First doctor's appointment.. what do I say?

[saara24]

I have my appointment on Friday to start the ball rolling to get us a bubba.

I had my coil out in October last year and AF has only shown up once since then, in February. I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 17, and no periods is pretty much my normal, although they come and go and I had had them pretty regularly for a while until last year (typical lol!)

What do I ask the doctor when I see her? What should I say, what do I need to know, etc?

I'm very nervous about it all suddenly.

 

[mlyn26]

I'm surprised no-one has replied. I too came of BC last Oct but the pill. I have had just 3 periods in 13 months. I have visited my GP and they are sending me for a U/S to check for PCOS. I guess since you know you have PCOS you should just inform your GP that you have been trying since last oct with no joy and want some tests to see why and some intervention to help. They may do bloods (mine came bk normal) or they may even decide to start you straight on clomid after a referral to the gynae since they know you have PCOS and your periods are so irregular.

Good luck x

 

[Kiki09]

I have pcos and have periods, though my cycles vary from 31 - 38 days. I went to my gp as I had been testing and temping to see if I ovulated and none ever showed that I did, so he did blood tests and confirmed that I was right, so I asked him about clomid, he gave me 6 cycles worth, 2 on, 1 off... I am on my 3rd cycle..

do your research before you go so you can have an open chat with your GP, fingers crossed they help you

 

[saara24]

I too was a bit surprised that no-one had replied and was in a bit of a bad mood yesterday after a hard day at work (we have two shops and are having a bit of hassle with staff, and sales are slow - I'm only in one day a week and run our website the rest of the time, and it's usually great fun, but yesterday it wasn't!) and was going to post a sarky reply, I'm glad I didn't now

My bloods came back normal back when I got diagnosed, so much so that the doctor told me it was impossible that I could have PCOS and had to ring up the hospital (due to a scheduling mess-up only had the scan a day before the docs app) to confirm because he wouldn't believe me when I said that's what the nurse had told me - or what I'd told the nurse and she'd confirmed, having already suspected it beforehand as I had a friend who also had the same thing.

I did ovulation sticks when we first started this, but got bored of doing it because there was never any change, so I don't think I ovulate.

Thank you for the replies ladies. I'm hoping the doc'll just skip straight to the helping bit and won't insist on sending me for ultrasounds or anything to confirm the pcos again - the wait last time was something silly like 4 months just for a scan.

 

[mlyn26]

Good luck hun. In the meantime would you consider temping your waking temperature to pinpoint if you ovulate, what your leutal phase is etc so you have more evidence to give GP about your cycles at each appointment?
xx

 

[fluffystar]

I would definitely start charting temperatures in the meantime. My doc told me that I was very unlikely to be ovulating as I had very long and irregular cycles from 50 to 70 days long. When I charted, I found that I was actually ovulating each time without fail but just took a long time to get there.
It was so nice to see that something was regular about my cycles and that my luteal phase was always 12 days despite my irregular cycyle lengths!!

Good luck xx

 

[saara24]

Will definitely start taking temps then (OH is gonna laugh at me lol - I always said I wouldn't get caught up in all this)

Does it matter if it's at a slightly different time every morning? Because I work from home usually I'm rarely up at a regular time each day, it varies with workload from about 7am on very busy days to a more leisurely 10am or so if I don't have a lot to do.

 

[fluffystar]

I do find that I have to stick to the same half hour-hour window or my readings are a bit skewy! I have even set my alarm for the same time at weekend, much to my OH dismay. I guess it depends on how sensitive you are to timings, but it only takes 30 seconds and then you can go back to sleep again if you are have a lazy morning!

The fertilityfriend website has lots of good tips and you can record your temps on there also. If you register on their website they send you a short course by email to teach you about all of the signs that your body does actually give you when it is trying to ovulate. I found it very empowering and it gave me some reassurance that my body can act in a kind of regular way!

Good luck xx

 

[saara24]

Stupid doctors have post-poned the stupid appointment. Family bereavment, apparently (edited this in the cold light of day as I read back on it and realised I was being really really harsh - it was another long and difficult day, me and OH were fighting and what I didn't need was more disappointments.)

Yes. Got a call today while in the middle of a suppliers warehouse, telling me my appointment was cancelled and I had no other options than the accept the 'earliest' appointment they were offering me which is a week on Thursday and nearly a week after the one I was supposed to have, with a different doctor.

Just wish I'd picked Dr McShane to start with instead of asking for Dr Russell - would have had my appointment no probs then...

 

[NeyNey]

Well we're all different when it comes to mourning....I know my mother is slowly dying of heart disease and she's in her 60s but I'm certainly not prepared for life without her....and I can't see myself being all ok after a week, or 2 or 3 even.


Anyway, wishing you lots of luck with your appointment. Remember if anything pops into your head jot it down on paper and take it with you. You won't look foolish and the Dr's like that you're prepared.

 

[happyandy]

Saara - I have a book that I HIGHLY recommend you reading. It's called Taking Charge of Your Fertility.

This book will explain in detail how to chart, what signs to look for, and will plot out for you your peak days in the free trial software that comes with it.

To quickly answer a few of your questions:

Yes, you must take your temp at the same time every morning. Most people who get up at different times get around this by just setting their alarm for the earliest they will get up, then taking their temp and going back to sleep. I personally text message myself on my phone after taking my temp so I never forget what it was when I finally do decide to get up in the morning.

Taking your temp at different times (even 30 minutes difference) can result in a 10th of a point or more difference! When charting, this can be a major wonky cycle, so you want to be consistent. Once you get the hang of temping, you can throw cervical fluid charting and cervical position charting into the mix. It's fun! haha

And lastly, if you've only had one period in a year, it was likely annovulatory bleeding. If you ovulate, you WILL have a period in 12-16 days after. It's the way our bodies work. Cycles can vary greatly on how long they are overall, but the luteal phase will stay consistant - always. Even a woman with a perfect 28-day cycle every month, can occasionally have a longer cycle due to stress or illness delaying ovulation, but nothing delays the luteal phase

I'm dead serious when I recommend this book. It was the biggest eye-opener for me, and I'm thankful every day that I was turned onto it. We at first used it for TTA, and it was awesome. Now we're using FAM to TTC, and I also have PCOS!

Charting was pivotal in me diagnosing myself with PCOS before I ever went to the doctor. I only ovulated one time (back in December '08) right after going off the pill. Once I was diagnosed with PCOS via sonogram in July, then got an endocrinologist to diagnose me via blood work in October, I was finally put on Metformin, and I ovulated for the first time in 11 months just the past Thursday!

I know your body can do what it's supposed to do. You just need to know the proper channels to go through! I'm praying that your doctors will do the right thing and get you on the medication you need to straighten out your PCOS symptoms. Good luck and lots of baby dust to you!

 

[saara24]

NeyNey I'm really sorry to hear about your mum - like I put above, I realise how nasty I was being and I feel quite bad for saying all that. My way of dealing with things involves burying myself in whatever distraction I can - nobody is likely to be all good even months after the death of a parent. Work was the best thing for me because it was where I got to be normal - school and home were horrific because at school everyone knew and kept asking me about it, and at home my dad fell to pieces and dived into the nearest whisky bottle basically, so I was left to look after myself and my brother.

I've still got issues with it (which is why I reacted the way I did, probably).

Anyways. I'm getting side-tracked. Thank you everyone for replying - I'll get a thermometer at the weekend and get on with the temping thing while (not so) patiently waiting for my doctors. I guess I'll need to get good at waiting. Thank you happyandy for the book recommendation, I'll have a look and see if I can get hold of a copy

 

[happyandy]

NeyNey I'm really sorry to hear about your mum - like I put above, I realise how nasty I was being and I feel quite bad for saying all that. My way of dealing with things involves burying myself in whatever distraction I can - nobody is likely to be all good even months after the death of a parent. Work was the best thing for me because it was where I got to be normal - school and home were horrific because at school everyone knew and kept asking me about it, and at home my dad fell to pieces and dived into the nearest whisky bottle basically, so I was left to look after myself and my brother.

I've still got issues with it (which is why I reacted the way I did, probably).

Anyways. I'm getting side-tracked. Thank you everyone for replying - I'll get a thermometer at the weekend and get on with the temping thing while (not so) patiently waiting for my doctors. I guess I'll need to get good at waiting. Thank you happyandy for the book recommendation, I'll have a look and see if I can get hold of a copy

Can't wait to hear what you think of the book! It's my new bible for ALL things reproductive system!