I used to post on this board quite regularly, but have not for a while (since 07)!!! I'm just trying to get settled back in.
I was living in the US but now I live in the UK with my husband. From what I have been told, a lot of Women in the UK with PCOS do not get treated, or get very minimal treatment unless they are trying to concieve. How true is this??
They stopped my metformin once they found out I wasn't trying to have a baby. I was taking 1500mg in total daily. I found (or thought) that the metformin helped maintain symptoms and helped me with eating. I felt it helped me digest better any carbs I had.
Since metformin has no conclusive evidence of weight loss, help metabolising sugar, or really even pregnancy then why wouldn't they give it to me if been on it a number of years and no issues or problems?? I am finding the UK is a lot stricter with medications.
Any comments, suggestions, personal experience is appreciated,
Thank you!
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Oh goodness! Tell me about it! I'm american living in the UK (married an Englishman). I've been here for 5 years and it's so incredibly frustrating for me. I had fantastic ongoing treatment at women's clinics in the states but coming over here the gps and consultant didn't even want to look at my 8 years of treatment. He just wanted to start all over. I told him I had been on metformin in the states and the doctors took me off it because it wasn't doing anything for me. So what did he do? Put me straight back on it and I've been on it for 4 years! Has it done anything for me? No.
When you read through this site and read some of the american side of treatments it literally crushed me. Everytime I go to my consultant with these things he doesn't want to know or shrugs them off. My cousin back in the states has PCOS and just as bad or worse than me. She loved her doctor and wished I could have seen him. Well, in these 4 years she has had surgery, treatment, gotten to see her doctor every few weeks for ongoing treatment and now has 2 kids!! I am lucky to be able to get to see my consultant once every 6 months because he has a backed up waiting list as he is the only one in the area. We've been contemplating how much it might cost us to pay out of pocket to go and have treatment in the states. At our last gp appointment where we vented out frustrations to our doctor he told us that a lot of the funding is slipping away from fertility treatments because a lot of doctors are now going to the states because the fertility care is so much better. I just want to cry!!
hmmm - getting pcos treatment is soooo different here in the uk, as youre already finding out. have you been referred to an endo?? thats who gave me the met.
Yes, we feel your pain!! My consultant also wanted to take me off Met - but after a break of a month I managed to get my GP to re-prescribe it. I also felt it made a huge difference to how I feel, how much weight I lose/gain, and how I react to carbs.
As for paying to go back to the states for treatment - a much cheaper option would probably be to pay for private care here in the UK... there are lots of good consultants and you can get care whenever you want - just a thought? I haven't gone down that route yet, as I'm finding the NHS ok so far - I think it's largely a case of going to your appt as prepared with info as you can be so that you get the results you want.
__________________ Diagnosed since December 2002
Metformin (1500 mg a day)
Married to my best friend since 22/07/06
31 years old
Dec 08 Clomid 50mg days 2-6. No O
May 09 Clomid 100mg days 3-7. BFN
July 09 Clomid 100mg days 3-7.
BFP 27/08/09!
First scan 24/09/09, heard heartbeat!
Second scan 8/10/09 Everything ok so far!
3rd Scan 19/10/09 11 weeks 4 days. Heartbeat 166bpm, everything looks good!
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Hello to a fellow American in the UK. I haven't had to go the NHS route for treatment as we have insurance through my husband's employer and can go private, but I have read many comments regarding NHS PCOS trx...some good and some bad. I will say that when I decided to go for treatment here in London, I've had great luck and found wonderful doctors. Every doctor I've seen has been an NHS/private doctor. The difference is that I can see them privately and avoid the long waiting lists associated with the NHS. Within 2 1/2months of my initial appointment with an RE, I've been put on Met, found out I was severely VitD deficient, had a major surgery to remove a large dermoid cyst, and have now been given the all clear to TTC...and I've had 2 regular cycles...something that hasn't happened for years.
In regards to treatment costs. I have found that things here are much cheaper. For example, when paying full private price (w/no insurance, just out of pocket) for Met, I am paying one third of the full price I paid in the States. I've also been shocked at the fees for my surgery...they are much less than what I would have expected them to be. I agree with Tory above, check into private pay before you fork over money for private pay in the US.
Hiya, Oldie but back 
have you been referred to an endo?? thats who gave me the met.
