What are my next steps?

[TinkRose]

Hi,
Earlier this year, I was referred for fertility testing after TTC for over a year - I have irregular cycles and believe I have PCOS although this hasn’t been confirmed. The clinic said that the first step was my partner’s sperm analysis. He did this and a day later I got a BFP so I contacted the clinic to let them know. Sadly, I had a miscarriage in March. I’ve contacted the clinic to ask what the next steps are as I’m not sure they’ll see me now as I managed to get pregnant without help. Anyone had similar? My irregular cycles mean it’s impossible to track ovulation, I use strips to check for ovulation and some months I get dark lines (but not darker than the control line) and some I get glaring positives but then my period comes 3/4 weeks after that positive.
I’m terrified that the pregnancy has ‘reset the clock’ and I can’t take another year of trying with nothing happening.

I had a miscarriage, and the GP told me that it did 'reset' the clock for getting tests (i.e., they'd count 1 year from the miscarriage, not 1 year since we started TTC originally), but we hadn't got to the point of having tests yet so not sure on your situation. I think best for the clinic to advise. If it helps, I never got lines darker than the control line on tests.

Thanks for replying - sorry about your miscarriage. It’s so frustrating that you’ve got another year from then before any tests. I’m waiting for the clinic to get back to me, hopefully it’s good news.

Fortunately I got pregnant again with 6 months of the MC so haven't needed to pursue tests. Hope it happens for you soon!

If it has reset the clock on waiting for tests, I’d push for a PCOS diagnosis in the meantime. And you can always keep trying to get pregnant naturally as well.

It took me 6 years to get my PCOS diagnosed and I finally got it when I knew I needed to sort out my cycles to get pregnant. Dr put me on metformin to help and my cycles regulated enough to get pregnant naturally within 4 regular cycles. I stayed on metformin throughout pregnancy and had a lovely healthy baby and have had regular 33 day cycles ever since.

Its definitely not impossible to get pregnant naturally with PCOS - just push to get diagnosed so you can get the right support.

I’ve been told that they will still see me as it’s been under 12 months since referral which is such a relief. Now I just need to wait for my period so I can’t get my day 2-4 blood tests, day 35 and counting!

Thank you - I’ve asked the doctors about the possibility of PCOS when I went for discussions around fertility and felt like they weren’t really interested - I see it as a complete separate issue to fertility! I also worry as in my 20s I had the most regular cycles when I wasn’t on the pill but as soon as I came off the pill in order to TTC when I was 30, they’ve been all over the place.

That’s good you’re still able to get clinic help!

Yeah, it’s women’s health isn’t it, so they don’t really care. I really had to advocate for myself, do research and tell my dr what I wanted. Luckily I have a dr who will listen to me now, but that’s from a few years of pushing to be listened to.

I recon get a separate drs appointment just to look into pcos - push for bloods and an ultrasound and fingers crossed you get some answers 🤞🏼