Anyone here got PCOS?? I need some reassurance!!

[fruitloop79]

Hi there, I've just discovered I've got PCOS. I'm not pregnant but we have been TTC for 6 months. I know every case of PCOS is totally different but I really need some reassurance! I would love to here your stories good and not so good!

TIA
Fruity

Hello Fruity.
I'm a fellow PCOS lady. Was diagnosed 11 years ago, so knew that I may have problems when TTC. I found acupuncture really effective at regulating my cycle and encouraging ovulation - so much so that I am now 22 weeks pg after ttc for just 4 months! It also worked to shrink an ovarian cyst that was found in early pregnancy - it was 6cm wide at 8 weeks, by my 12 week scan it had halved in size and at my 22 week scan it had gone completely. If you are interested and in the London area then I would be happy to give you the number of my acupuncturist.
I also found charting really helpful, if only to reassure me that I had ovulated, and I used OPKs as well. There is a great book called "Taking charge of your fertility" by Toni Weschler that gives great information on charting etc. and certainly filled me in on lots of things I never knew!
Finally - sorry for the epic post! - "the PCOS diet book" by Collette Harris is excellent for info on nutrition. Hope this all helps. Best of luck!

I have PCOS was told couldn't conceive without IVF as wasn't ovulating. Gave up treatment after Clomid caused complications. Got pregnant the very next month with acupuncture. Had a gorgeous little girl. Now pregnant with number 2 - wasn't TTC.

Acupuncture really turned things round for me, lost lots of weight, got pregnant, didn't feel like a hormonal cow anymore. Was v skeptical too but it seems to have fixed me for good.

I have PCOS and was diagnosed 15 year ago, and told I'd never have children without IVF.

I am now pregnant with my first child, following fertility treatment (although not as far as IVF). It hasn't been easy, but it can be done.

Can I recommend Verity? The ladies over on the board know a lot about ttc with PCOS, and may be able to answer any questions in detail.

www.verity-pcos.org.uk/board

Hi - I have PCOS. When we decided to try for children I came off the pill whch I had been on for about 10 years. No periods.... for a long time, in fact at all - after 8 months with no period I got referred to a private fertility doctor who scanned me and diagnosed PCOS immediately.

I was put on clomid and monitored with blood tests each month to check whether I was ovulating. On the 4th month we hit the jackpot and I got pregnant.

DD1 is beautiful and a little miracle and nearly 13 months old.

A word of warning.... doctor told me it was more than likely I would need clomid to conceive again and sure enough I didn't have a period after DD1 was born.... but then I found out I was pregnant totally naturally when DD1 was 9 months old...

So it's a good news story all round - baby no 2 is due in June this year and now we are over the shock we are incredibly happy about it happening this way!

It's hard to keep positive when you are still TTC but there are so many good news stories on here - just keep thinking poistive thoughts! Good luck!

Hi - I have PCOS and I am pregnant for the 2nd time, both conceived first time and both after too much booze (terrible Mother!!!), my advice, relax, Pinot Gricio (spelling?) and jolly well enjoy yourself trying!!!!! good luck x

You've all been o helpful, Thank you so much

Likesshinythings I've got 'taking charge of your fertility' and 'that PCOS diet book. I've been warned not to use OPKs and temp charting as the LH goers up and down all through the cycle whether you're ovulating or not if you have PCOS. I've been doing it anyway. Just started temping five days ago and already my chart looks like the rocky mountains .
Finally been referred by my GP (who I saw on Mon)to the sub-fertility unit at St.Georges in Tooting. Anyone had any experience?
I would love to see an acupuncturist but a bit worried about cost. Do you remember what it cost and how many treatments you've needed? Perhaps I'll get the number anyway?

Try the PCOS Diet Book - within 6 weeks of reading that and making slight changes to my diet I was pregnant!

thanks daisyhun It's just arrived in the post! . My healthy weight range is between 8st7lbs and 10st7lbs. Is it best to get down to the lowest weight in my range? I'm 9st5lbs at the moment.

Hello there,
My acupuncturist charges £50 for the first treatment and then £40 for subsequent treatments (it's more for the first one because it's a longer appointment and she takes a full history etc). What I really like about the lady that I see is that she didn't insist that I see her on a weekly basis and was very keen to make sure I had the minimum number of treatments that I needed so that I wasn't spending a fortune (and she let me choose how often I felt I wanted to go). In the end I think I had only had about 5 or 6 treatments by the time I fell pregnant. She has a website that will give you more details about locations that she practices etc it's www.juliaexposito.co.uk.
I'd keep on with the charting for a while if I were you if only to give you something to compare against if you start with the acupuncture so you can judge if you feel it's making a difference.

Thanks likesshinythings Not sure I can stretch to 250 quid for 6 sessions. Could just about manage the first session! It would be a lovely thing to be able to have done though. I'll keep on with the charting and see what happens. Hopefully I'll be able to tell if my AF's going to arrive anytime soon. Normally very hard to tell with 80 odd day cycles - I'm only on CD54 but my temp seems to be rising so perhaps Af's on her way then I'll be able to get on with next cycle.
Thank you so much everyone!

Fruity

Fruity - if you are within your healthy weight range then I wouldn't try to lose weight as such - the PCOS diet is about changing your eating habits, cutting out as many chemicals, hormones etc in food as possible, eating organic, whole grains etc etc - it's worth a try?

Hi daisyhun I'm quite into nutrition so apart from the odd cheat days I'm quite good at eating the right stuff. Cr*p food just makes me feel like poo

Hi Fruity,
Just had a thought - why don't you try contacting the British Acupuncture Council (www.acupuncture.org) and find out if any of the acupuncture courses offer reduced price or free treatment for people willing to be guinea pigs. Not sure if anywhere does this but it may be worth asking.
One other thing that I can recommend which is completely free is to think positively! Despite the fact that I know that 70% of women with PCOS conceive naturally, I had convinced myself that it wouldn't happen for me. And then I changed jobs and moved into a department where there was a running joke that whoever sat next to one of my colleagues would get pregnant (seriously, out of 10 women in the department 3 are currently on maternity leave, 2 of us are currently expecting and 2 have babies under 2!). After just two weeks of being told repeatedly that I would get pregnant, bingo - baby on the way! Daft though this sounds, I'm sure it got through to my subconcious and helped matters along

I'll check it out, thanks Lst. How funny, it's like that famous check out at Asda or somewhere where the women all fall pg!

Hi,

I have PCOS and have been ttc for nearly 2 years. I was put on clomid for 2 months but after scan it showed that it was not working, therefore, i was put on metformin as well as clomid. I have now been on both tablets for 6 months and have not got regular periods. My cycle is approx 60 days and have no idea when or if i ovulate. Any ideas on how to tell? I am due to have the ovarian drilling procedure in the near future, can anyone tell me anything more about this and if there is any success stories? I am feeling so low at the moment and i suppose it has a lot to do with the tablets, but would really appreciate some positive feedback.

bump for you candmash

Candmash,
Are you charting your temperatures at all? There are many ladies on the Verity board who also have long cycles, but by charting they've been able to pinpoint ovulation and BD accordingly.

As for the OD, again there are several ladies on the pther forum who have had OD, and it's been successful.

www.verity-pcos.org.uk/board

Meant to add, if you want to know more about temperature charting, try www.fertilityfriend.com ; you can use it for free, although they do have a VIP section too which you can pay for. When you join up, they email you a series of tutorials which really help to understand the charting if you've never done it. The site also"learns" your cycle, so after doing it for about 3 months or so, it will predict when it thinks you'll ovulate, and when to test, depepnding on the previous data you've given it. I found it of great help when ttc.

(I've had my PCOS diagnosed for 15 years, was told I'd never have children. I am currently 23+3 with my first child, so it can happen )

My SiL has PCOS it took them a while to get pregnant but they did not start trying until she was in her mid 30's and it was only about a year between finding out that was the cause of her problems and getting pregnant. She finally gave birth to beautiful boy in October

I'm loving all these PCOS success stories! I'm now CD65 and have no idea where my cycle's going! A week until my 1st gynae app. I'm trying not to get my hopes up for clomid but I cant help it!