Molly-ACT

Hi,

I've been reading this forum for a few months now, and finally joined.

I was diagnosed in Jan this year of PCOS and have gone to a fertility specialist to try and become pregnant. No luck so far.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone knows of a good specialist in Canberra that I can go see about PCOS? The fertility specialist is only focusing on me getting pregnant and isn't interested in helping me with any of the other problems I have ie weight gain, acne etc. I realise some of these things can't be helped with medicine while trying to get pregnant, but I still feel she isn't interested in anything else.

Thanks

EarthAngel1975

I use Dr Nicci Sides who is a fertility specialist but also a Gyno who is experienced in PCOS as well. She probably won't help with the PCOS if you see her for fertility - at least not during a fertility appointment. Nicci Sides new clinic is called ISIS and is located in Barton. Her rooms are located in the clinical services building at John James. Maybe your current fertility specialist if they're a gyno would discuss the PCOS side of things with you if you booked a seperate appointment just for that.

Are you on Metformin?

Molly-ACT

Hi. I've tried to discuss the other symptoms with my specialist ie weight gain but her response is your weight is fine. I have put on nearly 20kgs since I met my husband over 2 years ago. Somehow I think I need to lose weight, yet she doesn't see it that way. Not on metformin or anything else except chlomid to try and help fall pregnant. Despite trying to discuss the other concerns with her she just does not want to focus on anything but getting me pregnant, which is something I want, but I also want to feel happy about my body as well, which I don't.

EarthAngel1975

If you don't mind me asking how tall are you and how much do you weigh? If you're not obese and over 30 then I could see why your fs isnt worried. Most people don't realize just how much fertility you loose in your 30s. I started this whole ttc thing when I was 30. Saw fs at 31 fell pg at 32 but our dd was born with deletion 22q11 (chromosonal abnormalities) which happens more frequently in people carrying more weight and the older you get. She passed away last Aug when I was 33. I'm now 34 and just had a m/c from our first IVF cycle. So in 4 years I've had 2 pregnancies one resulted in a birth but lead to a death and another in m/c. Research says that 75% of blasts (embryos making it to day 5) are supposed to be chromosonally normal however of the last 3 of mine making it to that stage the 3 were not normal.

I don't think any DR can make you feel good about your body. That's something you're going to have to accept and live with probably for the rest of your life. I would recommend you asking your FS for metformin though. It helps most people with PCOS loose weight and it also has been shown to reduce the m/c rate among PCOS women which is unusually high at 50%. It also helps with egg quality and helps to balance your hormones. If you're wanting help with your weight issues I'd recommend a nutritionist or natropath who's specialized in PCOS.

If you look in other areas of this forum and online for PCOS and supplements you'll find many other recomendations as to supplements you should take to help balanace your body out. I currently take Elevit, folic acid (if you're obese you should be taking more than 1g (1000mg) of folic acid before getting pregnant and thru the first trimester), CoQ10, fish oil, Inositol, L-carnitine, L-arginine and my metformin (1500mg/day).

februarystar

FYI: Chance of Pregnancy in PCOS May Increase with Age


To the OP, what is your current exercise routine? Perhaps it just needs tweaking to get your weight down? And even if you don't need to lose a lot, exercise is great for making you feel more positive about things.

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Molly-ACT

I'm 172cm and 77 kgs which is a bmi of 26. I don't want the dr to make me feel good about myself, I want her to at least acknowledge that I feel this way and want to change it. She won't give me metformin as she says it can make you sick all the time and doesn't think it is worth it. If you do know of any good nutritionests etc in Canberra that specialise in PCOS I would love to know about them.

megsybad

I'm also in Canberra and looking for a good Dr as well. Not much help to the thread, but if there are any Canberra cysters out there with any recs, I'd love to hear them, just like the OP.

EarthAngel1975

Molly,

I disagree with your DR's view of metformin! Some women do have a hard time on it...but i know plenty who dont. There is also a slow release version that most people can tolerate. It helps with egg quality and most people who take it during pregnancy don't end up with pregnancy induced diabetes.

Megsybad: I highly recommend Dr Nicci Sides who runs ISIS fertility clinic. It all depends on what you are looking for in a DR though. There's Dr. Campbell and Dr Tam (I think that's her name) who work at SIVF in Canberra but imo neither have much experience as they are both pretty fresh graduates. I saw Dr Campbell before seeing Dr Sides this time around as we could get in to see her earlier but DH and I didnt like her at all. She didnt even know how to deal with hypothyrodism which is a common cause of infertility!

Then there's Nicci Sides at Isis. She's open to natural therapies and how they play a role in fertility treatment (a lot of DR's arent), but you do have to stay on top of your own treatment as she's so busy she can be caught up in her own little world. However she's quite open to you having gone and done your own research and bringing it to her to discuss etc. This is quite useful with PCOS. She's also Canberra's PCOS specialist.

Then there's CFC (Canberra Fertility Clinic). There are 3-4 Dr's there. Only one is a woman who is out at Calvary Clinic (ive heard she is good but has a 3 month wait list). Dr Robson who is also an Ob so his appointments can be delayed etc. There's another - can't recall his name who is also highly spoke of but he supposedly doesnt do IVF on those over 100kg (though I know someone who was 120kg and did IVF with him so who knows - she did have major male factor though)

Molly-ACT

I currently go to Simone Campbell. Not sure if I will stick with her after my pregnancy or not, because as I said, she focuses on that only and not sure if she will be of any help with me losing weight etc with the PCOS afterwards or not.

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