ucsf pcos clinic in san francisco

isenephthys · 11-10-2007, 06:23 AM

i recently moved to san francisco and realized that the hospital that i work for has a comprehensive pcos clinic and are a recognixed center of excellence in women's health. i am going to see the doctors there next month. i'll let everyone know how things go.

here is some of their information:

website:http://www.ucsfpcos.org/

(415) 885-3674
2356 Sutter St., 3rd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94115

Quote:

PCOS Multidisciplinary Clinic

PCOS affects almost 1 in 10 women, yet it has different consequences for each woman. Some of the most common symptoms are irregular periods, excess body or facial hair, acne and difficulty maintaining a healthy weight. It may also be associated with depression, difficulty getting pregnant, predisposition to type II diabetes and other long-term health problems.
We are here to help. The UCSF Multidisciplinary PCOS Clinic offers an integrated approach to treating polycystic ovarian syndrome. Patients see an entire team of specialists in reproductive endocrinology, dermatology, nutrition, exercise physiology, psychology and genetics. We work together with each patient to create an individualized treatment plan that will work for her. We are also developing a psycho-educational group and a exercise program series for women who would like to start integrating exercise into their lives.
Patients are also welcome to participate in our PCOS research program, which will help us understand the cause of PCOS and the best methods of treatment.

About Us

The UCSF Multidisciplinary PCOS Clinic offers an integrated approach to treating polycystic ovarian syndrome. Our patients see an entire team of specialists in reproductive endocrinology, dermatology, nutrition, psychology and genetics. Our team approach translates to better care for each patient, taking into account her individual needs and circumstances.

We are proud to be part of the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women's Health, a designation granted by the federal Office of Women's Health. This distinguishes our program as a model for improving health services for women.

We are also one of the specialty clinics in the comprehensive UCSF Women's Health program. UCSF Women's Health offers health care for women at each stage of life from adolescence through menopause and beyond.

isenephthys · 12-13-2007, 10:00 PM

i am so aggravated and angry right now. ugh! i got up and went to my appointment for 0830 with high expectations. those expectations were dashed when i saw the reproductive endocrinologists. their "plan" continue the aldactone (which i've been on since 2004 and obviously isn't helping that much), switch ortho-tri-cyclen to alesse and everyone's favorite- diet and exercise.

what part of I HAVE TRIED DIET AND EXERCISE SINCE 2004 AND I JUST KEEP GAINING WEIGHT do these assholes not get!?? i am so disheartened right now. i can't deal with this. to top it off, evidently they don't continue to follow you @the pcos clinic, you have to find your own private doctors to do that. i wish i would have known this and saved myself a lot of time and $ and just made an appt. w/a regular gyn.

the nutritionist is great. i told her i would give journaling/calorie counting (yet another) shot and come back in 4 weeks. the psychologist was nice, but she definitely thinks i need to go see a psych md asap for my bipolar. (which i agree with because they didn't even give me my other med refills.)

the real kicker- even w/a documented i.r. history and an elevated fasting insulin, they didn't put me back on met or anything for those insulin levels. my last endo had me on an injectable for it. (symlin)

i hope i can get some relief when i go see the bariatric surgeon on jan 14.

Black Lilly · 12-14-2007, 08:56 PM

HONESTLY?!?!?!? I was planning to make an appointment at this clinic for January. In fact, I just posted about it to someone in SLO looking for good docs. I *thought* these people would be able to help, but it simply sounds like more of the same! How infuriating. I can see why you are so angry and disappointed. Ooh. I am there with you, sister.

I thought they were going to follow us closely so that they could study PCO. In fact, wouldn't they have had to get a bunch of money together to start this clinic? And UCSF is a research university, right?

I just read a post where someone reported that an insulin resistance diet helped her more than medication and believe it, but ugh. I need a supportive doctor!

I am going to still meet with them, and will report back my experience. If it is similar to yours, I will keep looking and will report back when I find someone great in the Bay Area. I read about Kat's experience and saw that she had to meet with 8 doctors before she was able to get the treatment she wanted and had thoroughly researched. Wish me luck as I venture forth!

And, as an aside, I don't know what you look like, but I get the
"fat and hairy = hysterical dumb ****" attitude ALL THE TIME.

Wondering how this aspect comes into play when we are needing seeking treatment and reporting our experiences. Any thin cysters want to chime in? Are you feeling as shoved off as I do by doctors?

isenephthys · 12-15-2007, 02:30 AM

black lily, i do wish you luck w/the clinic. i also thought that they would be delivering cutting-edge care because of the ucsf research reputation. you know, i had more up-to-date care from my (wonderful) endo in louisiana. i think the clinic is more of a thing to put you in touch w/resources for the newly diagnosed patient. none of these doctors will be following you long term.

i did like that the clinic has you meet with 5 specialists in order to coordinate holistically-focused care. the first meeting was with 2 re's, a dermatologist and a genetic counselor. the second meeting was for my treatment plan, as well as the nutritionist and psychologist. i liked the nutritionist am am going to follow-up with her in 4 weeks to see if her suggestions help. i feel like the nutritionist, psychologist and genetic counselor definitely listened more. and jamie, the program's coordinator was wonderful.

i also got the feeling that because i'm not ttc, my medical needs were a lesser priority. i asked about met or continuing symlin. i was told that symlin is "off label" for ir, so they won't prescribe it and met will help me ovulate "so we might consider it if you want to get pregnant later." ugh.

Black Lilly · 12-15-2007, 08:31 PM

I was diagnosed with PCO ten years ago, but probably had it undiagnosed in adolescence. At the time I was diagnosed I was in Kaiser Permanente and pushed and pushed to get help. It didn't make sense to me that I would be gaining weight so rapidly and so greatly. At the time met was a very new and seemly radically treatment, and for whatever reason, I wasn't able to find people to help me and I simply gave up. My experience felt like once they determined what my problem was, that I was let go into the ether to find my own way.

I am very glad I found this board so I feel less alone with this struggle. I have been concerned with preventative care and long term health issues (risk of heart disease, diabetes, and etc.) I am finally ready to try again to get some help managing everything. The good news is that I am finally getting out of the HMO.

Anway, thanks so much for the information. It is really helpful and now I will be more realistic when I go over there.

BTW, I hope you fall in love with SF. I wonder if you will miss your hot summers, though!

Best wishes.

isenephthys · 12-16-2007, 05:36 AM

i do love sf. and i totally don't miss the heat one bit!

i'm glad you found this board. it has been a great source of information and support for me. i wish you luck in pursuing symptom relief.

one of the other threads mentioned some great care at cedars sinai in los angeles. i am seriously considering it.

Black Lilly · 03-29-2008, 01:14 AM

Just wanted to send you complete and utter validation. I don't want to go negative, so let's just say that your experience was similar to mine. Plus, if I hadn't read your post earlier, I would have been incredibly disappointed and angry.

You hit the nail on the head in your post. I agree that it was not bad there, but not cutting edge like I expected/hoped.

Would recommend to women in the local area who are looking for diagnosis and who have insurance coverage. But, if you like the doc you have and can afford what coverage you have, stay with them.

rockingirl · 05-04-2008, 11:09 PM

I moved back here to SF and wanted to get help with ttc. Went to gyn and she said I had to normally try for 6 months after getting off pill but with documented history of PCOS I brought with me she said 3 months. Later she called back and told me of this PCOS clinic. So I went hoping they could help me sooner for ttc.

Went to the clinic. Seemed interesting enough and basically they told me it was a clinic whose primary purpose was to diagnose you or not with pcos. I already had been diagnosed with PCOS from a doc in LA already but my old treatment was just Yasmin and Spironolactone 100mg because he didn't detect any IR in my bloodwork. I had heard that the gold standard was now metformin so I wanted to know if I should be on it along with getting help ttc.

I don't think it is anything special of a clinic unless you don't know you have it and don't know anything about pcos but most women will try to figure it out for themselves. I did diagnose myself in my early 20's. They couldn't help me with ttc either and I had to get approval from my gyn to see the doc from the clinic again which I did.

The interesting thing was that at my follow up I asked the doctor about Metformin. She was not going to suggest it as my bloodwork did not seem to neccesitate it in her opinion. The only reason she did put me on is that in her reasoning it makes clomid work better and I might as well get started on it while I was waiting for approval from my insurance as it is hard to take at first.

The funny thing is that when I finally went back for my first ttc appointment with her I told her I had had a regular period since being off the pill and being on met for a little over a month now. She suspected that I may have been ovulating now since being on the Met and did a quick ultrasound and sure enough my ovaries where now smaller and more normal and a big fat egg was getting ready to get released. I am now on my second cycle with the met and am over a week late with my period. I am hopping for the BFP but that hasn't showed up yet but neither has AF!

The thing is that if I had not mentioned Met and was not ttc, she would have never suggested I use it and I would have just kept going with my usual regimine. But the met worked miraculously for me and makes me feel so normal in a way more than the pill did. So the clinic would have been a waste for me also then.

Also as a side note when I saw the counselor of the clinic I told her how I have a problem with emotional eating that I believe are because of years of bad self esteem tied to the symptoms of PCOS. She was no help and said it is normal and I shouldn't worry about it and suggested a book to read that was just a huge clinical book on phychology. I would have appreciated some help or a referral to someone with knowlege of this but she didn't provide.

12-13-2007, 10:00 PM	#2 (permalink)
isenephthys angst and eyeliner Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: san francisco Posts: 1,264 My Mood: Points: 1,070.85 Bank: 55,151.01 Total Points: 56,221.86 Donate	i am so aggravated and angry right now. ugh! i got up and went to my appointment for 0830 with high expectations. those expectations were dashed when i saw the reproductive endocrinologists. their "plan" continue the aldactone (which i've been on since 2004 and obviously isn't helping that much), switch ortho-tri-cyclen to alesse and everyone's favorite- diet and exercise. what part of I HAVE TRIED DIET AND EXERCISE SINCE 2004 AND I JUST KEEP GAINING WEIGHT do these assholes not get!?? i am so disheartened right now. i can't deal with this. to top it off, evidently they don't continue to follow you @the pcos clinic, you have to find your own private doctors to do that. i wish i would have known this and saved myself a lot of time and $ and just made an appt. w/a regular gyn. the nutritionist is great. i told her i would give journaling/calorie counting (yet another) shot and come back in 4 weeks. the psychologist was nice, but she definitely thinks i need to go see a psych md asap for my bipolar. (which i agree with because they didn't even give me my other med refills.) the real kicker- even w/a documented i.r. history and an elevated fasting insulin, they didn't put me back on met or anything for those insulin levels. my last endo had me on an injectable for it. (symlin) i hope i can get some relief when i go see the bariatric surgeon on jan 14. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. "live. love. be. believe." -the Cruxshadows

12-14-2007, 08:56 PM	#3 (permalink)
Black Lilly Registered User Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 30 My Mood: Points: 540.04 Bank: 0.00 Total Points: 540.04 Donate	HONESTLY?!?!?!? I was planning to make an appointment at this clinic for January. In fact, I just posted about it to someone in SLO looking for good docs. I thought these people would be able to help, but it simply sounds like more of the same! How infuriating. I can see why you are so angry and disappointed. Ooh. I am there with you, sister. I thought they were going to follow us closely so that they could study PCO. In fact, wouldn't they have had to get a bunch of money together to start this clinic? And UCSF is a research university, right? I just read a post where someone reported that an insulin resistance diet helped her more than medication and believe it, but ugh. I need a supportive doctor! I am going to still meet with them, and will report back my experience. If it is similar to yours, I will keep looking and will report back when I find someone great in the Bay Area. I read about Kat's experience and saw that she had to meet with 8 doctors before she was able to get the treatment she wanted and had thoroughly researched. Wish me luck as I venture forth! And, as an aside, I don't know what you look like, but I get the "fat and hairy = hysterical dumb ***" attitude ALL THE TIME. Wondering how this aspect comes into play when we are needing seeking treatment and reporting our experiences. Any thin cysters want to chime in? Are you feeling as shoved off as I do by doctors? __________________ Be humble for you are made of earth. Be noble for you are made of stars. - Serbian proverb*

12-15-2007, 02:30 AM	#4 (permalink)
isenephthys angst and eyeliner Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: san francisco Posts: 1,264 My Mood: Points: 1,070.85 Bank: 55,151.01 Total Points: 56,221.86 Donate	black lily, i do wish you luck w/the clinic. i also thought that they would be delivering cutting-edge care because of the ucsf research reputation. you know, i had more up-to-date care from my (wonderful) endo in louisiana. i think the clinic is more of a thing to put you in touch w/resources for the newly diagnosed patient. none of these doctors will be following you long term. i did like that the clinic has you meet with 5 specialists in order to coordinate holistically-focused care. the first meeting was with 2 re's, a dermatologist and a genetic counselor. the second meeting was for my treatment plan, as well as the nutritionist and psychologist. i liked the nutritionist am am going to follow-up with her in 4 weeks to see if her suggestions help. i feel like the nutritionist, psychologist and genetic counselor definitely listened more. and jamie, the program's coordinator was wonderful. i also got the feeling that because i'm not ttc, my medical needs were a lesser priority. i asked about met or continuing symlin. i was told that symlin is "off label" for ir, so they won't prescribe it and met will help me ovulate "so we might consider it if you want to get pregnant later." ugh. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. "live. love. be. believe." -the Cruxshadows

12-15-2007, 08:31 PM	#5 (permalink)
Black Lilly Registered User Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 30 My Mood: Points: 540.04 Bank: 0.00 Total Points: 540.04 Donate	I was diagnosed with PCO ten years ago, but probably had it undiagnosed in adolescence. At the time I was diagnosed I was in Kaiser Permanente and pushed and pushed to get help. It didn't make sense to me that I would be gaining weight so rapidly and so greatly. At the time met was a very new and seemly radically treatment, and for whatever reason, I wasn't able to find people to help me and I simply gave up. My experience felt like once they determined what my problem was, that I was let go into the ether to find my own way. I am very glad I found this board so I feel less alone with this struggle. I have been concerned with preventative care and long term health issues (risk of heart disease, diabetes, and etc.) I am finally ready to try again to get some help managing everything. The good news is that I am finally getting out of the HMO. Anway, thanks so much for the information. It is really helpful and now I will be more realistic when I go over there. BTW, I hope you fall in love with SF. I wonder if you will miss your hot summers, though! Best wishes. __________________ Be humble for you are made of earth. Be noble for you are made of stars. - Serbian proverb

12-16-2007, 05:36 AM	#6 (permalink)
isenephthys angst and eyeliner Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: san francisco Posts: 1,264 My Mood: Points: 1,070.85 Bank: 55,151.01 Total Points: 56,221.86 Donate	i do love sf. and i totally don't miss the heat one bit! i'm glad you found this board. it has been a great source of information and support for me. i wish you luck in pursuing symptom relief. one of the other threads mentioned some great care at cedars sinai in los angeles. i am seriously considering it. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. "live. love. be. believe." -the Cruxshadows

03-29-2008, 01:14 AM	#7 (permalink)
Black Lilly Registered User Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 30 My Mood: Points: 540.04 Bank: 0.00 Total Points: 540.04 Donate	results Just wanted to send you complete and utter validation. I don't want to go negative, so let's just say that your experience was similar to mine. Plus, if I hadn't read your post earlier, I would have been incredibly disappointed and angry. You hit the nail on the head in your post. I agree that it was not bad there, but not cutting edge like I expected/hoped. Would recommend to women in the local area who are looking for diagnosis and who have insurance coverage. But, if you like the doc you have and can afford what coverage you have, stay with them. __________________ Be humble for you are made of earth. Be noble for you are made of stars. - Serbian proverb

05-04-2008, 11:09 PM	#8 (permalink)
rockingirl Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 10 My Mood: Points: 419.68 Bank: 0.00 Total Points: 419.68 Donate	Also participated in this clinic. I moved back here to SF and wanted to get help with ttc. Went to gyn and she said I had to normally try for 6 months after getting off pill but with documented history of PCOS I brought with me she said 3 months. Later she called back and told me of this PCOS clinic. So I went hoping they could help me sooner for ttc. Went to the clinic. Seemed interesting enough and basically they told me it was a clinic whose primary purpose was to diagnose you or not with pcos. I already had been diagnosed with PCOS from a doc in LA already but my old treatment was just Yasmin and Spironolactone 100mg because he didn't detect any IR in my bloodwork. I had heard that the gold standard was now metformin so I wanted to know if I should be on it along with getting help ttc. I don't think it is anything special of a clinic unless you don't know you have it and don't know anything about pcos but most women will try to figure it out for themselves. I did diagnose myself in my early 20's. They couldn't help me with ttc either and I had to get approval from my gyn to see the doc from the clinic again which I did. The interesting thing was that at my follow up I asked the doctor about Metformin. She was not going to suggest it as my bloodwork did not seem to neccesitate it in her opinion. The only reason she did put me on is that in her reasoning it makes clomid work better and I might as well get started on it while I was waiting for approval from my insurance as it is hard to take at first. The funny thing is that when I finally went back for my first ttc appointment with her I told her I had had a regular period since being off the pill and being on met for a little over a month now. She suspected that I may have been ovulating now since being on the Met and did a quick ultrasound and sure enough my ovaries where now smaller and more normal and a big fat egg was getting ready to get released. I am now on my second cycle with the met and am over a week late with my period. I am hopping for the BFP but that hasn't showed up yet but neither has AF! The thing is that if I had not mentioned Met and was not ttc, she would have never suggested I use it and I would have just kept going with my usual regimine. But the met worked miraculously for me and makes me feel so normal in a way more than the pill did. So the clinic would have been a waste for me also then. Also as a side note when I saw the counselor of the clinic I told her how I have a problem with emotional eating that I believe are because of years of bad self esteem tied to the symptoms of PCOS. She was no help and said it is normal and I shouldn't worry about it and suggested a book to read that was just a huge clinical book on phychology. I would have appreciated some help or a referral to someone with knowlege of this but she didn't provide.

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