Changing from gynecologist to a fertility specialist (PCOS)

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I am 28 years old woman. I moved to Germany this year and I was trying to get pregnant for a 6-7 months. My periods became irregular since last year and I ran out of Duphaston which I was taking to regulate it. So I decided to go see Gynecologist.

The gynecologist did a blood hormones test of three hormones and all of them came out normal (FSH, testerone and something else ... not LH). But when she did the ultrasound, she found I have a grown egg (13th day) but also PCOS in one of my ovaries. Apart from these (irregular periods and cysts), I don't have any of the other syndromes ... no acne or facial hair and my BMI is normal. She put me on a combination pill for three months, after these months, I went back and she did an ultrasound and she found I still have cysts. She then gave us (a stronger) combination pill and I will start taking it this month. She told me after that she will give Clomiphene to trigger the ovulation.

Before coming here - about a year and half a go - I did an ultrasound and I did not have PCOS. The blood hormone test at that time showed everything normal except high LH.

And when I came here, I did not know there is a fertility center. I also did not know what endocrinology is and that my current gynecologist is not certified in this domain.

I am very confused right know, I feel like I am wasting my time with my current gynecologist and at the same time I don't want to leave her in the mid of her work. I am not a doctor, but doing a research online showed me that usually they do an insulin resistance test and go through other procedures (including testing LH, which she did not do) before making a conclusion and starting the treatment.

I would appreciate your advice about this, do you think I should stop taking the pill and go to fertility center now? And if you have PCOS, did you take the pill 6 months before trying to get pregnant? Does your doctor print the ultrasound output for you?

I am a bit worried about the PCOS and I started to have doubts whether I will ever have children.

Thanks.

Hi im not sure what to advise you as I never went through any fertility options with my doctors.
However I was diagnosed with PCOS 4 years ago. I was investigated as i had extreemly irregular periods. At one point I only had 2 or 3 per year. But I didnt have symptoms such as acne or hair growth, the only thing i had was cysts in my ovaries. And even then they weren't the standard pearl like appearance. I was told that i would need to take something to force my body to ovulate if i ever wanted to have children. As we werent ttc they advised that I should take the pill to keep the lining of my womb healthy.

Due to the pill my periods were regular for the next year or so. Then earlier this year on a weekend away (after discussing starting to ttc after my prescription ran out) i didnt take the pill for 2 days. Which turned out to be the perfect 2 days not to take it as i am now 30 weeks pregnant with our first baby.

I just wanted to offer a bit of hope as pcos doesn't have to mean you cant have children. It was always explained to me that a healthy normal cycle means you have 12 chances per year but an irregular one like pcos means you have fewer chances. For me the pill had the effect of regulating my periods so when i missed a couple of pills it must havs been timed just right in my new artificial cycle to allow me to get pregnant. Or thats how i understood it when my doctor explained it.

Fingers crossed it all works out for you and you dont have to wait long :).

Additionally it's very very very average to take a year (or more) to conceive. Up to 30% of women have polycystic ovaries, which is a variant of normal physiology. It's really is not all doom and gloom.

Do what you feel is right. It's important that you trust your doctor, so find one you trust.

In the uk, it's not usual practice to go on the pill when ttc unless health issues need addressing before ttc. But it could be normal in Germany? Optimal bmi for conception is 22.

Good luck! You have a lot of factors on your side!!

Thanks very much for your support.