Hi everyone! We'll I'm starting my ttc journey today. I have PCOS so I'm on metformin. I plan to temp and chart. Hopefully I'll be able to establish some sort of a cycle. I was just wondering, does anyone know, I've read that OPKs are useless for people with PCOS as our LH levels are erratic. How will I know if I'm ovulation (tmi but would I be relying on ewcm only?). I know the increase in temp will say that I have ovulated, but that would be after the event, and I'm worried my cycles would be too all over the place to relay on temping alone. Anyone any ideas?

Hey,

I had/have polycystic ovaries but not the full syndrome. My cyles were all over the place, the longest being 75 days, not always ovulating etc. I ended up meds to conceive DS, DD was au natural.

I suppose temping/knicker watching would be the only way you could tell if you ov'ing or not. you could go and get bloods done but that is after the fact and not much help.

OPK's were the such a pain and I ditched them after sitting in my kitchen bawling as I kept getting error messages and a bloody sad face or whatever it is.

I'm not being much help, I know...sorry. I found temping invaluable.

Thanks Wedjul05
I'm going to temp - hopefully I might develop some sort of pattern. And keep on knicker-watch of course! It's so annoying, I wish an alarm would go off to let you know you're ov-ing or maybe a text-message! I took my first metformin yesterday evening after dinner (just one a day to start). I was on it before and it made me feel sick at the start, but last night I had the misfortune of having chili con carne for dinner and just before I went to bed it all (tmi!) came back up! DH was fine, so it must have been the tablet. I think I should avoid spicy foods for a while...

Hey Perfect Wife.

I have PCOS as well, and have had troubles with a few GPs in my surgery, so am taking a year out of GP visits, and in that year I am going to temp etc and try to get a better understanding of my cycle. I am taking angus cacti to try and shorten my cycle as it is ridiculously long and all over the place. Have been on knicker watch since feb, looking for EWCM and said we were going to temp when AF next came but we are going to start tomorrow because as you know, it mightn't be a while!

We were told to avoid opk as well due to irregular cycle!

Can we be TTC buddies as I'm clueless really and a toe dipper in this forum - afraid to jump in!

Hey Angel Doodle, the PCOS is a curse isn't it. One thing keeps me going though - two of my sisters have it and between them they have five little boys! Neither of them needed metformin or clomid, but their cysts aren't as bad as mine - it still gives me hope though.

I started temping this morning too - even that made me nervous!!! I mean I really want a baby, but it is a scary process, esp. when you know you've a problem already. My gynae told me last Sept. that basically my cysts were so bad that it would be metformin, clomid and 'when' they don't work on to ivf. I was so disheartened and then everything went on hold when my Mum got sick...but I went to my GP and as she said 'you won't get pregnant unless you try!'. I don't want to get too obsessed with it though, if I get an af at all I'll be happy as I rarely do naturally. I've started charted on fertility friend too, although it's a bit complicated. One step at a time...

So don't be dipping your toe in at all Angel Doodle! Hop right in!

Hey Perfect Wife,

That gives hope - knowing you 5 little nephews!

Haven't found out about my cysts, they were bad enough when I first got tested and they found out. That was 5 years ago and even though I was only 20 but we knew we would get married we decided to stop using contraception. Had a suspectd m/c and nothing since.

So in Nov we made appointments with our GPs to get checked, OH had a SA, and everything with him seems good, so going to temp until Nov, and hopefully with the Agnus Cactus and even naturally I might have a few AF between now and then, just so I can get to know my cycle better. I don't want to be under prepared again. And am in the process of changing GP as the experience just really put me off, and upset me so much. So hopefully with my new GP and (hopefully) a few cycles charted I'll be fully armed so to say.

Tried FF today but website is blocked in work! Will have to try tonight at home. At least WOL isn't blocked!!

So like yourself, don't want to get obsessed - yet - but going to chart to know myself better, don't want to get obsessed as I know me and OH are in or a long ride, Hopefully not though

And for you too

There is a lot of "hopefully" in that post

Got to love that PMA

We have to keep the PMA up! You're right to get another GP. If you're not happy with your dr. it's not good. It's not like having an in-grown toe-nail! You need to be able to talk about personal stuff with ttc. My gp is really good. DH is supposed to go for a SA but he's kind of putting it off and I don't want to go on about it to him too much because it must be so embarrassing for them...mind you, we do most of the hard work!

How's temping going?

Have been browsing on here and have a question, none of my GPs have mentioned Metformin, should I just demand to go on that? Or should I stick to my original plan of temping until Christmas and then going back? Not a single one has attempted to put me on the pill or Metformin

I am so upset that in 5 years not one GP has taken me completely seriously, only 1 has half listened to me, and she was fixated on getting day 21 bloods, but due to irregular cycle I never know when my day "21" is. That's why I was hoping to regulate my cycle slightly.

I just feel like noone has taken me seriously, because of my age, and I have had so many bad experiences in this last 5 years, I am looking into going private through work or something as my GP has changed several times, and can never see anyone the same time twice in a row, between other doctors, locums etc.

Sorry for rant
My head is wrecked the more I read, the more I see how little help I have received!

Hi Angel Doodle!

Yes, absolutely I would definitely ask them about metformin, many GPs aren’t as clued up about PCOS as they should be. I’m lucky in that my GP is very much into reproductive health and knows her stuff about it. I’m not surprised your head is wrecked with gps and locums. I’ve found in the past that when a gp or a locum hasn’t seen you a lot they might be a bit afraid of putting you on something. It would be great if you could get a regular one. If they’re talking about bloods just tell them you don’t have a cycle as such. They may want to do a few tests anyway before putting you on metformin, but keep at it if that’s the route you want to go. I personally would go for it sooner than later. You shouldn't have to wait around for things to be sorted out, and your age shouldn't matter. The symptoms of PCOS aren't nice, as I'm sure you know, and why should you suffer!

I went on metformin when I was first diagnosed. I had to go and see a gynae as I needed a d&c. They did a lap and dye while they were at it and found that I had cysts. I didn't know I had PCOS because I had been on the pill for so long so I always got a break-through bleed. My periods were irregular as a teenager but it didn't worry me at the time. So once I was diagnosed with PCOS the gynae prescribed metformin to try to help control the PCOS. I was also on Dianette to try to reduce the cysts. Then a couple of years ago I went off them because they were making my IBS quite bad (it comes and goes with stress, and metformin can be hard on your tummy). So, last summer I went off the pill without taking metformin, and I ended up having a period that lasted two months (nightmare). I didn't want to go back on the pill but the gynae said I had to as I was anaemic at that stage and my cysts were really bad. So, this summer going off the pill my gp automatically put me on metformin, hopefully to help establish some sort of cycle.

So you might already know the following, but if you don’t it’s good to know before you go to the GP. I’ll do my best to explain! My reasons for taking metformin:
I think metformin is really important is really important for PCOS. It's normally given to people with type 2 diabetes, to sort out the sugar and insulin levels in their blood. A lot (not all) of PCOS sufferers have a problem with their insulin too, but not the same as diabetics. What we have is 'insulin resistance' so we have enough insulin but or bodies don't respond to it the way they should. This affects the ovaries and too much testosterone made in our bodies. This imbalance results in the lovely symptoms we get, weight gain, irregular (or no) periods, acne, problems ttc...not much fun! Metformin helps to control the insulin resistance, thereby helping reducing the excess testosterone which is causing all the problems. When I went off the pill last year without taking metformin I was covered in acne within a week. This time I’m off the pill and taking the metformin and my skin is fine, just a bit oily. I’m hoping that means my testosterone levels are down.
Also people with PCOS are at greater risk of miscarriage. It's been found that if you continue to take metformin, whilst pregnant, you have less of a risk of m/c and gestational diabetes. Metformin can help if you are trying to loose weight (although it never helped me!). It has side effects, especially at the start (nausea, diarrhoea) so you have to start it gradually and at a low dose.

As far as I'm aware from any reading up on it I've done weight loss is the first line of treatment in pcos. Easier said than done, as us PCOS girls tend to hold the weight and loose it very slowly (although some girls with PCOS don’t carry weight at all). Then metformin is usually brought in,the hopes of regulating periods. If you’re still not ovulating most gynaes will put you on clomid for a few months to encourage ovulation. So temping is important to see if you are ovulating.

Temping for me is all over the place, but I’ll keep going, maybe it’ll start to form a pattern! No signs of ov yet. I find it very hard to keep the PMA up sometimes. I’ve been spotting (tmi), and it gets frustrating that things aren’t normal, but I’ll keep temping because if I go back to the gynae it might help him know what’s happening. Most people’s cycle is out of whack after coming off the pill anyway.

Sorry for the epic post! Definitely the main thing you need is a good regular GP, and push them to either go on metformin (if you decide to) or refer you to a gynae.
Hope this helps!

Just edited to add that the info above is how I understand it, I could be wrong on a few details!

Rang the doctors this morning, and asked to speak to a doctor, and the receptionist said she would get one to ring me back. A Doctor I would have seen when I was a child rang me back and I just told her I was sick of it, that I wanted more help, that I needed medication to stabilise my cycles etc.. got the whole spiel of how I'm still young, I just cut her off and said I've heard that, that I might be young, but after 5 years of trying we needed help and that is wasn't really good enough, got a bit teary and have an appointment this evening, fingers crossed there will be a fruitful outcome for me.

Kept your post open so that I knew what I had to say, as I get flustered and forget when they start to disregard me. So thanks for your info and post!

Hey girls,

Mind if I join in on ur chat, diagnosed with PCOS when I was 19, now 32, on pill for last 16yrs, I'm day 29 off it and no sign of period, not sure will it arrive at all.

Perfectwife your explaination was brilliant, u have a great understanding of the whole thing.

Got married last Dec and we want to TTC but not sure how long it will take. Have some weight issues, about 2 stone of them but could be worse and I have issues with facial hair and thinning of my hair.

Doctor is pretty knowledgeable but I'm a bit impatient - not getting any younger. She said I'd need to be off the pill for at least 3 months to see if I establish some kind of cycle and then we could discuss Metformin or Clomid.

Hi Gemgem! You're welcome to join! More the merrier!

Had another disastrous meeting with doc, she played the age card and took bloods to do more hormone profiles, and said that I should try to lose weight, and would wait for another while before starting any metfomin/clomid. I know I have weight, but controlled diet and regular exercise is not shifting it!

Everything went in one ear and out the other with her. Going on about age, yes I am 25, but since we have been TTC from 20, I would think I would be taken more seriously. I am realistic about the time frame of TTC with medication, I know it could and will take years, so I want to be started on the medication sooner rather than later.

So I have set myself a target of a stone in 6 weeks, I have slashed the calories and upped the exercise. Though it hasn't been coming off! So tbh I've lost faith in doctors for now. Going to stick to my original plan of temping, and agnus castus and diet for 3 (hopefully) cycles to know myself and I can just lay the info in front of them. A stone in 6 weeks and if I don't do it, that's ok, any progress is progress. Each 6 weeks I am going to set myself a new target. And hopefully I will do it!

Its hard alrite when the doctor is not taking notice of what you would like to happen, not sure how my doctor would react if I asked to be perscribed something.

I'm a bit down at the moment, was really hoping I would get a period after coming off the pill but nothing yet, think I'm gonna give it til Sept and go back to the Doctor.

I know u don't like the doctor using your age as an excuse but at least u still have time to play with, I've just turned 32 , time is moving on for me, afraid it might never happen for me.

I find loosing weight extremely difficult, I only have to look at something and I put on weight, put on 10 pounds on my honeymoon even though I was going to the gym while we were away - we were on a cruise.

Thinking having a goal might help get u motivated for loosing some weight . Would you consider changing Doctors, a different Doctor might be more understand and better informed.

Thats the problem Gem, different doctor each time and same thing off of each of them! I know I'm reasonably young, but was a lot younger at 20, and my cycles were more regular! Haven't seen AF from Jan so getting seriously peeved. The surgery is a large one and I actually have never seen the same doctor twice in a row. And if they let it continue for another 5 years with no help whatsoever, then it's harder again. And probably be told I should have looked for help sooner.

Can't lose the weight at all, I'm on a really restricted diet now to try and lose the weight. Little targets so that I don't get too de-motivated if I can't lose it, its hard when it so linked to the hormonal level.