PCOS and Soy

I have just started my second round of Metformin and this time in a much higher dose than the last. It seems to be finally starting to have an impact. I'm going to have to look up paleolithic diets. I've never heard of them, but if they are working for 2 people that are trying them, they have to be worth looking into. And I hadn't heard about lavender or tea tree oil inducing estrogen production - good to know.

We've been TTC for 9 years, when I was diagnosed with PCOS. My cycles have never never never been regular. When I was 17 and complained about it my doctor at the time told me that it was normal for teenagers to have irregular periods. It took me going to emerg to get a referral to a RE (whose primary study was the effects of PCOS). When I went in Nov last year for a sonohystogram the US tech was calling in all the other employees to see "the classic case of PCOS". Textbook....LOL

The metformin is helping the weight fall off dramatically so from that perspective alone, I'm happy. My husband had repro issues too that have just been treated with surgery (Thursday) so we're going to really push the TTC for the next couple of months, otherwise, it's going to be IVF for us in January. I really want to enhance our chances for conception in the next three months because I'm cheap and really would rather not pay that kind of money....:laugh:

What is PCOS?

PCOS is polycystic ovarian syndrome. At a basic level, it means that there are multiple cysts on the ovaries. What that actually means is hormonal differences between "normal" women and those with PCOS. For me, this means that my body is constantly expecting TOM (so that the water weight that falls away after AF hits for most, doesn't). I have had irregular cycles most of my life, but when I was 23, it got so bad that I had an AF that lasted from June until Sept, when I went to the hospital finally. The hormone differences means that I don't ovulate monthly so the biggest impact for PCOS'ers is fertility. Women with PCOS are more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes later in life. I was also diagnosed with insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes, and a very common companion to PCOS.

They are starting to think that it is hereditary and although my Mom didn't have trouble with fertility (6 pregnancies), my two sisters both have had issues that are symptoms of PCOS. Neither have been diagnosed but they aren't pursuing it either. The younger of the two has actually had cysts burst that required emergency surgery and the older of the two (both are younger than me) has the same weight issues and cycle problems as I do.

They are finding more and more woman are being diagnosed. Now whether this is due to changes in our environment or eating habits or because of better diagnosis, I'm not sure.

LOL - I've done a lot of research on the topic. Or at least I did when I was first diagnosed....That's why I'm looking into some of the new things that are being said in the 9 years since then.....There is quite a lot of focus being put on it recently, I'm finding.

Thanks guys - the reason we waited 9 years for treatment is because we decided early on 2002 to do the adoption route. For us the results of that were heartbreaking - 2 failed adoptions, 1 private, 1 public both because of red tape. I hope that everyone else's experiences are better than ours. Most people wouldn't even look at us because "you're so young...try having your own first". Still makes me so angry!! LOL

I'm determined to have a family within a year so anything I have to do....I will. Even if it means giving up green beans (my number 1 favourite snack) Yup just looked up the paleolithic diet. I was worried it was going to tell me to eat my meat raw....LOL :laugh: but it looks reasonable. Going to try it.

The first time I did the metformin and it did absolutely nothing for me. The reason I think it's working is because in the 2 months that I've been on it, I've had 4 "friendly visits". LOL I figure it's probably the pendulum swinging the other way from not having anything and hopefully in the next few months I'll start ovulating normally. I could be completely wrong though but fortunately, I've been getting hormone tests at each one so we'll get the results in a bit to see if they are actual ovulations or anovulatory cycles.

The good thing about it though is that the endometrial hyperplasia that I had as a consequence of letting my cycles do what they wanted hasn't resurfaced since Sept of last year so that's a bonus. That's why the concern about the estrogen inducers. Prolonged Estrogen is the main cause of endometrial hyperplasia, which is a precursor to endometrial cancer. That's always been my biggest concern - I don't want to have to have a hysterectomy at 31, which is a real possibility for those with PCOS. A friend of mine got pregnant and right afterwards, they wanted her to do a hysterectomy. She was 23 at the time, but since she'd already had a child and was a huge cancer risk (she doesn't have it!) they wanted to do the procedure.

Yep - had the sonohystogram done twice actually. It was a situation I was kind of hoping for the worst actually. The government currently covers one round of IVF only in the case of blocked tubes. The first test showed clear tubes BUT did find the endometrial hyperplasia. The second test was done to confirm the hyperplasia had been taken care of and they couldn't find the left tube. Both my OB and the fertility doctor said to me (independently) because they were clear the first time, the second time was most likely human error during the test. That's not a far fetched thing since I know everything moved around a lot during the first test (the organs and stuff) but the actual doctor did it. The second time the interning doctor did it and it was definitely not as invasive (hurt a whole lot less) so I don't know that she actually looked for it. My cycles have typically been long but with differing timelines - sometimes they are long with long bleed and sometimes they are long without the bleed. Not taking into account the freak times, they are typically between 30-40 days long.

Good to know about the max of two years. I'm sure once I get pregnant, they're going to put be back on the pill.

I have a double whammy with diabetes. My PCOS is a precursor, but also my Dad is diabetic. The research shows that daughters of fathers with diabetes have a 100% chance of developing it (so my PCOS is just kind of confirming it). When I saw the bariatric doctor he told me that with the right diet, I'd still have 100% chance of developing it, I would however be able to sustain a life without it for a longer period of time (i.e. only develop it much later in life vs. now). I liked his ideas about it and his results were undeniable but I hated his methods. My GP warned me ahead of time that his bedside manner was not too helpful. The first thing he said to me. "Whoa you're fat. Let's see how fat." Evil man! LOL And if I didn't lose, "You are cheating. Do you want me to prove it to you. You had dairy. I know it. I can prove I'm right. Let me get the test."

And you'd think they'd be a little more sensitive. My old GP told me. Yeah you have PCOS per the RE but I don't think it'll be a problem for you guys conceiving. You're so young. When we took the adoption papers to him for his medical sign off he told us that we would probably still conceive before we adopted......I didn't think he meant 10 years from when he signed them......GRRRR

Nope - besides the PCOS my husband has a low count as well. 20M is considered the borderline for fertility, 150M is considered average. My RE decided before we did any of the fertility drugs, it would be a good idea to check to see if it was possible with his counts. His counts were 4, 1, 7M. The 7M was because we'd upped his zinc intake. But the quality of the sample was greatly decreased. It was like the original number was normal, but the zinc'd puppies were defective. This is why I'm so positive about doing things like this naturally - I've seen the results. I'm sure if we upped something else the defective rate would drop too.

He actually just went for surgery on Thursday because they found something physically wrong - varicocele. The urologist is quite certain that the baseline for improvement for him is 50% of average. So he's going from an average of 4M to 75M with increased quality and motility and mobility and all that jazz.

Because of his low counts, we were looking at IVF with ICSI & sperm wash. Everyone agreed that it was our best chance. We've decided that we're going to hold off until January to actually do that. Since it takes 90 days for "the inventory to stock itself" in his case, we're hoping that with the metformin doing things to my cycle and theoretically by Oct his count will be at an all time high and so we're really going to push it on the trying portion.

It would be lovely if we can do it naturally before January, but if not, I'd rather not waste more money and cycle time than I need to. 9 years of officially trying - almost 13 years of "medically" trying...LOL It's just time.

Just found this website and although it isn't specifically targetting soy products, it's a very interesting read.

http://epa.gov/endo/pubs/edspoverview/whatare.htm

The ones they are able to screen for include estrogen, which is one of the leading causes - or so they say - of PCOS.

Wow! I am so thankful to have found this Topic.

I have had PCOS from the time I was about 15. I am now 20, married, and desperate to change my lifestyle and lose weight so that TTC will not be so heart breaking.

I was prescribed Metformin about a year ago, and even on the lowest of dosages I was sick all the time. My doctor had warned me of the side effects but after months of being sick on such a low dosage I just couldn't do it anymore.

At a point I was going to the gym for a few hours a day and after about 2 months my cycle began to be about 30 days long and it was consistent for about 4 months, at which point I had found a new, more demanding job, and wasn't able to continue my vigorous work out regime. Before that, I hadn't had a period in over a year, and since then I haven't had a period. Very frustrating. The one thing that gives me hope about this though is if I become more active again and take off the weight I just might have a change to fight this naturally and help the rest of my body as well.

PCOS makes it so hard to lose weight - but I refuse to think about that as a reason. Regardless, weight will come off if I am working at it.. maybe not as fast as other people but it will come off!

So any advise or tips anyone has I will readily take them and use them!

-Kay

So glad you mentioned that about Metformin - I'm finding that this week, I'm having a lot of issues with nausea and headaches. I know it's related because it lasts about an hour after I take a pill. Been taking them for about 3 months now......this hasn't happened since the beginning....