 Hang in there!
I know what you mean hoping Marvelon would sort everything out...it sounds like you have a great attitude and you need to in any situation, but I think especially for us that have PCOS! Good to hear about your doctor...I think that's number 1...cuz if your doctor wasn't so supportive, that would be so difficult. I learned that the hard way. I had a terrible doctor who was telling me all of my symptoms were 'normal'...yeah right, I don't think so. Switching doctors was one of the best decisions I made. I've learned that with having PCOS, you have to educate yourself and you should have the say in how your PCOS is managed and I think this is really important since it's different for all women. We all have to deal with different symptoms and some meds will work while others won't.
I'm also a bit scared about the Mirena IUD because I can't imagine dealing with additional side effects like things I'm already fighting because of the PCOS...but I've done some research so I'll have lots of questions for the gynecologist...plus I'm researching other methods and we'll discuss it to figure out what's best. And you should definitely discuss it with your doctor or get referred to someone else who knows more about it.
You should definitely try Metformin. I will warn you though that you have to hang in there for the first month because it is really rough on your stomach...it gives new meaning to 'when you gotta go, you gotta go!' When I started on metformin, I had one pill a day for one week then two pills a day during the second week, and now I take three pills a day which is 1,500 mg. The first day I took one pill was definitely the worst but I just kept at it, and now it's much better. I have noticed a difference in a lot of my symptoms...I also take spironolactone but the metformin is great. I had the worst eating habits before taking metformin...I always felt hungry, etc...since taking the metformin, I've been able to lose more than 50 pounds because it sensitized me to insulin so I now know when I'm full and I don't feel 'addicted' to fat and carbs like I used to...of course you need to eat fat and carbs, but I had a very unhealthy relationship with food before. And remember to eat when you take the pill; otherwise, it's not so nice!
As far as the IUD goes, I think it sounds great since it's as effective as the birth control pill, but I definitely will talk to the gynecologist about my concerns and we'll see what he says. I think anything medically is a risk, but I take a lot of things already which I have no side effects from...it's different for everyone.
You are also quite young. It sounds like you lead a fairly healthy lifestyle...probably a lot better than most people LOL...but really I think that's great - keep it up! |