PCOS - Trying to conceive

[ElizabethCatherine]

Welcome to our 5th thread :)

A lovely bunch of ladies all here to help each other along the way with any questions or concerns we all have when TTC with PCOS

@pandarific they will do ultrasound first to check for pcos. Clomid has to be given by the fertility clinic and they usually do not accept you until you have been trying for a year. Question your doctor about metformin. It helped me get my cycle back x

How is everyone? Did AF arrive @SLday

I am back at the hospital later for another scan to check the progress of my folli. Really thinking we haven't DTD enough last few days...

I have had some spotting today AmyL88!! I will be so thrilled if AF arrives, it'll mean for the first time Clomid has worked for me!!! Either that or I ovulated around CD21 and it's implantation bleeding ... lol no only joking, it makes sense as I had a peak of EWCM on CD16, and then my usual AF symptoms so I was expecting it around now. I'll be so thrilled to have had a natural AF and get to start my next cycle right away. Good luck with your scan this afternoon. Let us know how it goes!

Exciting times Elizabethcatherine glad the injections aren't too bad. Where do u have to inject? Will you inject for different amount of time depending on scans? Good luck with it all

Oh that is such good news @SLday...!!! Lets hope it is AF showing (how f**ked up does that sound on a trying to conceive thread!!)

Scan went well, looks like the folli has ovulated - from the scan anyway so blood test will tell for sure which will be next week. She did say they will only up my dose to 150mg for a further 5 months if this cycle isn't successful then will have to look at other options after then. I hadn't planned for clomid not to work i have to admit..!

Yes good luck @Elizabethcatherine Glad the injections weren't too , bad, these things always seem worse in our heads!!

Thanks AmyL88 haha I know it's so backwards. It's really lifted my mood I was thinking I'd have to go through norethisterone and another dud 100mg round before getting another shot at it.
Great news on your folli! I think 5 months is plenty of time to get a BFP if you're ovulating and that's good they are allowing you to have more than 6 rounds too. I think my hospital go up to 9, if the earlier rounds didn't work. I hope so anyway! Did she say what your next options would be, just out of interest

Yeah you should feel good as you know your body is moving in the right direction..that's whats keeping me positive anyway. The fact that my last few cycles have actually been 28 days is a miracle! Its almost been a year since I fell pregnant and I was so naive to it all then. It's deffo been a tough year but there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.

No she didn't mention next steps, she advised me to make another consultant app for early Feb and did say if you are pregnant its easier to cancel than get an appointment scheduled.....she has a point even though Feb seems a long way off.

Are you taking any other supplements along side clomid?

Yes definitely Amy, at least I've actually got a shot at getting pregnant now I'm ovulating! I know what you mean, I haven't had a natural period since Easter!!! It's just been norethisterone each time!
There definitely is, your body is responding well to the Clomid so it's just a probability game now of when you get a sticky bean. 30% chance for anyone each time, or thereabouts so it'll happen soon. Yes sounds like good advice, might as well get booked in now.
No I'm not, I'm taking a TTC vitamin (when I remember to take it) but that's it. Are you?? I wonder whether its worth getting pomegranate juice or that herbal tea, it's meant to thicken the lining?? I have very light periods which is a bit of a worry (I can get on to worry about something else now I don't need to worry about not ovulating this month - lol 🙈)

Yes I have bought some pregnancy care vitamins with folic acid etc but I am rubbish at taking them!! Really trying to eat healthy though, managed to lose half a stone on SW over the last 2 weeks so hoping to keep that up. Overall need to lose 2 stone until i am at a 'healthy weight' I am sure that plays a bit part in my struggles to conceive!!

AF arrived in full force now?

Hi all,

Just checking in. Just had AF, my last cycle was 5 weeks 6 days which is a significant improvement for me so hopefully Metformin is doing it's thing. I cut down slightly for my holiday for fear of being ill on the plane and am now back on 3 a day and feeling rough as hell including actually vomiting on Monday. Hoping it'll ease off by the end of the week.

How are the injections going now ElizabethCatherine?

SLady so pleased to hear you are ovulating.

Massive well done AmyL on the weight loss. I seem to switch between taking just folic acid and ttc multivitamins. It's only really the folic acid that is essential to take and yet every now and again I buy a job lot of multivitamins in the vain hope it will help.

That's good your cycles have returned soapychoc shame about the crappy side effects. I know metformin doesn't make you ovulate but helps cycles, does that mean they could be anovulatory cycles? I'm not sure how it actually works?!

This is TMI Amy but it has arrived but just brown rather than red. Definitely more than spotting though. My periods were sometimes like this on the pill. I will see if it gets heavier tomorrow which is when I should start my Clomid but maybe I'll call the clinic and ask? Why is nothing ever straightforward?! With my nore bleed it's very obvious when to start my clomid.

Did AF arrive for you Sunny? What CD are you?

At my hycosy they talked about maybe doing some monitored cycles on the Metformin at one point so I guess it can make you ovulate perhaps in the sense that it can help with insulin resistance which in turn could help with the hormones maybe?

I'd call the clinic and ask SLady just to be sure.

Yes that makes sense SoapyChoc

I'll give them a call tomorrow and hopefully someone will get back to me. I hope I can start the clomid. It's definitely AF but whether it matters that it's very light i don't know?!

AF has arrived properly now woop... that took it's time! I'm probably going to count today as CD1 as I'm sure the nurse said before it's better to take it later than too soon. I might see if I can speak to a nurse today anyway to check

That's amazing news SLady the irony on being so pleased when AF arrives!!! Mine eventually came after 2 days of sort of spotting, I started the Clomid yesterday as I was told to wait until you have a full flow, and if AF came after 5pm to count the next day as day 1 so I'd probably start tomorrow if I were you.

ElizabethCatherine how are you getting on? Glad the injections aren't too bad.

That's great SoapyChoc that metformin is doing some good! I was told it can kick start ovulation without needing Clomid in some people so fingers crossed for you.

AmyL that's great you ovulated this month. What dose are you on?

Hi all - I've been on this thread on and off. I had pcos diagnosed many years ago. Ttc 4 years. 2 mmcs. Currently going through IUI (I'm on the IUI thread).

I just wanted to share my experience of clomid. 2 years ago a doc put me on it. She didn't bring me in for scans after. I had a period each time but very light about 2.5 days. Didn't conceive on 6 rounds. She then told me to go for IVF. I wasn't convinced. Saw another doc who said it is quite likely that the clomid made my lining very thin. He put me on letrozole and brought me in for scan. I conceived on first cycle but sadly miscarried. I had another three rounds of letrozole but didn't conceive so now trying IUI.

I was on metformin but it didn't work for me. Plenty of nausea and I'm not over weight so they took me off it. Another thing I've tried is inofolic - acupuncturist recommended and doctor agreed. That has slightly improved my cycles such that I got period on 2 cycles without any meds. Worth trying. You can get it online. Check with your doctor though. Not sure how it works but is meant for women with pcos.

Hope those of you on clomid do better than I did but my advice would be to make sure you have scans to check lining.

Oh that's so helpful thank you Sunny I am definitely going to start tomorrow then. I also had two days of weird spotting/light AF too but today I am really heavy so will count this as CD1. It's weird as when I first came off the pill I had 3 natural regular periods and they were all cycle lengths of 33 days which is what I am today. When do you start with your progesterone supplements??

Thank you for sharing your experience cobblestones, it's difficult as hospitals offer different things. Mine offer no monitoring at all. Now I've found a Clomid dose that works I will push for further investigations if I have a few rounds with no success so I can find out if there are any other causes (thin lining, blocked tubes etc) you just seem to have to push push push with them! Which I don't understand as surely these treatments are less expensive than ivf!
Are you still on the Letrozole and just now combining with IUI? Wish you lots of luck

Hi lovely ladies! Thanks for asking how things are going with the injections @SoapyChoc @Sunny1984 @SLady I have done 4 days of Gonal f injection and start my 2nd injection along side it tomorrow morning before I go in for a scan at 8am! I have been doing them in my lower tummy where the "poodge" is and it hasn't been bad at all. You can do it in the side of the leg too but I've just been doing the tummy as it has worked for me with no problems :) I do feel a bit achey today in my ovaries so something must be going on! Hopefully all is clear when I go in tomorrow and I have some follicles starting with some juicy eggs coming along so I can continue haha! I'm going to ask tomorrow to see when I have a better idea of when egg collection will be, I guess it all depends how I respond by each scan. I hear typically 10-12 days but another girl I know had to do 16-18 days. @SLady you must feel a weight lifted off your shoulders a bit knowing this is working for you now :) tmi but my period was brown on some of the days too, I've never had that before. Maybe it's the nore that made it like that? Also metformin can indirectly bring on ovulation because it helps level and balance the other hormones which can indirectly help bring on ovulation, but not as powerful or potent as clomid can be and are best taken together when TTC but when not TTC metformin is good to take to help keep your cycles regulated and have a bleed. And @SoapyChoc I hope you start feeling better soon, it's always a 2 week adjusting period when doses get upped for metformin, hang in there! How long have you been taking it for and what dose are you on now? Hope everyone else is doing ok xx

@cobblestones I agree with the scans for womb monitoring. Each time i have been the nurse has always looked at my lining and for the last couple of cycles she has said it looks great (her words not mine haha) Also @SLady I have light periods too. TMI coming up....mine are always brown first off and quite clotty but AF only lasts 3 days or so so try not to fret too much. I am counting down the days until Monday so i can go for bloods to see if i have deffo ovulated this cycle. The 2WW so frustrating!

@ElizabethCatherine All sounds positive so far...achy ovaries are good FX for some folli's maturing nicely!!

That's interesting about the 2 week adjustment period for each dose. I'm on 3 x 500mg now. Been on it 7 or 8 weeks I think but cut down for holiday so been back on 3 a day for about a week. I am feeling better the last couple of days. Bonus being I have lost a KG since the start of the week.

Sounds like you are getting on really well ElizabethCatherine hope the scan went well this morning?

*SLady bet you are dead chuffed about AF coming, must be a relief that the Clomid is working.

Hope your scan went well this morning Elizabethcatherine FX for lots of juicy follies!!!

That's made me feel better thanks AmyL88 I think I'm going to give myself a couple of rounds now it's working and then if still no bfp then I will push for some more investigations. Even if I have to pay for them myself! The 2WW is torture, not too long to wait till your blood test - something to break up the wait!

Yes so relieved SoapyChoc feeling alot more positive now I know it's working and I am in with a shot each cycle. My progesterone being less than 1 on the 50mg really knocked my confidence with it all!

Going by this month I must have ovulated around CD19. So next months CD21 blood test isn't going to be accurate. Seeing as they are so regimented in their approach I'm just going to go on CD21 like they ask. I mean the worse that'll happen is they up me to 150mg?!

AmyL88 when do you take your Clomid pills? Do you take them in the morning or evening?

Hi everyone can I join in the fun please?

Currently on CD2 and my first month of Clomid. Have had PCOS as long as I can remember! Have a DS (3) who was conceived after ovarian drilling 4 years ago. Since starting TTC for baby no.2 I’ve only been ovulating every other month and always on my left side.

Currently on 50mg of Clomid and 3x500mg of metformin which I’ve been taking for a few years now.

So.....just a waiting game now...follie scan on 9th Oct.

Hello! Welcome Confusion wishing you lots of luck for no2. That's good you've been ovulating naturally. How did you find the ovarian drilling? Did you have that done after unsuccessful Clomid cycles?