Weight loss - TTC PCOS

[IWillBeWaxingAnOwl]

Hello 👋🏼

Wondered if anyone fancied a little club focused on losing weight and getting healthier to aid conception?

I'm in mid 30s, hoping to conceive DC2. DC1 took 3 years to conceive. I have an ovulation disorder like PCOS and my BMI is now obese range. Evidence base says reducing that will help and fertility care services also will want to see it lower!

Me 🙋🏻‍♀️. I’m 29 with a low AMH. We’ve been trying for our first for 14 months. My BMI is in the obese range too. I’ve been putting off losing weight but now committing to it seriously. I need to lose about 10kg in order for the fertility services to put is forward for IVF ( which they said they’d do before the two year mark if I manage to lose the eight). I’m keen to join a little club. It feels very frustrating having your weight as a barrier but as you said, it will be helpful in all areas!

Hi! We just decided to start TTC #1 later this year - we’re going on holiday soon to a zika risk area so have to wait 3 months after that. I’m 29 and have PCOS and am currently on the overweight/obese borderline so I want to use the next few months to hopefully bring my weight down and ideally regularise my periods a bit. I’ve just started taking metformin and an inositol/folate supplement so I’m hoping those will help 🤞 My doctor said that as I have a PCOS diagnosis and have been treated for amenorrhea I only need to try for 6 months before being referred to the fertility clinic which I guess is good. I don’t need to lose weight for the referral (limit is 35 BMI in my area apparently) but I’m worried about the risk of miscarriage being higher for overweight women.

Here to wish you all good luck! I have PCOS - i needed 3 rounds of letrozole to conceive DD1 in 2021 when was i 34 and BMI 27 but conceived DD2 naturally last year at 37 after losing 12kg in 12 weeks doing the Fast 800 diet (went from BMI 32 to 29 as treatment cut off was 30 in our trust, but obviously never needed it in the end!) I was taking metformin prior to both pregancies as well. Im pretty sure our family is complete now but i found losing the weight hugely helped with my PCOS symptoms as well so planning on doing it again once i finish breastfeeding DD2.

TTC my second one now and also started with knocking down some weight. This time I went carnivore(fatty red meat, fish, poultry, eggs, water). I was in an overweight range starting the new diet 170 pounds, after 12 days on carnivore I’m down to 158 pounds! And just entered the healthy weight range for my height(171 cm). I’m amazed this is the quickest and most effective diet I ever did. I am going to do it for a month and then add certain vegetables.

Hi ladies! I’m trying to conceive our first, following a chemical and a missed miscarriage over the last 12 months. My BMI is 31 so needing to lose a few kgs! Have recently been told that I’m probably not ovulating regularly (day 21 progesterone bloods have been on the low side- cause unknown at the moment) so hoping shifting a bit of weight might help with this.

are you trying particular diets, or just generally making some healthier choices?

Thanks for joining everyone!

@SanMarzano that's great that you don't have to wait as long. So weird how the rules are different everywhere! Dr would not give me metformin but I have inofolic alpha.

@ProjectKettle I'm considering one of the forms of Fast 800 myself. We are ineligible for help this time round but first time round letrozole unfortunately didn't work to promote ovulation for me.

@JohnnysMama whoa, not heard of that one!

@gingerbiscuit24 I plan to do the calmer version of fast 800 (basically Mediterranean diet with two fasting days of under 800cal). The evidence base in PCOS is basically for low carb/keto/blood sugar diets

@IWillBeWaxingAnOwl it’s good but equally it doesn’t make that much sense to me to have to wait at all given I didn’t have a period all last year so it seems quite unlikely I’m actually ovulating! That’s a shame your dr wouldn’t give you metformin, was it your GP or a specialist? I think I first got it from an endocrinologist and just asked my GP to refer me.

@gingerbiscuit24 I’m doing low GI and calorie counting, I’m also vegan but that’s not for weight loss (as it doesn’t keep me off the carbs!). And vaguely trying to avoid UPFs!

@SanMarzano so despite me never having a period at all really (so not ovulating) we had to wait until 1 yr TTC for our referral to fertility services, then we lost a pregnancy at 13wks so that restarted the clock, wait another year, then saw assisted conception but medication etc wasn't working so out DC1 was a lucky break really. This time round gynaecology declined a referral and said GP should not prescribe Metformin unless I also have problems with blood sugar or metabolic conditions. GP declined referral to endocrinology. My understanding is my health board won't offer assisted conception care to anyone who has an existing child, so we will probably take 6months to get me in better shape then talk to private fertility companies. I'm 36 so not really got time to waste.

@IWillBeWaxingAnOwl it’s so awful how it seems to be basically a postcode lottery as to whether you get care! The endocrinologist told me you need to have a period at least every 3 months otherwise there’s an increased risk of cancer, so I was prescribed something called medroxyprogesterone (sp?) to induce them

Yeah @SanMarzano the GP has prescribed that and I am aware of the increased uterine cancer risks too. Unfortunately that drug wont do anything for ovulating, but at least my cancer risk isn't increasing 😅

I'd love to join you too, we could even get a WhatsApp group? I have been trying for #1 for 9 months and BMI is currently 33 and I have undiagnosed PCOS with a regular cycle. X

Hi @LilPearl - You're welcome to join!

When you say you have PCOS but a regular cycle, how do you know? The criteria is 2/3 of: very irregular cycle eg irregular ovulation, cysts on ovaries, secondary signs such as hair on face etc. if you hit 1yr TTC you'd be a good candidate for letrozole

Its definitely worth checking the position on existing children. Are you in England? The NlCE guidelines say that you cannot have NHS funded IVF if you already have a child but you can have letrozole / clomid if you have an existing child. We were due to be prescribed letrozole for our second child when we fell pregnant naturally. If you are elsewhere in the UK, then im not sure if the guidelines are different

Hi @IWillBeWaxingAnOwl well I very much hope it's not but still awaiting an ultrasound more than a year later. I have the facial hair and struggle to lose weight. Who knows if I have cysts but feel like I'm in the struggle to conceive category now.
How did you manage to conceive your first in the end? X

If anyone was thinking of trying inositol, I got emailed a code today by MyOva which is where I bought mine: FRIENDS10 gets you £5 off.

@LilPearl sheer luck! I was on letrozole rounds but the round had failed, and so I was on norethisterone to induce a bleed, then bleed never came because we had conceived 🤷🏼‍♀️ but conceived during the time on norethisterone so past the failure point of the letrozole cycle.