opinions please

[heartmoonshadow]

Hi,

Has anyone here experienced problems being prescribed Clomid because they are 'fat', I am not seriously overweight just a bit fat - but my Gynae once suggested that I would only get fertility treatment if I slimmed down. Do you think this is a con - designed only to give Clomid to a small number of women or do you think it is a bonafide idea? The reason I say this is because if I starved myself I could get to the desired weight but maintaining it is another question - as I am at the moment I am plump but ata a stable weight - one that I can live with. I also have PCOS so therefore losing weight is nigh on impossible. I will be honest I am tempted to buy Clomid and use anyway but I am a bit of a chicken and would be interested in any info from people who have used it first.

Anything that is a hormonal treatment or one that encourages over production of hormones have to be prescribed with caution to women with a BMI over 30 as the risk of thrombosis illness is increased in these people.I(I also think they like you to be in what is perceived to be a healthy weight when your body takes on the strains of pregnancy)
I was prescribed clomid when my BMI got down to 27, I never took though as found out a couple of weeks later I was already pg, I too have PCOS and managed to loose over 2 stone but it was hard work.

I was prescribed Clomid when I had PCOS. My weight was not mentioned (this was in the early 90s) and I was probably a little overweight according to BMI. They told me that 80% of women who use Clomid get pg within 3 months. Took me about 9 months.

I doubt your gynae was referring to Clomid when he/she said fertility treatment. Clomid is very cheap and often prescribed by GP's so you may find that your GP will happily prescribe for you. MOst trusts won;t let anyone with a BMI over about 34 have IVF on the NHS because it is a) much riskier b) much less succesful c) often required egg collection under general anaesthetic. All of which is an expensive use of scarce resources in the NHS.

IMO exercise is the key to losing weight with PCOS. Losing weight while you are taking clmoid will make it much more effective. You don;t need to be aiming for big weight loss, 0.5lb per week is plenty as long as you are doing it consistently and you should be able to do that even with PCOS.

Take advice from someone who knows - working really hard at losing a little weight whilst taking clomid is a much better and less traumatic option than IVF.

and you shouldn't really take clmoid for more than 6 months ( I think thats the clinical guidance unless Gynae recommends otherwise)

Do not buy clomid, it is not always suitable for all PCOS patients to take and should be given with a degree of caution in such patients. Also monitoring should be done whilst on it, you have no way of knowing whether its working or not otherwise.

I would seek out another gynae opinion - weight should not be a barrier to receiving treatment.

Verity's website may be helpful to you as well - its www.verity-pcos.org.uk.

Kewcumber - I took it for 9 months. What risk was I taking? I'd be interested to know.

prolonged use can increase the risk of ovarian cancer - advice in the Uk is to take for 6 cycles only. I'm sure its only a precaution and in the past it was quite common to be on it for up to a year.

Are you sure you wanted to know that?

Thanks Kewcumber. Not overly worried about ovarian cancer in my case, as I took the clomid `14 years ago due to PCOS. I recently had a scan for lost IUD threads, and was told my ovaries are no longer polycystic.