Normal periods, but don't ovulate

greyt00 · 10-07-2009, 12:16 AM

I haven't been formally diagnosed with PCOS so I hope it's OK for me to be here, but I would like to know if anyone else...

- has no cysts (or at least none that are persistent and the doc is not worried about them)
- AND has regular periods
- AND is not sure if they ovulate every month (or is sure they do not)

They ran EVERYTHING and my bloodwork was pretty good, but inconclusive. I am depressed right now because I don't think I ovulate every month (maybe never?), and I don't know why. Looking back on the handful of times where I thought I had a positive OPK, now I wonder if it really was. I didn't get a positive last month, not even close. I will take a pic the next time I get something that looks close. Now I'm thinking that in the past the test line was *almost* as dark as the control line, but not quite, and I just told myself it was because I wanted it to be.

DH thinks I'm worrying too soon. The injection trigger costs $90, there are other pills and suppositories that cost who knows how much, and the U/S to look at the follicles or whatever is $250. In fact, I think his exact words were "hell no" when I mentioned it.

I'm upset right now. He doesn't understand what I am feeling. I had thought about doing all that "crazy stuff" this month, but DH goes out of town right around the trigger time, so I said forget it. I'm just doing Clomid and crossing my fingers. I don't think it's going to work.

Oh yeah, how much did you pay for Clomid, without insurance? 50 mg is $37 at CVS and HEB! Wal-Mart has it for $18, although the cheap drug list says it should be $9. They don't even carry a higher dose (could I just get double the pills then?)

BTW the reason I got tested to begin with is that my sister has it, and I have the acne, hair shedding, some facial hair, and didn't get pregnant after several months TTC (although I realize that isn't an unusually long time).

I should also add that when I claim I do or don't ovulate, that is only based on OPKs. My only bloodwork so far was done on day 3.

Happy Wife · 10-07-2009, 12:36 AM

I have regular cycles (28-30 days) but do not ovulate. I was diagnosed with PCOS in August after two months of blood work and 18 months of TTC. You are fortunate that you have regular cycles. Hopefully you will respond well to treatment. The only way to know for sure if you are ovulating is with a blood test on a specific day of your cycle to check your progesterone level. I have two of these done. One in June and one in August to confirm I was not ovulating. My OPKs for almost two years were positive every month. The blood tests also discovered I had insulin resistance. I do not know for sure if I have cysts or how bad they are. The only thing which may indicate I do was an MRI on my hip and back in 2004 indicated they may have seen a cyct on my ovaries. As far as injectables I have to agree with your DH that you may be worried about something you don't need to right now. I was put on metformin in August and noticed immediate changes (no more acne, slowe/thinned facial hair growth, no sugar/carb cravings, lost 10 pounds) I was given my first round of clomid in september 50mg and my progesterone levels doubled! I am on 100mg this month because my doctor would like to see the numbers a little higher. I have another blood test on the 19th to check. I know that 50mg of clomid 5 days is $9 at target. If you are put on a higher dose they just give you more pills (100mg = 2 a day for 5 days $18 at target)

Are you being monitored with blood work on the clomid?

greyt00 · 10-07-2009, 12:54 AM

Thanks for the reply, Kellie. I asked my obgyn about checking me for ovulation with the blood test (because it is much easier to get to his office than the RE) and he said it was overkill! He said the OPKs are good enough. The RE wanted me to do all the extra stuff (injectables, etc), but the timing was bad this month. I don't know what to do next time (assuming this month will be a flop).

This month I took 50mg Clomid but I took a pill twice per day. Based on what you wrote, I guess that's really a dose of 100mg. That means CVS cost twice as much as Target and that explains why Wal-Mart says they don't carry 100mg. I saw people mention 100mg dose, but I thought maybe that meant they take 100 2x/day. I didn't know. Thank you for the tip -- I'd rather go to Target than Wal-Mart so next time I will have them call it in there.

My problem is I am 31. If by some miracle I get pregnant in the next 6 months, I will be 33 by the time I have the baby, and that's assuming nothing else goes wrong. I don't think we have time to wait around. DH is not the one peeing for a test twice a day for a week every month, and withholding liquid intake for 2 hours before those 2 tests every day, and taking 8 pills per day (10 when I take Clomid, including the 2 Cinnamed and 2 prenatals twice per day). It's a lot to deal with. Right now I need to take the OPK and I haven't drank anything in 2 hours and don't feel like can pee. Arg.

Yes, I guess I am lucky I have regular cycles, but there are so many other things that can be wrong.

I'm glad your levels are responding to treatment! Hope it gets even better.

Happy Wife · 10-07-2009, 01:27 AM

Like I said my OPKs were positive for 18 months and I was not ovulating. Women with PCOS can have high LH hormone in their bodies all month giving false positives on OPKs. If you are me I would be glad to be ONLY 31 I am 35 and just started treatment. If I get pregnant in the next few months I will be almost 37 when the child is born. My husband will be almost 41. I am afraid I am running out of time and sometimes I wonder if I waited too long.
My DH and I are worried that as soon as or child is out of a stroller they will be pushing us in wheelchairs.

rose2071 · 10-07-2009, 01:46 AM

OKAY well heres my story. I have always gotten my AF with maybe one time of missing it and one time of having it twice. Other than that AF has arrived every month no later than 30 -35 days apart. I am 38 years of age and am the mother of twin 18 year olds. However after them i miscarried 4 times after the 5-8 week of preganancy. I saw numerous GYN who stated it was a progesternoe defficiency. Well i finally went to my doctor who is a regular M.D and she actually ran blood tests.wow imagine that! according to my blood work my hormone levels fell into the low average range so nothing was drastically defficient. She diagnosed me with PCOS because other than the absence of AF which seems to be common with everyone here, i suffer from all the other symptoms. My ultrasound did not show cysts but according to her they can be just that small that it would not be seen. She started me on MET 500 then increased me to MET 1000 which i still taking. My AF has always been heavy and MET really didnt stop that, I havent lost any weight, and i still crave carbs right before AF. I am in a new relationship and wanting another child before i am too old to conceive. According to my doctor it will happen. I am not feeling so sure about that. I dont know if i ovulate for sure. I think i do simply because i get those pains in my lower area where supposedly the ovaries are. who knows!I lost 35 pounds prior to MEt but that was with alot of exercise and really strict diet. I have read that losing weight can help with TTC along with MET but i also see alot about clomid which i am leery of because although i want another child i dont want multiple. Been there and got them.lol. So i am hoping hat Met will work for me since i am not suffering to severity like so many women here with the pcos. I was actually starting to feel like i didnt belong here because i do get AF and have kids already! Biggest fear i have is i have a chance to start over with someone, i want a baby and might not happen or i will conceive but once again have a miscarriage.It would be great to know that MET alone worked for someone that is similar to my self in regards to pcos not being as severe as others in symptoms.

sharky09 · 10-07-2009, 01:39 PM

Suzy,

Has your OB suggested Metformin at all for you???
Your case sounds a lot like mine. I never did confirm whether I ovulated or not pre diagnosis, but I'm betting I didn't. I've never had much luck with OPK's either.

Do you know what your testosterone levels were? I don't know what mine were but I think they were just high enough to throw off my whole system including horrid acne and infertility. 3 months on Met and the help of femara and injectables and I'm pregnant and my skin has cleared up. I really think Met only would have worked eventually. But luckily my dh has incredible insurance and at my age I'm in a hurry. I've read up on cinnamon and its suppose to do the same thing I think. I assume that's why you're taking it. Some girls on here have also tried Soy...its supposed to work just like clomid. You might wanna try it to.

Sending you lots of wishes and baby dust!

greyt00 · 10-07-2009, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sharky09

Suzy,

Has your OB suggested Metformin at all for you???
Your case sounds a lot like mine. I never did confirm whether I ovulated or not pre diagnosis, but I'm betting I didn't. I've never had much luck with OPK's either.

Do you know what your testosterone levels were? I don't know what mine were but I think they were just high enough to throw off my whole system including horrid acne and infertility. 3 months on Met and the help of femara and injectables and I'm pregnant and my skin has cleared up. I really think Met only would have worked eventually. But luckily my dh has incredible insurance and at my age I'm in a hurry. I've read up on cinnamon and its suppose to do the same thing I think. I assume that's why you're taking it. Some girls on here have also tried Soy...its supposed to work just like clomid. You might wanna try it to.

Sending you lots of wishes and baby dust!

Thank you.... No, since my glucose was normal (almost high, but not) and nothing else was weird, he put me on Cinnamed to help with my blood sugar, and told me to reduce my sugar intake. I was drinking 1 can of Coke daily before, and I've cut that down to every other day. I'm eating less ice cream and trying to snack more on peanuts and less on chips. The problem is finding things to eat. Sometimes I just stay hungry!

RE said my testosterone was in the normal range, but he also said that test is unreliable (same woman, different results one week to the next). I also read here that the normal range used by labs is too high. I don't know the value, but I am going to ask for a copy of all my labs. I paid for them, so I should have a copy.

I don't want to jinx myself but it seems like my skin is doing a little better now. For the last 6 days my skin has looked better than it has in 3 years. I hope it lasts. Maybe the Cinnamed + reduced sugar is doing something.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy Wife

Like I said my OPKs were positive for 18 months and I was not ovulating. Women with PCOS can have high LH hormone in their bodies all month giving false positives on OPKs. If you are me I would be glad to be ONLY 31 I am 35 and just started treatment. If I get pregnant in the next few months I will be almost 37 when the child is born. My husband will be almost 41. I am afraid I am running out of time and sometimes I wonder if I waited too long.

My OPKs have been spotty, so I hope that means the positives were real ones. Yeah, 31 is not so bad, but I wanted to be done by the time I am 35. I hope you get your wish soon!

Happy Wife · 10-07-2009, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greyt00

Thank you.... No, since my glucose was normal (almost high, but not) and nothing else was weird, he put me on Cinnamed to help with my blood sugar, and told me to reduce my sugar intake. I was drinking 1 can of Coke daily before, and I've cut that down to every other day. I'm eating less ice cream and trying to snack more on peanuts and less on chips. The problem is finding things to eat. Sometimes I just stay hungry!

RE said my testosterone was in the normal range, but he also said that test is unreliable (same woman, different results one week to the next). I also read here that the normal range used by labs is too high. I don't know the value, but I am going to ask for a copy of all my labs. I paid for them, so I should have a copy.

I don't want to jinx myself but it seems like my skin is doing a little better now. For the last 6 days my skin has looked better than it has in 3 years. I hope it lasts. Maybe the Cinnamed + reduced sugar is doing something.

My OPKs have been spotty, so I hope that means the positives were real ones. Yeah, 31 is not so bad, but I wanted to be done by the time I am 35. I hope you get your wish soon!

Glucose is a standard physical blood test (one of the first ones they did on me came back normal) My doctor suspected a problem when my insulin levels came back high the following month (third panel of tests) Have they checked your insulin levels? I was hungry all the time and craving sweets and carbs before they discovered I was insulin resistant and put me on metformin. Now I would rather snack on things with more protein like nuts and jerky instead of candy and chips.

greyt00 · 10-07-2009, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy Wife

Have they checked your insulin levels?

Yes, they did the following:
Glucose, Fasting
Insulin, fasting
2 Hour GTT
2 Hour Insulin