I'm new to this web site
I had PCOS prior to 1990. Dr. recomended a hysterectomy(which I had). NOW after all these years... a regret, since I've now found that over the years, there is many new ways other than a hysterectomy. My question is does the medication ie metformin still help with the hair growth in unwanted areas, weight gain, or inability to lose it , R/t the fact of insulin resistance, post hysterectomy??
I have to say, that back then I was told it was Stein -Leventhal syndrome, and was told that my pain I had-gone since surgery- I would no longer have to worry... However, I continue to have the symptoms of insulin resistance which I understand is a cause for PCOS. I don't think that back then I ever heard of insulin resistance, let along if my OBGYN at that time knew. I plan to make an indepth search and take it to my current Dr.(family DR.) or would it be better if I just by-passed my Dr. and found a Dr. that is PCOS sensitive??
Any suggestions/ advice would be wonderful.
That's terrible that your doc reccomended a hysterectomy.
I was DX'd when it was called Stein-Leventhal as well and there wasn't a whole bunch of info on it. The most common treatment was ovarian wedge resection.
I think you should go to an endocrinologist that is familiar with PCOS and get on met. Met will probably help you!
Good luck and welcome to SC!!
__________________ Had hysterectomy with ovaries removed Feb. 6, 2006 because of severe mood problems suffered for 15 years from PCOS. I'm 27 & was in law school until last December. Elizabeth Vliet is my doctor; get her books for great info on PCOS and effects of hormones on the whole body, including moods. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Thanks for all of you who replied. Yes, I had my ovaries removed it was a complete hyst. My periods were like clockwork until I had my first child(@age17). Then they became suprises. My Gyno then, wanted to open me up, just to look around to see what the problem was.(explore) I declined. I had another child 2 years later, and another 4 years after my second child. I went through many Drs. who all had different reasonings for my irregular periods.(I can see why , now) No one back then had the information that we do today. I suffered with years of pelvic pain- had gone 10 months w/out period. a Dr. put me on provera. in the first 2 months, I gained 20-30 lbs!! How depressing!! I had withdrawal periods, as the provera was ment for. Another Dr. told me that my ovulation didn't happen r/t tough skin around my ovaries and was going to do a wedge resection. My concern was that scar tissue is tough, and wouldn't that be worse than tough skin I had? The Dr had an attitude and I was to trust him. I scheduled for surgery. the day before surgery, I started menstration. So, I cancelled surgery His theory did not make sense to me. I was so frustrated, that I said heck with it all. About 3-4 years later, my pelvic pain so bad, I let my fingers do the walking through the yellow pages and found a gyno that would take me. In retrospect, he wasn't informed about PCOS- actually he was the first one to tell me about the DX of stein-leventhal. However since I was done with children, He suggested that since my ovaries were the problem, and they couldn't just take the ovaries and leave the uterus, My problems would be solved with a hyst. So I did. Then other problems came!! My children are all adults. I now have grandkids. So you see... even now I still have lingering effects of PCOS. I found a endocrine Dr. that will only take patients on referral only, now I'm in the process of accumulating all my old records to be sent to my current Dr. so I can educate him and get a referral to the endo Dr. My problem I've run into, is It's been so long ago, some of the Dr.s have died. My origional Dr(OB) I have no idea where my records would be. I don't know who took over his patients, and His office has been torn down years ago. (we moved out of the area is why I didn't go to him for last child). Any clues to how I may find my records from his office?? Thanks
Your medical records have probably been destroyed. Doctors only have to keep them a certain number of years, depending on state law. I don't know where you are, but for an example it is only 6 years in NY. If he was affiliated with a hospital or a group, you might try to contact them.
Yes, Metformin does help with weight loss and cravings.
Are you on any hormones right now? Have you been on any post-surgery?
__________________ Had hysterectomy with ovaries removed Feb. 6, 2006 because of severe mood problems suffered for 15 years from PCOS. I'm 27 & was in law school until last December. Elizabeth Vliet is my doctor; get her books for great info on PCOS and effects of hormones on the whole body, including moods. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Thanks, I'll check with the hospital for any (hopeful) records. I'm from Ohio.
Post hyst, I was put on premarin. I did okay for a few months only to feel blah.. I can't describe the feeling. Then switched to another, and another because of the same feeling. At my (then) employment, offered free mamograms if we used a certain DR. So I went for the mamogram, and in discussion of my HX, that Dr. thought I couldn't tolerate the hormones oraly. We did the topical patch. More problems- they didn't stick, and when they did, it excoriated my skin and looked like I had sucker bites wherever I had put them. Frustrated, I decided to try the herbal route. I had to do my homework, going over tons of herbal books, ruling out the ones I thought I didn't need, and listing the ones I thought would be helpful. After trial and error, I found some that worked ok. Didn't take away the hot flashes, but they did tone down. It's been 15 years since my hyst, I've stopped most of the herbals, but I'm still taking my calcium, and multivitamins, and depending on my mood, evening of primrose oil, flaxseed oil and my omega 3,6,9. I tend to always run warm, hardly ever wear long sleeves unless it's a bitter cold Ohio winter day. I'm really looking forward to combining my medical records for my Dr. so he can give the ok for me to see the endo.(referral is the only way the endo will take patients) After reading things from all of you, and from other web sites, and a great book I found.. "the insulin-resistance diet" by Hart & Grossman. McGraw-Hill publisher I so want to thank all who has posted, given advise , and all the info..on this site. It has rejuvinated my spirit, given me hope that there is still hope for me. I'm tired of having to by larger pants, because the waist only problem. I will continue to be active on the site... and will update as needed.
Premarin isn't good for you - it's horse estrogen, not human estrogen. Estrodial is the healthy human estrogen.
Did you ever happen to take oral estrodial? Like Estrace?
__________________ Had hysterectomy with ovaries removed Feb. 6, 2006 because of severe mood problems suffered for 15 years from PCOS. I'm 27 & was in law school until last December. Elizabeth Vliet is my doctor; get her books for great info on PCOS and effects of hormones on the whole body, including moods. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Yeah, premarin was first, I was on several...none worked... ogen, estradiol(in the different forms of climara, estrace, estraderm) estratest-(yeah.. that made the chin and toe hair grow!!) The Dr. thought that since the others didn't work, he was going to try a new angle. his angle was that it'd inhance my libido therefore giving me more energy- since I was(and still am) tired all the time. Then he told me that "oh some women were ment to suffer hysterectomy sympotms for the rest of their lives" that was the last time I went to see him, and never went back, except the other day to get my medical records!I won't get for about 2 weeks or so. I was also on allese- a low dose bc pill, skipping the inert ones. Once I get my medical records from some of the offices that I still can get, I may be able to give you a list of the different hormones. Suprisingly, I tolerated the low dose bc pill the longest, before I couldn't take it anymore. I work with women who have had a hyst, and they have NO problems with their homones, things are fine and dandy with them. I'm guessing that it's my body in specific as to why I don't tolerate them. How are you doing with yours??
Sorry for delay in responding - I just had surgery on my nose on Friday for breathing problems. I'm on estrace, though my latest blood test showed that my estrodial is at 58. It needs to be over 80 for mood and heart health and to prevent osteoporosis. Not sure if Dr. Vliet will increase my dose - probably so. The patch wasn't giving me enough estrodial either.
Estratest is awful - the testosterone isn't bioidentical and the dosage is WAY too high for women. I have no idea why they made it that way. The estrogen in it isn't bioidentical either.
Has anyone ever checked your thyroid?
You could get a much lower dosage of testosterone from a compounding pharmacy. My friend and another patient of Dr. Vliet's is doing that for low energy - I'll let you know how that goes.
It's bad that you have tried good forms of estrodial - estrace, climara, estraderm.
I'm not fully back to how good I felt at certain points with my ovaries and on BCP (I had too many horrible times that lasted up to 6 months trying to get my ovaries suppressed again to justify the few good months I had so I decided to have the surgery). I wonder if the pill would help me...maybe our bodies like the ethinyl estrodial better than estrodial. I have no idea. I am talking to dr. Vliet on Tuesday and I'll ask. We shouldn't need any progestins since we don't have our uteruses (uteri?).
what did you feel like on estrodial that made you get off it?
__________________ Had hysterectomy with ovaries removed Feb. 6, 2006 because of severe mood problems suffered for 15 years from PCOS. I'm 27 & was in law school until last December. Elizabeth Vliet is my doctor; get her books for great info on PCOS and effects of hormones on the whole body, including moods. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Hi.. I'm not able to get onto the computer daily, because of my work schedule, so I totally understand.. Hope that you're having a speedy recovery!!
As far as the hormones go... I'd feel fine on them, then after a few months, I'd feel "blah"..The only other way I can describe it, is that I felt like a sponge that had absorbed alot of water, increase in tiredness and headaches. The Dr said I wasn't retaining water, my limbs were not edematous(swollen), and couldn't understand on a medical standpoint why I felt like I did- which was the cause to try a different kind. My thyroid levels have been checked many times... and as recent as 2 years ago. the Dr. said its normal..
I did get today a copy of my medical records from one of the Dr. that I had seen in the past. It's kinda humerous!! I wonder if those were part of my problem... as I read through some of the dictation pages... how it was presented-- so different than the way I remember.. the one time I had gone for a sore throat, and the dictation says recommends a wall pillow for cervical arthritis!! Yeah.. I didn't have cervical arthritis!!! Haven't been dx for it yet!!! I don't believe the Dr was blonde!! Ha!! by the way, I'm blonde- with grey. I can understand even reading through the dictation pages, why I felt so frusterated and went to a different Dr.. I look through the pages and labs.. I have yet to compare the lab values, but most of the comments related to the lab values, (1988) and I quote"...possibly polycystic ovaries and her testosterone levels were slightly elevated but not in the tumor range" Yeah... here's another "...testosterone levels,which were 122NG/dl, which is slightly above the normal range for females"...which range between 20 to 80 NG/dl". I never remember them giving me these values... they must have figured I wouldn't know what to do with those numbers. I do recall that Dr. giving the big time attitude to me... He never gave me good reasons, or explinations.. he zipped in and out.. like who was I to want to know what was going on with me... it was for him to know and me not to find out. I also contribute alot of the not knowing what to do, was partly to the medical knowlege at the time... it was 1988... part of the above was from a consult with and endo/gyn Dr!! He made no recomendations of treatment!! No offers to take on my case or anything..
Sorry so long... I need to talk to someone about this.. hubby isn't too supportive to listening to this stuff... thinks I' beating the proverbial dead horse. and to leave the sleeping dog lie. .. Which I can't stand!! I WANT to know... especially if this is poss. genetic, I need to know for my daughters sake. Thanks for listening.
Goodness I understand how that would make you mad. My cousin got a copy of her records from an OB-GYN idiot who said she used a hot water bottle for severe menstrual cramps, which she has never had, and other such nonsense. It makes you wonder if doctors are high when you are in there or even have the right chart!
You aren't beating a dead horse - you still have the underlying endocrine disorder.
I wonder if you aren't on the right dose of estrodial or what. You really need a good doctor to figure you out. If you can afford Dr. Vliet and fly to Dallas or Tucson, I'd do it. Then your husband won't have to hear you complain anymore because you'll be feeling so great!!! Get some of her books at least - you can find them used on Amazon.com
As for your thyroid, did they test the TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) Free T3 and Free T4 and thyroid antibodies? Just having a "normal range" TSH doesn't rule out hypothyroidism. TSH should, however, be between 0.5 and 2 for women to feel their best.
Good luck and hang in there!
__________________ Had hysterectomy with ovaries removed Feb. 6, 2006 because of severe mood problems suffered for 15 years from PCOS. I'm 27 & was in law school until last December. Elizabeth Vliet is my doctor; get her books for great info on PCOS and effects of hormones on the whole body, including moods. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
question- I'm new to site 
How depressing!! I had withdrawal periods, as the provera was ment for. Another Dr. told me that my ovulation didn't happen r/t tough skin around my ovaries and was going to do a wedge resection. My concern was that scar tissue is tough, and wouldn't that be worse than tough skin I had? The Dr had an attitude and I was to trust him. I scheduled for surgery. the day before surgery, I started menstration. So, I cancelled surgery His theory did not make sense to me. I was so frustrated, that I said heck with it all. About 3-4 years later, my pelvic pain so bad, I let my fingers do the walking through the yellow pages and found a gyno that would take me. In retrospect, he wasn't informed about PCOS- actually he was the first one to tell me about the DX of stein-leventhal. However since I was done with children, He suggested that since my ovaries were the problem, and they couldn't just take the ovaries and leave the uterus, My problems would be solved with a hyst. So I did. Then other problems came!! My children are all adults. I now have grandkids. So you see... even now I still have lingering effects of PCOS. I found a endocrine Dr. that will only take patients on referral only, now I'm in the process of accumulating all my old records to be sent to my current Dr. so I can educate him and get a referral to the endo Dr. My problem I've run into, is It's been so long ago, some of the Dr.s have died. My origional Dr(OB) I have no idea where my records would be. I don't know who took over his patients, and His office has been torn down years ago. (we moved out of the area is why I didn't go to him for last child). Any clues to how I may find my records from his office?? Thanks
