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

Barsons83, giving you a big hug! Sorry it's all so frustrating, fingers crossed the consultant can shed some light.

Infertility123 and ElizabethCatherine, that's brilliant news, very happy for you both. It's amazing how much of a difference a plan of action makes, helps you feel like you're back in control. I'll keep my fingers crossed for both of you.

ElizabethCatherine, if you can schedule your scans around your holiday, I'd say go for it. It's better if you're actually doing something instead of waiting. The holiday might also help, as you'll be more relaxed.

Almost the end of day 5 of my TWW... I might cave in and test earlier (maybe 10DPO?) as this waiting is killing me

Hope you all have some nice plans for the weekend, tomorrow is supposed to be sunny (at least in London...).

My current BMI is 37.7 which means I have 4 stone to loose to be in the right weight category.

Currently trying low carb & I'm hoping 1-2lb a week between now and 4 months time will be a good goal to work towards. I need to keep this real & manageable.

Hi! Is it ok if I join you?
I have been lurking for a while but didn't really have anything to contribute!

We have been TTC for just over a year and during that time I have only had 6 periods.... I was diagnosed with mild pcos in September and just had first appt with fertility doctor. I have been put on Metformin to begin with and they want to do some test thing where they put dye up inside to check tubes aren't blocked (can't remember what it's called!) I was just wondering what people's experiences are with metformin and has anyone got pregnant after only taking it? Thank you

Addendum: what I mean is has anyone got pregnant with metformin alone, without clomid xx

@infertility123 and @ElizabethCatherine they both sound like great plans, my fingers are crossed for speedy and successful solutions!!!

@Amy that sounds like a good plan - You don't want to lose too fast and then put it back on and to back to square 1 so just keep that long term goal in mind and celebrate every loss as they all add up. If you're losing weight will they be happy to go ahead with treatment?

@arual I was initially put on only metformin and it didn't help at all... Just made me feel ill! But I wasn't on it for being long and my GP really didn't know what to do with me, so there's definitely a possibility! For me it was the first step in many, and now I'm seeing a specialist it all seems much more under control (well, much as it can be - by which I mean not at all, but at least he knows what he's talking about!)

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend! It was my birthday and I've always wanted to be a young mum... At 29 that's no longer going to be a thing, but it's my journey and today I feel like I'm owning it - it will all be worth it in the end!

Welcome @Arual1060 and @fridgepants sorry I don't have experience in metamorphin but I'm pretty sure in some cases it has helped - I hear it helps you loose weight as well which can also help once the weight is off to conceive? I'm not sure if everyone needs clomid if you can ovulate on your own? It's all so confusing but I'm sure someone on here has experience!

@FloofyFloo happy birthday!! And 29 is still super young! Own it girl! Love your attitude, keep it up, keep in good spirits, and you are on the right track. Everyone's time will come at the right time and not a moment sooner

Hi ladies!

Hope you don't mind if I join. I've just been diagnosed with PCOS at 29.

I came off the pill in August 2016 and have not had AF since then.
I had been on various forms of the pill for approx 10 years (Dianette for most of that time and Yasmin for about the past 2 years) so I am afraid that they have wrecked my natural cycles. I don't know how regular my cycles were before then as it was such a long time ago and I was a teenager.

A friend had been prescribed tablets (I'm assuming clomid) to help her get pregnant and his has been a success twice. So I asked the doctor if she could prescribe me something similar. Doctor said she would be reluctant to prescribe them with out monitoring ovulation via ultrasound for someone who hasn't had AF in 10 months. However she said waiting time for fertility appointment on NHS was (wait for it......) 32 WEEKS!! So she suggested looking into private treatment?

She sent me for blood test this morning and my DH is going to leave his sperm sample in for analysis. She said she would be able to advise better once the results of both those tests came back.

Just wondering if anyone has any advice on what things I should be thinking about now / what next steps I should take. Who knew getting pregnant would be so hard?! After all the unplanned pregnancies etc you hear about and all the precautions you take when younger... I don't know - just expected it to be a bit more straight forward than it is.

Thanks in advance 😊

P x

Welcome @Popcorn15 :) Our story sounds the exact same, I came off BC August 2016 and still no sign of AF. I was on the pills for about 10 years also. Yes the first step is taking provera to bring on a bleed and then clomid to follow after that. I hear it's a post code lottery if you get monitoring or not with clomid, some ladies are just given clomid a certain dose and are told to see if it works and then the dose gets upped if they havnt fallen pregnant. Get the SA from DH and have that referral sent off right away. I'm in London and once they got my referral it's about 2 month wait list.. they usually only accept you on NHS if you have been actively trying for a year.

Hi @ElizabethCatherine

I am so glad to hear there is someone else in the same boat as me. 10 months without AF is so disheartening as I just don't know what my body is doing. I think if I at least had really long cycles with AF at the end of them id be a bit more content as at least my body would be doing what it should just much slower than it normally would be.
I've had a few times where I've had a day or so of pink spotting thinking oh yes - here we go but it leads to nothing. Who would have thought we would long to have a period?? If I told an 18 year old version of myself that I wouldn't have a period for almost a year I'd have been happy enough lol. But times have changed!

Ok will mention provera when I go back to gp after the blood tests/ sperm analysis results come back. As you say - it's a 2 month wait just to get the sperm analysis appointment on the NHS. So we are booked in for August.

Have you been taking provera / clomid? How have you found that? I try to track temps- but no real indication of ovulation for me. Have you tried that?

P x

Hi Popcorn15, welcome to the thread! I know exactly how you feel, I get really excited when I get my period After a MC in January (managed to somehow get pregnant naturally), I begged my GP to refer me to someone who truly understands PCOS (GPs don't fully undersgand it...) and I got an appointment at UCLH's Reproductive Medicine Unit. Waiting time was around 2 months. Don't know where you're based, but maybe try to look for something similar? In my opinion, you should be referred as you haven't had a period for so long, so there's no point in waiting for one year if there's no AF whatsoever, let alone ovulation. As far as temping is concerned, I've been doing it for nearly a year and I learnt an awful lot about my body (e.g. that my luteal phase is not very long - not great when TTC as it points to a progesterone problem). It's a bit annoying as you need to take it at the same day every day (at the w/e, I wake up at 6am too, take my temp and go back to sleep) and can become frustrating if you don't see any signs of ovulation. I wouldn't focus on it now as it can create even more stress, your priority is to be seen by a specialist (i.e. endocrinologist). Push it with your GP as much as you can. If he/she is not understanding, try another one.

Hi ladies, just catching up with the thread...great news infertility please keep us updated with your journey, wishing you so much luck! So happy you'll be joining the c-train elizabethcatherine just having the option of when you can start feels so much better, feels nice having some control and options! Have you been given provera or norethisterone?

CD21 first round of clomid for me pretty sure I haven't ovulated and just counting down now, this feels like the longest month ever!! Any symptoms looking4hope?

Hi to the newbies too waves

SLady, I'll be keeping everything crossed for you. Before my MC I wasn't getting any ovulation symptoms, ever, so you're only out if AF arrives. I also feel like this month is really dragging... 9DPO today and I've had a lot of the same symptoms I had before (very tired and bloated, a bit of nausea, some creamy CM (sorry for the TMI...), larger and darker areolas etc.) but who knows, maybe it's all in my head... Trying to hold out until Friday, 12DPO. I got some FRERs from Boots, currently on offer (bogof). It would have been rude not to

Thank you looking4hope keeping them crossed for both of us. Sounds promising for you, I have no symptoms there either ..the only thing I have is feeling fat and bloated since starting norethisterone! Ooh thanks for the tip about boots, is FRERs First Response Boots own brand? I think I'll start testing a week today if AF doesn't make an appearance before then

SLady, thank you, keeping crossed everything that's crossable It's the First Response brand (I think), so you can get 4 tests for £10.49. Not sure I can link here... just search for First Response Early Result on the Boots website, the packaging is pink. They have single and twin packs, but getting twin packs means it's cheaper per test. And if you have a POAS addiction like me... every little counts

Excellent thanks looking4hope I think I know the ones, I am going to check them out. Haha.. I'm not going to test early as I get so down seeing a BFN. As I'm not monitored I won't know when I ovulated (if I did) so I guess I will have to test CD 28-35....?? I won't wait until CD35 to test as I will probably get my hopes up to find out it didn't even work!

@SLady I've been given 5 days of provera then clomid to follow. I have the prescription in my purse and it's very hard to just not go and get the pills and start, we have decided to start when we come back from hols so last week in August :( ! The wait is going to suck but we can't risk anything I'm taking 6 flights all in 3 weeks so doc said that is far too much and the flights are long haul. Are you getting monitored on clomid or do they just give you a certain dose for a few months and tell you to get on?

@Popcorn15 I know exactly how you feel I think I will cry of joy if my AF comes back on it's own! My doc wasted my time kept saying no you have to wait a year for a fertility referral and kept telling me it's natural for AF to not show for like 6 months after BC. I had to push so hard for her to just send it off and she only did because AF hasn't shown I guess if people have regular cycles then they have to wait a year of TTC before fertility clinics accept. She referred me to gyn and they turned me away, and I had to wait 3 months for that, I changed doctors she was wasting my time and didn't know what to do with me. 2 months for just a SA seems harsh? We had the option of just rock up to the hospital next day and just go wait in line kinda thing! If you can't find somewhere that does that maybe pay for a private SA it might only be like £100 or under and then that doesn't delay your fertility referral! I tried tracking temps every morning and there was just no point cuz if you ovulate a period will follow after, so although yes you can ovulate first before AF if it's been 10 months I wouldn't waste your time x

Woo hoo that's so exciting elizabethcatherine you have to start when the time is right for you but if you are anything like me just having the prescriptions lifted my mood so much and made me feel more in control and like things were starting to happen! I'm not being monitored at all, I've been given 2 months of Clomid to start and I will have a CD21 blood test on the 2nd round and if I haven't ovulated they will up my dose. This month is just a "practice" round it seems. He said it gives a chance for your body to get used to what is going on with the new drugs. I'm comfortable with being unmonitored the only thing I feel I am at a disadvantage is that he hasn't given me a CD21 blood test this month and what's the point in taking a 50 dose again if it didn't work the first time? I'll know by CD35 if I didn't ovulate as I won't get AF and it'll be BFN so I'll have to call for more norethisterone so I might ask if they can up my dose then and if not why so I can try and understand their rationalisation for it. If still no BFP by round 4 he said we can have a review and maybe think about a hycosy. One step at a time I guess but I'm not feeling confident about this first round

SLady - I am due to start Clomid 50mg my next cycle and not being monitored either. Glad to hear i'm not alone as a few people have been shocked to hear i am not being monitored.
Can i ask do you have regular cycles? I have cycles that are 38-45 days long and i have had the occasional positive on an OPK but not until around CD25.
Have you taken your first round of clomid?

@SLady I agree, even just having the prescription I feel so much better and more in control. If I go through NHS I wouldn't have monitoring so then it makes me think why don't I just start clomid before hols and not miss out on getting my body into it.. but then with private they literally do blood tests every single day when you start clomid and then scans as well to confirm and then will just go right into IUI if I ovulate, that's why it would be a waste of money to fly after IUI since the chances are higher. But if clomid doesn't work the first round then that a waste of money paying for all the monitoring. Have my NHS consult on the 28th so going to see what they will offer I JUST WANNA START LOL. Impatient sooo impatient.

Hi AmyL88 I know it seems rare doesn't it but you are not alone! I'm hoping it makes it less stressful and feel more "natural"?! Plus not needing to get time off work for appts is a huge bonus to me with my job. Although I am really itching to find out if it's worked for me, usually people would have a good idea at a CD10 scan. Yep I have taken my first round of Clomid - 50mg - and I am in the 2ww at the moment, CD21. I came off the pill in February 2016 and my cycles started off at 33 days and then progressively got a little longer each time, so by the time I started Clomid my cycles were 70+ days long. Seemed the longer I was off the pill the worse it got. Have your hospital told you why they don't monitor?

I know it's so annoying elizabethcatherine, some nhs trusts refuse to give Clomid if you are not around to be monitored and others don't monitor at all. It's crazy, so inconsistent. You just have to go with your gut I think. If you're having IUI then I guess it's more important to be monitored. All our other tests were normal so I don't think there's any other help we'd receive along the way or anything else that I would be getting if I was monitored. I will think about a hycosy and maybe pay for a monitored cycle later down the line if there's no luck. I'll just take it one cycle at a time. Will you be having the trigger shots too or did they decide against that?

Seems strange how inconsistent they are at (1) prescribing provera/clomid (2) monitoring when we take them.
I really don't want to wait the 32 week referral for fertility specialist on NHS and we are considering going private. There is an open day soon at a clinic but it sort of makes me a bit sad as I never thought we would need to go to a fertility clinic... but we are where we are and it's the end goal that is important.

Anyway I was wondering if any of you have medical insurance e.g. Bupa etc that covers this type of thing and whether it would be worth my while signing up now?

Thanks ladies 😊

P x

Oh and if anyone can recommend any tablets / supplements they take to bring on AF that would be super. I've tried agnus castus and I'm currently taking evening primrose oil along with seven seas trying for a baby vitamins.

Has a change in diet helped your pcos? I've been reading things that suggests cutting out/down carbs and diary can really help which would be really hard for me to do but might be worth a shot?

😬