To feel defeated and frustrated by 'unexplained' diagnosis.

[BeardedFuckingLady]

As the title says really.
I have only ever had around 10 periods (I am 28). My doctors always knew about this but never showed any signs of being concerned and just said they'd investigate if I ever TTC.

Well four years ago after my marriage I went to the doctor to ask for diagnosis as we had been trying for 2 years already with no joy. He ran bloodtests and booked me in at my local hospital (which is known for being fertility and pregnancy related) for further tests.

My AMH came back as 13.1 - on the low side of normal for my age at the time but nothing concerning. Thyroid was fine, all hormone tests fine.

Uterine scan showed no issues and not PCOS (which surprised me as I am overweight and hairy) but did show that I have a womb lining that is very thick (off the top of my head I wanna say it came in at 16mm ish but it was a while ago so I can't remember exactly) - I was told this wasn't the issue.

I then had a Hycosy scan which showed no issues (they couldn't do it around my menses since I don't have one so just did it at a random time but said this wouldn't affect the results)

My husbands sperm was also checked and whilst it wasn't a great result (10% mobility but he has around 40% more sperm than average) the doctor said that due to his high sperm count the mobility shouldn't have been a huge factor.

All in all his end suggestion was that I lose enough weight to qualify for NHS IVF and they'd give us our free go's but I got no diagnosis, no explanation of why this was happening or what other options there were.

We were rushed out of the office at this point and told to come back when my BMI was in target.

Fast forward to now. My BMI is almost at target but I really am angry at how little I still know. Will IVF even work on somebody who doesn't have a cycle at all? I've done temping etc. And I don't ovulate at all. What will happen if I stim myself and no eggs come out? I feel like no questions were answered etc.

I don't want to go through the excitement and fear and nerves of all the tests etc. And getting my hopes up again if actually there isn't any point but I don't feel like I can get answers to my questions either.

I guess I just needed a safe space to rant and vent as nobody in my life really gets it. My husband has accepted that we probably won't be having children and has now almost resigned himself to this and doesn't like to talk about it anymore.

Has anyone ever been in a similar situation😕

Didn't want to read and run! Thats so awful for you. I don't know the answer to what you are asking really but i get how you are feeling in limbo. Its horrible.

As I understand it ivf and all the drugs that come with it help you to ovulate and stimulate egg for collection etc.

I could be completely wrong though. Hope someone can help you!

💐 xx

I'm amazed you don't have a pcos diagnosis. No periods, overweight and hairy means you tick the boxes. I'd be wanting a second opinion tbh.

Ovulation should be fairly easy to induce. You might not even need ivf, just clomid.

I understand how frustrating the unexplained "diagnosis" is. It drove me crazy. I desperately wanted to know what was wrong. I had a daughter via ivf but never did find out why we couldn't conceive naturally.

I'm not a fan of 'anecdotal evidence', but have a work colleague who conceived on her fourth ivf cycle, having never had a period in her life. Not one.

Age was a factor for her needing several cycles ( she was 39 when successful). She has some sort of pituitary issue ( and a normal bmi).

There's a lot that can be done.

An ultrasound scan may show polycystic ovaries but only based on the criteria ie how many follicles and size of your ovaries. Different hospital can have slightly different criteria of what is classed was polycystic ovaries. Some will call it polycystic if it meets all conditions which is more than 12 or more follicles and enlarged. Others can call it based just on the numbers of follicles or size. Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) however can only be confirmed along with a blood test. Not all women who have hirtusim and are overweight have PCOS but yes they can be features of PCOS. If your Dr agrees you have features then he may agree to blood tests which I would have thought are a standard pre fertility tests (but unsure). I hope this helps. Good luck

I was "unexplained" on the waiting list for 3.5 years, turns out I have diminished ovarian reserve. They were just not thorough enough to figure it out. Now it's too late. Pay for a fertility MOT.