did you know...

did you know before TTC that it might be a harder process? if so, what were your signals? did you do things different because of it?

I'm not TTC, but I had irregular cycles and a ruptured ovarian cyst in high school, and have been on the pill since (due to the cysts). sometimes I wonder if this history means we will have trouble TTC, but we aren't ready to start trying yet so we really dont know.

are there any signs we should be looking for, or does the pill mask everything?

Re: did you know...

i was diagnosed with PCOS when I was very young so I knew it fell under the IF category... I was pretty much prepared from the beginning that I will have to go through treatments and even IVF...

I was put on the pill also to regulate cycles because I had irregular cycles amongst other PCOS related symptoms/....

Re: did you know...

i had no idea it would be like this...

for me BCP masked everything. i never knew there was a problem.

i stopped BCP on may 1st 2009 after 12 years of trying not to get pregnant. i thought i would be one of those people that got knocked up two weeks later. a month went by and i didnt get AF so i figured i would test..BFNs..
no AF for weeks...
thought i was just adjusting hormonally post BCP...
went to ob.gyn and got provera. charted the next cycle. O'ed but not until cd32.

next cycle i expected to finally regulate.. 50 days later no O no AF.. realized there was a problem, ob/gyn offered possible PCOS as a diagnoses and gave me clomid and send me on my way. the next day i made an appointment with an RE and haven't looked back since.
this is my 7th cycle since going off BCP and I only confirmed O once during that time.
diagnosed with PCOS formally by RE.

now that i have accepted the diagnoses (emotionally) and have come to terms with the fact that i will need help to get pregnant, i'm pretty content moving forward with the various protocols. but i cant say i was at all prepared for this when DH and I decided to TTC. i really had no clue it would take a while or that i had an issue. now that i know i have PCOS i can put things together from when i was younger - even though AF was regular when i was young i still think i had PCOS then, just with different symptoms. but i sure wish i knew then so i would have been better prepared for now!

Message edited 1/23/2010 10:42:57 PM.

Re: did you know...

I was never on bcp because of other health issues.
I did have a feeling that this would be a long process for me because I had irregular cycles and lots of random spotting/bleeding....turned out to be big polyps high up in my tubes.

I don't think you can ever reallly know. But, I do regret not going to see an RE more quickly. I waited the full year, like you always hear. And let my regular OB talk me out of going until he did some tests and tried a Clomid cycle (un-monitored). So, my advice would be to try on your own for a while, but if you feel like something is wrong, get an HSG done and push to see an RE.

Good luck!