Trying to conceive with PCOS

[JoannaP1989]

Hi

My partner of 6 years And I have Always wanted a baby, I told myself and my friends that I didn't, I think this was because I was scared to want, incase I can't. I know it was. So we have decried to actively try. Starting this week. We have had a some what complacent approach to intimacy and will be trying to put it further up the list of important things for us to do. So we will now actively try to conceive, downloaded the Glow app, ordered some folic acid etc, firstly I need to get my periods regular as they are so irregular I can go months!! I'm 22.8 stone and on slimming world, down from 24.4 stone. I know the more I loose the more it will ease pcos symptoms etc, just looking for anyone with any advice, anything we can try, anything you have experienced yourself and somewhere to share this experience with!

Thankyou xx

Hi there!

There are quite a few threads over on the conception board about PCOS that are worth checking out.

I was diagnosed 4 years ago and referred to an Endocrine Consultant (if you haven't got one of these - GET ONE! They are great) after my periods just stopped for no reason.

We did diet and exercise for a year but my periods still didnt come back (BMI 29). So i started taking Metformin, which did bring back my periods but I wasn't regularly ovulating (tracking with blood tests). At this point, because i was already under a hospital consultant, he referred me straight to the Assisted Conception Unit.

Our appt was delayed due to the first covid lockdown, but the ACU started tracking my ovulation via vaginal scans. It was so fascinating and we could see my follicles were getting to a certain size each month but no bigger and so not releasing. I took a course of progesterone to reset my cycle and then a 5 day course of 5mg letrozole on day 2-6 of my period to encourage ovulation (works better than clomid for ladies who are heavier) alongside the metformin and scans to monitor follicle growth.

First cycle on letrozole i ovulated but no BFP. Second cycle i fell pregnant and am now 19weeks pregnant.

Obviously not everyone wants to take a medicated approach but given ovulation sticks are unreliable with PCOS, we were getting really disheartened with just trying every month without even knowing if i was ovulating. Our consultants (endo and ACU) were fantastic and I'm just so pleased to have been able to conceive with their help (recognising we've still got a way to go, but it felt like a milestone to get this far!)

Good luck with your journey!! It sounds like you are already doing the right things in terms of weight loss but hope my story also gives some food for thought.

I know it isn't necessarily the same for everyone, but I cut out all sugar when trying to conceive naturally. We saw a fertility specialist who said I would find it very difficult to conceive naturally - two weeks later I found out I was pregnant.

Sugar and PCOS seem to be linked and I'm sure that cutting it out out helped me conceive. Also found that losing some weight made a big difference to the regularity of my periods.

Good luck on your journey - I remember it well, especially the frustration and the anxiety surrounding it. I am lucky to have conceived my DS naturally but I have a few friends with PCOS who also conceived naturally so it is not impossible by any means! Xx

Good luck, seems sugar is your answer or lack of.well done on loosing weight

Hi!

I have pcos and I'm ttc, I've had very irregular periods since I started my period! I've been ttc for 11 months and I'm on cycle 7 at the moment (they range from 35-90 day cycles)

I've done lots of research and spoken to a lot of people about pcos!

I've tried all sorts of things and diet is definitely the biggest factor that I think has helped me get my cycles back to normal! Sugar and carbs are the biggest thing!!

I completely cut out sugar (had a massive sugar crash for days, not fun!) and carbs! I basically eat vegetables, fruit, chicken, fish, nuts, seeds, oats, salad and lots of cinnamon and also switching out oils for coconut oil!

Cinnamon is known to help insulin resistance which can help you to ovulate and to have regular cycles! I have 3 teaspoons in my porridge every morning! (Porridge made with sugar free almond milk, Cinnamon, coconut flakes and mixed nuts is pretty good)

I also take 1000mg of evening primrose oil a day which helps improve the amount of EWCM to help the sperm swim and it also reduces insulin and it also contains OMEGA-3 fatty acids which help fight inflammation! (When ttc you should stop taking this when you ovulate)

Once a day I also drink a cup of raspberry leaf tea! Raspberry leaves contain fragrine which helps to tone uterine muscles which can also help to reduce the chances of miscarriage! Raspberry leaf is also very helpful when it comes to cooling your body and helps fight a temperature really well and other then raspberry leaf tea I only drink water!

I also take a pregnancy vitamin (Seven sea's pregnancy multivitamin) as it has all the key vitamins to help prepare your body for pregnancy but also will have the right vitamins to balance your hormones!

I also got told by a doctor to avoid anything that says sugar free, anything that says sugar free has a load of other rubbish in it which makes it healthier to actually just have the sugar version!

I also get 30-90mins of exercise in a day (my tip is that if you don't like exercise then get something like Just Dance for your games console if you have one as that's more fun!) and I try to walk everywhere as that's always good for you!

I've tried everything to naturally improve my chances, Maca root, inositol, dairy free diet, green tea and none of it worked on its own! Sugar free diet is deffo my biggest tip! I've gone from 15st5 to 11st11 in the space of 2 cycles!

But everybody is different and pcos isn't easy it can be exhausting! Try different things until you can figure out what works for you, it took me a while a lot of research and a lot of doctors appointments to figure it out!

Also I found the app Femometer really good for trying to conceive! You can chart your BBT, it can scan your ovulation tests and pregnancy tests and tell you if your about to ovulate or not, you can put in your period details, all your symptoms, you can put your diet in, which vitamins or medication you've taken and they've got so many good products, their ovulation tests pregnancy tests and thermometers are fantastic! Best brand I've tried out of the hundreds I've tried!!

Also I know it sounds disgusting and probably the weirdest thing ever! After you baby dance put in a menstrual cup and hold your legs up for 20 mins and then go to bed or just leave the cup in for a few hours (Id say 12 hours max) the first month I tried this it worked but ended up in a very early miscarriage and that was without all the diet and vitamins, I haven't tried it recently as I've lost my cup and just keep forgetting to buy a new one! But it's definitely worth a go!

TTC with pcos is very challenging but it's definitely worth it in the end 😅

Good luck!!! Xoxo

I cut out sugar and carbs (first 10 days were hell but fine after that and cravings completely went away). I lost about 15% of my body weight and I took metformin and Inofolic (recommended by a fertility specialist). Good luck! x

Hi OP!

I'm currently 18 weeks pregnant with my first and also have PCOS. It took my partner and I about a year, maybe just over, to conceive.

We were trying to stay active, took up running together - for physical and mental health - but other than that didn't change too much. Both he and I were taking the pregnacare conception vitamins throughout trying to conceive. I also started tracking my temperature to get an idea of when I was ovulating. Strangely, I didn't actually have a 'proper' period but still found myself pregnant! My friend who also has PCOS was the same! It came as a bit of a shock, as many symptoms of PCOS are similar to early pregnancy, and my lack of a period convinced me I couldn't be pregnant!

My best advice would be to try and not overthink it too, I realise that is easier said than done!! But I found the more stressed I became, the less I wanted to be intimate with my partner and it started to feel more like a chore 🙈 poor him!!!

PCOS is a massive pain in the backside! But it sounds like you are doing so much already to help yourself - sending you all the positive vibes and good luck on your journey! Xx

@MoscowMuse

Hi there!

There are quite a few threads over on the conception board about PCOS that are worth checking out.

I was diagnosed 4 years ago and referred to an Endocrine Consultant (if you haven't got one of these - GET ONE! They are great) after my periods just stopped for no reason.

We did diet and exercise for a year but my periods still didnt come back (BMI 29). So i started taking Metformin, which did bring back my periods but I wasn't regularly ovulating (tracking with blood tests). At this point, because i was already under a hospital consultant, he referred me straight to the Assisted Conception Unit.

Our appt was delayed due to the first covid lockdown, but the ACU started tracking my ovulation via vaginal scans. It was so fascinating and we could see my follicles were getting to a certain size each month but no bigger and so not releasing. I took a course of progesterone to reset my cycle and then a 5 day course of 5mg letrozole on day 2-6 of my period to encourage ovulation (works better than clomid for ladies who are heavier) alongside the metformin and scans to monitor follicle growth.

First cycle on letrozole i ovulated but no BFP. Second cycle i fell pregnant and am now 19weeks pregnant.

Obviously not everyone wants to take a medicated approach but given ovulation sticks are unreliable with PCOS, we were getting really disheartened with just trying every month without even knowing if i was ovulating. Our consultants (endo and ACU) were fantastic and I'm just so pleased to have been able to conceive with their help (recognising we've still got a way to go, but it felt like a milestone to get this far!)

Good luck with your journey!! It sounds like you are already doing the right things in terms of weight loss but hope my story also gives some food for thought.

Aww thankyou so much for sharing this story with me! It gives me and others hope also. The best of luck! X x