Miss Mia

Well hello ladies! My name is Amelia and can I just say how excited I am to have stumbled upon this site! Looks like a great place to be! I was diagnosed with PCOS in October 2006 but I have had symptoms ever since I can remember. All of my life I have wanted to have a large family and be super-mommy.. and I was devestated to have my worst fear confirmed. INFERTILITY! I have shed tears and leaned on my girlfriends, but it's difficult when no one really understands what you're going through. I now deal with my PCOS through 2 extremes- humor.. and total freak out mode. I am young- some of my friends have children and the others arent even thinking about having children right now. As for me, I'm on the fence. I have my whole life ahead of me, yet I feel that I have to plan my future around my ovaries!

Before I was diagnosed, I hadn't had a period in over a year and suddenly gained about 50 lbs. After a quick pelvic exam my doc diagnosed me with PCOS. I asked her if there was anything else she could to do confirm her dx and she reluctantly ordered me a vaginal sonogram. The sono revealed 2 cystic ovaries. No surprise there! She informed me that I could be insulin resistant or have diabetes, however she did not order bloodwork to rule it out. After about 10 minutes in the exam room she rescribed Provera to jump start my period and Yasmin. I didnt like the "hormone spike" that I got from the Yasmin so she later put me on Neuva Ring. I opted to have a period once a month instead of the recommended 3 month intervals (with the permission of my doc) and LOVED the Neuva Ring! My acne cleared, my hair growth slowed and I was able to maintain my weight. In December 2007 I went into my internist for a viral infection and had bloodwork done that revealed an elevated but "evenly distributed" cholesterol. Everything else was normal so I am assuming that I dont have diabetes, hypothyroidism, or elevated horomone levels. This past February I stopped taking my birth control. Honestly, I have not had any guidance from my ob/gyn thus far and I just wanted to see what, if anything, would happen without my BC. I have not had a period since February 7th, experienced ovarian pain (probably the cysts), acne, hair growth, and slight weight gain. My soon to be fiance and I had unprotected sex every other day- Nothing happened. As a side note, we are not preventing pregnancy.

So, I am at a loss. My crappy OB/GYN who gave me my diagnosis by saying "Just take this birth control and come see me for Clomid when you want to get pregnant. Oh, but make sure you start trying before you turn 27, otherwise, your in trouble." stopped delivering babies and given my child-bearing age, I would like to switch to someone who does deliver and is more inclined to go to greater lengths to gather all of the information she can in helping me maintain my precious reproductive organs! And that's why I am here. I work in the medical field and generally understand the workings of the human body, but when it comes to all of this cycle charting, ovulation predicters and lunar phases (or are they eclipses!?? ;P ), I didnt get the pamphlet! I need some serious help in understanding just what the heck is going on down there. My goals (that I can think of at the moment) are to 1. Figure out what kind of doctor I need to be seeing... RE, OB? 2. Identify my cycles- if I even have cycles! 3. Learn to chart.

I am hoping that by utilizing the forums I can gain some perspective, learn a whole lot about PCOS, and hopefully make some great friends. Can't wait to meet everyone and get to posting!

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AprilA7

Welcome to SC! First, her statement about 27 is rediculous. Absolutely rediculous. So forget it now. As for charting, www.fertilityfriend.com is a free online charting site and it has a whole course you can read through to get an understanding of how to do it and read the chart. It usually takes a cycle or two to get a hang of it so don't put too much pressure on yourself.

There are a lot of options as far as treatments. The real key is getting your body to ovulate. It's worth getting tested to see if you're IR. Some women who aren't even IR respond to metformin, a med for IR and diabetes and will get to Oing just on that. I opted to take clomid because my dr really felt it would work for me. And thankfully it did. It's really about finding what works for you if you're not Oing regularly on your own. You'll find the women here all seem to respond to something different.

So first, I'd recommend getting in to see an obgyn who is familiar with pcos and the treatments and handling of it. That will make a BIG difference!

Second, I'd recommend trying not to get overwhlemed by the wealth of info here. Read through the articles Kat has posted, they are super informative and keep in mind that one of the MOST common issues of pcos is that it is different for almost everyone. Everyone's symptoms can vary and everyone responds to different meds differently. So it's important to search for what works for you.

Oh yeah, and when you find that new dr, it should be someone who when you're ready to start "trying actively" will monitor your cycles, not just give you a prescription and tell you to call when you get af or a bfp. If the meds aren't working you need to know so you can move on to a different dose or med.

And always remember we're all here for you!

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Me (April) 30
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megsaddiction

Hi I hope that you will study and learn all about PCOS. There is so much to learn. First eat a low carb diet and exercise if you can keep the weight gain down it will help more then you know. Talk to your Dr. about Metformin. It helps control your insulin which causes all kinds of problems for you. I also have heard that Cinnamon helps to control insulin levels if you want to try an herbal treatment. I am doing both. Definitly take it serious some people can have babies right away others it will take years or possibly adoption. Keep learning and taking care of yourself the more you learn the better off you will be. Good luck.

Eva37

welcome to sc

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PCOS, LOCAH, Lichen Planus, IBS, HS,alopecia - raised bp/ cholesteral. Wheat and dairy intollerance Meds: Spiro, Bendrofluazide, Amlodopine, Simvastatin, Met, Prednisolone, Colpermin multi vits,

Me - 41, hubby 36 son 11. Married 14 years

She is buffeted by the wind, but she does not sink.



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Miss Mia

Thanks for the welcome ladies! I never new about the low carb diet but it makes sense.. I am a carb craver and could live on flour tortillas and chocolate chip cookies for the rest of my life if I let myself! I just got back from Target and stocked up on lots of veggies, lean meat, fruit and PROTEIN PROTEIN PROTEIN! I lost almost 40 lbs eatiing this way and I never felt better while doing it so I figure I should get back to eating that way. Now that I know a low carb diet is beneficial for PCOS'ers it should help me in making the right decisions when faced with tempting (YUMMY!!) foods. =)

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