TTC #1 with PCOS using Metformin and Preseed

[KatelynW]

Hi there ladies

new here and just wanted to maybe here if any of you had any success stories with Metformin?

Recently diagnosed with PCOS after trying for 2 years and no luck. OBGYN prescribed me Metformin to shorten length of cycles (anywhere from 35-80 days, though I typically have 8 a year). I have been taking it for three weeks and even though my last cycle was 01/17 I feel like my body is back on track. I have only taken 1000 Mg a night for the past 3 weeks.

Had a positive OPK on 03/12 morning for the first time since November! Needless to say, super exciting. Hubby and I BD that afternoon with PRESEED but only got to that day because of opposite work schedules, took another OPK the following day just to be sure and it was negative. Hoping that we made it just in time!

1DPO- low tugging cramps
2DPO-low tugging cramps
3DPO-pink/orange spotting on tp , very light, sleepy, crampy
4DPO-sleepy, bitchy
5DPO-sleepy, low cramps, full feeling, sore nipples
6DPO-sleepy, not sleeping well, weird dreams and what I would describe as Pregnancy "intuition", REALLY sore nipples, and brown mucousy discharge


Anyone have any of the symptoms above near the same time im having them in reference to DPO?

Any input would be helpful and welcome

Also has anyone had luck with PRESEED?

 

[KatelynW]

anyone??

 

[Bee Bee]

I have PCOS as well and have been on Metformin since last June. I was taking 2000mg but am now supposed to be on 1500 but have only been on 500 for the past 2 weeks (lots of stupid crap has been happening with me where they make me go off of it, but then I have to work my way back up again once I got back on because metformin makes me super sick.)

It definitely helped my cycles! I found out I had PCOS because I didnt have a period for 6 months. But I started having periods again after taking it. But, with that being said, they still weren't terribly regular, I was having 30-60 day cycles. That made timing BD really hard so we went on ovulation medication.

And I DID fall pregnant after that, but it was ectopic unfortunately, (and one of the reasons I have been off metformin the past few months)

So, I haven't exactly fallen pregnant on just metformin alone but I do want to let you know that it has helped me

 

[KatelynW]

Thanks so much for your response Bee Bee and I'm so sorry to hear about your ectopic . That so tough to work so hard for it and have it taken just like that . I hope you have a sticky bean in your near future!

PCOS is such a struggle and I don't know if your weight has been affected by it but mine has. I used to be thin have gained about 40 pounds in 2 years. Before I started a low -carb diet my weight would fluctuate like crazy! Metformin has been awesome in helping my body control Insulin. I've actually lost 13 pounds since I started it 3 weeks ago which is awesome! I feel like that gave my ovaries a kick start and put them back in gear.

Keep me updated!

 

[Bee Bee]

Thanks so much for your response Bee Bee and I'm so sorry to hear about your ectopic . That so tough to work so hard for it and have it taken just like that . I hope you have a sticky bean in your near future!

PCOS is such a struggle and I don't know if your weight has been affected by it but mine has. I used to be thin have gained about 40 pounds in 2 years. Before I started a low -carb diet my weight would fluctuate like crazy! Metformin has been awesome in helping my body control Insulin. I've actually lost 13 pounds since I started it 3 weeks ago which is awesome! I feel like that gave my ovaries a kick start and put them back in gear.

Keep me updated!

It was a little rough I've been trying for almost 2 years and that was my first pregnancy. But, knowing I could try again is what got me through it. I'm just so lucky that the pregnancy was caught so early (and by accident lol) and that my docs found out it was an ectopic early before any real damage was done, since it was in my tube.

It has, but more in the sense that I haven't been able to lose weight. I actually gained all my weight from my thyroid giving up on me. I gained about 80 lbs. So, i went from 95lbs to 175lbs. (only 5 ft tall for reference lol). I have not been able to lose weight still after my thyroid surgery because of PCOS. Even on metformin. But, like I said, they keep making me go off and on it again so I'm sure that's not helping. But, atleast I am not gaining more I guess O:

Either way, we are both in the TWW! I am 10 DPO though today so a bit farther along than you. I had an HCG trigger this month and I am also on progesterone (because my issue seems to be with babies sticking. I have had 4 or so chemicals) so I've been told I can't test until 14DPO just to be sure I don't get a false positive from the HCG shot.

No real symptoms for me minus feeling like I was dropkicked in the chest (breast pain) today. But I also didn't have a single symptom with my ectopic either, so maybe its a good sign lol!

 

[bunyhuny]

I've been off and on Metformin for a few years now. I have an atypical response, so I can't be much help. Metformin actually raises my fasting blood sugar from its normal 80-95 up to 100-120, so that's not good. Still, I don't respond to IVF meds if I'm not on it and I have to use it to control my post-prandial blood sugar when I'm on Prednisone post-IVF transfer, so it's something I have to live with.

When I got PCOS, I gained almost 100 lbs and stopped ovulating entirely for over a year, so I had to be on Metformin in the beginning since my hormones were totally out of whack and my blood sugar was too high after eating. Not that I've lost 30-40 lbs and my hormones have mostly normalized, I don't have to take it if I don't want to. At this point, I ovulate on my own with or without it- same day either way. Last month I had Metformin and O'd on CD 35, this cycle I was off it and O'd on CD 34. I just wish I could get my normal CD 18 O back! I hate PCOS so much!

Anyway... I'm sorry. That's probably not very helpful, but it's all I've got as far as Metformin experience goes. I hope it works for you. I've seen it do wonders for a lot of women on here. And in the beginning it did help me to lose some of the weight and start O'ing again. It just got weird later on. Hopefully you will be in the group of folks that have nothing but success, and not in my crazy-reponse-to-Metformin minority. haha

 

[bunyhuny]

Bee Bee- I am so sorry for your loss, hun, but I'm glad they were able to catch your ectopic early and you were able to do Methotrexate. I was not able to do mtx and lost my tube. They found mine at 6 weeks and there was already a strong heartbeat, baby was growing right on time, so there was no choice but to remove the tube. It was pretty bad, and that surgery was awful.

 

[Bee Bee]

Bee Bee- I am so sorry for your loss, hun, but I'm glad they were able to catch your ectopic early and you were able to do Methotrexate. I was not able to do mtx and lost my tube. They found mine at 6 weeks and there was already a strong heartbeat, baby was growing right on time, so there was no choice but to remove the tube. It was pretty bad, and that surgery was awful.

Im sorry to hear that! D: Mine was strange, I found out I was pregnant by surprise (didnt think I had O'd yet, new doc wont put me on femara until he's 100% sure I'm not pregnant every cycle, blood test confirmed pregnancy at 2.3 weeks) and then 2 days later at the next blood result found out I was losing it. So, didn't get much time to celebrate

At the same time, my ovary was swelling and went to 3x its size and was leaking fluid into my pelvis. They were worried about me causing injury to it so they had a D&C performed because my HCG numbers still weren't dropping off after a week or so. Got the D&C results back and no conception material in it, so they knew it was ectopic then. Did an US right away and they saw the tiniest of gestational sacs starting in the tube. And I was about 5 weeks along at this point. Did Metho right away and took another week or so to finally all be out of my system. Did a HSG test the next cycle after AF came back and everything was fine, luckily.

 

[bunyhuny]

Bee Bee- That sounds like an absolute nightmare. That's awful you had to have a D&C done. I haven't had to go through one yet, and I'm glad of that. I'm glad your HSG went alright. I definitely know the relief of seeing a tube do what it's supposed to do. That is crazy you didn't even know you had O'd. I've never heard of anyone who O'd without having some kind of temp fluctuation! It looks like you've been cleared to TTC again though, based on your charts. That's wonderful. I hope you have much, much better luck in the future.

 

[Bee Bee]

Bee Bee- That sounds like an absolute nightmare. That's awful you had to have a D&C done. I haven't had to go through one yet, and I'm glad of that. I'm glad your HSG went alright. I definitely know the relief of seeing a tube do what it's supposed to do. That is crazy you didn't even know you had O'd. I've never heard of anyone who O'd without having some kind of temp fluctuation! It looks like you've been cleared to TTC again though, based on your charts. That's wonderful. I hope you have much, much better luck in the future.

This was my chart from that cycle, see what I mean? In retrospect, seems I O'd CD10 and had an implant dip at CD14, but had no idea thats what it was at the time. My previous RE also did a US on CD10 and thought I hadnt O'd yet but I was probably post-O when I went in. So they put me on a second round. Went in to my new RE on CD17 and they also thought I hadnt O'd but luckily did the blood test.

https://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q246/kai1985/ectopicchart.png

 

[bunyhuny]

Man, that is not a good looking set of meds right there. Femara after O is bad news for sure. No wonder it didn't work out. Was that your first round of Femara? Or did you just O abnormally early compared to other times on Femara?

It does look like you O'd on CD 10, especially with the way you temps stabilize and then slowly rise. You're right, he probably caught it immediately after O, before the follicle could re-swell into the corpus luteum. A day earlier and you would have seen the follicle, a day later and the corpus luteum would have been expanded. That second course of Femara is likely what brought your temps back down. Femara causes estrogen to rise and estrogen is what lowers temps. Then, once you got on the progesterone, it did an override on the estrogen.

What a cycle!

 

[KatelynW]

You ladies have both been through so much recently! thanks so much Bunyhuny for sharing your Met experiences with me PCOS is a nightmare and theres so little research on it and it seems like you have to beg your doctor for a diagnosis. Or atleast I did. The first time I brought it up to them I was too thin and they declined my request to have blood work done. I was told not to worry about it until I was ready to have kids. 2 years of infertility and 40 pounds later.....now they think its time to help me. Would have been nice when I brought it up the first time and now maybe I wouldn't be having such a hard time! .

I'm curious about your cycle Beebee, I don't understand charts too well but I read that you O'ed on CD10 and possibly implanted on CD 14. I've read that implanting earlier than CD 6 can lead to complications? Have you ladies heard this also? I'm curious because I O'ed on 03/12 (i'd tell you my cycle day but this one is so funky because of starting met, I havent had a bleed since 01/17, I think I spontaneously ovulated or something.) any way, I have pinkinsh spotting and light cramps on 4 DPO and I did a little research and got worried because this could be too early for implantation. What do you think?

 

[Bee Bee]

Man, that is not a good looking set of meds right there. Femara after O is bad news for sure. No wonder it didn't work out. Was that your first round of Femara? Or did you just O abnormally early compared to other times on Femara?

It does look like you O'd on CD 10, especially with the way you temps stabilize and then slowly rise. You're right, he probably caught it immediately after O, before the follicle could re-swell into the corpus luteum. A day earlier and you would have seen the follicle, a day later and the corpus luteum would have been expanded. That second course of Femara is likely what brought your temps back down. Femara causes estrogen to rise and estrogen is what lowers temps. Then, once you got on the progesterone, it did an override on the estrogen.

What a cycle!

It was only my second round of Femara, so they still weren't sure if I was on the right dose. I'm not sure if it really affected the pregnancy though, I think if it had, I would of just miscarried instead of implanting. Atleast I like to hope it didn't and don't want to think that way. I do know that Femara raises your chance of ectopic a few percent so I think that's how it affected it.

You ladies have both been through so much recently! thanks so much Bunyhuny for sharing your Met experiences with me PCOS is a nightmare and theres so little research on it and it seems like you have to beg your doctor for a diagnosis. Or atleast I did. The first time I brought it up to them I was too thin and they declined my request to have blood work done. I was told not to worry about it until I was ready to have kids. 2 years of infertility and 40 pounds later.....now they think its time to help me. Would have been nice when I brought it up the first time and now maybe I wouldn't be having such a hard time! .

I'm curious about your cycle Beebee, I don't understand charts too well but I read that you O'ed on CD10 and possibly implanted on CD 14. I've read that implanting earlier than CD 6 can lead to complications? Have you ladies heard this also? I'm curious because I O'ed on 03/12 (i'd tell you my cycle day but this one is so funky because of starting met, I havent had a bleed since 01/17, I think I spontaneously ovulated or something.) any way, I have pinkinsh spotting and light cramps on 4 DPO and I did a little research and got worried because this could be too early for implantation. What do you think?

I haven't read anything to that nature. I have read of women implanting early and having a perfectly normal pregnancy. Or implanting early can be like my case and be ectopic.

Really though what you are having just sounds like the result of ovulation. Spotting fairly soon after ovulation is fairly common and so is random cramping after O. So, I wouldn't worry to much

 

[bunyhuny]

I know that for my IVF's they generally have retrieval around CD12, and they transfer the embryos back 5 days later. Retrieval is pretty much when they force ovulation to begin and then take the eggs right before the eggs leave the follicles. Byt the time they transfer them back 5 days later, they can be ready to implant pretty immediately. So, at least for IVF, implantation on 5dpo is considered normal.

The embryo can sometimes get to your uterus by 4dpo, but it's just pretty uncommon. If the embryo is already ready to implant that early, it sounds like an ultra healthy blastocyst to me. What's more likely is that you're having your secondary estrogen surge, though. It happens between 4dpo and 10dpo, and can have spotting come with it- but that's just a guess, too. Either way, it should be fine.