Thin cysters TTC, please give me hope

[duramater]

I love this thread! It's so nice to know there are others in the same boat!

I too am 29, 5'2'' 105 lbs, normal bloodwork but anovulatory with cysts on ultrasound, had 2 periods a year before I was diagnosed at 19 and put on BCP. Ate lots of fast food and junk when I was a kid, never got fat but I think it might have caused the problems. Have eaten healthy since college, avoided white foods but still ate them occasionally (and never felt guilty about the occasional cookie, dessert, muffin, etc). Now that we're TTC, I've stopped eating carbs (except for fruits and vegetables of course, as much as I can get, and the occasional brown rice or whole wheat pasta, but always with a protein). I haven't had a single carb craving since I stopped.

When we started TTC I had 60 day cycles and was so, so moody all the time. But I feel really good on this diet! Moodiness decreased by 80%!!! Of course I can't really say if it's the diet, or the fact that I've started taking vitamin D, Omega 3s, cinnamon and B vitamins. Also, it's summer, so you know, that feels good too.

****Strange side effect of the diet (major TMI) - I've stopped having flatulence. Completely. I always thought I had gas because I ate a lot of fruits and vegetables. Now I can gorge on cabbage, and not a peep. Apparently it was because of breads and pastas and rice and things. Wish I'd known that YEARS ago!!!

On round #2 Clomid 50 mg, 7 dpo. (Dr wouldn't put me on Met - said maybe if Clomid alone didn't work.) Testing next Monday, so wish me luck and a baby!

[Daisy811]

Melly- You sound EXACTLY like me, and guess what....I'm now pregnant!! (7 weeks tomorrow) I turn 30 next month, BMI of 20/21, acne on back, hair around belly button only, never ovulate on my own, and was on bcp's since high school....I am the spitting PCOS image of you. And yes, there is hope. What I did was, after I was diagnosed by my OB/GYN (I was 28 when diagnosed) I found the best fertility doctor in my area and eventually made an appointment with him. (I waited until I was ready to ttc) I wanted a fertility doctor because I didn't feel comfortable with my ob-gyn's knowledge of pcos....it came across as being very limited to me.

My first appointment with the fertility doctor was last October, and I first went on metformin 2000 mg, but my cycles were still completely irregualr and LONG (however I did ovulate each cycle). Then, we added clomid 50mg for 3 cycles and my cycles were still all over the place, and when he upped the clomid doasage to 100 mg, I got pregnant immediately! Best of luck to you, you will be fine. It might take several minths to get the right drug cocktail going for you, but it'll happen. :-)

[Yasmin8]

Yasmin8. I think I am like you. I have been reading stuff about pcos since I was diagnosed in 2002 but nothing seemed to fit me.

I am 32 years old. When I was younger and didn't know I has pcos I was 125lbs. 5'3" and athletic with frustrating abdominal fat but always had a regular period. I got some extra hair, cystic acne and other annoying androgen symptoms. My DHEA was very high. I was put on Yasmin and my life changed. I became slender without doing anything much different and for the past 5 years on yasmin I am around 110lbs, lost all the extra hair and feel feminine except for wreched mood swings. My only real complaint is teeny boobs.

Anyway i want to become pregnant and think becuase I have always got my period I may but I am afraid to go off yasmin. Doctors do not care to see me because they say I look good - but i know the symptoms are there.

What was your experience with pregnancy?

I had a great first pregnancy! I also had a late term pregnancy loss. I still get discouraged because I think I won't get pregnant again, but I say if it happenned twice, then I can get conceive again. You know, I have always been thin to normal weight, and I still believe that losing weight or just controlling that mid section weight gain help lean women too, especially when ttc. I have read that those that carry weight in the mid section need to watch their health, too. Fat can cover the organs and you can be "skinny fat". I feel I look like that now. Even though I would consider myself athletic I feel like I just can't get rid of that fat in the middle! I weigh 125 pounds right now, but I sure do wish I could drop 10 pounds or so. It's so hard!

[Wanabebe]

Oh my goodness thin cysters, I have a smile from ear to ear! I have been posting blogs with titles like "I'm not overweight," in hopes to find people like you. I am new here, but I'm getting the hang of this...finally!

I'm 5'10 and normal weight. However, since I have been with my guy (past three years) I have become a little wider around the waist. I hide it well though. I love to workout and keep active, but my major weakness is chocolate and sweets. I've read a few posts here where the doctors didn't recommend MED because you weren't overweight. My doctor had no problem prescribing it. Not sure if that's good or bad?

My main concern is this... I was diagnosed last month and last week started taking MET. I have felt ALL the side effects, so I am now cutting the pill in half (might be a bad idea, but oh well) and taking one half in the afternoon and the other in the evening. Seems to lessen the upset stomach, but not so much the sore muscles. I'm terrified quite honestly. I've read one of the sides is hypoglycemia. I plan to start a good diet (DURAMATER - I'D BE INTERESTED TO HEAR YOUR DIET TIPS) and I'm going to start my boot camp sessions, 3 x's a week, on Monday. They will be intense workouts and I'll dramatically cut my sugar intake. I tend to eat a bar of chocolate a day! Weakness I tell you! I know overweight people on MET are advised to diet and lose weight, but will it be beneficial to me or dangerous? Input por favor...

DAISY811 - Do you know if I should take Clomid in addition to MET in order to ovulate?

I'm so excited to have come across this thread. Best of luck to all of you and yay, we are NOT alone!

[Melly78]

Daisy - CONGRATS! That's so awesome and that truly gives me hope!! Thanks for posting that for all of us!

And Wanabebe, yay, right?? I'm so grateful for all these wonderful responses and posts and sharing of ideas! I just started Met this month and had 1 hypoglycemic episode. A real bad one where I started sweating buckets, had to lay down, too weak to drink juice by myself...it was scary. But it was also my fault b/c I ate cereal that morning for breakfast and for some reason that stuff makes my blood sugar nosedive a few hours after I eat. Since then I've eaten oatmeal and fruit for breakfast, and then a small snack in between meals to keep my blood sugar regular. I check the grams of sugar on all the food I buy now. I'm telling you, it's really made a difference. And I have the BIGGEST sweet tooth. I'm the girl that will go back to the free cookie sample at the grocery store 4 or 5 times. Met seems to have helped my sugar cravings though.

I haven't lost any weight on Met and have had no other side effects, really. Guess I'm one of the lucky ones. In the last month I've seen my regular PCP, my OBGYN, and an RE. They ALL agreed Met was a great starting point. I'm 5'5" and 125 lbs.

Yasmin, I have that belly fat too, UGH. I work out Mon-Fri for an hour each time, alternating between cardio and weights. It seems nothing gets rid of it. I have noticed that Met has helped significantly with bloating problems though. I don't look like I'm carrying a volleyball by 3pm anymore.

I hope lurkers and newbies keep posting here, this is such an uplifting thread, and such great advice from everyone!

[NikiAngel]

Hi everyone! I've been a lurker on this site for several months but this is my first post. I'm 30 yrs old, BMI of 21.5, and have ovulated once in the past year. (Was on bc pills for about 10 years). My anovulatory periods are so irregular...I get a 'period' every couple months but it only lasts about 2 days. I was dx with PCOS after an ultrasound of my ovaries. All my bloodwork was normal. If I gain weight I carry it around my belly, a few hairs under my bellybutton, and acne on my back. However I don't think I'm IR cause I get hypoglycemic a LOT. I run 3.5 miles a day and eat very healthy.

All I've read about PCOS is that it primarily affects overweight people, and what I HAVE read on this website indicates it's harder for thin people to get pregnant. I just got married and I want to be a mommy SO bad. My insurance is making me wait 6 months before I can see an RE, so my OBGYN is making me get an HSG before he will prescribe Clomid. My husband already did his s/a and it was normal. Oh, I've also been doing the OPK for the last 3 months straight and have YET to get a positive!

I feel like such a failure. I don't know where to start. Was anyone, ANYONE dx with PCOS based solely on their sonogram and had regular bloodwork? Have you been able to start ovulating and getting regular periods with the help of meds? I don't understand how I can have this with such a focus on exercise and diet.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and I appreciate any insight!!

Your in a very similar situation to me. I was diagnosed many years ago when I was about 17 years old. I only get a period 1-2 times per year and its usually very light. Of course BCP has regulated me. I was diagnosed by hormone levels but primarily by U/S.

When I got married I went off the bcp and didn't use protection for a year. After that I started with Metformin (it can also help with Lean PCOS and miscarriage) It didn't however help me O, but it did lessen the cysts. I tried another 6 months of OPK's but never a positive. That is when I started with my RE. They skipped clomid for me and I am now on my first cycle of injectables. Cycles with PCOS can be hard because we often produce too many follicles and they are hard to stimulate and control.

Anyway, the HSG is not pleasant but totally essential they will never begin any type of stimulation without running the test. So it sounds like your on the right track. Are you doing a straight Clomid cycle or clomid with a trigger?

Since your already healthy, I think you should just focus on the next step which is clomid. You don't have a choice but wait for insurance to kick in. For all you know you can be pg by then, how great would that be!?!?

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck. I am getting really close to my first IUI and 2ww if, and it's a big if, my cycle isn't cancelled for overstimulation (very common with PCOS and injectables) they need to make sure we don't get OHSS which is exacerbated by being pg and extremely painful!

Everyone on these boards are so nice and also extremely knowledgeable. I hope I helped you out a little bit!

[Daisy811]

Wanabebe-Your doctor wold have to decide that for you after monitoring your cycles and your quality of ovulation each month. I ovulated on Metformin alone, but my cycles were 40 days long or longer. Since I was ttc, these cycles were just too long (however MUCH better than my non-existent cycles before!). My Dr added the clomid 50mg, and it worked but after 3 cycles (all which were different lengths) I still didn't have BFP. My Dr upped the clomid dosage to 100 mg and I got pregnant right away. In retrospect, I think I only needed the 50 mg of clomid on top of the metformin (fyi-I take 2000mg of met a day), as long as I used the ovulation test kits made by Clearblue Easy to pinpoint my ovulation day. I wasn't using those kits when I was on 50mg because I thought the BFP would just happen, but since my cycles varied in length from month-to month (30 days, 24 days, etc), it was impossible to pinpoint ovulation.

[amdg]

When I was diagnosed, my BMI was high 18's/ 19. My body fat percentage was also very low. I tried Femara to no avail, and finally decided to give myself a break from the RE. I was hypothyroid due to Hashimoto's and I just wanted to let my Synthroid kick in without getting confused by all the other drugs. My endo (NOT RE!) agreed. I also GAINED about 7-10 lbs. That's what ultimately did it. I started getting my period (albeit with looooooong cycles), but started showing clear fertility signs - ewcm, etc. Don't waste your $$$ on the OPKs if you are good at observing your CM. I really found that charting my CM was the key.

This time last year I was feeling HOPELESS and AFRAID. Right now, as I write this, I am listening to my napping 12 week old on a baby monitor. HAVE FAITH!!!!!!

[duramater]

I eat eggs for breakfast (and green tea); a huge spinach salad for lunch with avocado or smoked salmon, any other vegetables I can find, and oil and vinegar for dressing; almonds and walnuts (or string cheese) as a mid-afternoon snack; and then some kind of meat and vegetable (we eat a lot of greens) for dinner. If my husband makes brown rice or kasha, I'll have a little. Then if I want dessert it's usually full-fat Greek yogurt with fruit.

I'm not a big fan of morning eggs, but luckily I LOVE my spinach salad - it's the highlight of my day, especially when the avocados are good!

I thought maybe my belly was flatter, but now I'm at the end of my cycle and so bloated I can't tell. I also think that this cycle didn't work - it's day 27 and all pee-sticks are negative - so I'm much less excited about my diet now than I was two weeks ago when I ovulated! When AF gets here, I'm so going to have a glass of wine. Or two. Lucky for my husband, I'm sooo much less emotional than I usually am at this time.

So since I'm not on Met I'm planning to stay on the diet through the first trimester (whenever that happens), to reduce the risk of miscarriage. Anyone else worried about the PCOS/miscarriage connection?

Anyone else taking cinnamon? I've heard it can cause uterine contractions in pharmaceutical doses, so now I'm worried about that too.

[duramater]

I think the weight loss thing could definitely be a problem for us thin cysters who are taking Met/on a low GI diet. So I try to eat a LOT of good fats, since I've cut out sugar: avocado, nuts, fish, olive oil. Even full-fat dairy, which I never ate before, but might increase chances of pregnancy. (It won't let me post a link, but google "dairy fertility medscape.")

Mmmm, good fats.

[denverdani]

Grrr I'm so frustrated! I've really been hesitant to start on the Met because I just don't know if this is something I would need to take my entire life...
I've read several books, which really hasn't been helpful since all they do is tell you how to lose weight! I've been eating super-strict low GI diet and taking DCI, working out 3-5 times a week, for about 5 weeks now. Results? I'm not tired anymore and my skin has cleared up a bit. (which would probably be true of anyone who cut out sugar) That's it. No sign of AF anywhere. And even worse, I've lost weight I really didn't want to lose. My BMI is now around 18.5-19, which probably isn't good for fertility either. If PCOS is what I really have, then shouldn't all this have made SOME difference hormonally?? I'm starting to wonder, since my labs were almost normal, the u/s was "some cysts, not definite PCOS" and my only real symptom was total absence of AF since stopping BCP.

[Victoria-B]

I am of a slight build, 5' and just over 8 stone but perfectly healthy, been on glucophage (met) for over 6 months with no ovulation, and am now on my first cycle of clomid, i'm on CD5 and take it CD's 2 to 6. Really scared, hurt, very low right now, need some friends to talk to. Anyone near Bristol? Or even if you're not, anyone want to meet for dinner etc? Or a group meeting?

[sharky09]

Hey Victoria, Let me tell ya...clomid sucks! I'm an emotional wreck when I'm on it. I hope maybe that's why you're so low. But try to think positive! Hopefully the clomid will make the difference and this will be your month! Wish I was in the UK! Try calling around to some of the fertility clinics and asking if they know of any support groups around. There are a few that post meeting notices at my RE's office, so who knows. Try fertilityforums.com too...lots of girls in the same clomid boat as you and they really help! Not a lot of pcos support, but that's what we're for!
Hope you start looking up! I'll be prayin for ya! I bet clomid makes the difference for you!

[Amber2]

Victoria I am in the UK but in Hertfordshire which is quite a long way a way. Have you looked on the verity pcos board as they have quite a few support groups around the country and may well have one for Bristol.

www.verity-pcos.org.uk

[Victoria-B]

Thanks you 2, will see about what groups there are etc. Clomid is making me very emmotional, but if it works i'll go through anything!!!! You 2 ok? xxx