pcos, metformin, clomid.... help!

[shorthannah]

Hi guys,
A friend recommended coming on here for some advice.
My husband and I started trying in January, convinced, like you are, that you will get pregnant straight away. However between Jan and July I had only 3 random periods, and then nothing since July. At first I put this all down to coming off the pill and my body being all over the place, but after still having no periods since July I went to the doctors, for hormone tests and then a scan and internal examination, and got told I have a polycystic ovary.
The doctor has put me on metformin for 3 months and then says we will try clorid if no luck.
Has anybody really got lucky on metformin? What will happen if the clorid and the metformin don't work? Should somebody be keeping an eye on the cysts? Did anybody else get a lot more hairy? :( (the doctor said it's common with pcos apparently!!)
thanks for reading
h x

I don't have any experience with metaformin or clomid, but I was diagnosed with PCOS a few months ago after have irregular (but never missing) cycles, they went anything from 21 days to 40 days, my doc referred me for a scan and found cysts on both ovaries.

I was due to go to the fertility clinic this month to start treatment BUT it happened naturally and am now 7 weeks.

I know this may not be much help BUT its just to show you that even with PCOS it is possible to conceive naturally, we were trying for over 12 months.

I've heard positive things about clomid and it does have a really high success rate, but try not to put too much stress on yourself.

Good luck

Hi, I've got PCOS and it's great to read that some people were able to get BFP's naturally! Natasha and Spooky, did you do anything different to manage the PCOS and get yourself ovulating (lifestyle/diet/herbs etc)? Have read that some people try that.

Good luck Hannah - I started ttc in Jan too. I have my app soon at a fertility clinic and am hoping I can some how regulate my periods naturally and kickstart ovulation, if not I'll have to try the medical route. Not sure if I can take metformin though as I have 'thin' pcos.

what kinds of food should you avoid/ go for in a low gi diet?
what is "thin" pcos?
sorry for all the questionss, but the more I research the more confused I get!

I'm doing low GI...maybe I should call it off and reach for a jacket potato!

Whilst obsessively googling I've read there are different types of pcos (only some are insulin resistant which is when the low GI thing works best apparently). I also really wanted to try agnus castus but then I read that it messed up some people even more depending on what their hormone issues are, again because there are two different types of pcos. All a bit confusing! Do you have lean/thin pcos do you know? What were your cycles like before the AC and were you ovulating? And how did you manage to keep on going and not go for clomid, not knowing if it was going to happen naturally?! Congrats it did though!

Posted at the same time hannah - if you google low GI there is a lot online about it. Basically white bread and anything sugary is out, it's all about food that releases energy slowly, there are tables online of food which is low, medium and high GI. The thing I really miss is potatoes!

Have also heard some people do more exercise to regulate blood sugar and also clear out hormones. You're meant to look after your liver too (but I still drink wine, have cut down a bit though!)

'Thin' pcos is when people don't tend to be overweight and have the weight issues. Some research says it's a different type of pcos, will try and find you a link - it's all still quite early days in terms of what people know about it though! Would love to hear from anyone else who's trying anything else that seems to be working.

Natasha it all sounds like a long process once you're in the system ...although I guess that gives your body more time to try and get there naturally! Why did they advise you against metformin?

I have "thin" PCOS but I do suffer badly with my skin.

I had 6 cycles of Clomid (50mg) but it didn't work for me - my ovulations were still very irregular, varying from CD15 to CD50! I wasn't prescribed Metformin, but don't know why.

I'm now on my first cycle of ovulation induction, which is like IVF in that you have to inject FSH daily but you are scanned to check follicle growth and when they think you are ready to go they tell you to inject an HCG trigger and go away to have lots of sex! I'm currently 6dpo so keeping my fingers crossed! We get 3 cycles of this before moving on to IVF - my healthcare trust don't offer IUI on the NHS.

Have everything crossed for you Frankel, must have been so disappointing when the clomid didn't work. I didn't realise what a long process all of this is, and I'm worried I'm putting too much hope on my appointment when my BFP could be so far away. I guess that's why I'm trying all sorts of diet/exercise plans now and acupuncture too, so at least I feel like I'm doing something. What is IUI by the way? Were your tubes all clear when they checked?

oh and I think they don't give you metformin unless you are insulin resistant so maybe that's why they didn't give it to either of you? (as in, it's only the insulin resistant PCOS'ers who will respond) It's all a bit confusing and I'm no expert despite my googling! This talks about thin pcos: www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=32212

I cut down on sugary foods, and watched what I ate but then it was suggested that women with PCOS should follow a rigid diet, but everyone is different! I used agnus castus bought my cycle lengths right down, conceived my third month of using it so it may be that that did it for us!!

I had pcos and metformin 6ish years ago. Got pg first time I ov'ed

I was overweight so guessing that means I had thin pcos. What I was told at the time was that I had pco but not the 's' as in the syndrome. I did have terrible BO though

I took the met at bedtime after advice so never felt ill on it.

I recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone suffering pco/s I meet - should get commission lol. Though I might be E&L's responsible for all the babies I've helped to create