momacita79

Hello Ladies! My name is Amy, I have been a member since Dec '03. I still consider myself new to this site because I can't get enough information and find out new stuff EVERY DAY. This is going to be kind of long, please bare with me. I hope that I don't offend anyone because that is not the intent of this post. I am just looking for some advice, and somewhere to blow some steam off...no one else will listen.

When I was younger I was always the tallest in my class boys/girls. I was thin and very active played t-ball, soccer, basketball. Around the time my period started I gained A LOT of weight, and I stopped growing. I didn't notice it. I was twelve wearing a size 14 womens. The funny thing is...my legs were long enough to fit in them but I had a huge middle, super muscular legs and tiny chicken arms! My periods have never been normal and I always kept gaining weight. I couldn't understand why. I lived with my grandmother growing up and she has diabetes I, we never had "bad" foods in the house. She taught me how to eat right and always yelled at me for being "too big". There wasn't anything I could do about it. When I was 17 I went to the gyno for the first time. She said I think you have something called Polycystic Ovarian DISEASE. Now it is called syndrome but when you are 17 and here disease you kind of freak out! She sent me to an Endo.

I went to the Endo and she tested me for diabetes, thyroid and everything else. All the tests came back "o.k.". I had no clue what I was supposed to be checked for and what my levels were supposed to be. She never did a pelvic u/s, and wouldn't put me on birth control, she didn't think it was necessary since I wasn't sexually active. She did put me on a diabetic 1200 calorie diet. That was great...Umm that's how I've been eating all of my life. She then put me on Phen-Phen and that helped take off about ten-fifteen pounds. Then of course I went off of it, so my heart wouldn't explode. Basically she told me there wasn't anything I could do but put me on cyrin for my periods to try and regulate them. It didn't help! So I gave up and never went back.

A Year later I went back to my Gyno because my gma was concerned I might end up with diabetes. So again I got checked for everything, and levels were normal. She put me on bc because my cramps were so bad they made me nauseaus. I would have cramps everyday...not just with my period and I thought that was unusual. She didn't tell me why I was having pains she just put me on bc and they made the pains worse.

I gave up on Dr's because I thought well I don't know what this is but more than likely if I want to get pg it wont happen or they will have to take a wedge out of my ovary to make me ovulate. I've seen many many Dr.'s and they all told me the same thing, Lose weight and you will be fine. No one ever told me what the results of my tests were and I didn't know what I was even being tested for!

Two years ago this month I went to a gyno. I don't have insurance so I now go to the crappy Government hospital, where I don't get to see a dr. but a nurse practitioner. She was the first person to tell me that I needed a pelvic U/S to make sure I really did have pcos. They took my blood and did the U/S and sure enough I had lots of little cysts on my ovaries. The radiologist kept marking..."fluid", "excess fluid". I asked my nurse why that was and she said that is why I was having cramps my little cysts are popping. She didn't want to put me on bc because it didn't work for me before! She told me that I needed to start a low carb diet. I asked her how my blood sugar level was and she said well it's a little high but nothing to worry about, and my prolactin levels were really high. But nothing to worry about. I'm pretty sure now...That isn't a good thing! I also had the dark skin around the base of my neck and on the inside of my legs by my vagina. She asked me If I had a rash! I said no...it doesn't hurt. Well now I know it is a sign of IR. Basically she told me to have a good day and I was on my way out of the office again. I look back at it now and think...she could have told me right then that I was Ir or at least retested me but I guess she didn't have time for that.

I found Soulcysters and I am so thankful I've learned more from you cysters than I have from any dr's!!!! Since Last summer I've been keeping an eye on my b.s. levels. They are EXTREMEMLY HIGH. They just started raising since about December. They have been 130-200. But now they are going as High as 360. My gma gave me her old tester...not sure what they are called but I have to prick my finger and it tests the glucose level. I called my nurse practitioner to get an appt with her since I know 100 times more about pcos than I did two years ago.

I know that my glucose levels are WAY TOO HIGH and it's not good for me. I can't get in to see the nurse practitioner untill July 14. I am a very active person. I play softball on friday nights. I watch three to five children during the day, I do pilates as often as I can. It's not like I just sit on the couch and watch T.V. I eat pretty healthy, sometimes I binge but not often. My question is... Any one know what else I can do in the mean time before I go to my next appt to get my sugar levels down? Just untill my appt. I have had headaches all week and I'm sure it's because of my glucose levels. I am so mad because I now know I was Ir before...weight around the middle skin tags etc. But no one ever told me that this is where I was headed. I'm angry I'm hurt, I'm an emotional basket case! Somedays I want to Scream and others I just want to cry! My family doesn't understand me they think that I just eat to much and that is why I am fat. My highest weight was around 260!!! My current weight is 220 I'm an emotional basket case all of the time and I hate that. I would love to be "normal". Is that too much to ask? I'm tired of the "brain fog", I have horrible memory loss and now I'm losing all of my hair! I just need to know if there is something else that I can do to bring my sugar levels down without medication for the next couple of weeks? I know that most women that are IR get put on met, if you are diabetic can you get put on met or do you take insulin? I'm so confused! If you have made it to this point I truely do appreciate it! I hope this makes at least some sense. I am so thankful that I found this website and all of you awesome cysters!


Looking for answers,

Amy

nobimbo

Hi Amy,

First, I want to give you a big hug for all you've been through, and to congratulate you for becoming proactive in learning about PCOS.

I know you said you don't have insurance, but you really need to see an endo, not a nurse practioner. It is time for you to have another round of complete bloodwork, including fasting sugar, fasting insulin, a glucose tolerance test, lipids, thyroid testing, and reproductive hormones (FSH, LH, progesterone, estrogen, testesterone).

There are some natural supplements that you can take to help lower your blood sugar, such as chromium and cinnamon, and eating a lower carb diet along with exercise will also help to lower blood sugar and make your body more sensitive to insulin. However, it is important that for 3 days prior to the testing that you do not take supplements or eat lower carb, because it can skew the results of the glucose tolerance test.

Yes, Metformin can be used with diabetics who also have PCOS (I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes over two years ago and have been on Met or Glucophage only since then, no insulin or other diabetic drugs). Whether or not your doc will want to prescribe something else will depend on how your blood tests are. Since Met can take a while to kick in, some docs prescribe insulin or a drug that will help the body produce more insulin temporarily to get things under control more quickly, then discontinue those drugs and use Met or another insulin-sensitizer such as Avandia for maintenance.

Sounds like the last endo you saw wasn't very PCOS-friendly. There is a "find-a-doctor" section at the top of the page where you can search for a new endo in your area. Gyn's are often uninformed about PCOS and associated problems (Hashimoto's thyroiditis is very common with PCOS), and endos are more likely to give you the right tests and prescribe the right treatments. If you are unable to do so and need to go back to the same gyn's office, I suggest you ask to see the doc himself, and to print out and bring some info from this board (check out the research articles, especially the stickys at the top of that forum) as ammunition. I have been slowly educating my regular doc that way

Good luck and keep us informed as to how you're doing

Linda

__________________
dx pcos 1984, type II diabetes 2001, also hypertension
Met 2000mg since 2001, started Glucophage XR 4/22/04, then switched to Met ER 6/04; also: multi, Vit. C, Vit. E, B12/folic acid combo, fish oil & borage oil combo, garlic capsules, cinnamon, Vitex, calcium with magnesium/zinc, biotin, CoQ10, selenium,iron
Other meds: Verapamil and Altace(for blood pressure)
Started laser hair removal 7/29/03, completed 3/04 (it works!)
UAE for fibroid 3/24/03 and 3/16/04

momacita79

Thank you Linda for responding so soon! I appreciate all of the advice you have given me. I am so greatful that all of you cysters are so informed and love to share the wealth of knowledge. My first endo was not pcos friendly! I know way too much now to go into the dr.'s office and let them kick me out. I will stay there untill I get answers/ tests that I want! I was very naive before but thanks to all of you....I know what I need. If my gyn doesn't help me then I will pay out of pocket for an endo because it's my health and that is all I have. I have cut back on the carbs, even though I love them (and they hate me). I will check into the chromium but I will stop a week or so prior to the testing. I'm going to call the dr's office and tell them that I need a fasting glucose test. I normally make my appt. early and make sure not to eat or drink after ten pm. They do the blood work but I know it isn't the correct test. Thank You again for all of your help! I will let you know how the appt goes in July.

Amy