Not ovulating and so frustrated
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Anonymous
| I have been TTC #2 since April. I finally got on Metformin in September and had a period 37 days ago, so I thought things were actually moving along. I had a 21 and 31 day progesterone tests performed and both showed no ovulation. I am feeling so frustrated! I thought since I had a period that the metformin was working (I have mild PCOS) and everyhing was moving along. I know the next step is RE and I am assuming maybe clomid? An OB has performed all the preliminary blood work which is all normal and my AMH was normal, if not high for my age (36). I just feel so frustrated and that I have been just wasting time the past 7 months. |
Anonymous
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Sorry, OP. That sucks.
Have you tried acupuncture? It's worth looking into with someone who specializes in fertility - maybe to jump start your system. |
Anonymous
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It's frustrating to have wasted that time. At your age (which is the same as mine) and with PCOS, you just need to face the fact that you'll have to be more proactive from here out: order some ovulation tests from Amazon today, read up on charting this weekend, and make an appointment with an RE on Monday. Don't let yourself get bogged down while you accept the fact that you may need more expert medical assistance to make this happen.
Never assume you're ovulating if you have irregular periods. I have PCOS and wasn't ovulating. Metformin helped with other PCOS symptoms, but didn't induce ovulation for me. Clomid (via an RE) made me crazy, but didn't induce ovulation (I ended up with several big but immature follicles). I ended up doing injectables. It's not ideal, but it worked for me and chances are something will work for you, too. |
Anonymous
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Acupuncture recommender here. Agree wholeheartedly with the rec to temp and chart, too. Download the fertility friend app, get a basal thermometer, some cheap wondfo ovulation strips and start making charts day by day. Gives you some understanding of your body without having to go for blood tests and expensive procedures. You may just have long cycles (+30 days) and the temping will show you where your peak fertility days might be. Not everyone ovulated on every cycle, either. It may take more time so be patient with yourself.
I recommend Gillian Powers at crossings in silver spring for the acupuncture. She may also make some nutritional and herbal referrals for you if you want. This TTC process is sometimes a long, slow slog into the unknown. Hang in there and stay positive. |
Anonymous
| Op here - thanks for all of your suggestions. I sometimes use the Opks but not sure how well they work. I thought I had a positive last week but my bloodwork shows otherwise. I will give acupuncture a try and start temping. And also make an appt with an RE ASAP. |
Anonymous
| given your PCOS, I would recommend taking the plunge for a monitor like the Clear Blue Easy, which will definitely tell you if you are ovulating. In fact, that is exactly what I did last year when I was diagnosed. The specialist said the cheap OPKs I had been using don't have the high degree of accuracy for PCOS women, because our hormones may mislead the test strips, giving a false positive when no ovulation occurred, or when it actually occurs days later. |
Anonymous
I have PCOS and was using the cheap OPKs for a few months. It seemed like I was probably ovulating because the line was there, but it was never as dark as the control line. Blood tests (and later ultrasounds) proved that I wasn't ovulating, even with Clomid. I was developing big follicles that were never fully maturing to release an egg, instead they were releasing enough hormones to trick the OVKs. Maybe those digital OVKs would be better, as the PP said. |
Anonymous
| I'm the Clear Blue Easy PP. My understanding is that the monitor measures more than one thing, unlike the test strips measuring LH surge. I understand avoiding the price, but it really is an investment if you have crazy hormones as we do. |
Anonymous
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New PP here.
I'm curious about the ovulation kits. I got the cheap one with a bunch of test strips. I'm 37. We got pregnant the first month we started trying, but then I miscarried at 7 weeks. Had a D&C. Exactly 4 weeks later, I got my period. Before all of this happened, I had suspicions that I had a short cycle. Well, I started testing with the strips a few days after my period ended, and to my surprise, it came out positive earlier than most online calculators suggested it would. So we started trying. But then 2 days later, it tested negative (I still kept testing, even after the first positive, because I was curious to see how many days it would stay positive). But then I was worried that it was a fluke, so I kept testing. Then, a few days after that, it was positive again! But by that point, we had kind of lost steam/found ourselves just really busy with stuff to try with the same effort as when it first became positive. So now I just feel confused and frustrated. I feel like we wasted this cycle of trying because the stupid strip made me think I was ovulating perhaps sooner than I was. But I also don't understand why it would test positive, then negative, then positive again. And now I'm wondering if it is just because it was the cheap testing strips. And maybe next month, I should shell out the big bucks for the better tests. To the Clear Blue Easy PP, did you get pregnant after using the Clear Blue Easy test? Sorry this post is so long. And sorry to OP, don't mean to hijack post, but the test strips are so confusing. And I was sort of wondering if maybe I didn't ovulate (b/c the miscarriage and D&C messed up my cycle). |
Anonymous
| Op here. It's a new year and I'm calling today to make an RE appt. time to put the worrying into someone else's hands. |
Anonymous
Not yet, but I have other issues, like being 42, which is another reason I have been aggressive with visiting a specialist and moving to the monitor. Tick tock! |
Anonymous
| Look up the ovacue. It measures estrogen and other hormones. Relatively new, but ultimately cheaper since it doesn't use those expensive sticks. I haven't used one i just skipped to the RE. I too have PCOS, and don't ovulate. Opks can't be trusted on unmedicated long cycles with PCOS. |
Anonymous
| I also recommend acupuncture. I didn't do it but my friend who has PCOS did it. Her practitioner took before and after levels of various things like cholesterol and she fared very well, which I though was pretty cool. She also followed a fertility diet that she found online - she is a little bit overweight. She also took a few supplements like ubiqunol and a few other things. All those things helped with her ovulation and egg quality/quantity. She is now pregnant with twins through IVF. She spent quite a bit of time preparing herself since she knew the PCOS effected her odds of conceiving. |
Anonymous
| op here. I got my period today after a 58 day cycle. No idea if I actually ovulated, but this is the second period I have gotten on my own (no prgesterone) while on metformin. I have an appt at SGF next thursday, so hopefully they will have some sort of recommendations for next steps. Could i really have had 2 periods in the last 3 months with no ovulation? I have one DD who is 4 and was able to get pregnant on just metformin with her |
Anonymous
You can absolutely be menstruating but not ovulating, especially if your periods are irregular. I know it's frustrating to realize you're not ovulating (especially if you assumed you were), but ovulation can be one of the easier things to "fix." Worst case scenario, you'll end up with injectable meds. It's not ideal or especially cheap, but it's so much better than having unexplained infertility. Good luck. |