I finally got my PCOS diagnosis today!!! Woohoo! I thought I'd finally be able to get on the right path to treatments and symptom control. I expected my OBGYN to give me glucophage and was crossing my fingers for spironolactone (or however it's spelled!).
NOPE. BCP. Loestrin FE. He wants me on it for 3 months and then wait and get my own period and see him. I don't understand what good that is going to do. I'm frustrated I have to wait ANOTHER 4 months, but in the grand scheme of things, really, what is another 4 months? I've dealt with these symptoms for over 10 years. I digress. He said this is the cheapest way to start treatments and if nothing changes in 4 months...well, he didn't tell me what other tricks he has up his sleeve!
I am calling my new GP Monday to get a referral for a Rep Endo and hopefully get on the right path this time!
Oh, I told the dr I had been on BCP before, for 3 months exactly! And he asked when, and shook his head saying, "They've changed alot in 7 years." Uh, funny how he gave me the exact same one I was given back then!!
Now reading everyone's complaints about the pill is making me anxious, frustrated, and sad. I gained alot of weight on it and I went off them b/c they made my PMS worse! My husband was the one who told me to stop taking them!! Love him!!
Well, I hate the pill, and I think I'm not starting them Sun and prob won't be seeing that OBGYN again! Well, at least not for problems.
It seems most obgyns think BCPs are the answer to every problem a woman has. Loestrin FE is a strange BCP to prescribe for PCOS. It is low estrogen, and people with PCOS do tend to have elevated or up and down estrogen readings, so it helps to level it out. It is not the best BCP to help any hair issues you might have. Yaz and Yasmin are better at that. Loestrin made me retain fluid in my legs and boobs. I didn't care for it, but some people like it fine.
If you don't have IR, it's more likely that your doctor will see BCP as a useful medication because there's really no reason to treat it with an insulin sensitizer (just my opinion, I know all about BCP not being "good" for PCOS and insulin sensitizers being useful for ovulation).
Maybe try it for the 4 months, and then if you don't like it, insist otherwise? If you're not going to use the prescription he gave you, you should at least see if he's willing to do anything else and/or see a new doctor.
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If you don't like the side effects of BCP then you will HATE glucophage. I took it for 6 weeks and it was the worst time in my life. I finally had to stop because of the pain and then I found out it gave me a stomach ulcer. Now I have to take a very expensive medication for my stomach and deal with constant horrible pain. It did clear up my skin and it seemed like my hair stopped falling out, but I never got AF. Even if I had not gotten the ulcer I would not have stayed on it. Just trying to say that it's not a magic pill and it also has some very negative things about it. I'd say more negative than BCPs.
Don't be in a big rush to get it. Just try the BCPs and see how that works for you. I was also eager to start "being normal" and that completely backfired and now I'm damaged for life.
If you don't like the side effects of BCP then you will HATE glucophage. I took it for 6 weeks and it was the worst time in my life. I finally had to stop because of the pain and then I found out it gave me a stomach ulcer. Now I have to take a very expensive medication for my stomach and deal with constant horrible pain. It did clear up my skin and it seemed like my hair stopped falling out, but I never got AF. Even if I had not gotten the ulcer I would not have stayed on it. Just trying to say that it's not a magic pill and it also has some very negative things about it. I'd say more negative than BCPs.
Some people do react badly to metformin, but for some it is a magic pill. Also, I don't think how you react to BCPs has any bearing on how you will react to metformin. They are two completely different drugs with completely different uses. I hate to hear that your experience was so bad
To the original poster- I think everyone has to decide what is right for them. I recommend you meet with a RE who can help you come up with a treatment plan that works for you. I took metformin, and had some luck but not a significant amount. I am on BCP's now but not for PCOS. I take BCP's because I have endometriosis.
If you are IR, you should definitely be on metformin. I think most women with PCOS should see an RE, as this is the stuff they are trained it.
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BCP"S will help with your symptoms. However from what I understand yasmin is one of the best for pcos if you can take it. I would definately go see an RE so they can give you the metformin for the IR. And some dr's wont prescribe the spironalctone unless taking bcp due to birth defects.
I just wanted to say, glucophage tends to make people ovulate, while spiro will cause birth defects and tends to mess up AF bigtime. That perhaps is why he wanted you on bcp. You can be on bcp and met and spiro, many women are.
Met made me miserable and then some, it was not the drug for me. There's still herbs, DCI, Byetta, and the "controversial" Actos and Avandia.
__________________ Whoa! bfp 11/22/08. A YAZ "reset" baby!
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When I first got my diagnosis of PCOS, the first med I got was BCP because I was bleeding so much. Then, when I got my bloodwork back, it found that my female hormones were all out of whack. The dr said BCP would correct this. She suggested I try the BCP for 6 mths and try to lose weight. I switched drs immediately. Now I see a Gyn/RE and he still wants me on BCP and Byetta. The BCP again is for my hormones. I had a really bad time on Loestrin, not enough hormone for me and I had constant breakthrough bleeding. I had to come off of it and now we were waiting to seeif I would get AF, which I am happy to say did come!
why did dr prescribe BCP??? 
