pcos and icsi..pls help???

hi guys, just wanna get a few answers here...

i have just been through a whole year (5 cycles) of ivf with no luck. I am 21, dp 30 with male factor infertility. we were told that after 2 icsi cycles and 3 fet's that there was no reason why i shouldnt be falling pregnant?? so after deciding to take a break for a while i went to see my gp who told me he thinks i may have pcos.

i guess the question that i have is, why didnt my fertility clinic pick up on this after numerous internal ultrasounds and could they maybe have done something different to better our chances if they had done a few tests in the first place???

i was also never checked for anything before we started a year ago and neither was dp as the fs didnt think it was necessary to check sperm count as dp has had chemo, so thought we should just jump straight into icsi!

really hope someone has some advice! :D

Hi Jess88
I think the bottom line is that if you're unhappy with your current treatment approach then you need to talk with your specialist or seek a second opinion.

For what it's worth, even if you have PCOS the treatment regime may have been completely the same anyway. It is curious that they didn't want to do any testing...

All the best~~

PCOS can manifest in many ways - as much as the name implies that your ovaries appear polycystic, the actual syndrome (the hormonal imbalance) can occur without the PCO appearance. you probably weren't tested if your cycles were regular and the infertility came from your partner (known problem)

i am reluctant to say your GP is wrong, but i don't think it makes much sense to label that.

as far as treatment goes - the treatment for an infertile couple with PCOS is really no different than one without. this may have been why there was no extra testing. there was no way that IUI or anything could happen due to your partner's MFI - so jumping straight to ICSI makes sense (to me - if the sperm are questionable, you'd not want to have them trying to do their own thing - you want to help them get to where they need to be for best results). your hormones would have been monitored during the cycle which is the most important thing

unfortunately, even with IVF/ICSI, it can take quite some time to fall pregnant. an average couple your age would be deemed "normal" to take up to 12 months to conceive. on the same train of thought, it can still take you a similar number of transfers to fall pregnant.

as marcellus said, if you are not happy with how your treatment is progressing, PLEASE ask for more investigation before you embark on further treatment.

hope you get some answers soon, and good luck

BG

thanks for your replies...
first just let me say that there is no way that my gp could be close to wrong. i have all the hormonal factors pointing to pcos and have never had regular cycles and my fs was made aware of that from the beginning, i also was told by my fs that i was not ovulating naturally by myself, and still no tests were done. this is when alarm bells started ringing for me, and because of my age, i didnt feel that the clinic where doing all that they can. so as far as changing, that will definately be on the agenda for when we start again!

hopefully the next clinic doesnt give me the "but your still so young, it will happen for you eventually" excuse because as far as i am concerned, i deserve the same treatment and respect as a 45 year old!

not being rude ladies, just venting really ;)

vent away hun - no point bottling it up!

i wasn't trying to imply your GP was wrong - just wondering why the question of PCOS - now that you've said about the hormones, then yeah, makes sense. you definitely do NOT need the PCO to have PCOS (hope that makes sense!

hope you can get somewhere with finding a specialist that you gel with

Jess88,

I have PCOS and fell pregnant on the first attempt through IVF/ICSI.

In my case, my GP diagnosed the PCOS via an ultrasound when I couldn't fall pregnant after trying for one and half years. I was referred to Dr Kim Matthews at Next Generation Fertility and I could not recommend her highly enough. The nurses there are very supportive and I was impressed when the science staff call you every day following egg collection to report on the progress of the blastocysts.

Good luck.