dlfriedman

Hi everyone. I'm new to the message board, and I'm hoping someone out there has some advice for me :-) I'm 27 years old, diagnosed with PCOS when I was 19. I was on Metformin for many years and then Actos. In the last year I have changed my diet so I am eating less sugar/carbs, low glycemic index, etc. (kind of like South Beach Diet), and I have lost a lot of weight (enough that I'm no longer considered "overweight"). My endocrinologist said it would be OK to try being off PCOS meds for a while to see if diet alone would make a difference. It seems like it did (my periods were regular, no other symptoms, blood work looked pretty good) so for now I'm not taking anything.

In February, I began taking BCP for birth control purposes. I was on Ortho Cyclen for years when I was younger before I knew I had PCOS, and had no problems on it. Then a couple of years ago I was on Ortho-Tri-Cyclen Lo for a few months, but had problems with breakthrough bleeding. This time around, I tried the generic form of Yasmin first to see if I could tolerate a lower does of estrogen, and for 3 months I began bleeding after the second week of pills and bled for 2 weeks each month. Because of this, my doctor recommended I try Ortho Cyclen again. I'm on my first pack and I started bleeding more than a week early again. I know it's only the first month so I'm going to give it a shot for another month, but I'm starting to think ahead about what the next try should be if it doesn't work. I'd really like to avoid going up to an even higher does of estrogen.

So my question is, does this sound familiar to anyone? If you've had similar experiences with these pills or with breakthrough bleeding in general and have found a pill that works for you, I would love recommendations.

Thanks so much :-)

Dani

GovtProf

Dani---

It seems that tri-phasic pills can be difficult for our pcos bodies to process. I personally have been on Ortho Cyclen, Ortho Tri-Cyclen, Nuva Ring, and Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo (2 times). Out of all of these the Nuva Ring was the best for me--- 0 problems. However, I stopped taking it because I lost my insurance and my school only provides Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo at a reduced price. So sadly, I had to switch back to that... it took me a good 4 months on that for the breakthrough bleeding to stop and even now (11 months later) I still get a day or two of spotting sometimes when I move from week 2-3. Maybe try the Nuva Ring or another birth control that has a continuous dosage level rather than tri-phasic? Best of luck!

__________________
Thin Cyster Age: 25 BMI:19 Not TTC

PhD Student in Social, Ethical, Political, and Cultural Thought at Virginia Tech.
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Meds
Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo, 500mg XR Fortamet, Elavil 5mg

Symptoms
Pre-diabetes, Hirsutism, Acne, Anxiety

Other Issues
IBS, Teeth Grinding, Migraines
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