Conceiving: PCOS ENDO OR OVARIAN CYSTS

[anon1411]

So we have been trying to conceive for baby number 2 for the past 16 months with no luck (bar one missed miscarriage).

Since January last year something has been a bit off with my periods but put it down to stress at the time. They have been very short, mostly 2 days or 1 day and very light.

But since June 2023 I haven't had a period at all. Also i have gained sooo much weight out of nowhere and nothing has changed diet wise or anything like that, also my stomach is constantly bloated, lots of twinges and pains in my stomach and pelvis practically every day, not always painful but uncomfortable alot of the time, until the past month where it has become so painful. My bowels have been very up and down one minute quite loose the next very tough!

I recently had bloods done and got told they came back "satisfactory" , the GP wants to see me ASAP(tomorrow morning) as they were still concerned and they seem to think either PCOS, ENDO or OVARIAN CYSTS.

Has anybody ever experienced any of these and how did it affect your fertility? Also how did you go about pushing to get a diagnosis of some sort as I don't want to be fobbed odd, I'm actually concerned myself so even going to the doctors to start with was a big thing for me....

Thanks ❤️❤️

I forgot to say also my back is constantly stiff, my partner has to lay me down and put some pressure eon my back to relieve some of the stiffness, sometimes he only had to push down lightly and my back pops like a glowstick 🤦🏼‍♀️

Hi, so I was diagnosed with stage 4 endo last year. It's quite frankly a nightmare to get a diagnosis, the average is 7 years. I was incredibly lucky to be able to go private and that sped things up considerably. You will need a referral to your local gynaecology unit, and probably an MRI scan. Endo in particular is notoriously difficult to diagnose without surgery, so it may result in that. I have been told that the best time to try and conceive was straight after my excision surgery because they can rule out endo as causing the fertility problems as they should've removed all the endo.

If you can afford to go private, I absolutely would, as it will speed things up. As an example, I first started experiencing severe pain in July 2022, and by November had only just received my referral, at which point I went private. I had an ultrasound and they found a large ovarian cyst so my consultant booked a lap surgery for January 2023 to get it out and also check for any endo, which he then found.

I got a letter from the NHS in December 2022 giving me an appointment for May 2023, just an initial consultation, so anything else would've been even later. This kept getting pushed back and back, the last date I received was July 2023, at which point I cancelled it because as far I was concerned, I didn't need it then. I'm pretty sure if I had stayed on the NHS list, I would've still been waiting for surgery and in a lot of pain still.

Good luck! Endo in particular is such a funny disease, you can have it severely with no symptoms, or have lots of symptoms and barely any endo. Some people find their fertility affected, others have no problem conceiving. I really hope you get some answers soon.