Worried about periods and PCOS

LegacyUser

Hello all. I am not looking for medical advice, I have it, but I just want to know if anyone else experienced no periods after the pill? My situation is that prior to going on the pill (many moons ago!) my periods were really irregular, like one every 3 months. Obviously the pill sorted that. My doctors at the time (2 separate ones) said it could be PCOS but since I had started the pill and was young, there was no point coming off the pill to test for it and risk getting pregnant.

Now I am thinking of TTC and spoke to my doc. She was super, referred me for an ultrasound which I will do soon, and said to come in on day 3 of my cycle. If my cycle doesn't come back in 3-6 months, come in anyway. I had a withdrawal bleed after pill and then nothing for two months. I know it can take longer, I'm just paranoid with massively long cycles, nothing is going to come. I have folic acid, preg tests just in case and just got some ovulation tests so I can be careful just in case, but to be honest I really just want to be in that place where you're not trying, but where you get regular ovulations and periods. I know periods can take a while to come back after the pill, but I just feel that I believe that mine is nothing to do with the pill, and it's my old problems. I went off the pill once for about 5 months and nothing ;-( For the first time in my life, I am dying to have a period!! I am trying not to stress. How long before anyone else got worried?

irishgirl19

Hi I had similar issues. Periods always irregular. On the pill for a few years so forgot about it. I came off the pill last summer and no period so in September went to see a gynae. She done an internal ultrasound there and then,said looks like pcos and got bloods to confirm.
Started me on provera to make me get a period and I started glucophage once I got the period.
I was really upset when she told me I had pcos but I conceived in November. I'm 21 weeks pregnant now and couldn't be happier.
I didn't get a period after the initial (provera) one but I still ovulated which was the main thing. I paid for the women's health clinic rather than the gp as I was able to get scans there and then instead of refferals that take a while. Good luck.

pwurple

Hiya, i had similar. PCOS, but I was not on the pill. Irregular cycles, often over 60 days. Doctor put me on one, can't remember which, to jumpstart my cycles... Worked ok for me, was on that for a short time, came off it, got pregnant I think 3rd cycle after that.

There are loads of options, i've used clomid as well, which can stimulate ovulation, and ultrasounds for follicle tracking are super-useful for us long cycled gals. Can't really overstate how much more in control I felt with the tracking. The issue for us is that it is very hard to pinpoint ovulation. It doesn't show up on ovulation kits at all, and the 3-21 (28, 35 etc) day blood tests will tell you after it's too late. Follicle tracking will show you very clearly if what you are taking is working (you'll see the string of pearls effect eggs with PCOS, and it looks more normal when you get it sorted). It will also show the egg getting ready to be released, which is exactly was you need for TTC. I found it great anyway, but it's fairly eyewateringly expensive. You want to have everything else tried before you do it. Over 100 per scan.

It does take a while though to go through all the different approaches. We were years trying before we eventually got something that worked out for us. It's rough going on a relationship, so be nice to eachother.

ariana`

I have PCOS and am pregnant for the 4th time. After the pill my cycles were in the region of 90 days but i conceived on Day 70 (aprox) of the 3rd cycle off the pill and went on to have a healthy baby. At the time I was tracking ovulation using the body basal temperature (bbt) method and charting all the physical signs like the changes in cervical mucous, i used the Fertility Friend website/app for tracking all this info.

Since then i've had 3 more pregnancies (1 ending in a m/c), i'm currently 33 weeks pregnant. I've been on metformin since i was first diagnosed with pcos back when i was a teenager and i've used clomid to conceive on 2 of my 4 pregnancies.

I recommend the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler, it's a great read for anyone.

Digs

ariana` wrote: »

I have PCOS and am pregnant for the 4th time. After the pill my cycles were in the region of 90 days but i conceived on Day 70 (aprox) of the 3rd cycle off the pill and went on to have a healthy baby. At the time I was tracking ovulation using the body basal temperature (bbt) method and charting all the physical signs like the changes in cervical mucous, i used the Fertility Friend website/app for tracking all this info.

Since then i've had 3 more pregnancies (1 ending in a m/c), i'm currently 33 weeks pregnant. I've been on metformin since i was first diagnosed with pcos back when i was a teenager and i've used clomid to conceive on 2 of my 4 pregnancies.

I recommend the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler, it's a great read for anyone.

Congrats on your pregnancy ariana! I have pcos also and am ttc #2. We were almost a year trying on number one but I think a combo of Metformin and good diet and exercise helped me get there. Just wondering re the clomid were you ovulating on your own when you were put on it? I'm one of those pcos ers that ovulates on my own with regular cycles etc I just have an elevated androstenedione level (which my endocrinologist says is a marker for pcos) when I was last with him all other hormones were normal and my ovaries were "normal" looking too (although the pains I've been having lately I'm not convinced!) my hormones and cysts have been all over the place in the past but he said if no luck with Metformin after 6 months next stop is clomid. I thought clomid was to induce ovulation? I'd be more inclined to stay on the Metformin a bit longer myself but don't want to cut my nose off to spite my face! Especially hearing wonderful stories like yours!

OP really sorry for hijacking your thread! I've no specific advice as I get periods but would highly recommend seeing an endocrinologist, I've been seeing mine since 17 and he's been fantastic.

ariana`

Digs wrote: »

Congrats on your pregnancy ariana! I have pcos also and am ttc #2. We were almost a year trying on number one but I think a combo of Metformin and good diet and exercise helped me get there. Just wondering re the clomid were you ovulating on your own when you were put on it? I'm one of those pcos ers that ovulates on my own with regular cycles etc I just have an elevated androstenedione level (which my endocrinologist says is a marker for pcos) when I was last with him all other hormones were normal and my ovaries were "normal" looking too (although the pains I've been having lately I'm not convinced!) my hormones and cysts have been all over the place in the past but he said if no luck with Metformin after 6 months next stop is clomid. I thought clomid was to induce ovulation? I'd be more inclined to stay on the Metformin a bit longer myself but don't want to cut my nose off to spite my face! Especially hearing wonderful stories like yours!

OP really sorry for hijacking your thread! I've no specific advice as I get periods but would highly recommend seeing an endocrinologist, I've been seeing mine since 17 and he's been fantastic.

Hi Digs.



After my 1st baby we started ttc again pretty quickly. Unbelievably my cycles became very regular and short 32-35 days so i thought it would be a breeze compared with TTC on 90+ day cycles. And yes, i was ovulating on my own (i did follicle tracking with the fertility clinic which backed up what i knew myself from BBT).

But after 1 yr it hadn't happening so i started on Clomid. I conceived on the 3rd round of 50mg of Clomid taking it on CD3-7. My fertility doctor just said i might need an extra little push.

Has your DH been checked? MY DH also has low sperm count so our next stop was IUI to counter that issue but thankfully it didn't come to that. No harm to have him checked out though if he hasn't already been as there can be issues on both sides.

Best of luck xx

Digs

Thanks so much for the reply Ariana, delighted clomid worked for you, I have just heard so much mixed reviews about it but not much first hand from someone with pcos.

My husband hasn't been checked out, we conceived before the year trying was out first time so didn't get to that stage. I was on metformin and I think next step would have been clomid but my endocrinologist never mentioned my husband, emphasis has always been on me and my issues from day one (talk about pressure!!). We are on roughly the 8th cycle this time but only 2nd on metformin so don't think we have reached that stage yet, if I'm honest I think it would add a whole level of extra pressure at the moment which I don't need! Will just plod along on the met for the next four cycles or so, hope for the best and then go from there!

Best of luck with the new baby and thanks again for the info