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It is impossible to tell the difference between cysts and follicles unless they open you up. If he's not doing that, he has no proof that you're producing cysts. If he's not doing u/s there is no way for him to even know if you're producing follicles. I've produced numerous follicles the past two months. The Ovidrel is what makes me ovulate. I only take it if there is a follicle of at least 20 mm. The chlomid won't "make" you ovulate. It only "makes" you produce follicles. If your body isn't ovulating on its own, the chlomid won't do any good. I only take one shot/month and that's only if there are follicles of acceptable size. The number of follicles isn't necessarily relevant. They only count if they are of viable size. Last month, I had one in my left ovary that was 24 mm and numerous very small ones on my right. This month, there are 5 small ones (6 mm) on my right and one 20 mm on my left and 2 insignificant ones also on my left. If I were you, I'd find a new doctor. He seems a bit off to me. PCOS and fertility medications make you especially susceptible to Hyper stimulation Syndrome. That's when your body produces so many follicle/cysts and they grow at an alarming rate. That's why it's recommended that u/s be done monthly to make sure that's not happening.

Any news Samantha27???

AF came today : ( My doctor is going to want to do IUI. We discussed it the last time that I was in to see him. I'm kind of nervous about it though.

Skeeter... sorry about AF! And I understand, I would be nervous of IUI as well. But lots of women on here have had them and I haven't read any bad things about them. It's probably a positive step for you! Now here is my long wonded story for you... sorry about the length!-On Wednesday afternoon I started to develop lower back pain and intermittent pain in both ovaries, it got worse as the day wore on, then Thursday morning, not too bad, but awful back pain by the PM and the pains were slightly more painful and more frequent. ARGH!!! What a story I have!!! So the pain that I was having in my ovaries and in my back got worse... not unbearable, but it concerned me, so I called my RE's office on Friday AM... (I am on CD 33 of my first cycle using Femara 5mg days 3-7) guess what... he's on holidays this week! Go figure!!! Anyhow, the nurse scheduled an U/S for me for Monday afternoon, but to call back if it got worse (this was Friday AM). By Friday afternoon I was VERY light headed and dizzy and still in a fair bit of pain and was nauseous, so I called back. My RE's partner suggested going to the Emerg and they would have an order waiting there for me to go 'straight to Gyne' when I registered and they would U/S me right away! So I went, my Aunt picked me up as I was at work and didn't think I should be driving, and she took me to Emerg. Once there and registered (yes they did have my info there) the nurse said that it would be quite a long wait because there were no available doctors to see me. Oh joy... So we waited for about 2.5 hours, then I was called in to a room where I had to put on a gown and pee in a cup and wait for 20 minutes before a nurse and a 'senior' medical student came to talk to me... Hmmm... So they asked me all of the same questions that I was asked in Triage already (someone my initial file did not follow me to the little brightly lit room). Then the student did a quick BP, pulse and listened to my lungs and then he went to find the resident. He was only gone like 15 minutes and they came back... the resident asked me all of the same questions again, and then did a pelvic exam (I did warn her if she squeezed my ovaries, I might kick her... she didn't like my sarcasm I guess--- none of these guys had much of a bedside manner)... then she went away supposedly to see about an ultrasound because 'the pain seems to be in your ovaries'... No shit Sherlock... that's what I had been saying all along!!! Anyhow... they (the resident and the medical student went off- I should mention that the student seemed quite put out initially about me being there because there were lots of babies coming into the world last night) And then a nice nurse came in and took my blood and I saw noone else for almost 2.5 hours! Seriously... noone! And I couldn't get word to my Aunt about where I was or anything. Finally the resident came back, said they had most of my blood results back and my electrolytes were fine and so if it was OHS (ovarian hyperstimulation) it wasn't a severe case, and now she will go and try to get me an ultrasound (which is supposedly where she was all of that time). I then asked how much longer I'd be because I needed to get a message to my Aunt in the waiting area. She said she'd send in a nurse to get her name and bring her in. Well 1/2 hour later still no nurse so I found the call button and pressed it. A grumpy nurse came along and I sent her to find my Aunt... All this time my left ovary is really hurting from her palpating it-OUCH! Well finally the resident comes back and sent me home to come back the next day (Saturday for an ultrasound because all of the Technicians had gone home and that the residents could do it, but they weren't as skilled in the fine details of doing U/S... OK now I am supremely pissed... this is at 11:30PM! I had gotten there and was registered just after 4:30PM! Almost 7 hours to find out nothing!!! So I worked Sat AM... and then went to the hospital had my U/S done by yet another grumpy person, who then sent me to the ER to await results! Then while waiting in the ER was sent home to await a phone call! Nice... I am also very ticked because the whole reason that I went to the hospital the first time was to get an idea of what was going on with my ovaries... today they hurt significantly less (Well now after being probed by grumpy U/S Technician they have flared up again) but I am sure that the dumb@$$ doctor will see my reults on Monday and wonder what my problem was and think I am a wuss! Trust me, I am a Farm Kid and am tough! This all really makes me angry! But hopefully the slacker RE will have to monitor me more closely from now on! And it's Sunday afternoon and still no word from the hospital, but everything I eat, comes right back up! But the ovary pain has improved! My back is killing me though! Again sorry for the long post!
Let me know what happens with your IUI plans!

I feel so bad for you TracyR!!! I to have been having pain across the lower back and any palpation across my lower abdomen damn near sends me through the roof!!! I said something to my dr. last time I saw him. He had them do a more through u/s. He kinda chuckled when he saw me after the u/s because the pain I had been experiencing the past few months is being caused by follicular fluid in my pelvic cavity. He asked me if I had a lot of cramping when I was pg with my son. I said yes. That's actually how I found out I was pg. I thought the cysts were back. The cramping was aweful. Turned out I was 8 weeks pg. He said I'm one of the unlucky women that has extremelly sensitive nerves in my pelvic cavity. He said that the follicles begin to leak follicular fluid prior to ovulation or right after. The fluid rests in the pelvic cavity and is absorbed by the body. Unfortunately, for me, it hurts like hell!!! I'd darn near be doubled up in pain and sex is impossible when you hurt that bad. He said "I bet it hurts less if you're not moving." I said yes, it hurts the most when I move. He compared it to shaking a 1/2 full bottle of pop. The fluid sloshes back and forth and all around the pelvic cavity. He said that there is nothing I can do about it unfortunately. No pain killer, short of a nerve block, will help. I just have to accept it, because it's how I'm made. I hope you aren't going through hyperstimulation. I'll be thinking of you and keeping my fingers crossed that all is okay. Keep me posted when you hear. Good luck!!!

Hi Skeeter,
I am so sorry to hear about af I am waiting for mines to show now I am now on cycle day 55 and as soon as af shows her nasty self I have to go in for an u/s to see what is going on with my folicles and hopefully he increases my dosage this time will be my fifth round

skeeter... Hmmm... Interesting story. Now did your ovaries hurt as well? Both of them on and off with sharp pains? And the rest of the time just a dull ache? Were you light headed/dizzy/nauseous? I had all of these at the peak of it, then developed vomiting for the last 2 days. That is better today, but I am still nauseous, however the pain has improved in my ovaries and back. I have never felt this before. I have had pain in my ovaries before but only ever 1 at a time and I always assumed it was just a cyst rupturing. I actually was wondering if I was ovulating. And I thought about sex... ONLY BRIEFLY! I hear you, it's not happening when you hurt that much! And I supposed a rise in progesterone post ovulation could make a person nauseous, especially when I have never had much of that hormone in my system. I spoke to my doctor today. He is unsure about what's up with me. I have a dermoid cyst on my right ovary and he kept mentioning that maybe it was twisting my ovary. But that doesn't explain why both ovaries hurt like crazy! He did mention that it could be irritation from fluid from a ruptured cyst giving me the pain. But he wasn't sure. I had to go for a progesterone test and a pregnancy test today. So hopefully tomorrow afternoon I'll know something about that. I'm confident that I'm not pregnant, but I would be ecstatic if I actually ovulated!
Samantha... wow how long are your cycles normally? Thanks everyone for the support! I'll let you know when I get blood results!

How did your dr diagnose the cyst??? Did he make this determination based only on the u/s???? The only way to tell the difference between a follicle and a cyst is to open you up and look(speaking from first had "knife" experience). I've had a total of 4 surgeries to remove cysts. If it looks empty, it's impossible to tell the difference. It could be a follicle, and you ovulated, or it could be a cyst. Can't tell. I've been thinking about you, and know that you are in my prayers. I hope all is okay with you, and I'm really praying that you get a BFP!!!!!!!!

Went to the dr today for another u/s. He's doubling my Femara and moving my u/s b4 the ovidrel to day 11 instead of 13. He thinks I ovulated early. Any news Tracy????

Skeeter, thanks for the thoughts and prayers! I feel much better but no idea from the doc on what truly happened and I have to wait until Sept. 8th to get in to see him. My progesterone level was still 1.4 and negative pregnancy test. I will focus more on my weight loss efforts and when I see him I hope to be down at least 15lbs from when I last saw him and I will demand more monitoring... Thanks for all of your insight Skeeter! Good luck to you. So will you be on 5mg of Femara now?

Yeah, I started the 5 mg/day yesterday. I'll take it tonight, tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday. I have an u/s on Thursday morning. Hopefully things will look good. I'm also starting progesterone vaginal suppositories Thursday as well as doing the Ovidrel shot if there are decent looking follicles.

Good Morning ladies, Well friday I started spotting so I thought a/f was here and ii continued to spot more and more over the week and it never actually became a full blow a/f so anyways I was suppose to start my 5th round of femara this morning but yesterday was my birthday and for some reason i decided to take a pregnancy test and guess waht I got my BFP and five test later between yesterday and today it is still BFP. I am very excited but very scared b/c of the spotting so I am going to see my doctor this morning and get a blood pregnancy test done.

Samantha Congratulations!!! I am so happy for you! Is this your first pregnancy? Be sure to keep us posted on everything!
Skeeter... how did they know to put you on progesterone? I wonder about that for myself. How are you feeling?

Progesterone helps the embroy (if there is one) implant I guess. I don't know. PCOS causes major problems with all hormone levels and my dr said that it is "standard procedure" for women that are PCOS to use these. I don't know. CONGRATULATIONS SAMANTHA!!!!! I am soooooooooo happy for you!!!! I just had an u/s today and tomorrow night I'll take the Ovidrel shot and start the suppositories Saturday morning. Boy do I hope this works. Some days I just want to cry. It is sooooo frusterating. How are you doing Tracy???? Anything new???

Skeeter, good luck! From what I understand extra progesterone can't hurt! So your doctor just put you on the progesterone without any additional testing? Also, did you ever ovulate on your own with the Femara without a trigger shot?

Hello Ladies, I will be using Femara this cycle as well. This will be the first one using it. I am waiting for AF to show up so I can start. I took provera for 10 day. I was told by my Dr to take it on cd5-9 but I will be taking it at night so I will start on cd4.