Dr. diagnosed me 4 years ago, but now...

[sullyga]

4 years ago, my dr. diagnosed me with PCOS; I got divorced and went on a low carb diet and lost about 30lbs. My cycles were regulated and it seemed I needed no medication, which was good cuz in the divorce I lost health insurance. I am now remarried, we are wanting to start a family and I'm back on insurance. I went to the same dr. and he now says I don't have PCOS. I have gained some of the weight back (went off the diet), my cycles are about 50 days apart, but the blood tests showed my testosterone to be high, but my insulin wasn't. he told me to try and get pregnant naturally, that I didn't need help....
I'm really frustrated because I'm not sure how I'm supposed to get pregnant naturally when i have no idea when I'm ovulating and am so confused as to why I had it and now I don't.... I guess I should lose more weight, but I'm so SICK of dieting...esp when I could be put on medication that could help me?? I'm not sure if I'm just venting or asking for advice...but thanks for hearing me out

[threeblessings]

If I were you I would get back on the diet. Even with the meds you still have to watch your carbs. And I and a lot of other ladies have acheived pregnancy just by dieting alone. As far as you not having it anymore, I would get a second opinion. Your weight loss probably just has your hormone levels closer to normal, but it doesn't just go away.
I know you must be sick of dieting, but look at it like it's just the healthy way to eat. I hope you get your bun in the oven soon!

[Eva37]

welcome to sc

[sullyga]

If I were you I would get back on the diet. Even with the meds you still have to watch your carbs. And I and a lot of other ladies have acheived pregnancy just by dieting alone. As far as you not having it anymore, I would get a second opinion. Your weight loss probably just has your hormone levels closer to normal, but it doesn't just go away.
I know you must be sick of dieting, but look at it like it's just the healthy way to eat. I hope you get your bun in the oven soon!

Thanks cuz that gives me hope, it really does. I guess I really don't feel like that it's all that healthy of a way to eat. I keep wondering if it's the weight or the carbs that cause the PCOS to flare up more? Like what if I just eat healthy, but not low carbs? would I not lose weight? Now that apparently my insulin is down, will I lose weight easier on other diets??

[AngelD]

I understand your frustration...I was diagnosed just three days ago and the doctor put me on Metformin, then called today with more lab tests and said because my blood sugar level was slightly high on a fasting test that he wanted me to stop taking the metformin and go have a 3 hour GTT test and insulin level test done before having me start it again. That makes no sense to me...why did he put me on met and then three days later tell me to stop taking it because of a test result that I think would be expected with PCOS? Weird.

I got pregnant with my first baby when I was about 190 but it took me a year and a half and I guess it was just a "lucky shot" because I had no idea when or if I was ovulating because of my whacked out period schedule. I took two pregnancy tests that both came back negative when I was sure if I was pregnant they would have come back positive. It was only when I had gone longer than I ever had before without a period that I decided to test again and it came up positive. When the OB asked me when my last period was at my first visit and I told her, she said I had to be wrong because I would have been farther along than I was if that was the case. When I explained to her how irregular I was, she understood, but was still puzzled. She had no way to accurately date my pregnancy because of it and then after my first ultrasound she said that I wasn't even as pregnant as I thought I was, the baby was too small. I think my due date moved 3 times.

With my second, I had gone on the South Beach diet and on phase 1 had lost about 11 pounds, but the minute I moved to phase 2 which introduces just a few more carbs, my weight loss stopped dead and I even started gaining weight back, so I went back on phase 1 which is SUPER restrictive. I couldn't stand it but it was the only way I ever have found for me to lose any weight, which isn't right. The minute I start eating any carbs at all, even whole wheat bread, I won't lose and will gain, though slower than I do just eating regularly. I got so sick of SB phase 1 the thought of going back on it again terrifies me. But I think it was losing the 30 pounds I lost in about 5 months eating only phase 1 stuff that allowed me to get pregnant in only 7 months of trying.

If I were you, I would seek a second opinion if possible. But keep in mind that no matter what, you are going to have to be on some kind of structured eating plan in order to lose weight if that is what spurs ovulation for you. I've had to come to grips with this myself and I don't eat unhealthy at all even when not on a diet. The few times I even have pasta I get the whole wheat variety, I only eat red meat a couple times a month if that, and I always have a salad with low cal/carb dressing with dinner and lots of veggies, I even have my own veggie garden and don't even buy them from the store during the growing season. I walk/jog two miles a day and lift weights 3-4 days a week and I have still gained 7 pounds since my last doctor's visit. I know it's discouraging, believe me, I get discouraged with how hard I try and still don't see results. That's why I'm so upset about being taken off the met after only 3 days so he can run more tests that he probably should have had done before putting me on it in the first place. I really want to get back on it and give it a chance to work because I think it will since I'm eating right and exercising already.

[sullyga]

I understand your frustration...I was diagnosed just three days ago and the doctor put me on Metformin, then called today with more lab tests and said because my blood sugar level was slightly high on a fasting test that he wanted me to stop taking the metformin and go have a 3 hour GTT test and insulin level test done before having me start it again. That makes no sense to me...why did he put me on met and then three days later tell me to stop taking it because of a test result that I think would be expected with PCOS? Weird.

I got pregnant with my first baby when I was about 190 but it took me a year and a half and I guess it was just a "lucky shot" because I had no idea when or if I was ovulating because of my whacked out period schedule. I took two pregnancy tests that both came back negative when I was sure if I was pregnant they would have come back positive. It was only when I had gone longer than I ever had before without a period that I decided to test again and it came up positive. When the OB asked me when my last period was at my first visit and I told her, she said I had to be wrong because I would have been farther along than I was if that was the case. When I explained to her how irregular I was, she understood, but was still puzzled. She had no way to accurately date my pregnancy because of it and then after my first ultrasound she said that I wasn't even as pregnant as I thought I was, the baby was too small. I think my due date moved 3 times.

With my second, I had gone on the South Beach diet and on phase 1 had lost about 11 pounds, but the minute I moved to phase 2 which introduces just a few more carbs, my weight loss stopped dead and I even started gaining weight back, so I went back on phase 1 which is SUPER restrictive. I couldn't stand it but it was the only way I ever have found for me to lose any weight, which isn't right. The minute I start eating any carbs at all, even whole wheat bread, I won't lose and will gain, though slower than I do just eating regularly. I got so sick of SB phase 1 the thought of going back on it again terrifies me. But I think it was losing the 30 pounds I lost in about 5 months eating only phase 1 stuff that allowed me to get pregnant in only 7 months of trying.

If I were you, I would seek a second opinion if possible. But keep in mind that no matter what, you are going to have to be on some kind of structured eating plan in order to lose weight if that is what spurs ovulation for you. I've had to come to grips with this myself and I don't eat unhealthy at all even when not on a diet. The few times I even have pasta I get the whole wheat variety, I only eat red meat a couple times a month if that, and I always have a salad with low cal/carb dressing with dinner and lots of veggies, I even have my own veggie garden and don't even buy them from the store during the growing season. I walk/jog two miles a day and lift weights 3-4 days a week and I have still gained 7 pounds since my last doctor's visit. I know it's discouraging, believe me, I get discouraged with how hard I try and still don't see results. That's why I'm so upset about being taken off the met after only 3 days so he can run more tests that he probably should have had done before putting me on it in the first place. I really want to get back on it and give it a chance to work because I think it will since I'm eating right and exercising already.

that would be freaking frustrating! It sounds exactly like what i'm going through. Except my insulin test wasn't high at all, he said it was low. But I keep asking - why the hair on my face then? Why the acne? It's obvious I haven't taken care of everything. But you're right, I need to just stay on the plan...and I had the same experience as you, as soon as I went to phase 2 of South Beach, I stopped losing weight, got discouraged and said, forget it, I'll just eat what I want. And so here I am today! Luckily i haven't put it all back on. But it is encouraging to know you got pregnant. Right now, I've had these symptoms, but every home test I've taken has come back negative. So I've just decided I'm not pregnant. I haven't started yet, in fact, it's been longer than normal and I don't know if I should call the dr. or not.

Hmmm..maybe once i start on the diet, and am exercising, it will get easier. I don't know. But I do thank you all for your encouragement and this board. I'm happy I found it.

[Moonshoot]

Please find another doctor!!! You just need to give up on this one. You obviously have PCOS. If can't figure that out, then he doesn't need to be treating you for anything!! Many of us have had to go through doctor after doctor until we find the right one.

[sullyga]

Please find another doctor!!! You just need to give up on this one. You obviously have PCOS. If can't figure that out, then he doesn't need to be treating you for anything!! Many of us have had to go through doctor after doctor until we find the right one.

I've been wondering that. Because I'm so late and wondering if I'm pregnant, I've been trying to decide if I should go to the dr. and in that have been trying to decide if I should go to the same one.

[VeganMom]

For charting info to help you TTC try www.tcoyf.com

As for the PCOS -- there is no cure. It can go into remission, but there is no cure. You still have it, only dormant. If the doc doesn't get that, and realize that you still need periodic checks on your hormones to make sure they remain in balance... start looking for another doctor who is thinking of your LONG TERM CARE.

PCOS treatment isn't just about making babies. It's about your life post-partum, through menopause, etc.

GL!
V.

[Allison.]

I went to the same dr. and he now says I don't have PCOS. I have gained some of the weight back (went off the diet), my cycles are about 50 days apart, but the blood tests showed my testosterone to be high, but my insulin wasn't. he told me to try and get pregnant naturally, that I didn't need help....
I'm really frustrated

Elevated Testosterone is a sign of Traditional PCOS. What I have. Metformin did help me. I am not insulin resistant.
Metformin has helped all of my PCOS symptoms, except the hair loss.
I started having regular menstrual cycles, acne cleared up, my Testosterone went down, no more rapid unexplained weight gains etc...
Here's a link with info, maybe you can educate your doctor?:

SOURCE: http://www.wdxcyber.com/dxinf001.htm
Types of PCOS
Usually the diagnosis includes both anovulation and androgen (testosterone) excess but many related conditions have become lumped together in the literature under the term polycystic ovarian syndrome. Woman with polycystic ovaries on ultrasound do not all have androgen excess, but insulin resistance is manifest in equal frequencies whether or not there are elevated androgens (11). Because of this mixed clinical picture, those conditions all collected under the term polycystic ovarian syndrome in the medical literature may include:

Traditional PCOS -- anovulatory, increased androgens, no insulin resistance

Endocrine Syndrome X -- anovulatory, increased androgens, insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes

Non-Traditional PCOS --anovulatory, normal androgens, obese, insulin resistant or type 2 diabetes

Non-Traditional PCOS -- ovulatory, increased androgens, mild insulin resistance

Idiopathic Hirsutism -- ovulatory, increased androgens, no insulin resistance

Since this is a syndrome that likely includes different categories of diseases, it is also likely that some instances are caused by genetic abnormalities while other instances are caused by environmental or as yet unknown conditions.

I have always dieted and exercised, but my body needed medication to "work properly". My body needs diet, exercise and medication.
HTH

[sullyga]

Wow, that is good information. Thank you for that. And I'm actually considering calling the Dr. today. I haven't had a period for two months now. So maybe I can just have a consultation with him? Thank you!