How can i conceive when i don't seem to be working? Signs of ovulation?

[jakesmum05]

Hi there.

I am 30 and have PCOS. I was fortunate enough to have conceived my DS (now nearly 4) with literally no effort - first try=pregnant.

My DH and I decided after much much much deliberation to try for another, and while i didn't expect it to be as easy as my first i didn't think it'd be this hard either. After 3 unsuccessful months of trying to guess when i was ovulating (based on my 5 week cycle) I have bought ovulation kits from ebay and the first 2 months they told me when i was ovulating and the necessary action was taken (!!) but nothing. Then in February i was late, i was feeling sick at the same time everyday and metal things smelled metally (a very distinct part of my first pregnancy) but i did tests (3 at home and 1 at docs) and they were all negative. I assumed i wasn't, got over it and wondered why my body was not working properly when it had done for so long!!! Anyway, i came on 9 weeks after my last period which was a relief because it meant i was 'working' again. So i started the ov tests again but yeilded no results and today I have come on again (3 weeks after last period)!!

Is it likely my body is resetting itself or is my cycle just messed up? Not knowing when i'm due on is going to make it very difficult to judge when i will ovulate.

The doctor won't send me to anyone because 'if 100 healthy couples are trying for a year only 80 of them will conceive'! Don't really know what his argument/explanation was there because that's pretty good odds and i do have something wrong with me.

Should I make him send me for tests (because if i have no viable eggs, or they aren't being released i'm going to drive myself mad every month hoping when i've really very little chance).

I know you are probably thinking i'm being a bit ott as i'm only 30 but we don't want too big a gap between children (our personal choice) and so don't want to trying beyond the end of this year really.

Are there outward signs of ovulation that i might have missed? Should i try to see someone about the PCOS effects? Are cheap ov kits any good?

I'm sorry it's so long but i feel so confused.

Thanks in advance

[mawbroon]

Jakesmum, sorry I don't have time to write much, but I just wanted to recommend the book Taking charge of your fertility, by Toni Weschler.

There may be something in there that can give you an insight into what's going on, and she certainly talks about PCOS in the book too. There are several ways of detecting when your body is trying to ovulate, and once you know how to do it, you can probably throw the ov sticks away!

Good luck

[jakesmum05]

Thank you will check it out

[Liskey]

Hi

Sorry to hear about this.

You might also want to have a look at this website www.fertilityfriend.com/
which also describes temping so you can pinpoint ovulation. I bought the book but then started logging my temperature on there instead.

Bit TMI - but another way to tell when your ovulating is EWCM (Egg White cervical muscus)as you normally produce this I beleive when ovulating.

Sounds like you body may have been resetting itself I had, I think, a 44 days cycle due to having flu and then an 16 day cycle - so my periods came when it would have done if I hadn't had flu.

[Liskey]

Forgot to say I bought OPK cheapies off ebay yesterday - so I'm waiting to see if their any good!

[jakesmum05]

Thanks Liskey will try that also. And not TMI - just the kind of thing i was after.

[Liskey]

If you do a search there is a lot of info on here about EWCM - sure I've seen several threads about it - usually referring to grapefruit juice as well - as this apparently helps it!

Now I'm temping, using OPK's I think i'm quite confident about when i'm ovulating like today!

I was looking on ebay yesterday and you can get thermometer's on there quite cheaply which look more accurate than the one I got in Boots!

[happyfaceschildcare]

Hi jakesmum I am going thru the exact same thing, I'm 33 have been trying for over a year to get pregnant with no luck if you can put off having the tests I would because they get worse and worse belive me I have had to have so many internal scans and examinations and nothings changed I am at the point where I'm about to give up ( my periods are totally irratic varying from 26 day cycles to 78 day cycles I have no clue when or if I'm ovulating don't have any signs of ovulation at all no ewcm or anything I'm very healthy not overweight so no obvious reasons why I'm not working, I have lots of eggs in reserve still they just don't mature and release although this months scan actually showed ovulation had just taken place thought it was a sign and this would be our time but still no success on getting pregnant, I've tried the ovulation tests from ebay but don't ever get a positive reading from them don't no if that's them or me, sorry I'm not giving you much positive advice but thought it might help to know you're not alone, you should ask your doctor for blood tests to start with cos these are done at day 2-6 and day 21 these will show if your hormone levels are correct and if your ovulating at least then the doctor might take you more seriously and it will put your mind at rest, the hospital have told me whilst waiting for test results we have to keep having sex every other day to try and catch the egg if one choses to release itself, I'm taking primrose oil liquid you can get from boots this helps your hormones and I've read somewhere that you shouldn't try for longer than 6 months before your dh has his sperm tested he may not like this suggestion but it's best to rule it out, sorry I'm rambling on but if you have any questions you want to ask me fire away as we seem to be in the same situation just I'm a few months ahead of you, good luck with it all, keep me posted wont you I still love hearing all the success stories )

[jakesmum05]

Thanks Happyfaces - it is nice to know i'm not alone. And thanks for disuading me from entering the testing stages. The period that started on Sat night has now stopped, which is weird, so don't know if it was even a real period!!
I think we are going to try every other day this month a week from now so fingers crossed.

Seems fertility is wasted on the young!!! Seems unfair, you'd have thought natural selection would have sorted it all out by now!!

Good luck to you and also let me know how things go on.

[mosschops30]

IMHO all this EWCM/taking temps crap just drives you crazy!
In december me and dh started ttc #3. I was on the conception threads, and that fertility friend website that sent me messages every day and drove me to insanity, especially when after all that I found out i wasnt pg.

So i decided to give it all up, didnt go on conception boards, didnt look for any signs and just lived life as normal (well actually maybe too far as the weekend I did concieve I drank 3 days in a row )
And hey presto am now 8+4

I think you can go too far with all this, just relax, have sex with dh when you feel like it, enjoy life and when its meant to happen it will. No amount of grapefruit juice or examining your mucus will change that

[happyfaceschildcare]

love it mosschops think i'm at that stage now, it's all driving me mad and am ready to give up trying, I've been so in it it's starting to rule my life and this month I got so upset when af started as was convinced i was pg i felt more like i'd lost a baby than never had one there and that's wen it hit me I have one beautiful dd to be thankful for and I love my dh to be so much would rather just be happy with what I've got than unhappy with what I've not go if that makes sense if it's meant to happen 2nd time round it will, thank you you've made up my mind my conception books are now in the bin, congratulations to you and your bump well done

[mosschops30]

youve got to do what works for you, but being more relaxed about it certainly helped me. I couldnt afford to go on buying lots of tests and testing 6 days early etc, then 5 days then 4 days only to be devastated when period arrived.

Bin the books and jump on dh when he gets in the door

(btw my dh is seriously pissed off that he was getting it all the time when i was going mad with things in december, then only did it once in the whole of Feb and ended up pg )

[happyfaceschildcare]

lol

wait till the baby arrives you'll be to knackered to do it at all

[jakesmum05]

Mosschops great advice.

I really don't want to get obsessed and like happyfaces i have a gorgeous child and a fab DH (who is looking forward to upping the action this month) but after that effort i will cool it. I think once i read about checking my cervix i was a little put off!!

Thanks for making me laugh guys and making me feel better about my incessant pg testing too early.

I'm still going to keep a record of my body's behaviour but that can only help and keep me off the internet for a little bit longer each day so...!

Congrats Mosschops, good luck happyfaces.

Will keep checking in.

x

[AttilaTheMeerkat]

jakesmum05

I have PCOS as well. I don't think you're being OTT at all reading your message.

It is no point at all in using OPK's when you have PCOS as these will give false readings in these particular circumstancs. The same problems arise with temp charting as well - do not waste time on such methods. These can be helpful but are not helpful when PCOS is an issue. With PCOS a person tends to have an excess of LH - this is what the OPK kit reads. Also with PCOS you could end up with a chart akin to the Rocky Mountains and thus impossible to interpret.

A cycle as well if consitently over 35 days is likely to be anovulatory. It is quite possible to have periods without ovulating and especially so with PCOS. At the very least blood tests could be done to see what your hormone levels are like. My guess is that your LH and FSH are well out of sync.

I would insist on being referred to a gynae - your GP has been very poor to date. He is being ignorant and has no understanding of PCOS. BTW if this person continues to be unhelpful I'd change GP practice.

You will need to be persistant in order to get answers. Seek a referral.

www.verity-pcos.org.uk is a helpful and informative website.

[jakesmum05]

Excellent advice, Attila, thank you. I think I will go back to him soon and reiterate the fact I have PCOS, i don't think he was listening last time. It's just a shame you can't just go somewhere yourself.

Thanks again

[jakesmum05]

Attila, don't know if you'll read this but have been looking at PCOS based treatment and have come across Clomid. I found a thread on here that you were on a couple years ago and was just wondering how long you have to be trying before it's an option.

Thanks

x

[Sam100]

I have PCOS too and took a long time to conceive after a miscarriage (18 months). Would agree with posts above that ovulation kits are a waste of money if you have pcos and can drive you slightly nutty! Also temp charting did not work me as results were very erratic. We were not referred by GP until we had been trying for a year. Then had ultrasound scan which confirmed PCOS (lots of cysts on both ovaries). Then had to go for a month of blood tests to confirm whether ovulating.

When I went back to the GP for results of tests she said that bloods confirmed I was not ovulating - but that month we hit the jackpot and had a positive pregnancy test! When I asked her it could be a false positive she just said that even the blood tests were not fool proof and we had managed to get pregnant despite low hormone levels! Our dd is now 7.

Would recommend a good healthy diet (see the verity site) - if you are a big carb eater then cut back a bit (bit don't go mad). If you are over-weight try and lose a bit to help get your cycle more regular.

[jakesmum05]

Thanks Sam, I was diagnosed with PCOS 5 years ago but because i conceived DS with no problems i don't feel like my doctor is taking me seriously.

I am overweight but am the same if not lighter than i was when i got pregnant last time. And i've recently developed a love of bicycling so exercise abound!!

Thanks for food advice, i'm wheat intolerant so don't eat bread pasta etc and only eat very small quantities of potato and rice (something i did following my own research, not after advice from my doctor who disagreed with a low carb diet all those years back).

I think that because i already have something wrong with me i should at least be offered blood tests but not according to my (male) doctor.

Most advice i've had on here has agreed or suggested i get blood tests at least so...i'm going to go tommorrow hopefully and put my foot down!!!

[jakesmum05]

Also my cycle was regular as five week clockwork until 2 months ago when it went all to cock!!

[Flibbertyjibbet]

Aromatika- why are you dredging up all these old threads to advertise your website?
You need to approach mumsnet about advertising and pay for it.