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When's the best time to get pregnant? Use our interactive ovulation calculator to work out when you're most fertile and most likely to conceive.

Original poster

Ladies who have PCOS or who have anovulation cycles - Help/Advice needed

14 replies

Dreamingofasandybeach · 22/02/2023 23:29

Hi All,

So I currently think I've got PCOS.. I've had incredibly irregular cycles and currently TTC (trying for 7 months now) so I'm finding it really difficult pinpointing exactly when I ovulate. I have a ultrasound booked soon to see for sure.

According to one of my period tracking apps I'm 5DPO (Premom) and according to another app (Fertility Friend) I haven't ovulated. For the last 3 days I've had really sore nipples and light cramping which makes me think I have ovulated but according to my BBT temperatures on the fertility friend app I haven't. I test with LH strips and had my peak test 7 days ago.

I'm so confused and a bit disheartened with what's going on with me at the moment.

I just want to know, do any ladies get painful nipples even if they don't ovulate in a cycle?

I'd really appreciate any advice or knowledge with this.. I've got no one to ask as I've not told anyone that we are trying to conceive. Thanks in advance xx

OP posts:
Anon9899 · 23/02/2023 20:09

Afraid I can't offer any insight other than to say I would like to know the answer to this too! Worried I had an anovulatory cycle this month too - had an LH spike and then a few days of sore nipples before having some bleeding 5 and 6dpo at which point the sore nipples stopped. The bleeding was nowhere near heavy enough to be first day of my period but didnt look like implantation either so think maybe that was my period this month and I just didn't ovulate...

So disheartening. Hope you get answers x

Spin101 · 23/02/2023 20:22

@Dreamingofasandybeach I know how frustrating this can be! If you have PCOS and have been trying for over 6 months, you could ask your GP for a referral to a fertility clinic, if you’re eligible? I did the same and was put on letrozole to induce ovulation. Although I ovulated, it didn’t work for me as I have a potential tube block too. If you don’t have regular cycles, it’s impossible to know when you’re ovulating unless you have symptoms which in the last two years I have had on a few occasions and it’s wiped me out for the day, so can’t exactly TTC 🙈

MK85 · 23/02/2023 23:29

I have pcos and my personal experience with bbt is that it's rubbish. My temps are all over the place. Completely unreliable for me. I know for a fact I ovulated in dec as we got pregnant and the ovulation sticks were reliable whereas bbt was not.
If your having symptoms it's possible you could have missed the lh surge with the sticks. Although i dont think symptoms themselves are reliable either. only way you can know is to get a blood test done to confirm If you ovulated or not.

Sunnyshoeshine · 23/02/2023 23:55

Another PCOS sufferer here. LH strips are rubbish with PCOS as you can get double surges even without ovulation. My endocrinologist told me not to bother using them.

Great you've got a scan booked in. That and bloods are the first step. Make sure you are clear you are TTC. I was put on metformin + letrozole and conceived DD on 3rd cycle of letrozole. Currently waiting for our fertility clinic appt for another prescription for DC2.

I get different symptoms all the time and havent been able to pinpoint any connection to ovulation, other than there being a definite increase in CM if i am actually ovulating.

graceinc22 · 24/02/2023 14:40

I have PCOS and am currently going through fertility investigations. I personally think that for me, BBT is a more reliable way of working out if I've ovulated than the strips. The months that my BBT (I used FF too) tells me I've ovulated, I then have had periods about 14 days after. Whereas I always get a positive OPK some time before this. (I think because my body is trying to ovulate but not succeeding).

My advice would be to keep on thinking that you're potentially fertile and about to ovulate... I had one 51 day cycle recently and had given up on ovulation but then I think I did near the end. I've read online that if you ovulate late in the cycle, the egg might be of worse quality, but then I've also read plenty of stories of women getting pregnant with late ovulation. x

Original poster
Dreamingofasandybeach · 25/02/2023 10:20

Anon9899 · 23/02/2023 20:09

Afraid I can't offer any insight other than to say I would like to know the answer to this too! Worried I had an anovulatory cycle this month too - had an LH spike and then a few days of sore nipples before having some bleeding 5 and 6dpo at which point the sore nipples stopped. The bleeding was nowhere near heavy enough to be first day of my period but didnt look like implantation either so think maybe that was my period this month and I just didn't ovulate...

So disheartening. Hope you get answers x

@Anon9899 thank you lovely. Did anything come for you about from the bleeding? it's so annoying isn't it with just not knowing where you are in a cycle and if you are ovulating or not.. I've been googling non stop online and some women never get a spike with their temps but still end up pregnant and some say temps are a waste of time so God knows how we are meant to confirm ovulation 🤣 xx

OP posts:
Original poster
Dreamingofasandybeach · 25/02/2023 10:24

Spin101 · 23/02/2023 20:22

@Dreamingofasandybeach I know how frustrating this can be! If you have PCOS and have been trying for over 6 months, you could ask your GP for a referral to a fertility clinic, if you’re eligible? I did the same and was put on letrozole to induce ovulation. Although I ovulated, it didn’t work for me as I have a potential tube block too. If you don’t have regular cycles, it’s impossible to know when you’re ovulating unless you have symptoms which in the last two years I have had on a few occasions and it’s wiped me out for the day, so can’t exactly TTC 🙈

@Spin101 yes I think after my scan next week to confirm if I've got PCOS I'll be heading back to GP to see what they can do to make me ovulate as I think for me its been very sporadic over the last 7 months. What was your experience like with letrozole - did they offer you anything else or ahy other support? It really is impossible isn't it. I'm so worried that I've ruined my fertility by being on the pill for so long 😞 googling it seems to say it doesn't ruin it at all but cmon why the hell is my body not working 😞 just want to get my BFP but never know where I am I a cycle!

OP posts:
minipie · 25/02/2023 10:25

Get your thyroid function tested as well as hypothyroidism and PCOS often go together. Ask for the TSH level - you want a TSH of under 2.5 for TTC (under 4.5 is deemed normal but that’s not low enough for TTC).

Original poster
Dreamingofasandybeach · 25/02/2023 10:27

MK85 · 23/02/2023 23:29

I have pcos and my personal experience with bbt is that it's rubbish. My temps are all over the place. Completely unreliable for me. I know for a fact I ovulated in dec as we got pregnant and the ovulation sticks were reliable whereas bbt was not.
If your having symptoms it's possible you could have missed the lh surge with the sticks. Although i dont think symptoms themselves are reliable either. only way you can know is to get a blood test done to confirm If you ovulated or not.

@MK85 thanks lovely, yes I've got a blood test booked in which will hopefully say that I did ovulate and it was temps that were wrong.. I defo caught my peak LH surge and according to one app I'm 8DPO today so I'm just keeping my fingers crossed but my temps have barely changed 🤣😞 I've been taking LH tests since my peak and they've been up and down - just so odd!

OP posts:
birdywillow · 25/02/2023 10:29

I have pcos and I had difficult time trying to track ovulation with strips and apps. The strips never once showed high LH no matter when I did them. I stopped using them after 4 months because it was starting to drive me nuts. I got pregnant after 6 months of trying

Original poster
Dreamingofasandybeach · 25/02/2023 10:31

Sunnyshoeshine · 23/02/2023 23:55

Another PCOS sufferer here. LH strips are rubbish with PCOS as you can get double surges even without ovulation. My endocrinologist told me not to bother using them.

Great you've got a scan booked in. That and bloods are the first step. Make sure you are clear you are TTC. I was put on metformin + letrozole and conceived DD on 3rd cycle of letrozole. Currently waiting for our fertility clinic appt for another prescription for DC2.

I get different symptoms all the time and havent been able to pinpoint any connection to ovulation, other than there being a definite increase in CM if i am actually ovulating.

@Sunnyshoeshine yes got my scan first then a few days later my bloods so hoping that they find something at least so I know I'm not going barmy 🤣😞 Yes as soon as I've had my tests I'm going to ask the Dr to just refer me to the fertility clinic and see what we can do. Oh I'm so glad that you manage to conceive your DD that's fab news and gives me a bit of hope! Fingers crossed for you it's not long until you get your DC2 😊😊 Yes I get an increase with CM but had that twice this month. Really hoping this
is the year we conceive. I'm so fed up with not knowing what's wrong 🤣😞xx

OP posts:
SavBlancTonight · 25/02/2023 10:36

All the advice I have ever received is that attempting to track ovulation on PCOS is completely pointless. I used to have 3-5 periods a year but according to my specialist, she thought it was likely that I only actually ovulated at most twice a year.

Symptoms pointless too.

2 children later and in peri menopause the fact that my periods are fairly regular AND signposted by a set of fairly clear symptoms is absolutely mind blowing to me.

Get the tests and get referred ASAP for intervention. Good luck.

Ps a happy story is that like many women with pcos, after first child my pcos was slightly better - shorter, albeit still irregular cycles, and more ovulation. Dd was conceived naturally and very unexpectedly. I was 9 weeks before I figured it out and, by dates, actually 13 weeks!! So things can get better!

Original poster
Dreamingofasandybeach · 25/02/2023 10:38

graceinc22 · 24/02/2023 14:40

I have PCOS and am currently going through fertility investigations. I personally think that for me, BBT is a more reliable way of working out if I've ovulated than the strips. The months that my BBT (I used FF too) tells me I've ovulated, I then have had periods about 14 days after. Whereas I always get a positive OPK some time before this. (I think because my body is trying to ovulate but not succeeding).

My advice would be to keep on thinking that you're potentially fertile and about to ovulate... I had one 51 day cycle recently and had given up on ovulation but then I think I did near the end. I've read online that if you ovulate late in the cycle, the egg might be of worse quality, but then I've also read plenty of stories of women getting pregnant with late ovulation. x

@grgraceinc22 Yeah im worried that I've not even ovulated this month.. FF says you might have ovulated between xx and xx as no certain tempt spike like last month, Premom is saying I did ovulate but god knows if I have or not. I've just purchased a Ovusense temp tracker that you put inside you at night and apparently its helped a lot of ladies with PCOS work out if they are actually ovulating so I'm going to give that a go and keep my fingers crossed for next cycle. I'll be speaking with my Dr soon about being referred to the fertility clinic soon once my tests are out the way as somethings just not right. My last cycle was 52 days so I know how bloody awful they are to have them that long xx

OP posts:
graceinc22 · 25/02/2023 16:56

Ahh! Yes long cycles are just so frustrating. You think, if you had a ‘normal’ cycle you’d have almost twice as many chances to conceive (even if you are actually ovulating). I see people on here be like cd15 and already be 1dpo and it’s just such a different experience - you really need to buckle up each cycle!! I’m hoping I get given some clomid/letrozole at the fertility clinic if I don’t get pregnant this cycle, and that sorts me out. X

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