Gonadotropins??

erika613

Can anyone please share any experience they have being on Gonadotropins (Bravelle or Follistim)? I still need to have a final discussion with my partner, but I this is the most likely route I am going to take.

Some background:

I was diagnosed with PCOS about 2 years ago, but looking back I know I've had it since at least 14 years old (I'm currently 36). Like many of you, I've been working on losing weight as part of my treatment for infertility. Well, I did too well, apparently! My reproductive endocrinologist says that basically I lost so much weight that my brain is saying "crap. it's famine time right now -- bad time to make a baby." She said that it should correct itself in 3-6 months, but honestly I am sick of waiting! The other recommended option is to start the injectables now, being very cautious to monitor when/if my brain decides to behave itself.

I'm leaning toward the gonadotropins because right now I don't trust my body to get back on track. I've been through clomid, surgery, a huge shift in diet/exercise and every time I make a change I hear "this is normal. your body will normalize if you do X. be patient".

I know that losing weight and getting healthier was the right thing to do -- my bp and sugars are now both in great shape. but it just sucks that it my hormone levels swung to the opposite direction, which is exactly what I was trying to fix.

any advise or personal experience you can share would be great! Thank you!

thatsingergirl

Hi there! I don't have much to say about Gonadotropins, but just based on my own medical/naturopathic adventures, I would wait a bit before adding something else to your body. Dieting and weight loss actually puts a lot of stress on your body, and you might want to wait even just a few months to see if your body starts to normalize before artificially forcing it to start doing something it's not ready to do. You don't have to pay much attention to this... just my 2 cents. Also, good for you for losing the weight and getting healthy! Best of luck to you!

(for me, when I went off all the supplements and hormones I was on, and went on a diet prescribed by a naturopath, my periods returned in about 3 months)

erika613

Thanks!

Rationally, I absolutely agree with you. And I was clearly not in a rational state of mind in my first post.

My family and I decided to wait a couple of months to see how things shake out. My lmp was thanksgiving, so that would give me 3.5 months of no period before starting up again. thanksgiving was about the time I increased my calorie intake to switch from weight-loss to maintenance, so hopefully my body will no longer thing it's famine time.

The biggest reason we're waiting is because I have two business trips coming up and I don't want to risk being out of town when ovulating. That would make it difficult to conceive....lol.

After that, I'll re-evaluate.

Thanks again!