r/TTC_PCOS

Hi all, I could really use some help deciphering what is happening.

Background
Period was July 20-25.
Suspected ovulation was August 1-3.
20yrs old, diagnosed with Lean PCOS at 16, high DHEAS.
Been TTC for around 6-7 months.

Around two days ago, I tested and received a faint positive. Husband and I were overjoyed, but cautious so we continued testing. Note that I was also experiencing what could be interpreted as pregnancy symptoms.

The next day, yesterday, I tested again in the morning and noticed the line seemed fainter than before. I had a very sharp cramp-like pain, like none I’ve had before, around 11:00AM, and I felt like something was wrong so I went and got a Quant hCG test. Then I continued testing throughout the day (little to no fluid for better accuracy, idk lol) and the line disappeared altogether.

Today I received my hCG Beta results and my level was 16… my tests have been faint positives and negatives all day today as well. I got another hCG test done today (early, I know) and am going back for another to see if my levels are declining or improving in a few days.

Please help!!!! I just want to know if this is normal or something of concern. Has anyone else experienced this? I am freaking out and feel so dumb that I don’t know if this is normal.

Thank you in advance.

I had my consultation with my RE today, and we are moving forward with letrozole TI. I’m 30 and have lean PCOS with anovulatory cycles. We've been trying for 8 months and only had 1 positive LH out of all 8 cycles. I asked for monitored cycles, but she said she likes to start simple and wants me to do 3 cycles unmonitored with letrozole TI first before introducing ultrasound/IUI.

What is everyone's experience with unmonitored cycles? Should I push for monitored? All my labs are normal; I take inositol & metformin, and have no symptoms of PMOS besides irregular/anovulatory cycles and string-of-pearl-looking ovaries via ultrasound.

Edit: wanted to add that she wants me to come in on CD 21 of my first medicated cycle to test for progesterone! from there she will titrate how many mg will work for me. I will use opk to test LH levels until positive

TW: Miscarriage.

I’m in my overall total 7th Letrzole and Ovidrel cycle. 6 cycles where I ovulated. 5 cycles with a trigger shot. Multiple mature follicles each cycle. My second Letrozole cycle where I ovulated I got pregnant but ended up having a rare intrauterine pregnancy called an angular pregnancy where it implanted in a weird spot in my uterus and didn’t have the blood flow to develop so I had a D&C on February 20th of this year.

I’ve done 4 cycle since then and this cycle I was super hopeful because I had 4 mature follicles when I triggered but today I’m 12DPO and I still have a negative pregnancy test. I’m tired. I’m worn out. I know life isn’t fair but god damn I’ve been through enough in my life, that this just sucks.

When do you decide to give up and accept you will probably never have children? We could do IUI but I really don’t think that’ll increase our odds very much. And we can’t afford IVF as our insurance doesn’t cover it.

I’m 30, he’s 34. My HSG last October was clear, my husband’s SA is great. I’m just so over it all. All of my friends and family that started trying after us are already pregnant and due AFTER I was supposed to be due with my first pregnancy, which is literally next month. I was desperately hoping I’d be pregnant again by then but this was the last shot at that hope.

I am trying to conceive with pcos insulin resistance, and fatty liver which was diagnosed last year. I have not checked anything since then. My HBA1C 2 months ago was 5.9. I tried ovulation tracking using opk for my cycle this month. But I could not track from CD 20 to CD 22 and when I tested my LH Strip on CD23, I got a very dark line compared to previous tests but it wasn't darker than the baseline. Same was the case on CD24. So I don't know if my body tried to Ovulate and failed, or if I even ovulated or not.

I have bought a thermometer for BBT tracking too. Ill started from next cycle

My husband and I are not people who can have sex everyday or even every other day over a period of 10 days of the fertile window. And I have been trying for 2 years to improve our sex frequency but it is impossible at this point. We are both frustrated and so done.

I have been trying for 2 years and I just want to become pregnant already. The doctor I went to is refusing to give me any sort of medication since she is not a fertility doctor but a gynecologist. I am planning to go to a fertility specialist after my next cycle gets completed.

I am right now taking metformin (1000mg) myoinositol and also supplements and vitamin tablets helping to conceive. I am thinking of reaching out to a scan centre directly instead of being recommended by a doctor and asking them if they can scan my follicles and tell me when I will ovulate or when the egg will get released.

Has anybody done something like this before I would love to hear your opinions and stories. I am so tired of hearing other people get pregnant or have babies. I am tired of resenting my husband for not making an attempt to have a normal sex life with me but I am partly to blame too because it takes two to tango. We are done enjoying sex, we will be ready to have sex for 2 to 3 days that my egg will be ready.

Please please help me in whatever way possible

Long story short, but will give the full story if anyone is interested.

But basically the original fertility clinic we worked with basically scammed us, they didn't do anything properly, sounds like they have zero documentation on us (we did various tests with them and 1 IUI cycle) and they're blaming me as the problem 😅

Has anyone (preferably in Canada) dealt with something similar and suing a medical clinic?

Hopefully no one else has ever dealth with this!

So this cycle I did gonal-f. On Friday I had a 14mm and 10 mm follicle. Went back yesterday. Follicles gone. Ultrasound showed fluid and blood flow. That afternoon a nurse called me and said "Good news, you haven't ovulated"... so I asked her where my follicles went... The response... "Well you're in the process". I personally didn't get my labs until this morning. Lab work showed Progesterone was 2.2, estrogen 228 and LH 12... from my understanding these numbers indicate I had ovulated 24 hours + ago. We were supposed to do timed intercourse. So unless we have the immaculate conception... I am already out. I wasted almost 1800 dollars this cycle on meds and appointments.

The lady who has been doing all of my Ultrasounds I think might have misinformation or is just dumb. Or both. She wanted me to go ahead and have sex last night because "Theres a chance. Once you ovulate it can be viable up to 48 hours"... in no literature have I EVER seen 48 hours. I have only seen 12-24 hours with most being in the first 6 hours. I pointed this out. She said "There's no harm in trying". Excuse me? I am not going to get my hopes up again this cycle for nothing. I'm not shoving pills up my who-ha for nothing. And she also keeps saying that with each cycle of IUI your chance increases... this isn't true. The individual cycle stays the same.

The unfortunate part is this is the only fertility clinic that is in network. So I am stuck with them. Honestly at this point I just want to pull the trigger in IVF.

Hi! I finally am starting my first round letrozole after a long 3 years of trying naturally. Is there anything I should know? Any helpful tips or advice? Anything is much appreciated 🫶🏻

Hi Everyone! I am 31F (PCOS and irregular periods) TTC since Feb last year. Tried multiple cycles of letrozole, 6th cycle worked but turned into weak pregnancy + d&c. I still had hope and tried 2 more letrozole cycle and no success. Now I finally gave up and waiting for my periods to arrive this month. After that I will be going for IVF finally. I am not sure if I am right or wrong. I am sad that nothing worked out and I need to spend a lot of my savings into IVF process but I have no other options. I just hope my IVF process would work. Funny that sometimes I think something magical happens and I get any good news and I don’t need to go through IVF. But anyways…

I am struggling with the decision to do a couple of unmonitored letrozole cycles or skip straight to IUI. I am 26yo female with high testosterone, no insulin resistance, normal BMI, open tubes, high AMH (19.47), and do not ovulate or have periods at all. My husband is 28 and has a total motile count of 18 million (normal is 30 million according to my RE).

My OBGYN is allowing me to start Letrozole next cycle but they do not monitor or offer trigger shots.

My RE said we could skip straight to IUI but would not be surprised if we ended up pregnant just doing Letrozole.

I am a bit torn between what to do. I could also do a couple of monitored cycles through my RE but insurance doesn’t cover it.

What’s everyone experiences or thoughts?

I am exaggerating this title just to get attention!!

Obgyns are the experts … on pregnancy. They are the ones that know everything about a pregnancy.

RE (reproductive endocrinologist) are the people to GET you pregnant.

If you are at early stages and can’t see a RE, ok, but push to see one. RE has more resources, knowledge, etc. They ask more tests.

OBs generally shove letrozole or clomid to people without even asking for a HSG or SA.

Hi everyone!

My husband (24M) and I (25F) are starting the process of IVF in the coming weeks/months after almost 18 months of TTC. I am almost completely anovulatory - I MIGHT ovulate once or twice a year on my own, meaning I do not have “natural” menstruation. I do ovulate with Letrozole, and have done two rounds of that.

For those of you who have done IVF and don’t have cycles naturally, how were things timed for you? I know a lot of things are based on CD1 when doing IVF, but I never really have a CD1 without Provera. Did you do Provera to induce things throughout the process?

Thanks for any info you’ve got :)

Hi everyone! I have PCOS and have been TTC for a while. My husband’s semen analysis is normal.

I’ve already tried several medicated cycles with Letrozole (2.5 mg, then 5 mg, and most recently 7.5 mg), but I haven’t gotten pregnant yet.

I recently consulted with a provider at Allara because my testosterone/androgen levels are high. She recommended that I pause TTC for about 6 months and take spironolactone 50 mg + Loryna (drospirenone 3 mg/ethinyl estradiol 0.02 mg) to lower my androgen levels before trying again.

I have never specifically treated my high testosterone before, which is why part of me wonders if I should try this first and see whether getting my hormones under better control could help when I resume TTC.

However, I also spoke with my reproductive endocrinologist (RE), and she does not recommend pausing TTC for 6 months or starting spironolactone/birth control right now. She wants me to do an HSG this cycle first, then decide on the next fertility treatment based on the results.

So now I’m really torn.

Has anyone with PCOS and high testosterone been in a similar situation?

Did you ever pause TTC to take spironolactone + birth control to lower testosterone, and then start TTC again afterward? Did your cycles/ovulation improve, and did you eventually get pregnant?

Or would you follow the RE’s plan and do the HSG/fertility treatment first?

I’d especially love to hear from anyone who had high testosterone and went through something similar. I also take metformin 1000mg everyday for insulin even though blood sugar is normal, Thank you! ❤️

So I have a check in appt with my doctor next week and trying to prepare what to ask.

For context, I ovulate but later in cycle naturally (cd24-26). I was given letrozole and did conceive on the second round but lost that at 5+3. What sort of next steps should I be taking or what should I be preparing to ask?!

We’ve been trying for a year now so trying to do the best thing.

My dear soon to be moms, sharing this with you as I haven’t seen Doctors really check this. My friend and I have been on our TTC journeys for quite sometime now - we tried letroz/ chlomid cycles and even IUI but didn’t work. God bless internet - I read that insufficient Ferritin and vit D levels (should ideally be > 50 for both) - makes chances of implantation very low even if everything else seems fine.
This really angered me that how no gynae ever tracked this - and in general keep putting patients through such expensive and physically + mentally taxing cycles of medication - that are doomed to fail coz they didn’t check the basics.

My friend who has been TTC for 2 years now and done OI n IUI only now found out she was ferritin deficient - the failed attempts could have been avoided if only the doctors guided her well and nit just focused on money making.

My situation with my doctors was similar too. So please research and correct the deficiencies before going for your next cycle of OI, IUI.

Hope this helps!
Wish you all luck.

My partner and I have been TTC for 5 years now. 2 years ago I was formally diagnosed with PMOS. Earlier this year we decided to go to a private Dr as I lost hope with the NHS helping us. The private Dr put me on Letrozole 5mg and Metformin. Then last 2 months we increased my letrozole to 7.5mg. Then after a good scan we were given an ovulation trigger for this cycle. We followed all advice and now I am getting to the end of my 2 week wait to take a test. I am just so nervous and scared to do it. I feel like we did everything right this cycle, so I am just scared of facing that disappointment if the test is negative. I feel like I am fighting against myself between losing hope and keeping the faith as well. I genuinely didn't think it would be this hard and mentally draining. It doesn't help that everyone around me are pregnant, and I am so happy for them and can't wait to be an aunty. But there is that part of me that is just so sad thinking why can I have what they have they are living my dream.

My husband and I have been trying to conceive for about 2.5 years with 3 losses in that time. We saw a fertility specialist a few months ago and I was diagnosed with PCOS and placed on medications to correct this as well as progesterone after ovulation. My husband’s testing was normal.

Since starting treatment we had a chemical pregnancy. This gives us some hope but still has us waiting for success. The specialist said that a trigger shot and timed intercourse could be the next option. Personally we don’t really feel like IUI would be beneficial since we had correct timing and my husband’s normal testing.

I’m looking for anyone who has experience with taking a trigger shot and timing intercourse and not going the IUI/IVF route. What was your experience like?

Very curious who got progesterone suppositories after their Ovulation Induction treatment.

I know in the Netherlands there aren't really guidelines and many clinics are not really keen on prescribing them due to lack of evidence, while in Ireland I always get these after my ovulation induction. I'm so convinced it's beneficial besides the lack of evidence... curious if you had progesterone after ovulation induction or not and your thoughts on this.

TW: MMC
I just tested negative, my 26th cycle ttc. I had 2 back to back mmc in 2025, since then nothing. I took Letrozole 7,5mg and a trigger shot for the last 3 cycles, which made me kinda hopeful since I felt I could actively do something. My body knows how to get pregnant, when we started ttc I got pregnant twice almost immediately. I don‘t understand what happened 🤷‍♀️.
I just turned 41 last week, I feel like I am running out of time. I am not looking for medical advice or anything, I just wanted to share since I don‘t have anyone to talk to besides my husband. Thank you for reading!

Hello! I m writing in tears because i just found out that this cycle too i m not pregnant! I have pcos with homa 2,5, normal kg, and the rest of the labs good. For almost twist years i struggled with no ovulation, i can ovulate only with meds. But with Meds i do have ovulation, but no result in pregnancy. I m taking a lot o vitamins and supplements( vit D, coq10, nac, inositol)
I wanted to ask, for us with pcos is it hard also to get pregnant? I mean ok yes i started to ovulate on meds, it s great, but beside this is it also hard to get pregnant? I thought that after a few months it will happen....
Thank you!

Hey everyone!

I am trying to conceive and desperately seeking any and all advice you’re able to give me. Background info; I am 28F and was diagnosed with PCOS/PMOS when I was only 13 years old. I was on birth control for 14 years and only really had a few months here and there where I would stop taking it for a while to see how my body would react and it never lasted too long because I simply do not have a period naturally. I have been off my birth control since beginning of May and so far my symptoms aren’t too bad, but I still have not had a period naturally. My OB started me on Provera to force a period, then 5.0mg of Letrozole. That stared off promising because my ovulation test strips were coming back as positive for ovulation, but I never saw a surge in LH so my OB did a blood test on CD 23 and my progesterone level came back at only 0.6 ng/mL. Naturally, this was very discouraging for me since that it absolutely no where near the level needed for a confirmed ovulation. I took pregnancy test a few days ago and it was negative. I figured it would be, but a part of me still had hope 😔

So, here I am asking for all the help I can possible get to get! What worked for you? What didn’t? Did your progesterone finally spike?

My husband and I cannot afford IVF and my OB said if I’m not pregnant after 6 months from just Letrozole that I will need to seek other treatment options. But like I said, we just can’t afford that so this is really our only shot.

What I’ve already tried/going to try:
• 5mg letrozole
• Myo-inositol and D-chiro-inositol
• Inito fertility tracker
• Prenatal vitamins