Ultrasound timings for long periods/ anovulation/ poss PCOS or endometriosis

[Katnissx]

Im booked in for a pelvic ultrasound this week, I'm just worrying about if it matters what cycle day I am when I have the ultrasound?

I'm currently on day 21 of my period (I'm having long and irregular periods and suspected anovulation), I have been wondering recently if my long periods could possibly be to do with endometriosis. So, if I have just finished a long bout of bleeding does that mean that my uterine lining will not look thickened even though at other points in my cycle it could be? Like if I was later on in my cycle would it have built up again and be noticed? Or would it look thickened all throughout my cycle if that was the case?

Also if it is PCOS, I've heard that the follicles can come and go. Are they more likely to be present at a certain point in the cycle?

Sorry if this sounds silly, I just really want to find out what's going on with me. I'm fed up of bleeding all the time and not getting pregnant and it's really been getting me down 😔

P.s I've also posted this in the Health forum but not had any replies.

I don't know much about pcos but endometriosis very rarely shows on ultrasound. In my case they could see something which turned out to be an endometrioma at my laparoscopy. When I was referred for my first US for fertility and suspected endo it didn't matter what day as they were just having a general look, because they saw something they asked me to come back at a set amount of weeks later. I don't know about pcos on scans but I'm sure you're Dr would know if it needed to be a specific time. I hope you get some answers x

@SpyroC thank you so much for your reply, that was really helpful. Do you mind me asking how your endo got diagnosed? Or was that through having a laparoscopy done?

I suspected it due to increasingly painful periods and painful bowel movements. The anomaly on the scan added to this so I got referred to fertility slighter faster than the usual 12 months. The consultant thought endo likely too so the first thing they did was to refer me for a laparoscopy. During this they found and treated stage 2 endometriosis. Unfortunately, laparoscopy is the only way to confirm endo.

They will probably be looking for PCOS. It has a pearl necklace quality when there are cysts present. Endo investigations (laparoscopy) can cause infertility and so if there isn’t any major endo visible then you may be advised not to get it investigated. There is another type of ultrasound, a hsg, that checks for womb and tube abnormalities - will you get that?

@GrumpyHoonMain ahh right, thank you for explaining that. I'm just booked for a standard pelvic ultrasound at the moment, but maybe that will be the next step depending on what they find?

@SpyroC Sorry you have had to go through all that, but glad it was diagnosed and treated xx

Thank you for the replies. Just an update- I had my scan yesterday and I have lots of follicles in my left ovary and have been told it is indicative of PCOS, so looks like I have my answer finally. Thank you ladies x