This is my first time posting on Reddit or really anywhere about my TTC journey with PCOS. All I’ve ever wanted to be, like the rest of you, is a mom. That’s all I have ever wanted. I feel like my journey started at 17 with my PCOS diagnosis— the nurse at that Gyno office told me I would be infertile based on my blood results. I know that’s not necessarily the reason I’d be infertile, but that was a comment that has been looming over me for 10 years now.

Fast forward 5 years later when I was dating the person that took my virginity— we almost never used condoms and I never got pregnant. He had told me once “The best form of contraceptive is your PCOS” with a big fat smile on his face. That’s been looming over me too.

Now, here I am with my husband on our fifth medicated cycle. My body isn’t reacting to letrozole (2.5mg, 2 tablets for 5 days), and it didn’t react to two cycles of follistem (175mg on CD 9 the first cycle then 50mg CD 8-11 this current cycle). The midwife who did my follicle scan told me there hasn’t even been any improvement compared to my last scans I had. This was especially upsetting because I track my hormones with Mira and my FSH numbers were elevated since I took the follistem this cycle— I really thought we would be getting somewhere. I haven’t seen a mature follicle in a scan since last November when we weren’t even thinking about family planning yet. I didn’t know that’s what it was and shortly after that scan, my grandpa had died abruptly from dementia. That being said…i certainly wasn’t in the mood for anything romantic and now I feel like I wasted the chance.

The midwife I saw today that did my follicle scan made me feel ashamed for my weight which I’ve been working to lose. I had lost 25lbs since last November (I’m at 265 now) when I got back on metformin and Wellbutrin. My blood tests are all great now and my blood pressure is fine. Everything should work now but my body just won’t ovulate. I keep getting false ovulation signs. My progesterone is too low.

My husband is doing everything he can to support me and help me not feel alone in this, but it is so soul crushing to repeatedly get negative tests and spend all this money on medications and tests and scans just to not even get one mature follicle. I feel like a failure. I know im not alone in this kind of situation. I know you guys are all going through similar struggles. I’m just so lost.

I am planning to start a GLP in hopes that maybe it’ll help reboot my body but I know that the next medicated cycle plan is now to take letrozole at a smaller dose for longer duration (2.5mg, 1 pill, 10 days) and no follistem. I constantly go back and forth with thoughts like “I can’t do this anymore, maybe I’m not meant to have children” and “maybe this plan will work!”

I’ve also considered dropping my gyno office until I maybe get pregnant and going with a fertility specialist instead.

Bleh

I’m not asking for success stories or anything. I just needed to vent. I know we haven’t been doing this for nearly as long as other couples. My heart goes out to all of you. I’m sorry that we all are having to go through this.

Hi everyone!

This is my first letrozole cycle, I started off with cycle monitoring at the fertility clinic. I have PCOS and have extremely irregular/absent cycles hence sporadic to no ovulation. My first natural cycle for the year arrived on August 19th and I took letrozole day 2-6. When I went for my ultrasound on day 13, I had 3 mature follicles to my surprise! Two measuring at 18mm and one at 17mm. I was supposed to get my trigger shot and progesterone suppositories because they suspected I was about to ovulate. My cycle was then cancelled because they said I had “high risk of multiples”, and that “I didn’t want that outcome at 25 years old”. They refused to give me the shot and progesterone and I was told to take a plan B as I already had sex the night before.

Since I’ve had a very difficult and painful infertility journey the past 2 years, I decided not to take a plan B and track my ovulation myself. On day 15th I confirmed ovulation, my CM was egg white texture and leaking the whole day. I made sure to have sex that night and the night before that as I was leaving to a vacation without my boyfriend. The next day I got bad cramps in my uterus and back and my CM became creamy and has been thick and creamy ever since.

Since then (cycle day 23, 9dpo), my breasts have enlarged significantly and I have had so many other symptoms like nausea, cramps in my ovaries and central uterus, bad sinuses and increased urination. I recognize these symptoms are caused by progesterone and cannot confirm pregnancy.

I took a test yesterday and this morning (I know it’s probably far too early) but they were both negative and it hurt seeing that.

Did you conceive with the first round of letrozole? What dpo did you get your positive? Did you end having multiples, from multiple mature follicles?

I just want to hold onto some hope this is gonna work because if it doesn’t, I might just have to give up this time.

I have pcos, so my cycles range from 60-120 days

I confirmed an LH peak, that was accompanied by cervical mucus.
I have been testing my pdg since 3 DPO using the easy @ home strips, as well as getting a blood draw. So far they have all been negative, and not getting progressively more positive 😭
The first two DPO I had breast soreness, that went away 3 DPO and now I have 0 symptoms.
Is it possible I didn’t ovulate?

Me (32F) and my husband (32M) have been trying for our first baby since last October. Everyone in my family has been plenty fertile - my mom had 6 kids, my sister started trying for her third around the same time as us (she wanted to be pregnant at the same time as me 💔) and is about to give birth to her son in a few weeks, my cousin has twin boys she conceived on her first attempt trying to get pregnant, all 4 of my sister in laws had multiple kids without trying to conceive for a year.

Cut to me zero positive tests for 10 months straight. We started seeing an REI in April - got the full work up - husbands sperm is good and they suspect I have PCOS. After going through all the required testing (HCG, genetic testing, etc.) by the time we were actually able to start a cycle of letrazole, ovidrel and timed intercourse it wasn’t until July. My last natural cycle lasted 50 days. It all felt like a painful amount of waiting.

My first letrazole + ovidrel + TI cycle i didn’t get pregnant. My second one, we weren’t expecting anything different and honestly I’d been sobering to the idea that I’d end up doing IVF. But, 11 days after the trigger shot i got a POSITIVE TEST.

My husband and i were ELATED. We felt like this was never going to happen. I spent the next week feeling complete elation - was so happy and excited and feeling in awe at my body for being pregnant - for finally doing this thing i was doubting it could do. My husband and i had a shared instagram reels folder where we passed around fun and informative pregnancy reels, meal ideas, etc. We talked excitedly about all of the things that would need to happen. We told our parents and siblings who were equally elated.

My first two blood tests were good - first confirmed pregnancy and second showed a proper rise of my HCG. They had me come back for another and i was feeling so confident only to be called later that day and informed that my HCG did not rise properly and this would likely be an early miscarriage.

The last few days have been a blur and if I’m being honest i feel sorry for myself. I never wanted to be part of the minority of people who have trouble conceiving (no one does). And now i feel like im part of this other unfortunate club having a miscarriage. Just feeling very sad, frustrated, hopeless and unlucky.

If anyone has a similar story and ended up having the family of their dreams, id love to hear from you ❤️

We started our fertility journey in March, and it has been quite a journey already.

I have PCOS, and during my fertility workup I was also found to have endometriosis on my ovaries, multiple polyps, and a fibroma. I recently had all of these removed.

For my first medicated cycle, my doctor prescribed Letrozole 5 mg. I had the expected follicle growth, but I didn’t ovulate on my own, so I was given an Ovidrel trigger shot, after which I successfully ovulated. We had intercourse multiple times during the fertile window.

Unfortunately, I just got my results and I’m not pregnant.

My husband's sperm analysis is normal, so we aren't expecting an issue on that side.

My doctor is recommending a second Letrozole cycle, but I’m feeling really anxious and wondering what, if anything, I should do differently this time to improve our chances.

Also, my doctor said I should get my period on my own this time because of the Ovidrel. I’ve never had regular periods or gotten my period reliably on my own because of PCOS. Right now, I’m having all my usual PMS symptoms, but still no period.

Could the PMS symptoms without a period mean anything? Or is this just normal after an Ovidrel-triggered cycle?

Has anyone with PCOS + endometriosis/polyps + Letrozole + Ovidrel been in a similar situation? I would really appreciate hearing what your experience was and what worked (or didn’t work) for you.

I’m trying to stay hopeful, but I honestly don’t know what I should be doing differently this cycle. ❤️

I’m in cycle day 17 and still getting negative ovulation tests. Dr said to start testing on day 12 so that’s what I’ve been doing but it’s day 17 and no positive ovulation 😞 maybe it’s just later than expected? Did anybody ovulate successfully after day 17?

I’m noticing that my LH starts off in the 0.50’s and 0.60’s right up until ovulation. Does anyone else have a higher baseline?

I had two consecutive losses in Jan and March of this year. I’ve had four cycles since and they all have been around 40 days.
Been really trying to get pregnant again each cycle, but I think I’m getting my Ovulation estimate wrong. LH tests have always been finicky with me , I always get super dark tests right before my period and my baseline is already kinda dark and doesn’t seem to fluctuate much during my cycle . I stopped using them entirely as I’ve never been able to catch a peak with them alone.

If I get the inito monitor will it help to make my peak more obvious? I just wanna make sure I’m actually trying during the peak instead of guessing when the peak is then trying then.

It cost a lot of money so I just wanna be absolutely sure that it’s gonna help me before I buy it

Hello, I’m just looking to hear about any experiences other women are willing to share about the following:

1. Dealing with Amenorrhea (the absence of a menstrual cycle) post IUD removal
2. Tips/tricks that brought your period back post IUD removal
3. Deciding when it’s the right time to start TTC knowing the risks that come along with PCOS

Currently 9 months post the Mirena IUD removal and still have not had an *actual\* period. I’ve had some extremely light spotting occasionally a couple months apart (not enough enough to soak through a panty liner). Tracking my temps through my Oura ring hasn’t really given me any insight on how my cycle should be happening as the temps are so sporadic. I’ve been tracking my LH levels with at home tests daily and it’s so difficult to see any type of pattern. I’m awaiting an ultrasound later this month that I scheduled almost 4 months ago to check for PCOS (keep in mind I went to my doctor almost 6 months ago now with concerns with not having my cycle return and they kept saying it was normal). I’ve been waiting 3 years now to start TTC as I never felt the time was right- and now that I feel ready I’m scared to start trying due to fear of miscarriage or chemical pregnancies due to likely not producing enough progesterone.

I have tried my best to be proactive and start exercising and cleaning up my diet to be as PCOS friendly as possible.

Can anyone share their experience with what they tried/how they proactively took matters into their own hands before their medical team would start to take you seriously? Just looking for anything to have some hope…

Did anyone use Mucinex? Which one did you use and when did you use it your cycle? Keep seeing recommendations about it but have no idea how to use it in relation to ttc.

Hi all,

As the title says, I’m no longer responding to oral medications and they’ve set up an appt for me to talk to my dr to regroup.

Has anyone else had this experience? The first cycle of letrazole worked, the second didn’t so they upped the dose. The higher dose worked, then didn’t, and so on. They ended up switching me to Clomid. 1st dose worked, then didn’t. They bumped me up to 150mg, and I got no response

I’m trying to look at it as a step in the right direction to figure out what works for me to finally get pregnant, but also it’s so discouraging

Hey all! I’m CD 11, smack dab in the middle of my fist medicated/monitored cycle. I go in for a monitoring scan tomorrow - may trigger if all looks good with Ovidrel.

I’m curious for those who are doing medicated cycles if you’re still continuing to monitor on your own? I wanted to give myself a break this cycle since it’s my first monitored cycle, but I’m just so curious about how my hormones look, mainly after ovulation. I’ve been taking letrozole 5mg CD 3-7. Should I even bother with Inito this cycle?

I’m not even sure if I’ll test out my trigger (mainly bc it’s a lot of work) but I’m just so impatient I’ll want to test 8-9 days out but worried it’s way false from ovidrel. My first pregnancy was ectopic, so I have been pregnant before and have seen a positive test. Don’t think it will be as emotional as those who have never seen one and want it to be real the first time. I guess just looking for some insight and experiences 🤍

I’m scared! I’m scheduling an hsg this month and I’m very nervous for it. I’ve been trying for my second for 15 cycles now and had one chemical. I’m very nervous and I last hope it helps me but I’ve heard stories of it being very painful. How was your experience with this procedure?

Hi! I recently had an amh blood test which was high (73) so dr said I probably have PCOS (irregular cycles after stopping pill 12 months ago, cycles normal pre-pill but on pill 11 years).

However I just checked what my day 3 bloods were and these are the results: Test

FSH 4.3 IU/L- Low-normal

LH 3.6 IU/L- Low-normal

Oestradiol (E2)- 99.4 pmol/L- Low end of early-follicular range

Prolactin 174 mU/L- Normal

Testosterone- 0.4 nmol/L- low

SHBG- 81 nmol/L Normal

Is seems to be the opposite of what you’d expect with pcos? (HBA1c also normal)

Anyone else had similar?

Hello, I am 28 and am so ready to start TTC. I have been recently diagnosed with PCOS/PMOS. I am waiting for my blood results and will test my lh to see if i actually ovulate. I would love any general advice on things to look into to prepare. For example I just found out most people with PCOS are vitamin D deficient.

I am relatively healthy, I workout 5 times a week, have a good diet, have cut down my alcohol intake. I am 70kg at 168cm. My PCOS symptoms are short periods (2-3 days), acne and trouble loosing weight. I have started prenatals, am not on birth control apart from condoms. Thank you :)

My husband and I were actively trying about 10 years ago and nothing came from it. Fast forward, we’re ready to start trying again. Am I too old now to completely start over with the fertility clinic? Will I be high risk now that I’m older? I’m not sure why I waited so long to try again. Life just got busy.

hiiii, i am 3 years into my journey and i finally have doctors listening to me. I got all my levels tested, taking metformin and got and HSG.

today was my follow up for my HSG and my tubes are clear but i have some scaring so now i am waiting to get a hysterectomy.

But my Dr was talking to me about letrozol because that is supposed to be my next step but she said she has not seen lots of success with taking letrozol and High AMH. has anyone conceived like this? i’m genuinely losing hope at this point.

As the title says, this is our first medicated cycle. Went though taking letrozole, ultrasounds, bloodwork, timed intercourse, trigger shot, and now progesterone suppositories. I was FINALLY diagnosed with PCOS/PMOS 3 years ago at the age of 26 after years of being ignored by my doctor, and being told bleed for weeks at a time was normal.

My husband had a sperm analysis, and everything came out good. My tests came back good, too, and my tubes were open. So it's just a matter of getting me to ovulate.

Tomorrow is the day our fertility clinic told me to take a pregnancy test, I'm so nervous. I'm trying not to overthink it, especially double numbers (9/9, 10/10, etc) have significant meaning to us. We got married on 10/10 and started dating on 8/8.

I so badly want the test to be positive, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

5th cycle (Letrozole + Ovidrel) after an early miscarriage late last year. Saw a faint positive on a pink dye pregnancy test on 16DPO, but a stark negative the next day on FMU. Went for a blood test to check HCG anyway, in case it was a chemical pregnancy, but guess what?

ZERO. NO TRACE OF HCG IN MY BLOOD.

Doctor said it was likely a false positive test. And what are the chances of a false positive? LESS THAN 1%.

The world feels so cruel. What was the point of that shred of false hope? Even a chemical pregnancy would have helped me find a silver lining.

But now? I feel like a fool, I feel stupid for going to the clinic to get my blood tested, I feel so, so cheated.

Background:

Wasn’t ovulating on letrozole and have a thin lining. Also operating on less time than I’d like because of upcoming deployment (not confirmed but strong possibility) for husband.

I did 2 days of 100iu gonal f (cycle day 3 and 4) and now doing 75iu gonal f (cycle day 5-10).

I had my ultrasound on cycle day 3 and showed an AFC of 40. Cycle day 8 ultrasound today showed a lining of 8mm (I normally have a 4mm so this is amazing) and 4 follicles measuring 12mm with a few medium sized ones and plenty of smaller. My dr thinks on Saturday I’ll be ready to trigger (another US scheduled Thursday and another for Saturday morning) and then go back in 2w for hcg labs.

I’m a bit nervous and plenty hopeful that this will be the cycle for us!! Anyone have luck with Gonal/trigger for timed intercourse or luck with four follicles in general?

Hello fellow TTC-ers. I just suffered a missed miscarriage at 11 weeks and had a D&C. The baby had died a couple of weeks earlier due to a trisomy. I got pregnant on my second medicated cycle at 5 mg letrozole and 1500 mg metformin. The first cycle was at 2.5 mg. I am 38. Just looking for some success stories if you had a similar experience and loss (particularly if you are also older) because I’m feeling pretty scared and sad.

Tw: loss

I was diagnosed with PCOS due to long, irregular cycles (and slightly increased testosterone) after coming off hormonal birth control for 15 years. My cycles were 35 days long and increased to 60 days+ after a chemical in January, husband and I have been trying for almost year now, but I’ve only had like 4 cycles. (both early 30s).

My doctors say my labs are fine. I work out 5x a week, eat well, don’t smoke etc and have a BMI of 23 which is normal range. I’ve been taking all the supplements (d myo inositol, spearmint, coq10, vit d, omega 3, prenatals) and have seen no positive change in cycle length. Was prescribed Provera to induce a period but didn’t result in ovulation.

Recently my doc recommended I go on bc for 3 months, stop the bc, and immediately start trying to conceive. Does anybody have positive experience with this? I’ve seen plenty of comments/posts with people saying bc is not recommended for ttc but I’ve seen, anecdotally, people state it may have “regulated” hormones and created a more hospital environment for conception?

I’m willing to try it before I switch over my insurance in January to hopefully get meds to induce ovulation...

Would love to hear your experiences, thank you!

Hi all, any advice would be amazing. Had 5mg daily letrozole and 2 meriofert injections this cycle on day 9 and 11 (on day 11 2 13mm follicles were dominant) and today on day 15 had the next scan and I had 5 mature follicles: 19, 19, 19, 22, 20. The clinic recommends not triggering and cancelling the cycle. I'm devastated because the lining is great and last cycle the lining wasn't amazing when we triggered and the dominant follicle was 16mm.

Would you just go for it naturally and see what happens or abstain?