Can someone please help me?
I know I'm new, and I'm sorry for not knowing about any of this meds stuff, but I am getting confused with all this stuff and I'm reading lots of different things about each, and my doctor won't help he'll just play the usual "lose weight and pcos will go away!" card, and I'm sick of it.
I was put on metformin and it made me ill, so I stopped it, I was in the middle of my studies and couldn't afford to be sick.
For months I went by with nothing and then I came across Inositol, which I am starting to take tomorrow, after spending ages being off and on it because I can't swallow the bloody thing, it is literally *looks* about this big: ********
So yeah, I found a way of taking it (see my yogurt post) and so I'm going to stock up on yogurt tomorrow and start taking the damn things religiously.
I have evening primrose oil that I am aiming to begin taking too.
Now, I have just bought some Wild Yam Cream from Holland & Barretts, I know, it was stupid not doing enough research on it but I remember I read somewhere that it mimicks the effects of Natural Progesterone Cream. So admittedly I got incredibly excited as the NPC costs £18 and the Wild Yam Cream only costs £6. Which by being a student is the better option for me.
BUT. Now the stuff has arrived in the post and I have done some more reading and now I don't know what the hell the stuff does! Some places say it's dangerous, some places say it does naff all, and some places say it works like NPC without the side effects, now I'm confused as to whether I have just wasted like £6 of my money which could of gone towards another £12 for the Natural bloody stuff to begin with.
My mum says I should ask my doctor, but he is one of those doctors that think if you lose a couple of lbs all your problems will be miraculously solved and PCOS will just disappear. Bo****ks!
I'm sorry for bothering everyone but please, I need some guidance here, I just want to start battling PCOS and I can't do it whilst I don't know what medication to take.
Love n Hugs,
xxxxxxxxxxx
__________________ "I have an existential map; It has 'You are here' written all over it."
Me - Kerry(18) DF - Matt (22) DX with PCOS & IR 06/04
Yes, I have seen every doctor and nurse in my local Surgery at least twice each. There has only ever been one that has been supportive and really helpful and she left
My symptoms are:
No AF since August 2007, although did have what might of been a breakthrough bleed in April this year, very small.
Extra weight around the middle
I do have hair on my face except it's not noticable unless you go close up like I do in the mirror cos it's the same colour as my complexion.
I have a few cysts that were found from my last Ultrasound scan.
My hair was falling out until I began taking Inositol and it's growing quite fast now.
I don't know what to do, I've been reading some people's personal experiences with Wild yam cream rather than articles and it seems to be ok so I might put some on and see how I feel but I'm just so confused.
:'(
__________________ "I have an existential map; It has 'You are here' written all over it."
Me - Kerry(18) DF - Matt (22) DX with PCOS & IR 06/04
PCOS can be so frustrating and everyone is different.
I am assuming the wild yam is to help get AF going again??
Do you exercise regularly? I know for me exercise has helped me stay regular but that is not true for everyone.
When I was diagnosed with PCOS I started taking Met. At that time I was also on a steriod because I had broken out in a rash from a lotion that I had tried. So I was on Met for a few weeks and after the steriod started wearing off I started breaking out in hives. I realized I am allergic to Met. I did not have bad symptoms before Met but when I got off Met my PCOS went a little haywire and I started experiencing a lot of hair loss.
So that is one of my biggest symptoms. I am currently taking Actos to help lower my testosterone and I am on YAZ. I also have started taking Saw Palmetto. But have not been on it long enough to see if it is working. I was also on Spiro but have taken myself off it because I was experiencing a lot of leg cramps.
I exercise regularly but I really need to get my diet under control. I want to lose the weight so I can hopefully get off Yaz and Actos.
Hi Journey18
Personaly Iwould give metformin another try .Iknow the side effects are harsh but the will subside over time ..I have been on met for 4 months now at 2550mg a day and it took about 2 and a half months to get use to the s/e .But I am so glad i stuck with it .i have "normal" af now around every 31 days and thats a blessing in its self for me since my afs were every where b4. It is said that some pcos women dont respond to a dose under 2000 mg of met ..Ihave heared that evening primrose is good to help O if you are not on clomid ..Sorry i cant help you with your questions on Wild Yam Cream I have never heard of it ..Hoped i have helped alittle ..Good luck and God Bless
Thanks for your replies,
I have got the Evening Primrose Oil but I'm waiting to get enough money to buy it in liquid form as the tablets are too big for me and as they are in gel coating I can't crush them. I'm terrible aint I lol
I do exercise, well, I did, I've not been able to work out properly for a while as we've been having hassle getting the bedroom done so atm there is no space to do the workout I did every morning, but me and DF have said we'd finish it off tonight so theres more space to move lol!
I generally do 10-20 minutes workout in the morning and I do about half an hour of Yoga at night.
Hehe Yes I live in London, although I don't reccommend it as a place to live, yes, it's beautiful, yes, it's fun in some places, yes, it's got some of the best architecture in the UK, but living here 24/7 is the story of another book. lol.
It's often difficult to go out after 3pm due to the crowds of kids that just give you and people in the next few postcodes a headache, it's got more cons than pros I assure you, lol.
xx
__________________ "I have an existential map; It has 'You are here' written all over it."
Me - Kerry(18) DF - Matt (22) DX with PCOS & IR 06/04
I did go back to metformin after a few months, I nearly ended up in hospital but my mum was on the phone half the night to NHS Direct. I took one tablet and I started sweating, my pulse was something like 125bpm, I was paranoid, anxious, sick, dizzy, nervous, shaking, it was one of the most horrid experiences of my life I thought I was going to die it was that bad.
This has put me off met now, so I'm not sure what to do.
Although I know what the reason was, I started off on 500mg twice a day, then stopped cos of the side effects, stupid me forgot to mention it to the dr so when my prescription went up to 850mg twice a day, it was way too much to start off with. Which is why I had such a bad reaction to it.
500mg would be okay though I think. But I did read an article that said there was a study that showed no clinical difference between people on metformin with pcos and people not on metformin with pcos. This is why I changed to Inositol, which it said something like 75% of the people in the study had improvements with pcos including AF, hairloss, weight issues, etc etc.
Do you think I should take Met again? I'm very scared about it after my experience, even though it was explained it's still in my head.
xxxx
__________________ "I have an existential map; It has 'You are here' written all over it."
Me - Kerry(18) DF - Matt (22) DX with PCOS & IR 06/04
Do you have Actos in the UK? If you do, maybe you should try that.
It is probably difficult with all the tourists in London as well. I was in London barely two days. I would love to go back for a longer time and see more of England as well. I really wanted to go to the Victoria and Albert museum but did not have enough time. =(
I read in my tour book that many Americans feel like they are at home when they go to England. I felt that way - I guess it is because my ancestors come to America on the Mayflower. =)
I feel your pain! I used to be a size 4 and now I'm size a US 10/12. My doctors keep telling me to lose weight. I even had one that said to me, "you must drink alot of soda," and I said no, cause I only drink water. Then she (by the way she is larger than me) continued on to say that I must eat alot of chips and fries and fatty foods, to which I replied that I eat a lot of chicken and spinach and actually that I don't snack and don't like potato products of any kind. So she then accused me of not exercising, which I refuted by telling her about my 3 trips a week to the gym and my spontaneous mile walks and frequent games of golf. She was dumbfounded.
She had tried to put the blame on me and she couldn't. I told her that I had had other doctors try and blame this on me along with my parents and that I could exercise like Madonna and I would still weigh the same thing I do today and look the same way I do today. I don't even eat that much because I am on Topamax for migraines and have no appetite and the Metformin gives me constant stomach cramps and diarreah as soon as I eat, so you'd think I'd be tiny, but no.
No matter how lonely and sick and down you feel just know that other people are out there and they are going through the same things you are. I am married and want to have kids and I am so scared; because I don't want them right now, but I know that with PCOS, you kind of need to have them younger rather than older, and I can't get any younger. My husband is 2 years younger than I am and thats really putting a strain on our relationship because he's REALLY not ready to have kids yet, and to the same point neither am I. I wanted to wait until at least 30.
The way I look at it is, this is the hand we have been dealt, and we can't do anything about it. What happens will happen, and the only thing we can control about what happens to us is how we react to it. What doesn't kill ya, right....?
Thanks for all your replies,
I really want to start dealing with this properly now, I feel like I've been in denial for ages, and I think these past few days, I've been having that constant "moment", you know the one I mean? The one where it just screams at you and you're like "Right, thats IT. I've had enough, time to act."
The other reason I am worried about seeing this doctor is because a few years ago I thought I was pregnant, I went to him and he tested me and it was negative.....
He proceeded to tell me....
That I can't have children right now, it's just not possible for me to be pregnant at any time until I decide I want to TTC and then I would have to go in for fertility treatment, I asked why, and he said that it's because thats what PCOS means.
I'm sorry but to be told when you're 15 years old that you can't have children is just horrible. and this is how I know he doesn't understand the condition and he doesn't even seem to try.
:'(
__________________ "I have an existential map; It has 'You are here' written all over it."
Me - Kerry(18) DF - Matt (22) DX with PCOS & IR 06/04
This is really starting to get me down...:( 
