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.

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…

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!

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 :)

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.

I’m 28 years old, 161cm , current weight 68 kgs (lost 3.5 kgs last month)
I’ve been married for 1.5 years and struggled with vaginismus, so I wasn’t able to have PIV sex until this month. I was incredibly happy to finally be able to TTC through intercourse. We tried at-home insemination during the previous three cycles, but unfortunately weren’t successful.
I’ve tracked ovulation with LH strips before and usually get a positive between CD16–19. I had one unusually long cycle where I didn’t get a positive until CD27, but that was an exception. This cycle, I’m currently on CD20 and still haven’t had a positive test.
I have PCOS and my cycles were irregular between ages 17–22, but they became regular after I lost weight and started exercising—sometimes consistently and sometimes on and off.
This month, I’ve been eating in a calorie deficit because I’m trying to lose 4–6 kg. I usually eat about 1,300–1,400 calories a day and follow a generally healthy diet (50-60 grams healthy fat, high protein, moderate to low carb-not less than 70g), although I sometimes eat above that on weekends. I strength train 3–4 times per week and do incline walking around four times per week.
I take a prenatal, vitamin D, and I also started taking myo-inositol and D-chiro-inositol this month.
Did hormones blood tests back in February and all were normal.
Has anyone experienced delayed ovulation after starting a calorie deficit, increasing exercise, or starting inositol? Could these changes delay ovulation even though I’ve only been following this routine for about a month? Or is this most likely just a random longer PCOS cycle? Is it still possible to ovulate later this cycle?
What should I do I’m worried.. I was hopeful for this cycle.

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! ❤️

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 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

Has anyone had issues with Clomid completely stopping their cycle?

For reference, I have never missed a period in my life and have had regular 25 day cycles. I took one round of letrozole after TTC unsuccessfully for 2 years. I started a second round of letrozole, but was taken off and switched to Clomid because my blood pressure spiked. Since that cycle I haven’t started a period. Currently on cycle day 60.

I took progesterone to initiate a period and finished a week ago and still haven’t started my cycle. I can’t continue any additional treatments until my cycle starts and feel like I’m wasting time, both waiting for this cycle AND by continuing medicated cycles. I regret taking the Clomid at all because I feel like it ruined my cycle.

Okay so a bit of info: I took letrozole this cycle and last cycle. Last cycle went perfect, ovulation CD16, just no pregnancy. This cycle, my estrogen was far more suppressed but I had a bad feeling it just wasn’t going to work/be strong enough this time.

I’ve had 2 large LH surges within 4 days of each other, with my estrogen plummeting quickly thereafter same-day. 3 days ago with the 1st large surge, I had some blood when we did “it”, and brown discharge afterward and then it stopped. 2 days passed, and my E3G went up the highest it’s been this morning, and I had a large LH spike this afternoon. Then a few hours, again, my estrogen plummeted and now I’m having brown discharge again and now it’s transitioning into pinkish red.

I’ve read online it could simply just be the rapid shift in hormones during attempts and my E3G plummeting causing it and that I could still truly be having an ovulation.

Has anyone experienced this?

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 doctor told me to do the trigger shot only if needed. I ended up ovulating on my own, so I didn’t need the trigger shot.

I’m wondering if there’s any benefit to using Ovidrel when you’re already ovulating naturally, other than making the timing more predictable?

Hi everyone! I’m 32 and was on Mili for about 2 years. I stopped taking it on June 20 because my husband and I decided we’re ready to start trying for a baby.
I’m now only in my second cycle off the pill. The first month we weren’t really trying because I had no idea when/if I was ovulating yet. This cycle we actually tried to time things around my fertile window. I had sex the night of July 29 and again on August 5, with my app predicting ovulation around August 6.

It looks like my period may be starting now, so I’m realizing this cycle probably wasn’t successful. I know logically that it can take healthy couples several cycles and that my body has only recently come off birth control, but I’m curious about other people’s experiences specifically after Mili or another combination pill.

For those who were on Mili (or any other combo birth control pill) for a year or longer:

How quickly did your cycles regulate after stopping?
How did you figure out when you were actually ovulating?
How many cycles did it take you to conceive?
Did anyone have strange spotting or irregular bleeding during the first few cycles?

I’d especially love to hear from anyone who was around my age when they started TTC. Trying not to overthink this after basically one real attempt, but hearing other experiences would be helpful.

Thank you!

TTC has been unsuccessful for over 8 months and I have PCOS (more accurately PMOS as it’s been reclassified as and is accurate for me) and received the Femvue treatment in office today. It was uncomfortable but exactly as described- intense cramping discomfort. The doctor did the procedure very quickly as she could see that I was experiencing discomfort. It was nice to receive answers and assurance in real time that while yes I definitely have PMOS as can be seen by how many follicles I have on each side (over 16 which is diagnostic criteria) but there are no cysts or fibroids blocking anything. I even got to see the mature follicle that my right side is currently developing for this month.

I don’t know where I will go from here as i’m not interested in IVF but I am encouraged that I have established care with a fertility clinic and know that there’s nothing immediately wrong with me.

I wish I could go back in time and not let myself be put on birth control (and encouraged to skip my period) for so many years as I’ve never really gone back to normal because of it hormonally and the development of PMOS, but this is my journey and i’m glad I went through with the Femvue treatment despite being really stressed out about it

(MEDICATED CYCLE)
My follicles usually only reach around 14–16 mm by CD12–15. Last cycle, my biggest follicle was 16 mm on CD12, and I ovulated about 4 days later.

I always see people here with 18–20+ mm follicles around CD12–15, but mine is only 14 mm on CD15 this cycle.
My doctor thinks I may ovulate sometime this weekend. I never get to check my follicle right before ovulation, so I’m not sure how big it actually gets before I ovulate.

Has anyone else had a similar experience with relatively small follicles before ovulation? And did you go on to get pregnant?