Denied Clomid because PCT say I am overweight

[heartmoonshadow]

I am really upset my GP thinks Clomid is the answer to my infertility. Shesent me to an infertility clinic who took one look at me and said go away and lose 4 stone come back in 6 months. I had a bit of an arguement with the doctor asking him about equal opportunity laws - he said it is PCT decision. Which reading between the lines means it is a way of saving money. Anyone know a PCT who will allow Clomid to overweight women. If so I will ask doc to refer me to them.

thanks

4 stone off, or even 2 stone off could make the most massive difference to your fertility and to the kind of pregnancy you have.

also, if weight affects fertility, i think it is reasonable to encourage weight loss, they have not refused to treat you, just delayed to give you time to get some weight off.

it would be remiss of teh PCT to fund treatment for a drug that would not be necessary or would work a lot better if the patient was not as overweight.

is your weight affected by the PCOS?

Sorry to be so defensive but there is a big issue here that appears to be coming over. It seems that it is percieved that I am overweight through choice. I eat a fairly healthy diet, I do not eat crisps cake or rubbish except for special occasions like birhtdays or Christmas. I have my 5 portions of fruit and veg a day I trim the fat off meat, I drink diet pop - in one form or another I have dieted for over 20 years.

I am unable to do high impact excercise due to the fact that I have a pin in my hip that prevents it.

I am going to have a go at losing weight but I feel it is harsh for others to judge me purely on my BMI.

A comment was made saying that PCT should not fund a treatment that is less likely to be a success. Why am I percieved by some to not be as deserving of a chance being a mum as a person who can eat what they like and never get fat?

Hopefully losing weight will help me to get pregnant and if it does then great but I am fairly happy as I am. I fit into size 18 clothes which in today society is not that big, there are larger clothes on the rack.

Sorry to rant on but I am feeling rather raw at the moment as though being overweight means I am not a suitable candidate for motherhood.

4 stone overweight is unhealthy.

You may not have high blood pressure or collesterol at the moment but your heart is already working harder than it should. add another 2/3/4 stone of pregnancy weight into the occasion and the additional weight you are carrying around goes from 4 stone to 8 stone and is seriously risky for your health.

if you are overweight the risk of high blood pressure in pregnancy increases signifficantly, which in turn increases the risk of pre-eclamcia which in turn increases the risk of premature delivery/c-section.

These risks aren't made up by the nhs so they can justify refusing treatment, they're real risks.

Even if you take a potential pregnancy out of the equasion, losing weight will make you feel 10 times better about yourself.

Join weightwatchers, watch what you eat and drink, do some exercise and in 6 months you could be a whole new person looking forward to a life as a mummy.

HMS - if you have PCOS, it's worth going for a GI diet/diabetic type diet. If you stabilise your insulin levels that can help stabilise your hormone levels. This will help you to lose weight and therefore be a better candidate for Clomid, but also might help you conceive naturally.

book www.amazon.co.uk/PCOS-Diet-Book-Nutritional-Polycystic/dp/0007131844/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=boo ks&qid=1215705441&sr=8-1 is very helpful

Ironically the fresh fruit you're eating might not be the best thing for someone with PCOS - protein is your friend, sugar is your enemy, including fruit sugar. It will be much harder to lose the weight initially for you than for someone who doesn't have PCOS, but your PCOS symptoms should alleviate the more weight you lose. I found weightwatchers the best diet to be compatible with PCOS.

Yep weight is very affected by PCOS, guess who has to prescribe the metformin - you guessed it the hospital - who have said no today.

Doh! Messed up the link - try again

this book

Becster I did not know about the fresh fruit thing - why is this not a widely known fact? My GP has never said anything about it.

Thanks for the tip

I actually refused Metformin as I preferred to go with lifestyle change. You can show them all if you stick to a diabetic diet for long enough.

no-one has said you are fat so you should not be a mum ! nor has anyone said only thin women make good mothers.

what people have said is that losing weight could help you get pregnant without intervention or make the intervention more likely to work

that is a totally different thing, and you are being quite defensive.

i am sorry you have struggled with your weight for so long, and i do hope you get the treatment you need, or even better, get pregnant naturally.

can you swim?

Swimming is excellent exercise and you should be able to do it even with your hip.

I don't think anyone has said you are overweight by choice have they? I think some really useful suggestions have been made - and nobody (including the doctors) are 'judging' your ability to be a mother based on your BMI. The issue here is whether your weight is affecting your ovulation. I am sure that the doctor you saw today would have said exactly the same things to a woman who came to him wanting Clomid who was 4 stone underweight. Weight can affect fertility - if it doesn't then great but if you don't know whether it is or not - and that's your position - then you have to try losing a bit and see what happens. I know how hard it is - I really do.

It's not about how you fit into today's "weight demographic", it's about you as an individual, and whether the treatment will work effectively with this excess weight, and how a pregnancy will affect you
no-one's denying you anything, or calling your personality or parenting skills into question
what the consultant has done is asked you to go away, lose some weight that then have another crack at it with ENHANCED chances....he wants you to conceive, it's just that his judgement and experience is telling him that you need to get some of that weight off to have that enhanced chance

No worries

I educated my then GP about how diet affects PCOS - they seem to know very little about it! When I told her what I had done she was like 'Oh yes, of course that would work...' But she wouldn't have known to suggest it to me.

Definitely read the Colette Harris book - when you have you'll know more about how to treat PCOS than your GP does! But in the meantime, try to eat 6 tiny meals a day rather than 3 big meals. Avoid sugar and artificial sweeteners like poison. Always eat some protein with every meal. Try to get your 5 a day from veg rather than lots of fruit.

Actually, Weightwatchers is not a particularly great diet for people with PCOS. I did it for quite a while (5 months I think) and I stuck absolutely to the points, wrote down everything that I ate and did loads of exercise and every week I lost half to one pound. A low GI diet works much better than simple calorie restriction as women with PCOS can go into famine mode very quickly (where they body does it best to protect fat stores expecting there to be an extended food shortage). If you would rather have a structured diet than the South Beach diet is supposed to be pretty good for PCOS.

Can't your GP prescribe metformin?

think GI diet, rather than restricting your diet, change it to low glycaemic index foods

Oh, and do prepare yourself for the weight to come off slowly and don't measure yourself against the weight loss of people who don't have PCOS. Even if they're following exactly the same diet they'll lose more weight than you initially, which can be really dispiriting. It just takes more persistence to lose it if you have PCOS but it can be done, honestly! And it's worth it - I didn't realised how depressed I was until my hormone levels normalised.

I asked GP two years ago for Metformin she said no it had to be prescribed by the hospital. You guessed it hospital passed it back to GP. GP has even said that as I no longer have a couple of the symptoms of PCOS, that I no longer have it. But the hospital say that scans show I do. So forgive me for being so uptight about the funding issues - I believe that, rightly or wrongly, in most cases like this where a patient is pushed from pillar to post without a positive outcome that it is in fact a funding issue.

I am going to try to lose weight but I can guarantee you that I will need to have medical intervention to get pregnant all that will have happened is that it will be delayed. I do appreciate that I will have an enhanced chance if I am slimmer I just feel bitter today.

Hi everyone,

What about the Slimming World diet? I've not tried it, but I have seen some amazing results in other people and I'm sure they could help tailor it to a diabetic...

HMS - I'm sorry about what you are experiencing. However, I do agree with what some of the others are saying...it's not that you're being denied treatment, it's just that you've been given some recommendations for how treatment can be enhanced, or even become unnecessary!! If you look at it that way, then in a sense you are being treated. Plus if you continue to BD, who knows it might happen (also think of the calories it burns!)

BSL
x

have a good rant on here, and then get out for a walk!
you sound well-informed, and receptive to advice and new ideas, so i think you'll be alright
it starts today, eh?

But very few women with PCOS have all the symptoms. I suspect you might need a new GP.

To be honest what has upset me the most is that my GP sent me to an infertility clinic knowing what BMI I have. I feel that she got my hopes up and has wasted 3 months of my time when she could have told me that they would not accept me as I am. I could have been 3 months further along on a diet plan but no I am frustrated, annoyed and upset that I was sent on a wild goose chase.

but did your GP know that with your BMI you would be sent away ? it is not a wild goose chase, you now know that you need to lose some weight and can go back in 6 months......it is not your doctor's fault yuo did not start losing weight before now...time will go quickly, and hopefully you will get somewhere when you go back

can you get confrimation from the hospital you do have PCOS and get a prescription for the metformin? can you speak with the person you saw today or their secretary?

Hana I have had PCOS for over 15 years, I tried to get pregnant with my first husband even at the ideal weight it never happened, we got divorced for reasons other than wanting children. I have since put on weight as I have got older and further along with condition. I have remarried and still no success so whilst you may find my attitude a little bizarre I know my body. Anyway I think you must all have better things to do than rant with or at me so I will finish this thread here and go look for a crispbread