Hey, everybody! long time reader, first time poster. Just looking for stories, if anyone can relate, or been through it and can say it gets better. I feel insane and it would be nice to know i'm not the only one.

I feel really low, no motivation, a sadness that grips my heart most of the day. Obviously i know TTC is also a life factor that can make people sad, but this "nothing matters" feeling is new and reaches beyond my feelings about TTC. It's really effecting my work.

My question: in anyone else's experience, did the letrozole depression last all month? if so, when did it start letting up after you stopped taking it? I talked to my doctor and she said symptoms should usually only be the first half of the cycle but that hasn't been my experience lmao, and it's making me feel more insane to have her say that because i feel insane!

Also sorry I know stand alone posts about letrozole can be repetitive but I have read every letrozole post I could find on reddit and haven't found anyone discussing symptom length yet. thank you for reading!

We’ e been TTC for 15 months. It’s been a long journey of tests, cysts, back tracking, and all the things. You guys get it. We just completed our third round of Letrozole 7.5. I’ve ovulated with good progesterone numbers each time, but today is 11 DPO AND I’m still testing negative. My temp is creeping downward. I’m just sad. Starting Letrozole felt like a step in the right direction but it’s still not resulting in a pregnancy.

Anyone have luck on Letrozole after cycle 3? I’m losing hope.

Hi everyone. I’m having a vvv unusual cycle right now. So I have pcos and I’ve had medicated cycles before . I had 2 letrozole cycles with 2.5mg , with gonal f added and ovidrel . First cycle last year July was cd 3-7, one follicle , gonal f and ovidrel , didn’t work. Second cycle 2.5mg letrozole, cd5-9 August , 2 follicles , gonal f , ovidrel and I got pregnant with a singleton which unfortunately ended in a stillborn early this year. Currently this is my first month trying again and I had a baseline ultrasound and labs done and my labs came back in range of what they want but my ultrasound was very usual. I had my baseline down around cd4 and my lining came back at 10.3mm triliminar (3 stripes) and they told me that was very thick. For reference, last year with the cycle I got pregnant with my daughter , mi baseline was cd 3 n my lining was 3.6mm so this is vvv different .
They gave me 25mg of clomid (half the pill) cycle day4, N I have a follow up ultrasound on cd 11.

I’m just wondering if anyone experienced this before, how did that cycle turn out ?

For those of you on Metformin, did your doc/RE prescribe it to you with your PCOS diagnosis alone or did they run your HbA1c, fasting glucose/insulin? If those things were normal and you were still given it, what were some of the reasons your doc still thought it would be a good fit?

All my numbers came back within normal range but my HbA1c is 5.5, right on the border of “at risk” and I really want to optimize this. I weight about 124lbs, 5’3, menstrual cycle 28-29 days, acne, high follicle count, 36 years old. Started myo-inositol

After a four year battle with my GP - I finally got my PCOS diagnosis today.

I changed GP and found one that listened and heard me and wanted to work with me not against me.

I feel so many different emotions today, happy to finally have some answers, scared of what’s to come, angry that it’s taken four years to get to this point and a bit of everything else in between.

My GP has recommended metformin which I start tomorrow, and honestly I’m terrified.

I’ve tried to avoid the horror stories and just focus on what it can do for me - i.e. hopefully help with ovulation and TTC.

I’m not eligible right now for any help in the way of ovulation meds like clomid and the like as my BMI is too high so I’m hoping the metformin might help with this alongside calorie counting and exercise.

Does anyone have any success stories with PCOS/metformin/TTC and everything else as I don’t have anyone else to talk to and never had any experience with PCOS so just looking for some tips tricks and a friendly face to talk through it all with!

This will be a bit long, but please stick around and read :) Some backstory on our fertility journey so far:

- stopped taking birth control pill august 2024
- eventually diagnosed with PCOS (anovulatory) March 2025, prescribed metformin
- finally ovulating consistently by September 2025!!
- no success since then
- started seeing a REI in May 2026. Had full fertility workup (bloodwork, ultrasounds, SHG, SA for husband) and everything came back fine besides my PCOS
- diagnosed with unexplained infertility and prescribed letrozole + trigger shot with TI

Fast forward to today, I’m on CD2 and about to start my first round of letrozole (2.5mg) tomorrow and I guess I’m just looking for some of your input if you have done a medicated cycle before - any side effects with letrozole? Did you finally get pregnant? How long were you trying before you started letrozole? Were you ovulating on your own already?

It’s been a long time coming but it’s kinda hitting me that I’m actually starting fertility meds and I just want to hear from others that have gone through it too. Can you please share anything about your experience with letrozole? Thank you for reading 🫶

Hello! I will be doing my first IUI this week!
I want to hear success stories of IUI as well as what gender you had (heard IUI favors mostly boys)? I don’t care what we get as long as it’s healthy and we are successfully able to conceive!

This is my first cycle on Letrozole 5mg CD3-7 then I take progesterone 200mg starting post peak day 3 for 10 days. On CD 14-16 I spotted no fertile mucus and no lh peak. Finally on CD19 I started having the fertile mucus and a positive lh test on CD 20 so I’m assuming I ovulated around CD21. Starting on CD 22 the spotting came back until I started the progesterone. It quit for a couple days now I am 6-7 DPO and the spotting has returned again this time heavier. Has anyone had this much spotting happen and end up with a successful pregnancy? I was really hoping this cycle would be it!

Adding I conceived my son on 2.5mg letrozole/ progesterone so I was really hoping it would work again. First cycle this time I didn’t respond to the 2.5 until CD28 and my doctor said that was way too late.

Hey everyone!

I took 5 mg of Letrozole from Cycle Day 2–6, and I’m currently on Day 9. I’m still having very light bleeding/spotting.

I also had taken Medrox (medroxyprogesterone) to induce my period cycle last month, so I’m wondering if that makes any difference.

When did you start having sex after taking Letrozole?

Should I start now, or wait until the bleeding completely stops?

Thanks! ❤️

ovulated after taking clomid, pos pregnancy test 9-10 dpo, rising hcg and progesterone then resulted in chemical pregnancy around 6 weeks. it’s been over three weeks since chemical pregnancy— do we think i ovulated on cd24?? pos ovulation test cd22 and 23. temp only rose CD 25 and 26

PCOS, 28F, TTC after 19+5 week loss. responding to meds, ovulating, still not conceiving. Is HSG worth it?

Background: I have PCOS with insulin resistance. I conceived in May 2025 on just Letrozole 2.5mg CD4-8 + trigger. Right-sided ovulation, beta positive at 27.5 at 12 DPO. That pregnancy progressed normally to 19+5 weeks and was lost to cervical incompetence — not a miscarriage, not an embryo issue. The baby was healthy.

Since resuming TTC in 2026, I've done three consecutive medicated cycles, all confirmed ovulation with well-timed intercourse, all negative (<0.2 beta):

- June 2026: Letrozole 5mg + 4 IVF-M injections. Right-sided. Follicle 18.5mm, lining 8.5mm. Negative.
- July 2026: Letrozole 7.5mg + 3 injections. Left-sided. Follicle 20mm, lining 8mm. Negative.
- August 2026: Letrozole bookend 10/7.5/7.5/7.5/10mg + 1 injection. Right-sided. Follicle 23.5mm mean, lining 10.5mm (my best ever). Negative.

Here's what's confusing me: my metrics are objectively BETTER now than when I conceived. My follicles are bigger, my lining is thicker, my protocol is more refined. My bloodwork has improved! testosterone down from 71 to 50, LH normalized, AMH down from 13.9 to 10.6 (metformin effect). I'm on CoQ10 600mg, myo-inositol 4g, levothyroxine (TSH was 2.94, was 2.30 when I conceived). Insulin resistance is still an issue (fasting insulin 23.7, SHBG 11.2, FAI 16) but it was similar or worse when I actually conceived.

My doctor wants to do an HSG in October. My question is, given that I conceived and carried to nearly 20 weeks just last year (proving at least the right tube was patent), is an HSG even necessary? Can tubes get blocked in a year with no surgery, no PID, no STIs? The only thing that happened was a cervical infection (E. faecalis) because my cervix was open during the loss, treated with antibiotics.

Or is this just the numbers game and I need to keep going?

Would love to hear from anyone who conceived previously, had a loss, and then struggled with subsequent cycles despite good response to medication.

I’d love to receive honest feedback here. I’m a 30YOF.

I have PMOS & endometriosis noted primarily on the left side of my uterus. I was on a GLP-1 last year, lost 70 pounds, went off of it (before we knew about the PMOS), gained 50 back while TTC. I am now back on a GLP-1, and I’ve lost 13 pounds so far, but this caused us to put a pause on TTC. A part of me wants to keep trying while on the GLP-1 short term because I’m scared I’m wasting time. The plan is a GLP-1 til November with hopefully another 15-20lbs off and transitioning to metformin.

I don’t know anyone with similar health conditions as myself and this. My best friend got pregnant on her first try. I’d really appreciate hearing your opinions on staying the course and holding off while on a GLP-1, or if we should just try because of time ticking by… appreciate any feedback.

Basic info:

F | 30 | PCOS | TTC 3.5 years

I had a chemical last month whilst taking letrozole, and decided to take a month off medication to let my body reset.

I have had some light ovary cramping and lower back pain today, so decided to check if I was ovulating (I'm around day 14/15 in my cycle) and omg for the first time, my body has ovulated naturally! 🫶🏻

I could cry I'm so happy, I've never experienced anything like this unless it's medicated!! So please send me all the luck, fingers crossed this turns into a pregnancy! 🥹❤️

how do you actually keep track of what is happening?

If one cycle is 35 days, the next is 60, and another period disappears for months, a normal period app can feel almost useless. Do you track dates only, symptoms, spotting, discharge, mood, pain, or anything else?

I’m curious whether anyone has found a simple way to look back and understand their own pattern instead of constantly wondering when the next period is going to show up.

Hi everyone. For a little background: Hubby (31) and I (29) have been TTC for 12 cycles. HSG clear. Semen analysis great. Chemical pregnancy in cycle 1, unmedicated. Letrozole unmonitored for 7 cycles, started at 5 mg worked my way up to 10 mg. Finally got monitoring and realized follicles were over-maturing before ovulating (observed in 1 cycle, assuming it happened in previous cycles too). Now it's been 3 cycles fully monitored since we observed the follicle over-maturing issue and corrected it with a trigger shot. Still no subsequent positive tests.

I'm getting a little anxious as to what my future will look like— whether we should start the IVF process soon if we will likely end up there anyway.

The core of what I'm wondering: From what I've read, the main "issue" with PCOS and fertility is that it can lead to anovulation, or make ovulation very difficult to track. I really thought that once I was ovulating (confirmed by high progesterone levels), I would get pregnant, since the main hurdle with PCOS was "fixed". I know that the hormonal imbalances with PCOS make it harder to conceive, but I guess I haven't been able to fully understand why, especially if blood work doesn't detect any imbalances.

I've done other blood work (TSH, prolactin, vitamin B) and everything was good except vitamin B which I'm supplementing.

I'm on 2000 mg metformin, myo-inositol, taking prenatals regularly, partner and I are also taking CoQ10. My body makes strong progesterone naturally, and I also supplement progesterone in the luteal phase since mine is a little short on letrozole (10-11 days).

I just don't understand why I haven't been able to get pregnant. I eat fine, I exercise though not as often as I would like, I'm slightly overweight but not significantly. So many people get pregnant with worse conditions, I thought it would happen for us at least before 12 cycles. Hubby is healthy, and his sperm analysis (though we need to repeat as it was done 10 months ago) was great.

A part of me is wondering whether we're heading towards IVF anyway and should take the leap sooner than planned. Because if we haven't gotten pregnant yet, I just feel like it's likely not going to happen naturally for us.

I hope this makes sense! I feel like I have a difficult time articulating my headspace right now.

Open to any insight on your journeys, whether you moved to IVF early or waited, conceived without IVF, or something else

Planning to TTC in 12 months from now.

I have lean PCOS — age 24, optimal BMI, no insulin/androgen issues, but ovulation issues. No other fertility factors.

Specialist recommended trying for a maximum of 6 months given my ovulation issues before starting letrozole + monitored cycles, given the ovulation issues. I am wondering if anyone in my situation has had success with letrozole and if so how many cycles did it take to conceive. Feeling very nervous for the uncertain future and trying to be hopeful.

Also anything recommended to prepare during this year leading up?

I have PCOS (obviously) and I just randomly quit ovulating and getting my regular cycle. The only test that’s come back out of range is my testosterone. We tested everything, even have done an HSG and pelvic ultrasound. I haven’t spoken to my doctor, but is it okay to still taken Letrozole? Has anyone taken it with an elevated number like this and it work out? I don’t have any active cysts, no pain. The annovulatory cycles and fatigue are really my only symptoms. Is this just normal range for PCOS?

31 year old female; PCOS; not overweight, testerone normal; on metformin 1000mg a day but fasting insulin in range. Taking pre natal, vitamin D daily. Have ovulated on my own post birth control but only one time confirmed. My treatment plan:

**•** Letrozole 5mg (June) → think I actually ovulated on my own around day 7-10 post, unmonitored but bloodwork confirmed high level of progesterone

**•** Letrozole 7.5mg (early July) → no dominant follicle  
**•** Clomid 100mg (mid July) → got a 28mm follicle (yeah, big), triggered, did IUI. No pregnancy, no period for 40+ days, confirmed negative on HCG test. Also had bad side effects on Clomid so can’t do that again.  
**•** Started metformin  
**•** Letrozole 7.5mg x2 more cycles (Aug) → no dominant follicle either time  
**•** Currently stair-stepped to a higher dose, scan tomorrow

My clinic wants to move to IVF now. I’ve asked about gonadotropins as a bridge option 3 times and they keep saying no — “outdated”/“too risky without IVF.” They also haven’t really explained why my one triggered cycle failed (I have a theory it’s because the follicle was already 28mm — too big — by the time we triggered, but they just adjusted my HCG dose without confirming that was the actual issue).

I’ve ovulated on my own before, I’ve had ONE properly monitored cycle where I actually got a mature follicle, and I feel like we haven’t really exhausted less invasive options or explained the failures clearly. Got my records and booked a second opinion but curious what yall think.

Anyone dealt with something similar — pushed to IVF fast with PCOS that doesn’t fit the “typical” profile? Did a second opinion change anything for you? Should we just jump to IVF or try for another IUI?

No male factor (slightly low morphology)?

I just completed a course of 2.5 a week ago from CD 2-6 and saw growth but not enough. Dr wants me to go on another dose of 5 starting tonight (CD 15). Is this normal? I always thought it was meant to just be taken early on in cycle.

I haven’t had a period in over 1 yr and diagnosed with Lean PCOS by my OBGYN. I started provera since my first round of 2.5 letrozole did not get me to ovulate or have a period. I finished my last Provera pill a few days ago and started having brown spotting followed by some light red bleeding. I’m now on day 3 after finishing Provera, but the bleeding has remained fairly light — mostly only when I use the restroom and not enough to require more than a panty liner.
Since she wanted me to start letrozole on cycle day 3, I don’t know whether you would consider this cycle day 3 and have me start letrozole now, or if I should wait to see if I have a heavier flow. Please help!

I got a pcos diagnosis last cycle, and I do ovulate regularly though usually on cd21-25. I was diagnosed because of history of bad acne, longer cycles, ovarian volume, and number of follicles. I’m also prediabetic with A1c of 5.8%. I’m currently in a calorie deficit and started Ovasitol on CD1. I’ve immediately noticed that my early cycle E3G values are super low. Usually I have about 80-100 around this time. Should I be concerned?

CD7:

FSH: 3.18
E3G: 25.57
PdG: 1.66
LH: 0.08

CD8:

FSH: 3.56
E3G: 6.04
PdG: 0.6
LH: 0.07

Has anyone found that there is a good time to take the medication letrozole? Morning afternoon or evening?

Hi,

I am on a medicated cycle, doctor prescribed letrozole 5mg from day 3-12(10 days). I had my ultrasound on day 12 itself and the follicle size was 7.8 mm. My doctor recommended to come again on CD 16 to get the ultrasound done. Is it normal to have a smaller follicle on day 12 and can I expect it to grow to >18 mm by CD 16?