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Infertility

Pcos and treatment options

15 replies

likecherrycola · 06/10/2012 23:41

Hi sorry if this is the wrong section. I will try keep this short we have been ttc for over 3 years now, we already have a daughter who is 4. I was diagnosed with pcos in January , i have only had 4 periods since my daughter was born and i am not ovulating. My doctor has been very unhelpful so far and i am very nervous about going back but i know i need too, she told me to lose weight, didn't arrange scans blood tests or anything else, so since January i have been trying desperately to lose weight but have lost nothing its so depressing I eat healthily and i am constantly active at one stage i was jogging for 2 hours a day eating barely anything yet still lost no weight :O. Even if i do lose weight im not convinced it will be miracle cure as i was 9 stone when my periods stopped ( i had been having other symptoms for years) , I am now just over 11 so not massively overweight but could of course do with losing a few stone. sorry for the rant basically my question is could/is she likely to prescribe anything ie clomid metformin whilst I am overweight? has anyone had experience of this ? feel stuck I am genuinely trying and getting nowhere.

OP posts:
AttilaTheMeerkat · 07/10/2012 11:08

If your GP is unhelpful change GP practice. Its no point at all having a GP who you cannot engage with on any level. Also many GPs are ignorant when it comes to PCOS anyway, telling you just to lose weight is in itself unhelpful.
Your GP should not just prescribe you with clomid and send you on your way as it is not always helpful for PCOS patients; you also need to be monitored whilst on clomid and GPs neither have the time nor the knowledge to monitor you properly.

Who diagnosed you back in January with PCOS?.

Some PCOS patients find following a low GI/GL eating plan useful to follow and it can be sustainable long term.

Verity's website //www.verity-pcos.org.uk is a useful website and has lots of information on it.

Many PCOS cases require careful management and medical help in order to conceive. You certainly should be under the care of the staff at a subfertility unit in hospital. I would insist that you are referred to such people asap.

You will need to be persistant in order to get answers.

loismustdieatyahoodotcom · 07/10/2012 18:28

I would try a book called the PCOS handbook. It gives good ideas on TTC, symptoms, eating patterns etc. Also request a consult with a gyn and dont take no for an answer!!!

summerintherosegarden · 08/10/2012 08:15

Point your GP towards the NICE guidelines - if you are under 35 and have been TTC for >1 year or over 35 and have been trying for >6 months then you are entitled to fertility investigations by the NHS.

I'd second what Attila says about low GI/GL as PCOS very often goes hand in hand with insulin resistance.

likecherrycola · 08/10/2012 14:34

Thanks

AttilaTheMeerkat It was my doctor that diagnosed it. She simple said i have it then told me to lose weight she was very unhelpful. Thank you I have just been reading up on low/GI diet and i am going to try that hopefully get good results :). And thanks for verity link I think that will come in very useful still confused with all this pcos stuff.

loismustdieatyahoodotcom is it this book www.amazon.co.uk/The-Ultimate-PCOS-Handbook-self-esteem/dp/0007213255/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349702909&sr=8-1&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21 ?. Thanks I have an appointment for Thursday and i will be demanding a refferal.

summerintherosegarden Thanks i had never heard of the NICE guidelines , i will be asking her about that on Thursday I am only 23 ( 24 next month) but its been over 3 years now and no period in that time which cant be good for my body. Is the insulin resistance a form of diabetes sorry if thats a stupid question juts my dad has diabetes so might be worth getting checked .

OP posts:
loismustdieatyahoodotcom · 08/10/2012 21:26

Yes thats the right book. It cover low gi diet ect. If it helps I got referred to the gyn after a couple months by saying something along the lines of.. I know ive got PCOS, you know i have it, so if you can tell me im ovulating ill wait for a year. If you cant then i want a referral. Cue 2 blood test and a referal within a short time. Sorry bout grammer im on my phone. Btw thw best diet ive found is actually slimming world because it cuts down carbs in a manageable. I also lost my periods when i was slim and gained weight after they stopped so i get it annoying being told to lose weight. Although i conceived on clomid quickly and also lost 10% of my weight to boost my fertility. Hope this helps sorry for the babble.

summerintherosegarden · 09/10/2012 08:42

likecherrycola, you can find them online by doing a google search. But much more worrying to me is the fact that your doctor isn't concerned about you not having had a period for three years; you should have at least three periods a year (even if they need to be brought on by progesterone) as you are otherwise at higher risk of cancer of the womb (sorry, I'm not trying to scare you, but the more info you can take to your GP the better!)

The insulin resistance is, yes, linked to diabetes. If your Dad is diabetic then it's definitely worth getting checked. Bit of very basic info here:
pcos.about.com/od/callingyourdoctor/a/diabetes.htm

This could be what's making it difficult for you to lose weight - the low GI diet will definitely help, but you can start by cutting out as much sugar as you possibly can (if you have it in tea/coffee or you drink sweet drinks...time to go cold turkey :) )

theroseofwait · 18/10/2012 12:32

Just a thought, but make sure that you get your prolactin levels checked. It's a little known symptom of PCOS but it was enough to deprive me of periods for years. I endured clomid, ovarian drilling, starvation diets, detoxes, accupuncture, reflexology and a year on the IVF waiting list.

They found my level was raised during the blood work for IVF and treated me accordingly, a month later I had a period and three months after that DS1 was on the way, naturally. When we wanted to try for DS2, I went back on the medication and he too took three months.

Not one of the dopey GPs I saw or the three other consultants even thought to check. I still kiss the consultant who did the test every time I see him in Waitrose, and my husband bought him a bottle of V. nice scotch to show our appreciation!!

LIG1979 · 20/10/2012 19:23

Hello. I got a diagnosis of pcos last year following a miscarriage. It did explain the lack of periods post pill, skin and issues with blood sugar levels. I was told to loose weight and exercise more which wasn't helpful as i was 5 ft 4 and 8.5 stone.

Whilst waiting for the fertility expert on the nhs. I did the following:
Strict low gi diet
Acupuncture
Maca - a herbal supplement
Cycle monitoring using temperature monitoring. (Had cycles up to 80 days long .)
B12 as my cycle monitoring showed that even though my cycles were very long the second half of my cycle was only 10 days.

It took a while and had another very early miscarriage but 6 months later my periods were down to 31 days and I got pregnant and a scan at 6 weeks showed my ovaries were clear. Grin Not sure what helped but something did.

I now have dd upstairs asleep Grin just thought I would look in on a board I used to spend a lot of time on. Good luck.

mummeeee · 20/10/2012 19:38

Theroseofwait - please could I ask what meds they gave you for the raised prolactin levels?

Sorry to hijack thread to ask therose, but have pcos too.

My experience may be helpful to you op if only as a bit more ammo to take to your Gp.

I have a very irregular cycle, took 2 years to conceive dd. ds conceived quickly. However, I miscarried third pregnancy 6 months ago. Now ttc but haven't ovulated for 4 months. Just done first cycle of clomid but ovary scan showed nothing (no eggs maturing). They say up the dose of clomid to 100mg, but I really don't think it'll work. I did 3 cycles of clomid before I got pregnant the first time and none of them worked (ovary scan each time showed no ovulation). Finally got pregnant months later by chance.

Good luck with your Gp

theroseofwait · 22/10/2012 18:54

Hi mummeeee, yes, it was bromocriptine. My SIL had a tumour on her pituitary gland and also conceived using it. Marvellous stuff!
Good luck ladies. . .

sampcos · 10/02/2013 09:14

Hi im new to this group, can you tell me was it a blood test that you had to test your prolactin levels??
was you then just given medication to level out your prolactin levels?
If i have regular cycles would there still be a chance that my prolactin levels could be wrong?

duende · 10/02/2013 09:23

Hi, I can't help with pcos, but just wanted to say, I definitely second changing your GP to someone who actually cares. You should push for blood tests- irregular/ lack of periods and inability to lose weight despite of dieting and exercise can also be symptoms of underactive thyroid. Have you ever had your thyroid checked? If it's underactive it can mess up your cycles, and make it difficult to conceive. On the plus side, it is easy to diagnose and fairly easy to manage with medication.
Good luck!

jodie165 · 16/02/2013 21:52

I have PCOS I was diagnosed 6 years ago, and I have been ttc for 3. A friend who also has PCOS told me that she ttc for 5 years and heard that having the mirena coil fitted for around a year will better your chances of getting pregnant once you have had it removed. She fell pregnant 5 months afterwards. So I decided to try it, I had the mirena coil fitted, before the coil and during the time I had it I had no periods, I had it removed in april 2012. I am now 9 weeks pregnant.

I do not know if this is a risky thing to do just to try without evidence to back up that it does work. But I thought I would share this just in case it could help any of you because I know how it feels to try and get nowhere.

jodie165 · 16/02/2013 21:55

** I was ttc for 3 years before I had the coil fitted not 3 years altogether

likecherrycola · 20/02/2013 22:47

hi sorry forgot all about this thread thanks for replies , I have been to see a different gp since posting this and shes been great had ultrasound 3 weeks ago which showed everything looked normal and no cysts , I must admit im shocked I was expecting loads. Not sure what this means in relation to pcoscan you have pcos and no cysts? I have alot of pcos symptoms and not ovulating havent testedthyroid problems as far as Im aware but she had a good feel of my neck and commented on it being slightly swollen no idea if this is connected.
other than that gp has sent referal to gyno so hoping that comes soon ,having self pitying month my 2 closest friends have had their babies and my two sisters have announced there pregnant aswell as my sister in law it looks like I will be surrounded by babies .

Had a lectur from my sister the other day about how having only dd is selfish and shes missing out on so much being an only child and that I shouldnt leave it too long as they wont bond if theres a big age gap I wanted to throttle her shes aware of problems im having concieving .

jodie165. funny you say that other sister has pcos and just had coil removed about 5 months ago and shes now 4 weeks pregnant , she struggled to concieve her ds for years.

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