At what point during TTC did you get diagnosed with PCOS? How did your doctor prefer to make that diagnosis- bloodwork, charts, ultrasound, etc? how did your doctor want to treat it - metformin, diet, exercise, combination of those things, etc?
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I started TTC in March 2013, and I think I was diagnosed sometime in the summer? It was a combination of bloodwork, painful ovarian cysts, and extremely fast weight gain, mostly in the abdominal area. I tried metformin and it did nothing, and I hated it
In the end, I gave up on TTC in March 2014 and ended up adopting. I'm still working on getting rid of the side effects of PCOS. Getting back on Yasmin has helped with the acne and such, but I'm still struggling with the belly fat. I am currently on Victoza injections and playing around with a new way of eating. I already exercise a lot, so thats not the problem.
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After 8 months of TTC #1, via medical history (looooong cycles, acne), ultrasound, and bloodwork. Apparently there is a spectrum and I'm on the low end, and was ultimately able to conceive without intervention, but we talked about trying some drugs out right as I ended up already pregnant.
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After about 7-8 months of TTC (I'm under 35) and after I told my OB about my weird OPK/cycle/spotting issues, I had some blood drawn, and it was the hormone levels that she used to give me the diagnosis. She referred me to the RE at that point and I started on my TI/IUI/IVF journey from there.
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2 months into TTC the testing was done and 3 months in I was diagnosed. I had charted and knew I wasn't ovulating. My OBGYN suspected PCOS due to medical history, acne and a bit of excess hair. Bloodwork and ultrasounds were ordered and I was diagnosed based on them. Treatment from OBGYN was just metformin. I was offered clomid, but I wasn't ready for it at that point. I self-referred to an RE at 9 months based on my OBGYN's changing treatment plan. RE did extra bloodwork and reviewed the ultrasound. She changed me to extended release metformin, put me on a low glycemic diet, and started me on clomid. We're supposed to try clomid for 3 cycles and then reevaluate, if needed. I'm hoping it's not needed.
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Wow this is so encouraging to me that you were all diagnosed before the 12 month mark! But I'm sorry you all have to deal with this
Prior to birth control, I have no real recollection of my cycles. They seemed irregular and light. I was on BCP for 4 years until April. May, June, and July were all normal cycles - I was also in the best emotional and physical health of my life.
Since August, I've had delayed ovulation, irregular cycles of 45+ days, very light periods, acne, lots of abdominal weight. I had a 6wk loss in Oct/Nov and the ultrasound showed many follicular ovarian cysts at the time. Now, I'm totally aware that all of my issues could be stemming from emotional stress and my miscarriage. But, it also seems very possible that everything, including the loss, actually has been caused by PCOS.
If this cycle is more than 35 days I will be calling my doctor for bloodwork, which is what he suggested as a timeline back in January.... though I forgot to tell him about the cysts back then (new doctor). Do you all remember at what point in your cycle you did bloodwork for? CD3, ovulation time, CD21, something else?
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@DesertDreams88: For diagnosis, they looked at CD 3 bloodwork. There were also a bunch of panels they ran on CD 3 that didn't technically need to be run on those days.
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I was diagnosed before we TTC as I had no periods and always struggled with my skin. My doctor did blood tests and said they were normal and would have left it there, but my acupuncturist referred me to a fertility clinic and ultrasounds diagnosed it easily.
Acupuncture brought my periods back and we got pregnant with #1 first try. It took a long time for my periods to return pp (15 months) but we got pregnant again first try, although we lost it. My current pregnancy took four cycles. All three pregnancies were achieved without medication but with acupuncture.
There is so much hope with PCOS, good luck!
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I just want to second @travelgirl1: I had success w/ acupunture. I was diagnosed at 13 w/ internal ultrasound, then again at 19 with internal ultrasound and blood work. I was on BC from 13 to 27 to alleviate symptoms. Went off at 27 and practiced NFP to the extent you can w/PCOS. I was normal weight but had high sugar, so Dr prescribed metformin and low glycemic diet. Not a fan. Long story short, I went the route of acupuncture and NFP and used CBE ovulation tracker (just used tons more sticks than the average TTCer). That + years of charting experience under my belt helped me track my irregular cycle until I got my bfp at 33.
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I was diagnosed at 17 (so waaaay before TTC) because my periods were so irregular. My doctor used ultrasounds and blood tests to diagnose. At the time, I was put on nuvaring.
When we first started TTC in July, my doctor didn't put me only anything. I had been on BC for years so they wanted to see how it went. My first two cycles off BC were crazy, but the next two were fairly "normal" - clear opks/temp shift to show ovulation around CD 17.
We moved (so new Dr) and I got pregnant on my own in early December. Unfortunately, I had a miscarriage. Now, I'm only on progesterone post ovulation. My two post miscarriage cycles were/are weird, but I think it's because of that and not PCOS.
So I just wanted to say don't worry to much (although I'm sure you will a little, I know I do - ttc and pcos both cause lots of worry and stress!) You can have it and ovulate regularly and get pregnant!
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At my annual appt I told my doctor that my husband and I were planning to try for a baby soon but I was concerned about irregular periods. I'd always had long cycles. She referred me to an RE so who diagnosed me and told me it was very unlikely I'd conceive naturally. I went for a couple of unsuccessful monitored cycles but I didn't like the expense or the pressure since we had never even tried naturally. I typically like to do things efficiently but it was not working for me so I never went back. My son was conceived naturally. I still see an endocrinologist for hypothyroidism and he thinks my PCOS is probably mild. It's so common and there appears to be a big range of severity.
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I had super super long cycles (150+ days) and only ever got my period when my OB gave me progesterone.... probably would have gone even longer if i didn't ask for it!
SO, with such long cycles my OB suspected PCOS (no other symptoms) and diagnosed it with a ultrasound. I took metformin for 3 months (and still had to take progesterone during that time to get periods) and then 50mg of clomid for a round and got pregnant the first time on clomid!
I was off BC for 13 total months which was far fewer cycles due to the long cycles - we only actively tried the one time I took clomid because all the other times i wasn't ovulating. The 13 months sounds long, but we weren't ready to try right when i went off BC, i just wanted to give my body a chance to regulate which it never did. We were only really officially ready to try the month we did clomid. We just considered using clomid as the "pulling the goalie" like most people's first month of not using protection... for me it took more than just not using protection to have a chance of getting pregnant.
Did all of this with my regular OB, never went to an RE.
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Bumping because I just got word that my bloodwork from a week ago suggests pcos. I have an ultrasound scheduled for Wednesday but I won't know the results until April 8th, when I meet with with my doctor. I'm still hoping that maybe my hormones and such were off because I was taking too much B complex unknowingly and so maybe that's why the bloodwork results suggest pcos, or that I'm on the less severe side. They only tested LH, FSH, and thyroid levels. It was CD36, and ended up being the day before AF.
I will be seeing my doctor on CD 19, do you think I should request/mention a CD21 progesterone test? Or any estrogen testing?
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I was diagnosed by an RE at around 10 months in I think. He did ultrasounds, tons of blood work, an HSG and more that very conclusively showed PCOS...This was after my family doctor said it "couldn't be" PCOS based on an ultrasound.
After a few more roadblocks I was finally scheduled to start treatment (Monitoring, Clomid, trigger and timed intercourse) at 13 months when I found out I was pregnant at 12 months.
After a few more roadblocks I was finally scheduled to start treatment (Monitoring, Clomid, trigger and timed intercourse) at 13 months when I found out I was pregnant at 12 months.
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