abbiedarlin1

I had my first appointment today to confirm pcos as the reason i've had issues conceiving. I'm heavily overweight since coming off the pill 14 months ago. The doctor basically said he wanted me to go on a diabetic diet and exercise. He wants me to lose 10-15kg (22-35lbs). I then asked about metformin and he has prescribed me 1000mg a day of that. He said he wants to wait 6 months and have me lose as much weight in that time as i can (at least the 35lbs) and then he will prescribe clomid. Does that sound right?

Tia38

I'm not sure if it's 'right' -- but it's certainly not uncommon. Many docs will hold off on the TTC meds to see if weight loss and/or Met help regulate your hormones and cycle.

You don't mention your age. If you are < 30 I would go with the plan. If you are 30-35 I would think on it a bit. If I was 35+ I would be more aggressive. (I was 38 when I was dx'ed.)

I may be too aggressive... but I'm wondering if you can get other IF testing done in the 6 months you are working on weight? At my clinic they require HSG and day 3 blood work for the woman, and a SA for the man before they will do any fertility meds. I mention it because if you wait the 6 months and then have to wait a few more that can be frustrating. I know many clinics will do Clomid w/o work ups, so it may not be an issue.

Hopefully doc told you to work upto your 1000mg of Met... it can take some women's bodies a bit of time to get used to it... and for you to figure out how to minimize side effects (if you have them). I was lucky -- few if any side effects.

I'm not sure about your dosage... my doc prescribed 1500mg a day... I've read that some women do better at higher doses -- although I'm not sure what the range of doses is, or how doc decides which one to pick.

My best advice is to find a buddy group over on the diet+exercise boards. There are a number of eating styles (i.e., diets) that can work for PCOS and insulin resistance. I am not familiar with the diabetic diet, but I have had good luck with South Beach Diet, Insulin Resistance Diet (actually I sorta combined the two), and a long time ago Weight Watchers (still use many strategies today).

Just my two cents.

Hopefully some others will chime in as well.

Good luck!
-Tia

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arewecrazy

fact is that pcos is related to weight. look at kat. if i remember her story correctly, a lot of her symptoms disappeared when her weight disappeared. i lost 20 lbs recently and that started my periods on it's own. i've had three natural cycles so far and i think i might be pregnant right now.

although clomid worked for me, the fact is that the extra weight made my pregnancy more... difficult than it had to be. my baby was 11.5 pounds. i've been pregnant several other times but always miscarried. i wonder how much health problems related to my weight contributed.

so what i'm saying is. yes you can find another doc. but i don't think what he/she said is wrong. i think he/she is trying to make it easier for you not just to conceive but to carry and deliver with as little medical risk and intervention as possible. but i also agree with previous poster.

so my game plan would be.
1) try to get some other testing out of the way as you're losing the weight.
2) don't wait 6 months. if you can do it in three, or so then check back with him. basically if your period starts showing up on its own then go with it.
3)however if time is an issue (i.e. you're in your late thirties) then i would talk to him about that or see another doc.

hth

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08:
210/185/175.
1 2/23 D3-7 100mg; D20 O
? ? nothing...

06:
1 6/16 D3-7 50mg; D16 O +11DPO 19D brn sp 23D brt rd
2 7/25 16DPO-97; 19D 349/29;24 - less than 349... MC ectopic?
? ?/? O 11/8

03/04(Olivia)
1 Clom 50mg - No O
2 100mg - D18 O! PG! earl misc
3 D21 O! - Prog. gel suppos 1.45g
4 ov'd early, tstd late?
5 D24 O? doc:no; yes! 10dpo 22/18; 15d 241/22; 17d 429/18; 22d 4910/14
06/15/04 - 11.5lbs, 23 in

CHICKS

Can you ask your dr. to prescribe some type of appetite suppressant to help encourage the weight loss, so it'll happen much sooner? I lost 30 lbs. since May, which is pretty quickly, but the metformin, worked great for me, as well as learning about food I should steer clear of...It's frustrating, I know, but you will feel better and have a healthier pregnancy when you do lose a little weight! Also, the metformin will hopefully help you to get a regular cycle back, so it will be easy to temp/chart, etc. when it's time to start TTC! GL with everything!!!

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Courtney: 27
DH: 30

TTC#1
Stopped BCP 12/07
Dx: 5/5/08
Metformin 1000 mg
Letrozole 2.5 mg

MommyDreams08

I'm not sure if it's the right plan, but I like it! I hope my doctor puts me on something similar to your plan. Good luck to you!
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TTC #1 Since January 2008 (10 Months)
Kim(22) & Gabriel(25)
Mama to our furbaby Bradley (Chihuahua)
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RosieSBE

I agree with the above pp's that losing weight might improve your fertility. However, I also want to point out that it might not. I was not ovulating at all and was also not overweight (in fact the RE told me NOT to lose weight). I started Met and got pregnant in just a month. Good luck!

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Me (29) and DH (33)
DS - Ethan - born 7/7/07
TTC #2!
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SeekingSerenity

That sounds very similar to what my doctor told me when I was first diagnosed. The excercise helped a lot, but the diabetic diet did not do much. I have had great results with low carb, low fat, high protein diet.

__________________
TTC Since October 2006
DX May 2006
Metformin 2000 mg
Prenatal

9/28/08 Cycle #1 Clomid 50mg 5-9, hcg, IUI, p4 20 BFN
10/27/08 Cycle #2 Clomid 50mg cd5-9, hcg, iui, p4 10.5 in 2ww

Hoping this works soon
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