If you have irregular periods due to PCOS, how early can you test for pregnancy?

Question

My boyfriend and I want to have a baby. He is 31 and I am 27 yrs old.

I had my period around June 27th... but because I have PCOS I never know when I will have my period again. We have been having unprotected s*x for the past 17 days. At least once - twice a day. I still have not had my period and I just wonder how soon I should test for pregnancy. I have been feeling just a little sick to my stomach, and my b*****s have felt a bit sore since 4 days ago, but I am not sure.

Side notes: Last year I went 4 months without one and I took the hormone my Dr. gave me and my period started again 10 days later. I was not trying to conceive at that time. This is my first time trying.

Another side note: I have been pregnant before, 6 years ago and I had an abortion - so I know it's possible but, I heard PCOS makes it harder to conceive though too, right?

Answer 1

The last poster said "you ovulate 14 days after your period".  This is true of most of the population, but is very untrue of women with PCOS or PCO, where ovulation can occur at very extended lengths after the last period.  i.e  they can have a very very long follicular phase.  

Keep doing what youre doing, ideally once every two days - no more, no less.  Ovulation sticks as the last poster said will help you to know when you are ovulating at any given time.  You may need to buy alot of sticks (there are places on the internet where you can buy cheap ones in bulk).

With regards to when you should take a test - in your case it might not be worthwhile until you really feel like you might be pregnant  - i.e. are having symptoms.  You may not have ovulated yet since your last period.  If you feel you are having symptoms now, take a test to put your mind at ease.  If the symptoms you describe are due to pregnancy, a test would show up positive at this stage.

It would be worthwhile to see your doctor again and discuss your options - for example there are drugs for PCOS if you are not already on them, and there are also drugs to force your body to ovulate.

Answer 2

Since you ovulate 14 days after your period it doesn't seem possible that you could be pregnant now if you have only been having unprotected s*x for 17 days. Although you might be. I would start tracking your cycles and ovulation with fertility friend. It's an awesome site that has everything you need to know about ovulation and tracking it. You can also buy test strips from that site that test for ovulation. Since you have PCOS it's going to be a little harder to tell when you ovulate, so you might need a little help. There is also a lot of videos on-line that can help you learn about tracking ovulation.