(Queue a big read!) I just wanted to post this as I always see lots of posts on this group about women struggling and it does really make me sad and frustrated knowing I was once in the same position. We didn’t ask for this condition and there is no way of getting rid of it 💔 Let me first say I’m by no means a medical expert, just someone who struggled greatly with PCOS and have managed to help family members/friends out with this advice!

I was diagnosed about 10 years ago when I was a young teen. I struggled with absent/or really heavy periods, cystic acne, hormonal outbursts, bloating, weight struggles and excess hair. I was put on the contraceptive pill ‘dianette’ and I stayed on that for 7 years (not something I would recommend as this pill can cause blood clots etc and isn’t something long term) however it did give me my monthly cycle, completely clear up my acne and get my symptoms under control.

After coming off this pill, I thought my periods would just spring back, having not thought about ‘PCOS’ for years, I thought my body would be ‘normal’. I didn’t get a period for 7 months, when my period did return it was very light and barely there and my cycles were about 38-40 days. Not understanding anything about cycles/ovulation I assumed I would be able conceive by inputting my average cycles on this app and BD’ing on the days I ‘should’ be ovulating.

As months went by i started to think things like ‘maybe I’m not ovulating at all?’ ‘If my periods are back then why don’t I ovulate, isn’t that what periods are for?’ So I bought a mega bunch of OPK’s and started my experiment...I soon realised I was not getting a ‘positive’ ovulation test on any day in my cycle ☹️. So off to see my doctor I went...she did all the blood tests and in fact confirmed, I was not ovulating! I spoke with her about <a href="https://glowing.com/glow-fertility-program">fertility treatment</a>, and she started by saying I could try adjusting my lifestyle and diet, I was extremely offended at first, I have never seen myself as being obese/overweight and at that time I was around 11stone and I’m 5ft 4. She started by explaining my body may jump start ovulation if I make some changes to my lifestyle and diet. She also suggested trying something she had come across with another patient called ‘Ovasitol’ taken in sachet form diluted in water, so I did my research and purchased a bag but I never once did use it.

So this was February 2018, by April I had dropped to 9 stone 10lb, I did in fact feel a lot healthier and energised. I had already noticed my cycles shortening. But still...no ovulation ☹️ In May my partner surprised me with a trip to Florida and the Bahamas (to go in October 2018) I was so excited! We decided we should maybe hold off TTC for a while as it was making us both really miserable having negative after negative OPK and HPT 💔 and we wanted to focus on saving and getting excited for our trip! We didn’t suddenly start using protection, we just ignored the calendar, and locked the OPKs away.

So come June, I had a terrible UTI which lasted almost the entire month, me and my partner had sex once in the whole month, which was a huge difference from our twice a day during ‘potential ovulation week’ 🤣. July came around... I had been away for the weekend non stop drinking, I came home feeling nauseous, irritated and extremely tired “a delayed hangover” I blamed it as. Just out of curiosity that week (my period wasn’t late yet), I decided to test with one of my cheap strip HCG tests, 2 minutes went by...no line to see here, in the bin it went! The following day I happened to catch a glimpse of the bin, evap lines I believe I was seeing, but just incase...I tested again. I think my jaw almost hit the floor!!! 2 lines!!! I had to run out and get a clear blue to confirm it...

We are pregnant?!?! 😍 I couldn’t believe it! Looking back at my last two cycles, they had been exactly 28 days and what is considered ‘normal’. How lucky were we to hit ovulation day without even knowing when/or if it had happened. I sometimes believe when you take all the stress of your body it’s a lot easier to conceive (easier said than done I know!) it took us around 18 months to conceive.

Two of my friends suffer with PCOS and we’re having a hard time conceiving also, one of them dropped 2 stone and conceived straight away. The other one tried to using Ovasitol, after 2 months she conceived and believed that really helped encourage ovulation!

My cousin started her weight loss journey and lost almost 4 stone bringing her down to 13 stone. Her doctor ended up prescribing metformin to help with ovulation and this worked for her first time. She believes the change in her lifestyle (no alcohol, controlled portion control and carbs), daily excercise regimes really helped her body prepare for pregnancy!

So from once being offended and bawling my eyes out after my doctor suggested I lose weight, I realised it wasn’t necessarily because I was ‘overweight or obese’ it was a lifestyle change I needed as this condition is so hard to control sometimes it’s the only thing that can really help!

I am now 4 weeks away from meeting my daughter, my little miracle...and I can’t wait! 😍💕🎀

Baby Dust to all of you and I hope your TTC journey doesn’t take too long 💕🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼