HELP - TTC PCOS and endo advice

[Hopeful1992]

Hi Everyone
finally made an account in the hope you lovely lot can give me some advice. I’ll try to keep it short!

was diagnosed with PCOS years ago and was then on the pill until early 2021. Came of the pill to try and regulate things/ttc. November everything started going downhill - missed periods/long cycles. Then a very painful period on February followed by definite ovulation (first one I’m sure was an actual ovulation I think previous months have been failed attempts)

went to see my doc who sent me for an ultrasound and internal scan. Results shows cysts as suspected and he thought possible endo. Referred me as urgent to gynae who I saw yesterday. He said he doesn’t think I have endo but there is definite PCOS and so i’m not ovulating. But he then said he is referring me for the laparoscopy to check for endo and to put a dye through my tubes to check they aren’t blocked. He said he wouldn’t give me anything to encourage ovulation until I’ve had this done, even though he confirms me not ovulating is clearly what’s stopping me from not getting pregnant….

this seems backwards to me, I thought I would be prescribed something to encourage ovulation first and if that doesn’t work then go down the operation route etc. Should I challenge this or is he right?

thanks :)

Yeah I would be challenging. I'm like you with pcos and before any procedures I was put on metformin to encourage ovulation. Low and behold after 19 months of trying I got pregnant within 6 weeks of being out on the max dose.

I did however go private as found my GP worse than useless with regards to pcos. Worth every penny x

Thank you that’s what I thought! I’m so tempted to go private, they couldn’t tell me the wait times for the laparoscopy etc and it seems like a big step to go to surgery before being prescribed something to try and ovulate!

@Hopeful1992 honestly if you can I would. I had my first app with a private consultant on March 23rd and now I'm pregnant! It's defo worth looking into. I actually joined medicash which is £28 a month but they pay for the consultation and a few tests too so it's worked out a lot cheaper than I thought x

Are you seeing a consultant or a GP? I have PCOS and had fertility treatment on the NHS. My endocrinologist consultant prescribed metformin, which i took for 6 months to bring back my period and referred me to assisted conception unit who prescribed letrozole to ovulate. I was tracked and monitored with internal scans. The plan was for me to do 3 cycles of letrozole and then if no success, have the laparoscopy to check whether there were any other issues. As it was, i conceived DD on the 3rd cycle.

As pp's have said, GPs are generally a bit rubbish with PCOS but i didnt need to go private - i asked for a referral to the assisted conception unit and went from there.

sorry for the delay! It’s a gynaecologist consultant I have seen! It does all seem very backwards to me so I think I’m going to try a private consultation for a second opinion!

Hello,

seems like a very similar to me minus the endo. Last year I referred myself to the doctors as I knew my cycle is irregular and my partner and I wanted to TTC our 2nd as I was diagnosed with PCOS years ago I knew my journey wasn’t going to be easy. The doctors prescribed metformin and referred me to gyno. I booked the referral in jan 2022 for August 2022. My partner and I decided to go private you cannot beat the service it’s been so straight forward so it might be best way.

Thanks sunflower, we’ve been on holiday etc so I just put it to the back of my mind but now I’m back I’m definitely going to go private. Even if they say the same at least I’ve had a second opinion!

Hi OP, I have endo and PCOS too. I had similar with looooong cycles coming off contraception (135 days +) in some cases, but the fact you have ovulated with no help is promising for if you do get some help! Your GP can prescribe you up to 3 metformin a day for ovulation for PCOS, this plus a routine of supplements has restored my ovulation within 6 weeks, I had not a sniff of ovulation for around a year prior to that!

I'm not sure why they've said that about the tubes... I was told pretty much the opposite in terms of getting me ovulating first then going for that test if still no luck! I wonder if that's because my endo seems to have subsided somewhat and I had it removed via laser whereas if yours is unknown they may be worried about a blockage increasing ectopic likelihood?

I started the supplements at the same time as the metformin, so I don't know if they'd have worked by themselves (but lots of positive reviews online) but if you want to do the same I basically bought all the parts of the conceive plus ovulation support tablets separately (as they've changed their inositol to one that doesn't contain d chiro inositol which is supposedly a key component). So I take a separate myo inositol, coenzyme q10 and ginger root extract as well as my metformin, vitamin D and folic acid ofc!

Endogal thanks so much! I’ve got a call with my doctor again next Tuesday, he’s really good so I’m going to try again for metormin and see if he will prescribe that to see how I get on, I didn’t have much faith in the gynaecologist so if my Dr says no I will go to a private gynae I think
My concern is that the gynaecologist said he doesn’t think I have endo so I’m not sure why he’s pushing for the op? I don’t think I have it, I don’t have really have pain/bloating in between periods, no painful sex. I did have one very heavy period but put that down to not having one for several months. I think I definitely need a second opinion!
thanks for the supplement recs - I’m currently taking myo/dchrio inositol, folic acid and vitex. I also take evening primrose oil as I’ve been told that helps with healthy ovulation!

That sounds like a perfect plan tbh, I get what you mean about the lack of endo symptoms! Of course after months a period is going to be heavy! Hopefully your GP will give you the metformin so that you don't have to fork out for private!! Keeping everything crossed for some ovulation xx