My PCOS BFP Story

RaeBaby · 12-29-2008, 09:05 PM

I had always suspected that I had PCOS, but I never had a formal diagnosis. I had a 60 lb weight gain, facial hair, no AF's, and the dark spots under my breasts and behind my neck.
We started ttc July 06. We went the natural route, bbt’s, opk’s, vitex, and ovulex. Nothing worked. No O, and no AF. I went to my dr Dec 06 and got a formal diagnosis. She handed me a script for provera and clomid and sent me on my way. From Jan 07 to Oct 07 we did 6 cycles of clomid from 50mg to 200mg, and nothing happened. I went back to my dr, frustrated and concerned. She told me I could try changing my diet and exercising and that might jump start my fertility. No way, I thought. That doesn’t work for me. Or, she said, I could go to an RE for more aggressive meds like injections. The choice was mine. Guess which one I chose? Right. I chose the RE and injections. At that point we had already been trying for almost a year, and I didn’t want to wait any longer.
We went to an RE who came highly recommended to us. I ended up leaving in tears because she would not even prescribe meds to me until I had been on metformin at least 2 months and had dropped some weight. I didn’t understand. How could weight be such a big issue? I had seen women twice my size pregnant and delivering healthy babies.
We found a more “aggressive” RE who jumped headfirst into injections. Because of my PCOS, my RE put me on a “low and slow” protocol to keep me from overstimming. Well I stimmed for 19 days and the price of meds drove the cost of the cycle up. We did our first cycle Dec 07, and got the BFN and the realization that we had spent $4200 on one cycle in Jan 08. We recouped emotionally and financially and tried again June 08. I ended up producing too many follies, my e2 was too high, and they cancelled my cycle. $2000 down the tubes, and not to mention the disappointment and heartache.
I finally decided I was done with PCOS. PCOS had taken so much from me at that point, and it was time for me to take something back. August of 08 I changed my diet to low gi, started exercising, and taking supplements. TTC was no longer on my mind. No longer would I spend hours pouring over opk and hpt photos and reading ttc related things. I replaced that with spending time researching and reading articles on how to heal my body through diet and exercise. I was feeling good, and losing weight.
December 5, 2008, AF showed up. All by herself. Just one day, she was here. That hadn’t happened to me without meds in years. I celebrated the small victory, but didn’t expect for the cycle to be ovulatory. On CD 13 (this is in hindsight now, as I was not counting CD’s) I had tons of EWCM. Not the kind that you have to manually check for, I mean tons of it each time I went to the bathroom. I figured my body was trying to O, but wouldn’t actually complete the process. Well, about a week after that, DH made a comment about not having to turn the heater on because lately I had been super hot at night. I thought, hmmmm. The only time he had ever said that was when I was on progesterone last year. I set my alarm to temp the next day. 98.something. The next several days I got the same thing. 98’s are ovulatory temps for me. I was excited and wondering when it had happened. This was great news for me! I had O'd by myself!! A few days later, the day after Christmas, I started feeling nauseated and ended up tossing my cookies. I thought maybe I had gotten sick from eating too many carbs. Fast forward to this morning. I had a dream that I had taken a test and gotten a BFN. In the dream I kept checking the test to make sure it was neg. A sad scene. I got up, went to the restroom and went back to sleep. I woke up 45 minutes later and felt the urge to test. I guess I just wanted to see the BFN and get it over with. I POAS, left the restroom, and came back in 3 minutes. BFP! I couldn’t believe it! I took another one 10 minutes later. Another BFP! I think I’m about 12 DPO. I am overjoyed! This is the best feeling in the world. Beta results 23.

I go back in December 31^st. Praying for good results.
Moral to my story, if all else fails, heal your body first. Change your diet, exercise, take your supplements. I’m not against meds by any means, but I think too often we get impatient and take what we think is the easy way out when we should get ourselves healthy first.
Now I’m not sure how this all will end, but I’m here now. I will just enjoy this moment!

chicklet73 · 12-29-2008, 09:20 PM

wow!!! how exciting!!! thats great news..
i lost a bit of weight recently and af arrived on its own last month out of the blue!!(not had af without no meds for nearly 4 yrs ) Dont know for defo if i o'd but definatly 'felt' changes like you described...
i honestly think it was the weight loss that did it, im not massively over weight but low carb diet helped me to shift it (the ONLY way i can loose weight, believe me i tried everything! lol)
Anyway, i really hope things go good for you, will keep my fingers (and toes!) crossed for you x

jjarias · 12-29-2008, 09:25 PM

This is what happened to me! I was so tired of the ups and downs of ttc, I took time to heal myself, lost close to 40lbs, started O'ing!!!! and I got a bfp only on met!!! Congrats...Sticky dust!

klmcconne79 · 12-29-2008, 09:32 PM

congratulations! i had a small weight loss of 11 pounds since the middle of october and i O'd for the first time on my own in over 3 years... awesome!

a_beautiful_disaster · 12-29-2008, 09:34 PM

That is absolutely wonderful! I can't stress enough to other cysters that you HAVE to take care of yourself, before you can think about taking care of another person (much less grow one!) It's a long hard road, but it's all worth it. I had to take a different route to treatment. I went SO many years without a diagnosis and treatment, that without Metformin XR and Byetta, I don't believe I would be alive today.

Even though beginning those medications were REALLY bad, the results have been worth it all. I feel so much better, I've lost over 100lbs, had regular periods *before pregnancy*, my insulin levels were normal for the first time in YEARS, my hair grew back, and for the first time in years, I felt good.

I know how bad many cysters want a baby-- and I know what it's like to want something and want it NOW! But honestly, if you take care of yourself, and your body is in the best shape it can be in (regardless of weight) then you're more likely to have a safe, healthy, and successful pregnancy.

Thanks for sharing your story! *hugs*

dontae · 12-30-2008, 01:00 AM

Your story is very encouraging and just what I need today. Thanks for sharing.

RaeBaby · 12-30-2008, 09:10 AM

Thank you ladies! I am so glad this story is well received. I couldn't ask for more. It all came down to me and what I was willing to do for myself. No doctors, no meds, just me! I hope this helps someone else. I really and truly do.

jendix78 · 12-31-2008, 09:33 AM

"Moral to my story, if all else fails, heal your body first. Change your diet, exercise, take your supplements. I’m not against meds by any means, but I think too often we get impatient and take what we think is the easy way out when we should get ourselves healthy first."

I couldn't agree with you more here. I have not went the prescription med route or even thought about clomid yet. I hadn't gotten my period in over a year, more than 10 years without BCP and after starting to diet, exercise religiously and taking some herbals, I lost 23 pounds in 2 months and got my period on my own for the first time since I was a teenager.
I want to get pregnant, but I truly feel I cannot expect to unless my body is healthy... and it's up to me to make it that way. Yes, we have to work harder than others to do so, but if it leads to a BFP like in your story, it's more than worth it!
And congratulations, that's a great New Years gift!

lj2blessed · 12-31-2008, 10:28 AM

Rae - your story is awesome!!! So happy for you

, keep us posted as your pregnancy progresses!

RaeBaby · 12-31-2008, 03:02 PM

Jendix: Super smart of you! I wish I had your way of thinking when we first started ttc. It would've saved us a lot of time!

lj2: Thanks! I will definitely keep everyone posted!

Hopeful09 · 01-01-2009, 12:58 PM

DH and I got married in August and have been TTC actively for 5 months. I too believe that healing your body is very important. I am yet to be officially diagnosed with PCOS and will have blood work done tomorrow. I have always had irregular periods but didn't pay much attention to it especially since I got pregnant twice during my late teens (had dnc for both due to immaturity). Last year my former GYN put me on the pill to regulate my periods after skipping 5 months (longest ever). That seemed to work because I got a 'period' every month this year after getting of the pill but no BFP. I noticed a lot of weight gain without diet changes and little facial hair and was reading a lot on PCOS and started suspecting. Well I changed docs and immediately this new doc mentioned I may have PCOS, I was 185lbs and went on the atkins diet and have since lost about 5 pounds and this may have brought on a period (not sure if I'm ovulatory) but I'm glad I didn't have to wait too long to do the blood work since my doc wants it done on CD3 or CD4. I feel a lot better since my diet and exercise, my skin is more radiant and my mood has gotten better. I guess I'm IR because my blood sugar was slightly elevated but since my diet it has dropped from 125 to 93. I don't know if she will still but me on met or clomid. Which one works better? Baby dust to all and may we get our BFPs soon!

detroitgirl · 01-01-2009, 01:09 PM

I enjoyed your story! Congratulations

SandV · 01-01-2009, 01:20 PM

Rae - Congratulations! That is a great story. I had a small weight loss last year which gave me a BFP. Unfortunately, I could not carry to term. I am praying my recent weight loss will help me again too.

RunnerDuck · 01-01-2009, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaeBaby

Moral to my story, if all else fails, heal your body first. Change your diet, exercise, take your supplements. I’m not against meds by any means, but I think too often we get impatient and take what we think is the easy way out when we should get ourselves healthy first.

I know that's true for me. I always said I'd never do the fertility route because what I needed to do was heal my body. I know I can get pregnant on my own - I did with my son, while I was taking good care of myself. But I got impatient - I went the fertility route - and in the end it broke my heart.

But it also gave me the kick in the ass I needed to take responsibility for myself and my health and I am doing that now.

Your story is very inspiring and just what I (and a lot of other women, I am sure!) need to hear (well, read...)

A very sincere CONGRATULATIONS on your pregnancy and I hope it all goes wonderfully for you!!!!!

babybelle_ca · 01-04-2009, 10:42 AM

That is a wonderful story and I feel happy for you just reading it because I too had a wonderful ending! I concieved my daughter after 7 years of trying and 4 of them under the care of 2 fertility dr's. I did do the weight loss, actually 40lbs - I was recommended 20 but my AF did not return and I was still not ovulating at all. My progesterone is virtually nill all the time, not sure why..... I only had success after Ovarian Cautery which got things starting but still with the use of Clomid, femara and dexamethasone. (Still took me 150mg of Clomid to ovulate and produce 1 egg). The weight loss however did reverse my insulin resistance which was amazing! I never had sugar cravings anymore. But now after hav ing my daughter, I am back a thte pre-loss weight of around 170lbs and the sugar cravings are back... I guess its start over again, but atleast I know a little more this time around and it wont take so long hopefully!