kiwi newbie

kiwikelly · 01-03-2004, 03:53 PM

Hi there, not long ago found this site after deciding to research pcos for myself.
At present i am on the pill-estelle 35, and would love to go off it(don't trust the side effects) but have been advised to stay on it so that i ovulate monthly( doesn't happen half the time anyway)
would love to know what other med combos kiwicysters are on.
I'm also on metformin which i started a month ago...but something has got to give, i feel like kaka...all i want to do is sleep and it feels like the early stages of prenancy, nausea stomach pain etc.
is there anyone out there that is on concraception and metformin together.
some of those American cysters are on some amazing combos but amyet to go back to my doc to see what is available in nz.
do any of you guys suffer from psrorasis of the scalp(i have since first pregnancy-they said it could be related to pcos) and or gall stones that maybe related as well
i am also on fluox for depression but if i could get my weight down i know i wouldn't need these!
would also love to hear from kiwi that are being treating with great results in herbal or homeopathic forms.
i was on comiphene to get pregnant with may 2nd, i hated the way it made me feel so gave it up and had a "clean out" with black cohosh tablets...whilst resigning to that the fact that my first child was 'it' ...i got pregnant! Now have three and all conceived naturally!
so i am interesting in treating with orthodox meds but would one day(when im happy with weight and other symtoms are down to minimal) love to maintain pcos with herbal remedies.
thanks for reading
kelly

gg · 01-03-2004, 09:56 PM

Hi Kelly!

Welcome to Soulcysters! I'm glad you found us! Another Kiwi here!

I was DX with PCOS in Jan 1999, and I had/have really bad IR (Insulin Resistance) loss of hair from scalp, no periods for almost 3 years, obesity, etc.. I started on Metformin straight away and worked up the dosage until I got too a desired dosage my body could handle. At 1500mgs it was too strong for me but then at 1000mgs was really good. After about 4-6 months I started to get my period back but even today it is still very irregular 30-160 day cycles. My hair loss slowed down too. I'm not familair with alternative medcines, but there is heaps of info on this board about it.

Congrats on your Children!!

I hope you find heaps of info here too help you, and ask away if you have any questions, we are a friendly bunch here!

Take Care
-Ange

Tas · 01-03-2004, 11:15 PM

Welcome Kelly,

There are a few of us Aussies on this list too

I took black cohosh for a couple of months when I was first diagnosed last February. It got me regular and O'ing very quickly. It also stopped the hot flushes I was having. I just started taking it again recently because I had stopped O'ing and the hot flushes had returned - probably because the diet and exercise had come to a stand-still towards the end of the year :o

Other people also read this list from time to time, so please be careful what you call our American friends - wouldn't want to offend anyone.

kiwikelly · 01-04-2004, 12:43 AM

Thanks for replying guys, Have yous researched any other drugs and do you know what is available in new Zealand/Auss
GG-Ange, how did you know the 1500mg was to strong for you?
All i have wanted to do since i started on the stuff is sleep! and i have the weirdest sensation in my lower abdomin...being waiting for the kicking to start?!
I want to go off the pill which i am pretty certain now is not necessary and may have caused by gall stone...any suggestions on what i could on instead?
They say i should stay on it to keep everthing regular but in 17 years it hasn't done that anyway!
kelly

gg · 01-04-2004, 12:58 AM

I started off taking 250mgs for one week, then 500mgs and so on... building up to the 1500mgs, the first couple of weeks I had cramping pains and some diarrhea but once I adjusted my diet that al sorted itself out, but as I got upto the 1500mgs I had the pains come back again down in my tummy a bit more diarrhea but mostly just general un well feeling, so my endo made me reduce back to 1000mgs where It was fine for me.

Chilli · 01-04-2004, 01:08 AM

Hi! And welcome to the board!

I was diagnosed with PCOS in October 2000 and wasn't offered any meds at all! They said that the contraceptive pill isn't a good idea for me because a) I haven't had children and theres evidence that for PCOS sufferers who are on the pill then wish to become pregnant and come off it, it's harder for them to conceive (all my period problems started after I went on the pill and came off it anyway) and b) I have a history of blood clots /dvt in both sides of my family.
They never tested me for insulin resistance back then I don't think. Anyways so I went on a herbal supplement called "Femzone" made by "Good Health" and it was amazing, my periods became regular but I wasn't ovulating.

I started seeing the fertility specialist last year and they did blood tests again and said my insulin levels were "slightly elevated!?!" but I have never been offered metformin and instead I am now on my 7th round of clomid!! Hopefully something will happen soon!

Congratulations on your 3 kids! And once again welcome! I'm sure you'll love this board

kiwikelly · 01-04-2004, 05:59 AM

thanks for bit of info GG, that explains the yuk feeling i've been having although alot better today, so i just must be still adjusting to the met. I have had no diahhroa though, could use a bout of that, i've gone abit the other way since starting met. guess i will just hang in there and see what happens. In the main time i will get off the Estelle. Wonder why my doc started me on such a high dose of met, never mind hopefully it will work!
kelly

kiwikelly · 01-04-2004, 06:10 AM

Hi Chilli, Seven rounds, good luck to you! hang in there girl!
Personally the clomid frightened me, and i knew that if i had managed to get preggie once without anything then i could do it again, and i swear that the black cohosh tablets helped there!
Don't you ever wonder how you can have regular periods but not ovulate?
I was told that we actually ovulate but it is reabsorbed before being picked up in a test or before been released to form a period(can't remember exact words or even if i understood it . When we were told this we just went hard!!**(if i ovulate then we should be able to catch it some where along the line)- and we did...3 times!
Kelly

Charlie RS · 01-08-2004, 08:25 PM

Hi KiwiKelly

I'm interested that you (and others in NZ) are on Metformin. Naturally I've read a bit about, but when I asked my specialist about it he said it wasn't widely used in NZ and was reluctant to try me on it.

I since saw in the paper (a few months ago now) that they were conducting a Metformin trial in Akld but it was only for women who haven't taken Chlomiphene or any other fertility treatment. I've now had 2 years on Chlomiphene and three rounds of IUI so I wasn't eligible.

Since TTC I've put on about 6kg, mostly around my tummy and finding it really difficult to shift it. Seems to me that the more meds (Gonal-F, Profasi etc) they stick into me, the more my weight goes up - which isn't good for IVF.

I don't know about IR, I don't think I've ever been tested for it.

Did your dr just suggest it, or did you ask for it?

C

kiwitriona · 01-08-2004, 09:49 PM

Hi fellow Kiwi cysters...
Charlie - I'm on Metformin. I'm type 1 (insulin dependant) diabetic so metformin helps me with my blood sugar control too - very impt when TTC. Anyway I got the Met from my diabetic dr but my GP did know about it but it seems to be fairly new here in NZ. And the Met XR version isn't available over here yet, which is a shame as reading other posts you seem to get less side effects form MetXR. I heard something about Avandia being another similar drug (not sure on that one but someone might know).
Anyway more docs are prescribing Met with Chlomiphene so you shouldn't have to go on any trials - keep asking.
Met helps with weight loss. When I first took it (1500mgs) I lost weight (5kgs) but I think that had a lot to do with barfing my guts out all the time & the fact I couldn't keep fatty or high carb foods down. I went off it totally. As my DH said , there was no point taking meds to help TTC when I was always too sick to shag

.
Anyway I just went back on 500mgs - dr reckons a little is better than nothing at all. So maybe in a few weeks I'll up it.
You should get tested for IR - better to stave off a potential problem while you can.
Best of luck to everyone
T

Charlie RS · 01-08-2004, 11:07 PM

Thanks for that Kiwitriona

Guess I'm heading back to my doc.

kiwikelly · 01-16-2004, 04:11 AM

Hi Charlie RS, been away...and what do you know...i ran out of met whilst away,(hope it doesn't make a difference) side effects had just settled too, so i'm back to the docs on monday(armed with info i have read while away-i'm am pretty sure i don't need to be on Esteele 35(concraception) and that it is half my problem.
Anyway I took the article about that met trial into my doc and said i want to give it a go, not with clomiphene as i didn't want to get pregnant, but i understood it as the met would get the body weight down to help them conceive so i wanted to try it to help get the body weight down to help lesser the other pcos symtoms.
She has been doing alot of work and study on pcos but hadn't put any pcos patients on met, but had been wanting too(mustnt be allowed to just prescribe for their own experimentation), so she was all for me giving it a go!
So get in their and ask!
I am just studying up on some of the other ones..avandia...in the hope of an overnight cure!
what does TTC and IR mean?
kelly

kiwitriona · 01-18-2004, 03:44 PM

Hi kiwikelly,
TTC = trying to conceive
IR = insulin resistance

Over on the Met board there are some great sucess stories with Met and a lot of them are from women who are not TTC. Met appears to work wonders in terms of weight loss and IR. I started on 1000mg of Met and lost weight coz couldn't take Met with any food that was fatty/greasy (friday night fish & chips out

), any overly sweet foods and alcohol was pretty much out aswell.
Good luck and hope it all goes well.
T

kiwikelly · 01-18-2004, 04:40 PM

Heck, I've been on met for 7 weeks, can still eat what i want-just weighed myself and have put on another 5 kgs! what is with that...I have had 2 periods though...3 weeks apart, that is a first!
never even got them 3 months apart before!
i'm on 1500mg a day, maybe its not for me...bumma!(will stick it out though) whats another drug to the equation?
been stickin to my diet...although exercise is lacking at the mo...to hot
do you know much about other drugs avialable in NZ...i think i want a specific tetesterone lowering one?
Kelly

kiwitriona · 01-18-2004, 09:09 PM

Doctors tend to not see past my diabetes so I only get PCOS treatment coz I'm TTC and only in terms of Met. I'm going to try and get my GP to be a bit more proactive on the PCO front. I've weight and hair issues...In the meantime I'm dabbling with alternative remedies - but so far no results. I still feel like the billy goats gruff - with hair on my chinny chin chin

Keep us posted if you find out some NZ info - will do likewise.
T