Hi all, would like to hear others' experiences as am new to all of this! Appreciate any time you can give to sharing your thoughts.
I am 34 years old - have always had very regular cycles and was periodically on/off the contraceptive pill in my 20s. Was then on the pill for approx 3.5 years until June 22. Came off the pill and had 4 cycles as clockwork. My Nov cycle was then 2 weeks late, and after that I've had nothing. Really unusual for me and thought it perhaps could be stress related. At end of March I was given a blood test - everything was normal - and so then was referred to the gynaecologist. The NHS appointment was for Jan 24 (!!!) so yesterday paid for a private consultation and scan. The ultrasound showed I have polycystic ovaries - and so the doctor diagnosed me with PCOS (although I am aware you can have PCOs without having the syndrome). This was a big surprise given my history of very regular cycles, and the fact I have absolutely no other symptoms at all to suggest I might have it.
I was asked whether I wanted to have a baby - my partner and I were planning to begin trying just as my periods disappeared - and (I was slightly taken aback by the diagnosis so didn't ask as many questions as I should have) the doctor ended up prescribing me norethisterone to induce a period and then letrozole. Essentially an ovulation induction process. This was the first thing she mentioned, rather than anything preceding this. Alongside that she has given me 1000mg metformin per day and myo inositol. Having now had a bit of time to reflect and research to understand what all of this actually means - I can see that often metformin is prescribed for a period of time before then suggesting OI/letrozole/clomid if that doesn't work. I have contacted the consultant to ask whether this is also an option for me, but I have been asked to pay for a follow-up consultation which I am a little reluctant to do as feel I wasn't really given all the information I needed to make a decision in my last consultation. The OI was presented as a bit of a foregone conclusion and my only option if I wanted to conceive.
I am overall a bit reluctant to have to take a lot of medication unless really necessary - perhaps my body would respond to just metformin which would make the OI unnecessary - but perhaps this is also a bit of a naive approach to things? Has anyone else gone straight to OI/letrozole/clomid rather than taking metformin first to see if that works? It seems that if OI doesn't work after 6 months the next step is IVF - which is quite a sudden and big thing to have to contemplate given my partner and I hadn't even really started trying properly and given that my history is not one of irregular or missing periods. Perhaps wishful thinking but could the absent periods just resolve themselves if they are 'reset' with the norithisterone/metformin and my cycles resume as normal?
No real direct question here, just very keen to see if any of what I have described resonates with you or if you are able to let me know about your experiences with any of unexpected PCOS diagnoses, using metformin, or having OI with letrozole etc?