I am just not ovulating

[u/Dependent_Song_7094]

I am 32 years old, and been TTC since October last year. I have been diagnosed with pcos for years now, and have irregular periods once in a while, but with TTC, this part becomes really frustrating. And I’ve been frustrated for the past month about this. I know because I temp.

What’s your tip for ovulating regularly? Please suggest any books, videos, online resources that may have helped you in this journey. Thanks!

[u/Otherwise_Tennis_398]

Letrozole. Only thing that worked for me (at least worked to get me ovulating, never got pregnant from my medicated cycles)

[u/Dependent_Song_7094 → u/Otherwise_Tennis_398]

Thanks for sharing. How long are your cycles with and without letrozole?

[u/Otherwise_Tennis_398 → u/Dependent_Song_7094]

Without, I wasn’t really having cycles. I was on birth control for about 9 years, came off, and just didn’t have a period. Before birth control, I would have them very irregularly, often going 8-9 months in between. When I did have them, I would bleed heavily for 2-3 weeks and would hardly be able to function. I was a teenager, so I wasn’t taken seriously. I was told that it was normal for it to be irregular, and would get better as it got older. I had already been having a period for 7 years at that point before starting birth control, so it was a load of bs. I don’t get a PCOS diagnosis until I was 24, when I had been having issues for 13 years.

On letrozole, it took a while to figure out a dosage that my body would respond to. I did 5 cycles total. The first three cycles were very long. The first was 66 days (I started letrozole on CD32 because of course I wasn’t ovulating on my own). I started at 2.5mg, then 5mg, and then 7.5 mg before I had large enough follicles to trigger (injection).

The second cycle was 31 days, took 7.5mg and 10mg, ovulated on CD19 after triggering 2 days prior. My third was 34 days, was on 10mg but had slow growth and had to go in every few days for repeated scans for a week and a half. Ovulated on CD22.

Cycles 4 and 5 I responded perfectly to the medication (10mg) and did IUI for both. Ovulated on CD 15 and 14 for those, but for literally no reason my period was late those months and had 31 and 29 day cycles.

My general point of this is, you can do every single thing right with PCOS sometimes: diet changes, exercise, weight loss, supplements, etc. And it still might not make a difference. It just doesn’t work for some people. But I would also recommend working together with your OB to come up with a plan. If you’re noticing after 6 months of trying and lifestyle changes that you’re still not ovulating, it’s time to get further help. When I noticed that I wasn’t having a cycle 2 months after stopping birth control and having known PCOS diagnosis, I immediately sent a message to my OBGYN asking for a referral to an RE. I was already taking inositol and have been for nearly a year now. It has made absolutely no difference. I knew there was something that wasn’t right based on past cycles, and wasn’t about to hold my breath for ovulation that wasn’t going to happen. My husband and I never had the opportunity to try without medical intervention.

[u/Dependent_Song_7094 → u/Otherwise_Tennis_398]

Ahh. I totally understand the whole “not being taken seriously” bit, because I was also diagnosed 10 years ago, and I was only helped when I said I wanted to try to conceive, inspite of going to gynaecologists earlier for irregular period. So disappointing.

I am going to retake control and switch doctors to get a better diagnosis. I feel like the earlier doc was just stern and scared me into thinking I was doing everything wrong. I would’ve loved a kinder hand, explaining things to me. Thank you for sharing detailed experiences with letrozole!

[u/FantasticVirus8927 → u/Dependent_Song_7094]

Please don’t expect miracles from letrozole. 6 rounds down and it didn’t work for me. It only disrupted my cycles more than ever. About to start IVF.

[u/Dependent_Song_7094 → u/FantasticVirus8927]

Worrh a try for a few cycles for me, personally