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!!
All I've read about PCOS is that it primarily affects overweight people
That's actually not true. Nearly 1/2 of women with pcos are so-called 'thin cysters'. Be sure to see the stickies at the top of this forum for research specific to 'thin cysters'.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Melly78
Was anyone, ANYONE dx with PCOS based solely on their sonogram and had regular bloodwork?
I also have "normal" bloodwork, and I'm not overweight. From what I understand, doctors can diagnose PCOS based on polycystic ovaries and the lack of ovulation.
I'm with ya. Normal weight, not IR, highly active, eat healthy--yet no periods at all, and cystic ovaries. Would love to hear some stories from more women like me.
I also have "normal" bloodwork, and I'm not overweight. From what I understand, doctors can diagnose PCOS based on polycystic ovaries and the lack of ovulation.
I am not IR either, but I have higher LH than FSH...and my OPKs are always dar, and frequently + I think we PCOSers are all different, so don't compare yourself to anyone else. It does no good, I have found.
How was your LH and all that?
My LH was normal. Everything was normal. My OB said if we were to test my blood at a different time in my cycle it would eventually show an imbalance. I guess he's right... It doesn't help to read so much on the internet either. I've convinced myself I have premature ovarian failure and going into early menopause. (No Dr has told me that yet). Poor DH is dealing with all these crying episodes and this Prometrium I'm taking to induce AF is making me SO melodramatic! I'm just so glad I've found this website, I don't feel so alone.
It doesn't help to read so much on the internet either.
It feel that way at first, but I can assure you it DOES help to read research that comes out. For starters it allows you to be more proactive in your medical care.
Working with your doctor should be a partnership, where both parties bring something to the table. I found that by reading 'research' (rather than just anecdotal information) I felt far more empowered about my health and course of treatment.
When I was 'in the dark' it was much scarier.
__________________
Hey, SoulCysters! Need to eat more veggies, but can't find recipes??
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I am also thin (5'5" 122 lbs) and am athletic (running, tennis, and strength training). I have always eaten healthy and continue to follow a low carb diet. I have always struggled with irregular periods and some acne with some excess hair growth beneath my belly button. I was diagnosed through a combination of ultrasound and blood tests showing low progesterone at 7 dpo.
We have been trying to conceive our second for about a year, and I have been on metformin (2000mg) and prometrium (200 mg) for about 3 months now. We conceived our first daughter without any help, so it is possible. I understand your frustration! This is why I joined this forum to be around other women dealing with the same issues.
__________________ MomtoGrace
Stacey Married to DH for 9 years DD 6 years old
Madeline Renee is on her way!
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I know exactly how you feel. My story is the same - I've always been thin, exercise regularly and eat the right foods. When I went off bcp and had irregular cycles I thought there was no way I could have PCOS because all the medical websites state it is caused by being overweight or obese. Its hard for a woman with a BMI of 20 to associate herself with a conditon that so many describe as being the result of improper weight control. My RE described it as one of the biggest myths in modern medicine. He said he sees women of all shapes and sizes who have PCOS, including many that are "as skinny as a rail". So you are definitley not alone!
Your description pretty much describes me, too! I am 29, thin, eat healthy, and exercise regularly. I had been on bc for about 10 years and when I went off, I had gotten what I thought was a period, which was more like light spotting, for a couple days every couple of months. I was able to get a real period only after taking progesterone pills. Clomid did not make me ovulate, but when I switched to Femara, I did on the first cycle. I didn't ovulate on the second cycle like I was supposed to around day 14, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the third cycle. I started Metformin mid second cycle of Femara when I wasn't getting a positive OPK around day 20 and am up to 1500 mg/day. The doctor didn't know if the Met was going to help because my bloodwork was normal, but about 14 days after I was taking 1500 mg of Met, I ovulated. I didn't get pregnant, but I really wonder if the Met did have a positive effect.
My gynecologist wasn't terribly helpful with PCOS and didn't do mid-cycle ultrasounds, so I switched to an infertility specialist and feel that things got moving a lot faster with medication, ultrasounds, etc. It's definitely a lot more expensive because my insurance doesn't cover anything, but if I was going to end up spending the money eventually, I didn't want to wait.
Although the HSG isn't something people ususally look forward to, it's good to get the results and know how things are working, so you can rule those issues out of the equation. I wish you all the best!
__________________ 4 cycles of Clomid (never ovulated) 1st cycle Femara (Ovulated day 15! IUI, Bust) 2nd cycle Femara (LH surge day 36, no Bust) Started Metformin (1500 mg) 3rd cycle of Femara (HCG trigger 7/16/09, IUI 7/17/09, Bust) 4th cycle of Femara days 3-7 (surge day 13, timed BD, BFP 11 dpo, baby due 5/6/09, MC, D&C 9/25/09) Ovulated 7 weeks after D&C, AF 9 weeks after D&C Dec 2009 - One cycle of birth control (Ocella) to regulate cycle before starting with Femara again next cycle
I am very interested in the fact that you get hypoglycemic, so you don't think you are IR. I am 33 years old. I wear a double 0 and am as small as I was as a freshman in highschool. I am fish eating vegetarian, eat organic and healthy, excercise, etc. and still have PCOS. I tried Clomid back in 2003 to no avail. We tried Clomid with IUI after identifying that my husband had some problems during his s/a. Nothing worked. We did IVF in 2004 and I got pregnant and gave birth in August 2005. We tried a frozen cycle which failed. We then did IVF again in April 2007 and it resulted in the birth of my baby in December 2007. We tried a frozen cycle in February 2009 (I caught a stomach virus the day of the transfer, nightmare) and then another around mother's day...both failed. I then tried a third cycle in a row and ended up with a burst ovarian cyst and a lump in my breast that I had to get surgically removed, so we had to cancel the cycle. So now, I am back to square one. Blessed to have my little boys, but I do NOT want to go back on IVF drugs. I wish I did not want more children, but I came from a big family and I do. I started acupuncture and take yoga twice a week. Just saw a new RE yesterday and he was VERY interested in the fact that I get severly hypoglycemic. When I was pg with my first, they put me on the diabetes diet, because my blood sugar bottomed out after the 3 hour glucose tolerance test at 30. I can't eat ANY sugar for breakfast at all (no cereal EVER) or any sugar during the day without eating protein. He is doing a full blood work up since I haven't had one since 2003, a HSG, and ALSO a 3 hour glucose tolerance test. Sometimes I wonder if I am insulin resistant and that my body pumps out too much insulin which them makes me Hypoglycemic. Just interesting to me. I have always thought there was a connection between the hypoglycemia and the PCOS. I do not get a period at all. What is your hypoglycemia like and what triggers it? Maybe Metformin would work for both of us? I had never considered it an option for me, but I am hoping it might be. I will let you know what happens with my GTT and maybe you should have one done, too since Hypoglycemia can be a predictor of Type II Diabetes. Sorry you are struggling. I would not wish this upon anyone, but know that there are more girls like you out here and we can empathize with everything you are feeling and going through.
__________________ dx with PCOS : 12/04
TTC: since 3/03
currently on 100mg clomid x 3 months
low carb diet
I am 5ft4 and weigh 105lbs, BMI 18.6 I was diagnosed with PCOS begining of this year. I have one tube left due to an ectopic and have also had endometriosis where i was treated with a laparoscopy surgery. I went on the 3 cycles of clomid and unfortunately the results were inconsistant, the last cycle showed that i had developed to many follicles (hyperstilmulation?) and was therefore injected with HCG to reduce the chance of cysts. I Received a call from the nurse at the fertility clinic and she told me i will be starting a new treatment...IVM. Meeting with doc next week to discuss further. Fingers crossed!! Been trying to put on weight and have reduced my gym sessions...apparently going to the gym is not so good for ppl like us? so i was told?? Good luck to everyone..thank god for this website and knowing that we are not alone.
momtograce - Have you started to O by just taking the Metformin?
tarinka - I'm very similar to you. I get low blood sugar every day about 2 hours after my morning cereal. Then it just plummets. My grandmother took my blood sugar one time when that happened (yep, she's diabetic) and it was 40. I actually called my OB's office and talked to the Nurse practitioner today. She said to start eating more. Sigh. She also said the Metformin wouldn't work because it helps the body to lower blood sugar. Regardless she's going to talk to the dr but I told her I'd be interested in a Glucose tolerance test. It may be time to find another Dr.
Kmarisco, thanks for the info on Femara, from what I've read it seems to benefit thin cysters more than Clomid for some reason..?
Thanks for all the replies, I hope everyone keeps this thread up for updates on what works for them. The thin cysters forum is so small, we need more recruits!!
Thin cysters TTC, please give me hope 
I think we PCOSers are all different, so don't compare yourself to anyone else. It does no good, I have found. 
