PCOS and TTC

[chi]

jennylou-even if I discard the open temps, I still get dashed crosshairs. I guess the thermal shift wasn't dramatic enough.

jellybeany--sorry about the long cycle, that is a bummer. Think positive for next month!

[off2skl]

Ok, so I'm just curious, what happens when your LH is normal (3.3), or at least based on normal limits I've found that's "normal." FSH is 9.5, which concerns me a bit, but that doesn't translate into the high LH:FSH either. I thought those were what they looked at for a diagnosis??? I'm just wondering if it's possible to have PCOS and not have those labs affected?

The only other thing that was out of the lab's normal limits was estrogen (46.6, which was high based on the lab, but I've seen CD3 normal values that encompass that too). Even my prolactin that I had been told years ago was elevated is normal. Still waiting to get copies of my other labs (DHEA, 17-OH progesterone, testosterone, and glucose/insulin).

And scooter, looks like DH and I will be changing insurance next year (for other reasons) and my old RE is on that plan! Guess things work out mysteriously. But I wonder if when he diagnosed me years ago how accurate it was since I KNOW labs were not done on CD3, who knows where in the cycle I was at that point because it was so erratic. Guess I'm just one big mystery right now :)

[jennylou]

off2skl - usually the limits of FSH and LH are in 1:1 proportions, yours aren't, which indicate PCOS. And, PCOS is a broad label for things - some people only have cysts, others have no cysts, some are overweight, others are not. Some people have high testosterone, others high cholesterol. Some have hair in weird places, some have dark patches of skin. You don't have to have each symptom to have PCOS.

jelly - sorry the cycle is a bust.

[jellybeany]

I just got back from my appointment. The nurse practitioner gave me a urine test and it was neg. She is sending me for a bunch of bloodwork tomorrow. No BD until I go back next Friday for another pg test. If the test is still neg on friday then she will start me on provera to bring on AF and then clomid for the next cycle. They are not making me wait since I already have a history of PCOS. She said they will treat me for 4-6 months before sending me to an RE. She said first things first and that is getting me to ovulate. Then we will go from there.

A little overwelmed at this point. The NP was really nice and she was pleasantly surprised when I handed her my chart and knew as as much as I do about everything.

[jennylou]

jelly - are you going to be monitored while on the clomid? That's my only concern with being treated by an OB vs an RE for clomid. My OB actually does more testing than my RE (who just does blood tests), so I'm comfortable staying with her. :) Good luck!

[jellybeany]

jennylou ~ I'll know more when I go back on Friday to go over everything so I'm not really sure what will happen yet.

[off2skl]

off2skl - usually the limits of FSH and LH are in 1:1 proportions, yours aren't, which indicate PCOS. And, PCOS is a broad label for things - some people only have cysts, others have no cysts, some are overweight, others are not. Some people have high testosterone, others high cholesterol. Some have hair in weird places, some have dark patches of skin. You don't have to have each symptom to have PCOS.

jelly - sorry the cycle is a bust.

Thanks jennylou. I had read that typically the LH is elevated so that's why I was confused.

[jennylou]

jelly - have you started clomid yet?

off2skl - yeah, sometimes the bloodwork alone are hard to go off of - that's why they look for other things (hair in the wrong places, dark patches of skin, overweight, cysts, etc). It's such a catch all for a variety of conditions.

I'm still BFing and starting back on Metformin. I am cycling (I never do on my own, so I attribute that to BFing) but I'd like to see if the Met can help. I have a late O and a short LP, so who knows. :) It's a nice first step though!

[jellybeany]

No I haven't started yet. I have to take provera first to bring on AF but I did get the script today to start the clomid during my next cycle. We are only going to do 3-4 cycles and then they are going to send me off to the specialist.

[ABirney]

jelly Hope the Clomid works for you!
jennylou Glad your cycles seem to be regulating!

Just an update on me... got referred to the RE in September. Had a ton of bloodwork and urine tests, ultrasound, and an HSG, and DH has had 2 SA's. We go back the week of Nov 12 (have a 30 day waiting period because I had my MMR vacc boostered Oct 11). At that point I'll have another u/s to see if anything is going on as far as ovulation, then will start injectables and IUI.

[Twylla]

While we're in update mode... I've started acupuncture as well. The RE actuallu recommended it, and I think I'm covered through work, so it was worth a shot. Can't hurt, right? Anyway, it's been nice so far, relaxing overall, though I can't report any major changes or a pregnancy after just 3 treatments. Has anyone else had acupuncture while TTC?

jennylou Does the metformin affect your breast milk at all? Were you on met while TTC last time? I hope it's not proving difficult for you!

[jennylou]

Twylla - Metformin is considered a safe drug for BFing. I was on Met when we first started ttc, by itself. I ended up having to move on to a combo of Met/clomid (and for DD we went to that combo right away, since we knew it worked). But, at the point that I was only taking the met, I wasn't ovulating by myself and I weighed more - so I'm hopeful that it will do something for me!

jelly - has AF found her way to you yet?

ABirney - Nov 12 is almost here! Doesn't it seem exciting to be starting something? :)

[ABirney]

Twilla My RE actually suggested acupuncture also but I haven't looked into it yet. I might at some point.
jennylou Yeah I'm really excited about it, but nervous too. I hope it works because we are paying out of pocket for it.
I'm not sure what's going on but I've been having EWCM for 11 days straight now. Ugh, if I'm actually going to O this cycle I wish it would hurry up. (Not that we can do anything about it due to my MMR booster, but oh well.) I'm on CD24.

[jennylou]

abirney - what all do you have to pay for out of pocket? For us, we have to pay for the drugs, but they cover the u/s and whatnot, because of the PCOS - they call it a cyst check. ;) And, the Met is always covered b/c it's a legitimate drug for diabetes with the off label use for pcos/IF. Clomid isn't covered, but you can get it super cheap at Costco - cheaper than anywhere I've found. Best of all, you don't have to be a member to use the pharmacy. :)

[ABirney]

The u/s will be covered, but they said the injectable meds won't be (we aren't doing Clomid). Plus the actual IUI procedure will not be covered either. They gave us a rough estimate of around $800 for the cycle. I've been on met for going on 2 years now and that is covered, just my $10 copay.

[jennylou]

Why are you skipping clomid? It's much, much, much cheaper than injectibles. Have you already done some rounds of clomid?

[ABirney]

I haven't done clomid, but I've done 5 rounds of Femara (when I was going to my OB/GYN) with no luck. I O'd but no pg. So the RE said we could go straight to injections being oral medications didn't work. We are doing the IUI because we also have some male factor issues as well. His counts weren't horrible but they were below normal.

[jellybeany]

Thanks for checking in on my jennylou. :) No AF yet - only on day 4 so far of the provera.

I filled my clomid script and I was able to get the generic and Wal-mart. I paid $9 for 5 pills of 50mg. My insurance would have covered it but I would have had to go through the process of getting my doctor to call in and get it preapproved and what not - my copay would have been $10 for generic or $30 for name brand.

[jennylou]

$9 for 5 pills? I so need to go there!

[smellycatsgirl]

How is everyone doing? I'm on CD10 now and I feel horrible. I have been feeling so run down the past few days and I have migraines that just don't stop. Hopefully, I will feel better soon or I am going to have to go to base to see a doctor soon.

[Twylla]

Jenny Thanks, that's good to know! I guess after I finally get a pregnancy and it's over, I'll hop back on met as soon as is reasonable then.

abirney I think I'm going to enjoy continuing with acupuncture. It's fairly relaxing so far, and while we're not covered for it, I told DH that if we're continuing to TTC, we'll just have to find the cash. My hot flashes have been reduced significantly, and acupuncture is the only thing that's changed from last cycle, so I think that did it. I still get them at night, but during the day not so much anymore!

About Me Today is CD31 and the RE sent me back in for another progesterone test. When I had the same test done on CD24, it measured at 6.3, and it needs to be at 10 or higher to suggestion ovulation... she thinks I *might* have o'd on CD24. But why on earth am I ovulating later than the first cycle of 100mg/10 days? I'm really getting frustrated......

[jennylou]

About Me Today is CD31 and the RE sent me back in for another progesterone test. When I had the same test done on CD24, it measured at 6.3, and it needs to be at 10 or higher to suggestion ovulation... she thinks I *might* have o'd on CD24. But why on earth am I ovulating later than the first cycle of 100mg/10 days? I'm really getting frustrated......

I hate to contradict your Doc, but she's wrong. :) I think it's anything over like 3. something that is considered ovulatory. Anyways, mine was 5.4 or 5.9 (I can't remember anymore, it was 2004) when I got pregnant. I was 8 dpo when the test was done (charting and OPKs) and got a BFP the next day. But, since my progesterone was so low, I had to go on suppositories to help with that.

[Twylla]

I hate to contradict your Doc, but she's wrong. :) I think it's anything over like 3. something that is considered ovulatory. Anyways, mine was 5.4 or 5.9 (I can't remember anymore, it was 2004) when I got pregnant. I was 8 dpo when the test was done (charting and OPKs) and got a BFP the next day. But, since my progesterone was so low, I had to go on suppositories to help with that.

Yay! Jenny, you're making me feel great tonight, thanks for sharing! Between your story (contradict all the way!!!) and my acupuncturist saying my "pregnancy pulse" is strong, I'm very hopeful tonight. It's CD32 today... I'll keep holding off on testing for now, but yay! :D

[Mrsbuw]

I was just diagnosed with PCOS and am now being referred to an infertility specialist. I have always had weird irregular cycles and a few PCOS symptoms .I never really thought much about it because I got pregnant pretty quickly with my son. After 9 months of trying with 6 week long cycles I had some blood work and an ultrasound and they are pretty sure it’s PCOS. I think I have a mild form because my blood work came back pretty normal but they did find a substantial amount of cysts in both ovaries. My ovaries are also enlarged. I have been charting and it looks like I am ovulating but I have read with PCOS you got a lot of false highs? This cycle I didn’t even ovulate and started AF 2 weeks earlier than I normally would. AND TMI but this is the heaviest AF ever, not painful but heavy.

So I think I will go back and read the past pages and try to research as much as I can before I see the specialist. Thanks in advance for sharing your stories/info.
Oh I have a question, does anyone here see a chiropractor? The reason I ask is I have a pretty twisted back and started seeing a chiro before I got pregnant with my son. When I did get pregnant, he joked around and took credit for the pregnancy because he put things back into place. I just started seeing a chiro again who says my horrible alignment could be a reason I’m not getting pregnant. It just seems sort of coincidental that the month I start chiro my cycle goes out of whack. I don’t mind that my AF came two weeks early because it almost makes my cycle an average length. Anyways I am just rambling now, thanks for your input

[jennylou]

Twylla - good luck to you! :)

MrsBuw - high temps are not false for pcos-ers. :) What can often be false are OPKs. Because LH is often high in PCOSers, many will be able to POAS (an opk) all month and keep getting pos OPKs. As for the chiro, many believe that if your back is out of whack in can mess with your fertility.

[jellybeany]

$9 for 5 pills? I so need to go there!

Yeah it's pretty nice. It's one of the new drugs that they just added to their generic list for low prices.

After an 88 day cycle and my last provera pill Wednesday, AF came this morning. I will be starting the clomid on Thursday - I hope this cycle is the one!

[Twylla]

I just wanted to jump in and mention how relieved I am that we're starting our last cycle on clomid. I'[m still on 100mg for ten days, but if this cycle fails, it's on to IVF.... and I feel so much relief about that.

I'm also taking wolfberries, and after AF I'll massage castor oil into my abdomen... but that's another whole thread!

Not so much about the cost differences, but at least we're covered for the cost of all the drugs!

mrsbuw I don't see a chiropractor, but I do see an acupucturist, so if you have any questions there,. I'm happy to try to help!

jennylou Thank you!!

jellybeany Good luck!

[ABirney]

Twylla Hope this last round of clomid does the trick!
jellybeany Hope the clomid works for you as well!
Mrsbuw Welcome and good luck!
Hi to everyone else!

Just an update on me. I'm CD2 and had a baseline u/s today. I got my lesson on how to do my injections and will start those tomorrow evening (Menopur). Then I go back next Friday (at 7:15am the day after Thanksgiving, and the dr is almost 2 hours away! :eek:) for a follow-up u/s and see if we need to go longer on the injections. Then we'll do IUI and Progesterone supplements. DH saw the reciept for the meds today and is about having a heart attack already.

[Twylla]

Then I go back next Friday (at 7:15am the day after Thanksgiving, and the dr is almost 2 hours away! :eek:)

Oooof! That's nasty. My RE is an EIGHT hour drive away, but that's far enough to have to stay there, lol. You really got the short end of the stick! I do hope that very early morning is worth it for you!!! Good luck!

[ABirney]

Twylla Yuck, 8 hours!!! :eek: I guess I won't complain about mine anymore!

[karlatta]

Question - I think I need to go back on Metformin, but I don't know which doctor to call to get it. My RE originally prescribed it for me, when I was TTC. I weaned off of it during my pregnancy, so my OB never prescribed it to me. Should I call my RE for the script, or my OB? (FWIW, I did need a refill of a prescription my RE originally prescribed for me, and my OB was more than happy to do that for me over the phone.)