HELP! PCO?! & MALE FACTOR

[Lavander29]

Hi everyone,

I am need of some advice from you lovely ladies once again.

We are a few months in on our fertility journey, after my partner being diagnosed with oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT) back in October, and 18 months of trying to conceive naturally.

At the beginning of this month I had my pelvic ultrasound, and at the end of the appointment the sonographer told me I had polycystic ovaries.

I was so shocked I didn't even know what to say. I have always had regular periods and wasn't expecting anything to be wrong my end. When I asked what this meant she said I would have to wait to ask my consultant (who works 1 afternoon a week!!!! And is currently on annual leave). She wouldn't give me anything. Not one kind word of reassurance. I left in floods of tears.

Our next appointment isn't until 14th feb- romantic Valentine's date for us both 😂 and I was going crazy. So I called the Secretary for our doctor and asked how I could get the results- she suggested I called my GP. So that's what I did. The GP confirmed I had polycystic ovaries from the results of the scan, but said that my blood test results were normal, so my hormone levels were ok. Does this change? Can it turn into PCOS?

A lovely lady on here explained the difference between PCO and PCOS to me the same day I had the scan, as I was so upset and didn't have a clue there was a difference.

My question today is, if I have PCO without the syndrome, will this effect our chances of getting pregnant? Also are there any questions I should ask when we do finally get to see our doctor in February? This will be the first time we get to see our fertility doctor after a 4 month wait, and a cancelled appointment on their end.

I have regular periods, that tend to be between a 28- 30 day cycle. I don't have acne, although I do suffer with hair loss which could either be connected to PCO or stress related.

Feeling anxious and frustrated.

Thank you in advance!

Sending everyone virtual hugs xx

[Ranchu90]

Hi,

I can perfectly understand you! My husband had exactly the same diagnosis. Urologist told us that the sperm cannot be improved, which is not right. We insisted 4 years to have medicated treatment for him and our fertility specialist reffed us to endocrinologist, finally we had prescribed Menopur for 3 months, after the treatment his sperm analysis came back believe or not normal!!!

I struggled 5 years with polycystic ovaries, I found the treatment in a very simple syrup made from raspberries that I had to buy from abroad, my gynaecologist prescribed it to me.

I wish you good luck and I am sure you will find the light at the end of the tunnel ❤️🍀

[Hopingmommy2b in reply to Ranchu90]

Hi! My husband has low spent count and I have PCOS, would you mind sharing the syrup you’re referring to? I’ve been battling with PCOS for over 10yrs now, and an willing time try most anything. Thank you!!

[Ranchu90 in reply to Hopingmommy2b]

Sent you a PM

[HPLondon]

Same, PCO and male factor. PCO hasn’t affected me other than risk of being over stimulated (producing too many eggs) which can have nasty side effects. They often avoid OHSS by freezing all eggs rather than doing a fresh transfer. Had two frozen embryo transfers with NHS which failed but then moved to private, my husband had surgical retrieval (he has retrograde ejaculation) and they monitored my stimming much more closely which means I was only on the hormones for a week before collection. That meant I produced less (better quality) eggs and could do a fresh transfer - got a BFP on that one and currently 10 weeks. We saw an excellent consultant in London for my husband which I’d be happy to recommend - we think he made all the difference for us. Good luck! X

[Lynnr54]

I have PCO and hubby has sleep issues (low count, morphology and motility so not as severe as your make factor but enough to need ICSI).

My cycles vary from about 28 days to 34 days and ovulation testing suggests I have a short luteal phase. I also have brown spotting up to a week before I come on properly. My first set of bloods said I had hormone issues but my second set came back normal (and they explained my first set as being abnormal because they tested at the wrong time - apparently when you have a longer cycle you shouldn’t test on day 21 but leave it a bit later). Anyway, long story short once they got my hubby’s sperm results they stopped looking at me and said we needed ICSI. So officially I only have PCO but I’ve never had an explanation for the brown spotting or short luteal phase so I think I may have mild PCOS.

During my cycle having PCO meant they were concerned about overstimulation so I was put on short protocol and monitored more closely. I still produced a good number of eggs and we ended up with 4 blastos. I’ve now transferred all 4 of them and had a 50% success rate so I now have 2 little monkeys. I believe for my age and the number of eggs I started with 2 successful transfers is about average, even for couples with no fertility issues.

So I don’t think having PCO should affect your chances of being successful. You’ll probably be on a short protocol (which I don’t think is a bad thing seeing as it makes the whole process quicker) but I don’t think it should change anything else. Hopefully your wait to start treatment is quick and they can sort your hubby’s sperm out too.