Had Gastric Bypas And Now Med Don't Help PCOS - Page 2

batgirl23 · 10-01-2008, 10:03 PM

Every clinic is seperate. There is a general clinic, a gyn clinic, and an endo clinic that takes months to get an appoinment for. I've been to the endo clinic, they were so rude, mean and condenscending that I will never go back. They didn't offer much help either and all they did was test my testosterone level and said come back in a 3 months. The Endo Doc even said that he doubted that I had PCOS.

Believe me I wish I could see a specialist.

batgirl23 · 10-01-2008, 10:08 PM

Believe me I wish I could see specialists and not be forced to clinics, but that is what medicaid is like in NYC. And it's only going to get worse because I'm going to be switched to an HMO, which is way more restrictive. Like I will only be able to see a GYN 2x a year even if i have problems.

batgirl23 · 10-01-2008, 10:12 PM

I could go to the endocrine clinic, I've been there. It takes months to get an appointment. and they don't know what they are doing or simply don't care. The only thing the endo clinic did was test my testosterone level and told me to come back in 3 months.

That's what you get in NYC with medicaid.

Leigha789 · 10-01-2008, 10:35 PM

Just to clarify - I didn't give myself the shot. My gyn's office did not stock it so I had to pick it up at the pharmacy and then take it to the office.

batgirl23 · 10-01-2008, 11:06 PM

That's a huge relief, I thought it was like an insulin shot or something.

karlij · 10-02-2008, 01:20 AM

Batgirl - I'm sorry to hear of all your difficulties with your medical care. I would suggest that you ask for an RX for metformin. Metformin is a drug used for diabetes that does wonders to control PCOS symptoms. When I was trying to get pregnant, metformin was the ONLY thing that helped me get my period back of 3 years of not having one. It also helped with the facial hair, mood swings, etc. It basically gets rid of the insulin resistance piece of PCOS, which in turn helps all the other symptoms. Your GYN can prescribe it for you - mine did. In fact, her standard treatment for PCOS is metformin & a BC pill.

As for BC, Yasmin was horrible for me - gave me the worst cystic acne ever. I had much better luck with Ortho Tri-Cyclen. I would personally not recommend the Depo-Provera shot, as I feel it is the reason I have PCOS in the first place. I had normal periods, no facial hair, and was not obese until I tried Depo. I gained 100 lbs while on the shot, stopped having periods (and never got them back on my own until my WLS), was depressed, and was hungry all the time. Some women do like Depo, but for women with PCOS, it seems to not be a great idea. I see "I hate Depo" posts often on the Birth Control thread.

Hope this helps.

goddess819 · 10-02-2008, 03:28 AM

Is the HMO a part of the Medicaid or is it a different insurance all together? With my experience with HMOs although you do have to get referrals for specialized care (like to see an endo) women can self refer to an OB/GYN and can be seen more often than 2x a year if they have issues that are OB/GYN in nature. Karli made an excellent point about asking for Metformin to help with your PCOS symptoms. It just may be a helping factor in addition to a switch to a different bc pill. I know that for me when I was on the pill I had tried a few different ones before finding the right one for me. What may work best bc pill wise for one lady with PCOS may not be the best for another.

batgirl23 · 10-02-2008, 05:14 AM

I was on orthro-tricyline and it did help a lot for a few years, then it stopped woking. That's why I switched to Yasmine a few months before my WL surgery.

HMO Medicaid is completely different. You have to get approvals for everything even a blood test. Approvals take a minimum of 15 to even be considered. Think HMO but much worse because I already receive crappy care now.

batgirl23 · 10-02-2008, 05:19 AM

I was on Orthro-triclcyline for years and it helped a lot, then it just stopped working for me I was getting break through bleeding several times a month ect.

HMO Medicaid is much worse. You have to get approvals for everything, even a simple blood test. They don't even have to consider your request for 15 working days. You have much less prescription coverage and are limited even more by what Doc they will pay for. I hate it but I don't have a choice.

Has anyone had experience with Norplant?

goddess819 · 10-02-2008, 03:48 PM

Maybe give the Ortho bc another try? Hopefully with your weight loss coupled with Metformin it'll help again? I'm not sure about NY but here in CA the Walmart & Targets here both have a $4 program for LOTS of different medications. You can find a listing of them here: Walmart $4 Rx listing Target $4 Rx listing

As for the Norplant it's no longer available in the US as of 2002. http://www.webmd.com/sex/birth-contr...ntrol-norplant.

I'm surprised that NY state allows 15 days before they even look at your referral. It's truely sad that you have to work so hard to get the quality care that you deserve.

Oh...just thought of this. Have you looked into maybe using the OrthoEvra Patch? I know it's not intended for women who weigh over a certain point (and I'm not sure how much you weigh right now) but I went on it at 199lb and it worked out for me. It does have a stronger hormone level than most pills do and since it's absorbed through the skin (I placed mine on my hip/butt area where they typicall give shots) there's no malabsorbtion with the digestive tract to worry about. Maybe that's something you can look into? OrthoEvra

batgirl23 · 10-03-2008, 12:07 AM

Hey Goddess, Thanks for the info. I've heard some bad things about the patch like you get twice the risk for blood clots, plus what you said about the weight, I think I'm too heavy right now. I'm 5'3 260. I would have to talk to a Doc about it.

I wish Ortho tricycline came in doses more than low and high. I was on high pre-op and that didn't seem like it was enough after a few years. I was getting symptoms and breakthrough bleeding.

What kind of hormones comes in doses that can be tailored and not a premade pack?

Also, after research Implanon is like the new Norplant.

goddess819 · 10-03-2008, 06:00 AM

True the risk for blood clots goes up with the patch due to the elevated levels of estrogen in it but frankly if the pill isn't going to work it just might be your only option for hormonal birth control. Other than that I don't know of a bc pill that has varied ranges of hormone levels in it other than the Ortho-tri-cyclen brand. Maybe try that kind again coupled with the Metformin? I dunno...you'd think that your GYN clinic would know these things instead of letting you tell them what you need...ya know? Hopefully your own hormone levels will start to even out as you get closer to goal weight & that your cycles normalize.