My Story

[Cindy B]

10 years ago I found myself browsing in a bookstore in the infertility section. I had always wondered why I had never concieved. I had pulled out a book and was opening it up and it opened right to Stein-Leventhal Syndrome (now known as PCOS) I was reading the physical characteristics of it hisurtism, obesity, infertility and said that sounds like me. I had it in my mind that the next time I went to a Gynecologist I would ask to be tested for it. Several months later I went to see my new GYN Dr. Stephanie Van Zandt for my first visit, and I was all set to ask her to test me for it, but didn't even need to ask. She looked at me and my history and ordered a testosterone level and a DHEAS level done in blood work along with a thyroid profile. The testosterone and thyroid levels came back normal but my DHEAS level was high, and she told me that I had PCOS.

She put me on spironalactone but it made my AF go wacky, so she had seen several patients going to an endocrinologist who were taking Eulexin for the hisurtism problem, so she put me on that. It worked. Several years ago I stopped taking it since I was hoping that I might try to concieve, but haven't gone back on it yet. I am at the age and point where I am going to ask to be put back on it. As I am now starting to give up my hopes of having a child of my own. ( I'm 44)

I have been seeing a regular Endocrinologist for my thyroid and parathyroid problems and my mother is now a type II diabetic as was her mother, So I asked him to test me for Insulin Resistance. He ran an Insulin, Pro Insulin and C-Peptide on me and did tell me that I was Insulin Resistant. But he didn't treat me for it.

Last month I went for my yearly with Dr. Van Zandt and asked her about going on Metformin/Glucophage for the Insulin Resistance. She called a local Reproductive Endocrinologist to talk to her about the benefits of it. while I was in the office. She asked my doctor what my weight was and she told her 212 ( I have lost 20 lbs since the beginning of the year by following the IR diet) and the RE told her that I wouldn't benefit from Met/Gluc for weight loss as I wasn't that heavy ( yeah right I'm still about 90 - 100 lbs over my ideal weight). But Dr. Van Zandt was fair about me wanting to take it, so the RE told her to run a random glucose and insulin level on me and do the ratio and see if I was IR. Her office called me 2 wks ago to say that my glucose was normal but my ratio of insulin to the glucose is high. So she gave me my prescription for Metformin. Right now I am up to 1000 mg and experiencing the runs and gas from taking it and adjusting to it.

Right now I feel like I have a little more energy.

That is my story so far.

Cindy

[tithers]

I was performing a search and came upon your post

I think you're the only other hyperparathyroid person that I've "met" that has PCOS. Have they treated the parathyroid? Taken it out? Calcium probs?

I bet that a lot of people you've talked to have no idea what a parathyroid is and think it's a regular thyroid...