TTC and Anovulation.

[ActualMermaid]

Hi! After a week full of pregnancy and birth announcements on my social media, I've been feeling so low and jealous. So I thought I would post on here to see if anyone else in the same boat wanted to chat.

OH and I stopped using contraception in the hope of TTC baby no. 2 back at the end of 2019. I previously conceived naturally after a couple of cycles.
After deciding to TTC baby 2, I had a couple of irregular periods. My longest bleed was 33 days straight and my longest time between cycles was 100+ days. In April 2020 during the long 33 day bleed, I passed a lot of very large blood clots and went to the GP who took bloods which came back normal but no signs of ovulation. This became a common theme and several blood tests and weeks later, it was confirmed I hadn't ovulated but all hormone levels were normal. I was sent for an ultrasound to rule out PCOS which also came back normal. Since then, I have been doing at home OPK tests and have only ever had the faintest line. I haven't ovulated in now almost a year which makes TTC impossible.

We are waiting for a referral for gynaecology but GP has told me to expect a long wait with everything else going on.

I'm sure anyone reading this thread will understand how heartbreaking and lonely it is to be in this position. I have so many unanswered questions and no idea if/when I'm going to start ovulating again. I would love to hear from anyone who has been through something like this before as I can't find a lot of information online; topics such as this are mostly about PCOS.

Sorry this is so long! Thank you for reading!

Bump! Can anyone relate?

So sorry to hear you're going through a rough patch ! Unfortunately I have no experience to offer. I thought they offered Clomid to help ovulate ? Or sometimes letrozole ? But don't take my word for it.

Did you change anythingin your lifestyle at all ? If you previously had a child easily maybe it's worth looking at what may have changed. Also, 2020 has been a very stressful year for many (and 2021's not looking much better right now).

I hope someone comes along soon who can give you better answers.

Sorry I realize my meaning may not have been clear - I meant that if you experienced high levels of stress due to Covid that definitely may have impacted your fertility.

Hi @ActualMermaid. Sorry you've been deluged with pregnancy bombs this week!

It sounds like you would fit into World Health Org group 1 anovulation as your GP should have successfully excluded menopause and pcos with what they've done. Try a read through of this to see if helps: fertility.womenandinfants.org/services/women/anovulation

Possibly the GP could do clomiphene like @Marty13 mentioned, and check any other anovulatory workup bloods they haven't yet - while u wait.

Also this is more technical but is the national guidelines (NICE) GP's will refer to for practice standards. www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg156/chapter/Recommendations#ovulation-disorders

@Marty13 Thanks so much for your reply. I am pretty certain I will be prescribed Clomid but I have to wait to go through the fertility team first and I think that with everything going on it will be a long wait!

The only thing that was different is that I was taking sertraline back in 2019 when we started TTC baby no 2, but after all the bleeding I was weaned off to see if that was the cause. It hasn't had any effect and I haven't gone back on it as I was hoping to get pregnant quickly and didn't want to be on antidepressants. It's all a big, confusing mess.

@indub Thank you so much for the links, they are very helpful! I'm having a proper read now because I can't sleep due to feeling a bit sorry for myself!

My BMI is a little higher than it should be although I haven't gained or lost any since my first pregnancy. It seems to be the only common cause that would make sense as doctors have ruled out PCOS and have done multiple bloods for my hormone levels.

Thank you again.

I haven’t had a period naturally or ovulated for a few years (previously had very regular periods and probably ovulation). I have been diagnosed with hypothalamic amenorrhea which is in the group 1 conditions indub mentioned. It’s usually due to weight loss, stress and or over exercise (for me all 3). Have a look at ‘no period, what now’ website if you want an overview even if your bmi is high if you’re heavily restricting calories or really stressed it’s possible but unlikely. Have they checked your thyroid as this can cause ovulation problems too.
It sounds like Clomid or letrozole is worth a go. I had the same issue, GP can’t prescribe, referred me to the infertility clinic then Covid hit and they told me it could be6-12 months. I called another private clinic and paid about £150 for a private consult and they got me to get my gp to refer there and I managed to get ovulation induction on the NHS. So just remember you don’t have to stick to the local one if the wait is long.
Good luck. It’s tough when everyone else seems to get pregnant in 5mins.

@39andabit So sorry to hear you are having similar issues! It's so hard isn't it?! Like you, my periods before all this were so regular and very mild - I was one of the lucky ones.

I've never heard of that website so I will go on and have a look!

I'm glad you were able to get seen though it's so rubbish that you had to go private. Have they prescribed you Clomid now? How do you feel about it?