Referral due to PCOS

[strawberriesandcream]

Hi all, after ttc for 1 year and a miscarriage in January I have been through testing with the GP and they have found my left ovary is polycystic.

I am being referred to the fertility clinic now which is really positive. Can anyone advise on first steps and how long it may take for a referral? The DR said possibly a round of clomid so would be good to know peoples experiences and stories (good and bad!)

Thanks xx

[Hope25]

Hi Strawberries,

I had been TTC for 3 years when I was diagnosed with PCOS. Referral from GP to Consultant was about 3 months (blood tests were done during the wait)

I have had numerous blood tests (21day) and a HSG. OH also had fertility tests to rule out any problems. Once I saw the fertility consultant he advised using Letrozole (Femara) as he didnt feel Clomid would work. I have been on Letrozole tablets for the last 6 months and had about 4 21 day blood tests. Any other questions please ask

[strawberriesandcream in reply to Hope25]

Thanks for your reply, that’s helpful to know the next steps to expect. I hope you are successful soon xxx

[Noodleone]

I was diagnosed with PCOS earlier in the year when living in the UK but am now back in Australia. Due to my age (40 at the time now 41) we did 2x rounds of letrozole followed by 1 of clomid to induce ovulation as monitored cycles (scans and bloods) with a fertility specialist. Both induced ovulation but no pregnancy so we are moving into IVF but that is largely due to my age. Our diagnosis in the UK took aaaages but thankfully in Australia I was able to get into to see a private specialist in a week and it was all super quick. One thing I will say is that there is a lot of tweaking that goes into getting dosage right and your body won’t always respond in the same way - 2nd letrozole didn’t work at all and they just kept upping the dose before we had to cancel. Clomid worked much quicker for me fwiw and I had limited side effects although it did send me into a reasonably big depression for the 5 days I took it (which immediately lifted when I stopped). If we had more time up our sleeve I would have probably continued this for a while. Best of luck x

[strawberriesandcream in reply to Noodleone]

Thanks for the information. That’s good to know. Interesting as I thought things would be quite quick now I’ve been referred but doesn’t sound like a quick fix really (if it works at all) so this is helpful at managing my expectations moving forward. Good luck to you too and thanks for replying xxx

[JGR1990]

Hello. I have PCOS and once I was diagnosed and referred to the fertility clinic, it felt like the process took ages but I was impatient.

They test for lots of different things and there are a couple of procedures that were offered to me to check my fallopian tubes. After about 6 months, we were put onto clomid. The hardest side affect i found was hot flushes but other than that it was managable.

My body didn't react as it should to the medication so I had to have regular transvaginal scans, change the dosage of Clomid a couple of times and also injections every cycle to make me ovulate. After 4 cycles i am now 9 weeks pregnant. The journey felt long and very emotional at times but in reality it took around a year in total, between diagnosis and achieving pregnancy. I hope this helps x

[strawberriesandcream in reply to JGR1990]

How long did it take to get the referral? I’m thinking up to 3 months but is it longer? Because it’s only my left ovary I am hopeful that the right one still ovulates so there is a chance of natural conception but as my cycles are so varied in length it is hard to know when is the right time if there is at all a right time.

Congratulations on your pregnancy, I hope all goes well for you from here and thanks for taking the time to reply to me xx

[JGR1990 in reply to strawberriesandcream]

I believe the referral took a couple of months, it was the length between appointments that took a while too. Once I was on clomid, that all progressed fairly quickly. I was taking my temperature everyday throughout (and before clomid) and using natural cycles to try and find out when I was most fertile but like you said it is hard because the cycles are not regular. Good luck and I'm sure you will have your positive result soon x

[strawberriesandcream in reply to JGR1990]

Thanks for your reply. Im going to track my fertility again soon and try and focus on fertile times in case I am ovulating from the right side as I am lucky enough that one side may still ovulate xx

[NYC2018]

Hi

Not sure i can be much help as i'm at a similar stage to you, but would be really helpful to hear peoples experiences! We have been ttc for a year now and a scan in July showed both my ovaries are polycystic. I've also had day a few day 21 and day 28 blood tests which showed i'm not ovulating but other than low progesterone my hormone levels look normal. My Husband's tests have all come back as normal so it's just my PCOS causing no ovulation/periods which is our problem.

My Dr said i would probably need clomid and referred me to the gynecology - infertility clinic mid July and my first appointment is on 1 October so the wait for the initial appointment is about 2.5 months. I was hoping after this appointment things would move fairly quickly but now i'm a bit worried it could still be months before we actually start any treatment.

Hope you get your appointment soon and the wait isn't too long! I've heard a healthy low GI diet and regular exercise can help us PCOS ladies so i'm focusing on that before my appointment in the hope it might help! x

[strawberriesandcream in reply to NYC2018]

My hormones were the same too as only progesterone was a bit low. Yeah seems like quite a long wait for an appointment but makes sense. Yeah in my head I’m seeing it as being around 6 months at least until I get treatment. Hope your first appointment goes well xx

[Esme78]

I do appreciate your issues - I had PCOS too. I would recommend a great book by Dr M Glenville: Natural Solutions to PCOS - I followed the advice (lifec-hanging) and no longer have PCOS. In fact, I am now a proud mummy to an 8-week old baby girl! xx