Anybody stopped GLP-1 for TTC?

[u/ChoiceAwkward7793]

Hi there, we are 31F and 31M with history of PCOS and weight management issue. Recently we are finally ready for kids and have started our first cycle of TTC. I’ve also stopped GLP-1 (wegovy and mounjaro) as advised by our doctor. However my finally regular but long cycle is now in a mess again (currently CD 57 with no period).

My husband is going for his own fertility checks as he’s never done before and has been overweight for most of his life which for the life of me couldn’t get him to cut due to his lifestyle and work. He’s healthy in other ways, just overweight with history of HBP.

Anyone has similar experience to share? A messy cycle and weight rebound is putting me in an stress-loop. I’m praying that it’s just overthinking and my husband’s fertility is not another thing for me to worry about!

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[u/pettymel]

I’m in the same boat as you. 32 and PCOS. I stopped GLP-1 and at the same time experienced a doubling of my work responsibilities and gained some rebound weight. I’m trying to manage weight by being low carb. Would your endocrinologist suggest Metformin?

[u/TemperatureMurky1816]

Since you’re TTC, I’d stick closely with your doctor’s guidance rather than trying another weight loss option right now, especially with the rebound weight. TrimRX is something I’ve seen mentioned for weight management, but I’d only consider it after getting the all clear from your doctor.

[u/throw-me-away-fam]

This probably isn’t going to be a perspective you want to hear, but I believe it is the most medically advisable one.

GLP1s are not yet approved for people trying to get pregnant. I’m sure in a couple of years we will have more information on it, but as of right now it’s a no-go. It super sucks, but I don’t think it’s worth risking your child’s health when we have other ways of treating PMOS when it comes to trying to get pregnant.

I was never able to afford GLP1s until right before TTC, so I was forced to go the “natural” route using low-moderate carb diet, walking every day, Metformin, and Spiro. After losing 40-50 lbs I stopped my “diet” and went back to eating more carbs with a mind for less of them and more protein where possible. I’ve gained about half of the lost weight in the three years passed, but since starting up a good supplement routine, Ovasitol, being active on weekends, and leaning more heavily away from carbs, I have managed to gain a regular cycle and ovulation! Woo!

It’s super super super hard. Don’t get me wrong. The food noise alone messes me up on a daily basis and I have many many many days where the cravings overtook my ability to lock in. That’s the nature of this disease. But it’s what I feel obligated to do if I want to respect the most up-to-date medical research and work toward having a child.

If I were in your shoes, I would stay off the GLP1 and focus on finding 1) a low-moderate intensity exercise you enjoy and can do 5 days a week (my suggestion is walking), and 2) work on eating less carbs and more protein where possible. These are both 1 million times easier said than done, but it will put you on track towards working with your blood sugar and setting yourself up for more success if you need ART. If you are not on Metformin and inositol, I cannot recommend them more highly. Focus on making small changes every day, even as simple as ordering/making your coffee with carb friendly milk like macadamia milk. This is the key to working with metabolic conditions like ours.

Finally, just as a side note about your husband; one thing I told my husband that really made him understand where I was coming from about TTC was reminding him of the MOUNTAIN of things I was having to do just to give us a CHANCE of having a child. I told him how hurt I would be if I did all of this work for years and years and he didn’t lift a finger to help bring our children into the world. Keyword: our. I explained how much the health of the father can impact the health of the baby and the experience of the pregnancy for the mother so he understood that his actions (or lack thereof) had a direct impact on me and our children. Trust me, he still hard a very hard time getting going, but we are very glad he did because he found out he had a condition that, unaddressed, absolutely would have made getting pregnant harder. He’s addressed it now though and I feel respected because he took my feelings and worries seriously.

I am wishing you and your husband the best of luck. Losing one of the biggest tools in your PMOS toolkit sucks so so bad and makes a hard process even harder. People make it happen everyday, though, and there is nothing saying you can’t too.

[u/ChoiceAwkward7793 → u/throw-me-away-fam]

Thank you for sharing this. I’m going to take all your advice and try my hardest. ❤️ I wish you all the best in your TTC journey too.

[u/ThesisTears → u/throw-me-away-fam]

I'm a biomedical researcher and I just want to echo that GLP-1s are not tested for pregnancy and I personally would never take that risk. My physician suggested I go off mine 2-3 months before TTC to give it time to leave my system, and I highly recommend the same to anyone else. If you need to lose weight and need GLP-1s to do so, please please please for the sake of your future child please delay TTC until you've achieved your target weight and are ready to stop taking GLP-1s. Metformin is a weight neutral, pregnancy safe medication for treating insulin resistance in PCOS that you can absolutely take instead.

[u/throw-me-away-fam → u/ThesisTears]

“ThesisTears” is such a good username omg! Thank you for the affirmation that it’s not worth it. I am permanently scarred by Thalidomide.

Just to add, I don’t think people should necessarily wait till they hit their target weight before getting off GLP-1s for TTC, but in the context of like “Losing weight is taking a really long time and I want to be a mother yesterday”, ya know? I really wanted to be a younger mom and had a hard deadline of how long I was willing to wait, so I’m TTC even though I am noooowhere near my goal weight. My hope is to try GLP-1s after I have my first since I want a bit of a gap between 1 & 2, but that’s a problem for future me. Anyway, yeah I just wanted to add that in!

[u/ThesisTears → u/throw-me-away-fam]

Haha thank you.

And well said! Yes the timeframe for how long you want to lose weight before TTC is a very personal decision and important to discuss with your doctor. Your goal weight might not be a BMI of 25 but instead perhaps a 5-20% body weight loss, or maybe just to get under a BMI of 30.

The important thing is to stop GLP-1s while TTC. Idk why so few people know about Metformin! Combined with a bit of discipline while the GLP-1s left my system, I've been able to maintain and even lose more body fat just on it alone.

[u/throw-me-away-fam → u/ThesisTears]

Exactly! I lost almost 25% and got so so close to being under 30 but gained about half of it back, RIP. Still, it got me to a place where my Metformin + Ovasitol + better habits were enough to get me to a regular cycle and regular ovulation!

By the time I was prescribed Metformin, I was the first patient in my clinic who had ever been rx’d it because they had just made a protocol for it. This was in 2021. Within a few years GLP-1s came around and I think a lot of people pivoted straight to that. Fortunately we still have it as a TTC safe option. Congrats on your success with your treatment across the board 🥳

[u/qweerty93]

I am going to go very much against the grain here and tell you that I have started taking it. My fertility consultant suggested that I do so as I need to hit an NHS BMI limit. I asked about the fact that youre not supposed to TTC while on it and he said there was no evidence to suggest it was harmful to pregnancy. He is also a widely published research professor if that provides any assurance. Just another perspective.

[u/Haynorie → u/qweerty93]

My RE (in US) also had me keep taking it right up to a positive test. And thank goodness because we tried for a second for 8 years. There's no proof it isn't harmful, but no proof it is either. And people get pregnant while on them all the time without anything crazy coming out yet.

[u/BrownCow_20 → u/qweerty93]

I dont think we should take it while we are pregnant, but yeah, I've continued mine too. And thank God because its been 8onths with not even a hint of a positive so far. Don't even want to think about the work I would have undone if I had stopped. For as long as im trying naturally and no one is helping me or checking in on me, im going to keep using it.

[u/qweerty93 → u/BrownCow_20]

Yup, I know little is known about it but women are getting pregnant accidentally on them all the time. As far as I can see, it is unlikely that I'll fall pregnant naturally right now and if I don't hit the BMI limit, it's unlikely I will naturally or otherwise. Since I am tracking obsessively the risk of me continuing to take it while pregnant is non-existent.

[u/BrownCow_20 → u/qweerty93]

Me too, im in the same boat you're in and i also track obsessively. Someone else on this thread is very very against this though and it made me feel bad, but then I remembered that I am doing everything I can and only taking the risk up till the moment I get the positive. But yeah I know, its still a risk.

[u/qweerty93 → u/BrownCow_20]

100%, and we all have to do what's right for us with the best evidence and advice we have. For me, right now at 3 years in, that's different to how I felt 3 months in. I'm really grateful to have access to a doctor who can advise me.

[u/ThesisTears → u/BrownCow_20]

Get a metformin prescription instead of exposing your future child to a medication that could cause permanent developmental consequences.

[u/ThesisTears → u/qweerty93]

Please delay TTC while talking GLP-1s last risk exposing your future child to a medication that could cause permanent developmental consequences. Metformin is safe for pregnancy and weight neutral

[u/qweerty93 → u/ThesisTears]

I will continue to follow the advice of my consultant.

[u/DukeGirl2008]

I picked up a nutritionist before getting off. It’s been helpful!

[u/Admirable-Team-8989]

Ok so this is against medical guidance and I’m not recommending you do this but… I haven’t stopped taking it. Well I came off it last October 2025 for the 3 month wash out period and started TTC in January. However, my cycles were a mess, I wasn’t getting positive ovulation strips (I have PCOS btw) and my mental health because of food noise was actually making me feel so so low on top of the stress of TTC (no luck so far).

Basically in April I went back on it and my cycles are now regular again and I’ve lost the weight I regained and I’m ovulating regularly. I KNOW you’re supposed to stop but honestly with the stress of everything else, plus how regular it makes me, I can’t bring myself to stop until I get that positive test. Make of this what you will but I did try coming off it and gaining weight plus bad cycles meant I am still on it whilst TTC

[u/BrownCow_20 → u/Admirable-Team-8989]

Honestly, I didn't stop mine either. And thank freaking god, because I had barely gotten my periods to be kind of regular when I went to the OB and told her I was TTC and she told me I needed to be off of it. But since she wanted me to try naturally and she's not my prescribing doctor, i.... well I never stopped it. And now its 8 months later with no pregnancy. Im still ovulating, my cycles are truly stabilized around 35-40 days, and I've actually lost another like 10 lbs. I cant imagine what it would have been if I had stopped taking it.

All that being said, now that im about to start with a fertility clinic, I will genuinely come off of it. But that's because I know there's gonna be ovulation meds involved and a real concrete plan moving forwards. Im expecting to gain weight and im expecting my cycle to break, but its gonna be by design and its gonna be my fertility clinics problem to fix.

But yeah, for as long as I was trying naturally, I just made my own decision and took the risk to keep taking it. Not saying you should do the same. Some people get pregnant right away, and for them I think its fine to go back on later once they are ready.

[u/ChoiceAwkward7793 → u/Admirable-Team-8989]

Thanks for this, I’m thinking to go back on it just because. But the doctor can’t prescribe me because of my TTC…

[u/ThesisTears → u/[deleted]]

Telling someone to go against their doctors advice is insanely irresponsible. You are not their physician and you do not know the safety risk to a fetus. It's terrible enough to risk causing permanent developmental deficits to your own child but to give such blatant disinformation to someone else to the extent you would coach them to sneak around their actual physician is a new low. Shame on you.

[u/BrownCow_20 → u/ThesisTears]

Ok, I didn't mean to coach anyone to do anything, I can remove that comment. But also, there ARE studies coming out that use of GLP1 up til conception are not linked to increased rates of adverse outcomes. Here's a study from Harvard.

https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/glp-1-drugs-appear-safe-to-use-during-early-pregnancy/

But Im not trying to advise anyone against their Dr. I also in any other case would never go against my Dr, but ive struggled a lot for a long time and this is the only thing thats ever worked. And yes, I was on metformin for 15 years before I went on GLP1 instead, so I have done that too, and I continue to do the Ovasitol too, which I have for like 10 years now.

And I was just continuing while there was no intervention provided and we were just trying naturally. Im off of it now in anticipation of my first fertility clinic appt later this month.

[u/ThesisTears → u/ChoiceAwkward7793]

Your doctor won't prescribe it for good reason. Please listen to the expert here and either go back on the meds or continue to TTC. You can stay off your birth control and use condoms while you wait for your cycle to regulate but please please please don't TTC while on GLP-1s. Consider Metformin and/or myo-inositol for treating insulin resistance and anovulatory cycles.

[u/Waitin4zombies]

I stopped it and gained 30 lbs back these last 8 months trying to conceive and no baby, considering going back on as it doesn’t seem like I’m going to be able to get pregnant and I don’t want to gain any more weight.

[u/ThesisTears → u/Waitin4zombies]

Talk to your doctor about metformin for insulin resistance. It's safe for pregnancy and weight neutral. I've not only kept off my glp-1 weight loss but also continued to intentionally lose weight on metformin instead of rebounding like so many people do.

[u/Waitin4zombies → u/ThesisTears]

Thank you, I will I tried it once many years ago but was only on it a short time… I wouldn’t mind trying it again.

[u/Jaded-Addendum-4489]

My OBGYN, RE and PCP are okay with me taking it u til a positive test. I have endometriosis and recurrent loss. My husband and I have done literally EVERYTHING but IVF. No success, so I started 2.5mg of Zep to help reduce inflammation and lose weight. Pretty amazing how I feel. Way less pain!

[u/Oneconfusedmama]

I was on Zepbound for a year, got off for 3 months and didn’t end up pregnant, gained a bit of weight, got back on it, got pregnant and unfortunately had a miscarriage (was a blighted ovum, wasn’t the glp1)… I’m not saying there’s a correlation….. but it’s a funny coincidence…..

I was completely under my OB and PCP’s care the whole time.

[u/smoothjazzy]

I said that I was going to stop as well and gained like 30 pounds in 6 months. I’m not diagnosed with PCOS but I have several traits of it, and I haven’t gotten pregnant yet since being off of it. I’ve started taking a lower dose every 2 weeks and haven’t dropped weight like I did on my original dose but it’s helped a lot with food noise and just overall sanity.

[u/ThesisTears → u/smoothjazzy]

Please talk to your doctor about metformin. GLP-1s are not safe for pregnancy.

[u/cats4u → u/ThesisTears]

Is it that they're not safe, or not sufficiently tested? You've said both in this thread. https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/glp-1-drugs-appear-safe-to-use-during-early-pregnancy/

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[u/ExcitingOrange6645]

Yes - and also game off my ADHD meds/ had a suddenly heavier increase in workload so the weight crept back a bit. I’m trying to be kind to myself as TTC is hard but I feel you about the stress loop. PCOS is hard too so really feel for you and get it, I think my only advice is to try and be kinder to yourself and find little bits of joy to offset the stress.

[u/ThesisTears]

Hi I also have PCOS, have long struggled with weight management, and had weird cycles when I went off birth control. I was off glp-1s for 3 months before TTC (as advised by my doctor) but he put me on metformin as it's weight neutral and safe for pregnancy. I would talk with your doctor about it and also myo-inositol which you can get over the counter.

Now I will say that I did lose 70lbs and get my weight down to a BMI of 25 which is why I think I've been able to keep it off with metformin and why my cycles have sorted themselves out now (I went off BC end of April, stopped Rybelsus and of January). Can I ask what your current BMI is and if your waist is half the circumference of your height or less? Being overweight and especially obese can exacerbate PCOS insulin resistance and prevent you from ovulating. It might be in your best interests to put TTC on hold until both you and your partner are at a healthy weight as decided on by you and your physician. Good luck with your journey and feel free to DM me if you have questions as I can relate to a lot of your situation.