PCOS post pregnancy ... How are you managing it?

Kellyanna · 02-07-2009, 06:35 PM

Hi .... this is gonna be a long one I'm afraid!

I was diagnosed with PCOS in 2007 after a year of TTC with no luck. My symptoms were very irregular periods, moderate acne, fatigue and mild hirsutism. I was started on metformin and became pregnant after about 10 weeks, before I ever had a proper cycle. DH and I were obviously delighted, and our DS was born 11 months ago ... and we have had the best year of our lives.

I thought that things had really improved post pregnancy. Most cycles are now within 35 days. But over the last 3 to 4 months I have been having right sided ovary pain, have lost about 10lbs (I am 5ft 7, and 115lbs), and my skin goes through phases of being really awful. I have also been incredibly tired. I also feel like I have a mass, or that there is not enough space for something in the right side of my abdomen. Recently I became ill with the 'flu', I had a temperature and just generalised illness, every part of me seemed to feel terrible, after a week of no improvement, I developed a strep throat, and then just when I finally started to get better, I started fainting and vomiting, and the pain in my right side became more pronounced.

My dr sent me to hospital, where they took one look at the state of me in the waiting room, and admitted me. The surgeon was convinced that I had a torsion in my right ovary, and did a laparoscopy straight away. It turned out that I just had a ruptured ovarian cyst, and that there was a large amount of fluid floating freely in my abdomen. He was quite taken aback by the size of my ovaries, in particular the right one which is very large, and how cystic they both were, and has advised me to get gynae follow up, as he said that I will have a lot of problems if this is not managed properly. ..... I have not been taking metformin or the pill since the birth of DS.

Has anyone else had similar problems, how are you managing your pcos post pregnancy? I am a bit worried about the fate of my right ovary. And am also concerned about how bad my fatigue has become. DS is wonderful, and sleeps well, so I know that my fatigue is related to my health rather than running around after him. Any advice would be welcome, i didn't think that you got ruptured cysts with PCOS??????

DD56 · 02-10-2009, 12:48 AM

sorry you're feeling so sick. I have not experienced similar symptoms, but my pcos did change after pregnancy. For me I thought it was because i gained a lot of weight, and the effects haven't worn off yet even though I am almost done losing it. And pregnancy does funny things to your hormones, so maybe things can change afterwards.
PCOS ovaries typically have a lot of little cysts, but it's still possible to get a big one that ruptures. I bet that really hurt.
You should definitely go back to see your gyn, maybe there is something else going on like thyroid issues that needs to be worked up.

mnstrpc · 02-10-2009, 02:04 PM

Oh my goodness - ((hugs)) to you! My DD is about 10 months old. I haven't had any symptoms like you describe, but my only real PCOS symptom pre-pregnancy was wildly irregular cycles. I just wanted to suggest, as you describe your fatigue, that you get your thyroid levels checked when you go back to the dr., if they weren't planning to do that already. I hope you can get some relief!

kimm · 02-10-2009, 02:21 PM

I can certainly relate to some of what you are saying.

I too was doing great until about a year out from my sons birth.

Then the facial hair got worse, I lost a lot of weight without trying, hair loss got worse, and now I'm dealing with almost crippling anxiety, in addition to my once regular cycles going haywire.

I went on flutamide when my son was about 4 months old and an ultrasound showed cysts in only one ovary. In addition my total T was only 43 at the time.

One year out (little more) I had another ultrasound showing both ovaries filled with cysts an enlarged, Total T up to 60.

I've been on Fortamet in addition to the flutamide I was already on since Oct 08. I *THINK* I'm seeing some improvement but can't be sure if I'm doing enough.

I'm also doing a bunch of herbal stuff and getting accupuncture bi-weekly.

So I still lose hair but have periods of low shedding and a lot of baby hairs. Just can't be sure what exactly is happening with my head. I can deal with everything else but not the hair loss. If I get more aggressive this will be why.

I think my hirsutism is better now. I also think I may have a 28-30 day cycle this month. It was 35 the month before and more than 40 before that.

I hope you feel better. I also feel that my body got worse after this last pregnancy.

Kellyanna · 02-10-2009, 07:14 PM

Thanks DD56, mnstrpc and Kimm.

It's great to hear from other Mum's with PCOS .... you spend so long worrying about never getting pregnant that you don't care what happens after .... until you get there!

I'm glad that 2 out of 3 of you are doing great, and Kimm I hope that things improve for you.

I had my thyroid checked a few times, and it seems to be ok. Infact I had all my PCOS markers checked in December and they came back better than they have ever been. I've had day 3's taken for this cycle and will have 21's done too, and wait and see what they are like. I'm really confused by bloods, as can't argue with what surgeon saw when he went in! Beginning to think that it is not just PCOS. But hopefully it will all sort itself out soon. Not going to gynae for another month as wanted to make sure I had a full cycle before I saw her, and since I never know how long a cycle will be, I pushed the appointment out for a while. Hope that you all stay well, and hopefully I will be back on here tellling you that I am much better. Kimm, keep on top of your anxiety, I'm sure that it is hormone related ... have you spoken to your doc about it?

Thanks for sharing your stories girls, it's great to hear from other people.

Kellyanna