what to do from here: Not IR, thin??? need help!

candace21 · 03-03-2005, 01:04 AM

What am i suppose to do now? I don't know what to do from here, I am not IR, my fasting insulin levels came back at 8. I'm thin. I don't want to go on the birth control pill. So whats left for me? I've tried herbs, to no avail! I just don't know what to do!
I guess i could always take provera every months to get AF, but I will have to be on other meds to control my acne and another med to control my hairyness.
does anyone have any suggestions? I just am so upset i don't know where to go. I just wish that I could be Normal.
suggestions please....anything....i'm desperate.....

candace

jmp · 03-04-2005, 06:34 PM

I am thin/not IR. I plan to go back on the BCP when I am done TTC/PG/breastfeeding. It really provides the most relief for me from my symptoms (acne, hirsutism, lack of AF). Your sig line (and also I think we've posted on the same threads before) says that you are TTC. Many meds for acne/hirsutism are teratogenic (sp?), meaning they cause birth defects in babies if the mom gets PG while she is taking them and therefore MDs won't prescribe them unless you are also on BCP. Do you have an RE? What do they suggest for you? If you are TTC, you may want to move on to meds if you haven't already (doesn't sound like you have from your post/sig). Are you waiting for one year of trying? Maybe you don't need to--my insurance did not require any certaing amount of "trying" because of my diagnosis w/ PCOS. Best of luck!

Bekah1999 · 03-05-2005, 04:54 PM

I've been dealing w/ pcos for over 20 years. As a thin cyster it has been somewhat difficult to get treatment because so many doctors do not believe you, or else think if your not heavy, not IR, that you don't need any help.

Anyway, what has finally really helped me after years and years of trying everything is:

Actos, low carbing, and ovarian drilling. I wish I'd done this years ago. No acne, hair growth has slowed way down, and I'm now ovulating which means regular af that lasts on 5 days instead of up to 2 weeks!

leamop · 03-05-2005, 07:21 PM

I, too, am thin and not IR, and I myself haven't tried metformin, but many thin, non-IR pcosers have had success with met. And many docs believe it still helps, regardless of test results. It was explained to me once like this: If you have hirsutism and yet your testosterone level is within the normal range, is the hirsutism all in your head, or is normal testosterone for you, lower than what the normal range is for the general population? So if you have pcos and tests show your insulin levels to be normal, perhaps what is considered normal is actually too high for your body. The bonus is that met is a lot less expensive than more aggressive fertility drugs if you are ttc. If this round of injectables doesn't work for me, I plan to talk to my doc about met.
HTH!! And good luck finding what will work for you!

guineapig · 03-09-2005, 01:29 AM

Bekah,

I am average/non-IR and have been on met for about 4 months now and AF is only getting wilder, around ALL the time now. They did leparazole to try and induce a cycle (sp?) but that didn't work either. Delayed AF by one week (a feat in itself) but otherwise, a bust.

My question is,
Which did you start first, the Actos or the ovarian drilling? Or, which did you start to notice a regularity in AF with? Did you ever try gluc, and if so, did it work for you? How'd you get the doc to try Actos? Mine is convinced it will kill the liver.

And I've been on the IR diet for almost 3 years now, with no results.

slimcys · 04-21-2005, 03:45 PM

I'm slim as well. My fasting insulin was 14 (not too much off yours) and my doctor had told me I didn't have IR either. I was still not convinced and all of my readings have shown me that most lab normal values (of which the MDs use for reference) are wrong in terms of IR. They just list the minimal to be diabetic...not IR. Normal fasting insulin should be 5 or under. 5-10 means mild IR and so on. Luckily, I persisted and my doctor prescribed 1000 mg to me. I O'd less than 2 weeks later. Bottom line, try metformin first since it is the easiest first line treatment Even though your insulin is not that high, you're still not O'ing so maybe it's high enough for your body to stop things in its track.