycle 2 so I know if it's actually working for me. Good luck @TheDaydreamBelievers on round 2 🤞

I haven’t read all the replies but thought it worth sharing my story. I was diagnosed with pcos and prescribed clomid after I had my tubes checked. I had 6 months of clomid and was scanned every other day the first month to confirm ovulation. At the end of this time I wasn’t pregnant and was referred for the next treatment where they take husbands sperm and inject it directly next to the egg inside me. I had 2 months more clomid, went on holiday and came back pregnant. We hadn’t even thought about it while away and certainly weren’t monitoring or anything.
we had our baby and conceived another naturally very quickly after. Sadly we lost that one but we have our second child who is 22 months younger.
after a while my periods became erratic again. We weren’t trying to get pregnant but neither were we taking precautions. Eventually, after a 10 week cycle, I took Agnus Cactus. Next cycle was 30 days. Following cycle I was pregnant again.
There is hope and my fingers are crossed for you.

@TheDaydreamBelievers proof of ovulation doesn’t confirm that your tubes are unblocked, the ovary releases the egg regardless but if your tubes are blocked it will not get through. I checked this with the nurse the first time they confirmed I had ovulated. Without doing the Hycosy test they can’t confirm tubes are open.

I conceived on my 3rd round of 50mg clomid and am currently 7 weeks pregnant😍

Wishing you all luck with your journeys on clomid/letrazole ❤as hard as it is, please don’t be disheartened each month, it will happen for you- trust the process😘

Hi Ladies,

i hope you don’t mind me joining the thread. I’ve had secondary infertility since my late loss in Feb 21. I recently decided to go private for some help and had a hysterscopy and biopsy done (still waiting the biopsy results) but I have symptoms of Inflammation. Even though I ovulate alone the Dr prescribed me 50g clomid to take days 2-6 of the cycle and I started it today. Im concerned as my lining can be quite thin anyway but he’s been in with a camera and okayed it. Not really thinking too much into it after 14 months unsuccessful TTC after conceiving much more easily in the past.

any words of advice? X

Hi @Loz2467

so sorry for your loss, I can't imagine how horrible that was.

I'm quite similar to you I ovulate by myself also.

I had my DS in December 2020 (took 20m of trying) started investigating it while ttc with him doctor prescribed High strength folic acid, pregnant next month.

Currently trying for no 2 since September. Didn't want to wait as long this time as 35 this year. Had bloods and Hysoy, tubes clear, pcos confirmed. Been prescribed metformin, myo inositol and coq10. Hoping these do the trick ad there is absolutely nothing else wrong. They are pushing IUI but only got diagnosed this month. I would like to give all this time to work before trying anything else. I'm going private so have to pay for each treatment so would rather give it a month or two.

I would recommend looking at your supplements as these can make a huge difference.

@roro87 thanks for taking the time to reply! I wrote a big reply and it disappeared! So here goes I’ll try again!

Thats really interesting about the supplements. I’ve been taking a few different things ever since and always wondered why I wasn’t getting pg again after 2 easy pregnancies obviously lost the second but it was due to an infection hence why I have symptoms of endometritis now. Not endometriosis. It’s basically inflammation and infection of the lining but I’ll have to sit patient till my biopsy comes back. I’ve had so many blood tests. TSH, thyroid. LH, FSH and progesterone etc and vitamins D and iron. It’s been so hard trying to get to the bottom of things and I’m 36 next month so that’s why we went private in January.

Completely agree with you wanting to try all those first before IUI. As I would too especially like you say you’ve got a history of taking a little bit longer to conceive.

i always panic and wonder if that was my last chance and we lost her :( and my little boy can’t have a sibling. I know I’m lucky to have 1 but it doesn’t take away the pain.

@Loz2467 I replied to you also but it never posted.

Have you been told you have a low egg reserve or anything? if not then I'm sure it wasn't your last chance. I was struggling with my positivity too. I now stop myself with my negative thoughts.

My friend I met on here is great for advice she struggled with in fertility and she went through all her recommend supplements it was great

@roro87 it must be having a funny one!

aw that’s lovely she was able to help you! Maybe I should be taking more but I felt like I was rattling at one point. My numbers didn’t add up. AMH 8.4 so below average for my age but 21 follicle count I think it was. So many I don’t release an egg each month. I don’t know. They said I’d be a tricky one to work our IVF meds if we did that route. I just feel a bit lost at the minute. I feel better having the hyterscopy but anxious waiting the biopsy because of the endometritis and then anxious if it’s negative and we’ve got nothing to treat and I’m falling into the unexplained bracket!

Yes I see what you mean about the biopsy. It was like when we started testing everyone who knew says I hope they don't find anything and I was like well I hope they do and its fixable. Either way when you get the results you'll have more knowledge one way or another. But it is hardest not knowing what is wrong.

That's how I feel now like a pill box, thyroid med every 2 days, metformin twice a day, myo inositol twice a day, 3 coq 10 tablets, folic acid and evening primrose oil. its too much but they've prescribed it all so feel I have to try it for a while.