Remember how how I said that maybe I had ovarian cysts that were preventing my cycle from coming? Well, it finally did come on CD 47 (!!!) which is the latest I have ever been without being pregnant. But I really don’t know why it was so late.
On CD 44 I went to see my RE. We basically had a pre-conception consultation and talked about the possible cysts and ran blood work to check where all my hormones are falling at now. Progesterone was elevated so I definitely did ovulate, according to the Dr, which I was almost certain I had. And I am about 100% certain I didn’t ovulate late yet I was 3 weeks late to start….? All the other tests came back within normal levels. (Testosterone, thyroid, FSH etc)
They did an ultrasound while I was there and the Dr asked if I had ever been diagnosed with PCOS because my ovaries almost looked that way. Even I could definitely see lots of black spots (cysts) on them. I told him I hadn’t been diagnosed with that before (thankfully!) so he ordered AMH on the blood work as well. It came back at 6.87ng/ml which is within normal range but actually higher than when I was 22. ETA: I am actually a little confused about this. Higher AMH is usually thought to be good because it points to higher ovarian reserve, but I’ve also read that it can indicate PCOS… He didn’t say anything about the cysts making my cycle late though so maybe my theory was bogus. The Dr didn’t seem overly concerned about the cysts…? I am supposed to follow up in Feb.
He asked if I wanted to give a couple cycles of medicated TI a try before doing a SA and possibly moving on to other treatment (I am thinking if we move on to more advanced treament, it would probably be AT LEAST another year). I decided to go ahead and try Femara 2.5mg for 2 months. Because, why not…. If he thinks it’s worth a try then I might as well try it. I opted not to take Clomid because I had such a horrible time on it last time I tried it 6 years ago. I’ve never tried Femara before but I am on day 2 of 5 now. I guess we will see how it goes. I have realistic expectations but I also know what my God can do so I am leaving it in His hands. So, yeah, that’s where I am at right now. Very thankful for good test results! 🙂
Journey For My Baby 
Hey there… I’m a little confused about your AMH results. I thought a normal range was 1-4? (But not trying to be discouraging here- ugh.)
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That’s what I had edited to add – I’m confused too. I need to call my RE because I feel like that result got overlooked. It was over 5 last time I was tested and nobody said anything then either. ?? I know different clinics have different cut offs but that seems well within pcos territory. 😦 Maybe they aren’t worried because I have always had regular cycles until this year?
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I have no clue about PCOS but that would be very frustrating to find after IVF. You’d think something like that would be obvious then. I’m interested to see how you do on Femara. My doctor prescribed that for my IUIs and I didn’t have nearly the side effects that friends had with clomid. I also forgot how much autocorrect hates words like femara and clomid, ha! My SIL is supposed to either start or have recently started femara. I’m dying to ask how it’s going with her but I’m also trying to respect her privacy in case she’s like me and hates everyone knowing when to expect positive or negative tests.
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I am feeling pretty down about the way things are looking. When I started writing this post, I didn’t have my amh results yet and I added them in before posting it. So right now it appears I do have pcos and always have although my last amh result wasn’t as high. I guess it was never caught because I have always had regular cycles until this last year and because I don’t have insulin resistance (that I know of). I’m excited to try the femara mostly because it’s something to do in the meantime and also because I felt so extremely awful on clomid that I said i would absolutely never take it again. DH’s cousin used femara though and did fine with it. I hope it works out well for your sil. 🙂
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That is still so frustrating! Does it affect you more as time goes on, and that’s why nobody suspected before? Like I said, I only had the short but intense dizzy spells with femara, and nothing like the crazy hormonal mood swings my friends on clomid experienced. My SIL hasn’t started yet. I got up the courage to ask her and she said her doctor wants baselines this month first. I know she’s antsy too!
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I have no idea why it wasn’t caught before aside from the fact that I never showed symptoms…. Unfortunately, I am starting to now for the last year or so. I haven’t really noticed anything from the femara so far except that my ovaries are really achy tonight. Good, I hope??
Glad you asked your sil. It feels nice to know that people care. I’ve hardly told anyone IRL about the fertility visit because at this point 2 kids in, no one cares lol. Which is kind of good but also I feel a little alone since I don’t have anyone to listen to me babble on and on lol.
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Well you’re one of the few bloggers that hasn’t gone dark on me, so I’ll listen to your babbling. That and since we’re gearing up for an FET next year, I’m starting to pay more attention to all things infertility.
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You really don’t have to feel obligated to listen but I sure do appreciate your empathy. 🙂 I am excited to read about your fet when it happens if you choose to blog about it.
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From my understanding normal AMH is usually between 1-4. Anything above can indicate PCOS and anything below can indicate DOR. Because he saw so many follicles during your ultrasound and a slightly elevated AMH I would start to suspect PCOS. AMH doesn’t typically improve and from what I’ve learned is it usually just a matter of a difference of labs that are processing the blood work.
I’ve never used Clomid but Femera worked well for us. I’ll start femera in Feb. it’s typically tolerated much better than clomid and yields better results (such as: not decreasing the fluffy uterine lining we work so hard to build to be ready for that eggie. Clomid typically stunts the lining from getting nice and fluffy, but not always). But everyone is different. HUGS. It sounds like it was an overall ok visit. Hopefully you aren’t too discouraged!!
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Thank you for the clarification. This is new territory for me, oddly enough. Strange to learn of this now after 2 ivf cycles! The femara has been great as far as no real side effects. My ovaries are a bit tender but I don’t know if it’s the femara or the cysts. I haven’t had hot flashes or any other stuff I experienced during my clomid cycles. Praise the Lord!
I honestly am a bit discouraged at this point but it will be alright. The Lord has moved for us before to have our babies and if He wants to bless us with another then I know He will one way or the other whether it’s “natural”, ivf, etc. It’s the not knowing if or how that is hard for me to deal with.
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I took femara and got pregnant with my second daughter. I had no problems and had two good follicles and one took! So good luck!! It worked for me. I have pcos and it sucks because it can’t be treated for me. Because it’s not bad enough. But I hope things work out for you hugs!!
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Thank you so much for the encouraging story!! What dose were you on?
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I was on 5.0 mg and I only did two cycles. We did one with timed intercourse and that didn’t work then we used it again the same dose and we did an iui and got pregnant right away. Good luck!! I didn’t have any side effects from it btw. Unlike clomid
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Thank you. I am on 2.5mg and haven’t had any side effects aside from tender ovaries but that could just be the cysts. I wish I’d used this instead of clomid years ago so I wouldn’t have had all those side effects for 4 months!! 😉 I still don’t have a positive opk but I’m only CD 12 so that may be fine at this point. Time will tell!
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Good luck!! Hopefully It works! I didn’t use an opk for when I used femara. They actually had me come in and check to see if I was getting close to ovulating.
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I was wishing they would but for whatever reason, I’m on my own…?
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Ya that’s weird because they checked to see if I was getting ready to ovulate when we were just doing timed intercourse then with the iui. I wonder if they want to see if it works without checking and then later on have you checked. I’d ask. Because when I was on clomid they never checked anything and I felt like it was such a waste.
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I agree. For all I know, I’m just growing huge cysts! Lol. Maybe they could at the very least do a progesterone day 21 draw to make sure I ovulated.
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When I had my inside ultrasound they found a a few cysts and they monitored them to make sure they weren’t growing. Well hopefully things turn out well and you just get pregnant without being monitored and you don’t have to worry about it.
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I sure hope so!
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Thanks for taking the time to chat about this. : )
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No problem
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