PCOS and fertility

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Replies

  • crownedbee
    crownedbee Posts: 10
    My husband and I have been TTC since May of 2008. I was diagnosed with PCOS in September 2008, but I am not insulin resistant. I do, however, take metformin and my fairly high dose (2000mg) is really helping melt the weight off, along with diet and exercise.
  • I have been on metformin for so long I wonder if it is even still effective. I was put on it when I was first diagnosed with PCOS 13 years ago and was insulun resistant but it turned into diabetes anyway. I am seeing an endocrinologist at the end of the month, hopefully something new can be done.
  • speechsteff
    speechsteff Posts: 21 Member
    I feel the same way about the metformin...not sure if it's helping...I sure hope it's not harmful after all these years!
  • PCOS and TTC and at a really young age. Thankfully my doctor told me I am still in a healthy weight range but I know Im on the heavy side and would like to keep my weight down to boost my chances of fertility. Besides the issue of weight gain, skipped and painful periods I dont have most PCOS systems but its still tough to deal with. For now I am trying all natural ways to boost fertility like with a healthy diet(sweet potatoes have been known to help) taking a prenatal vitamin as well as drinking certain teas said to help with fertility.
  • shubec
    shubec Posts: 2
    I have PCOS and Graves Disease.....I am not on any medication for the PCOS but am currently on Tapazole for my Grave's disease
  • xsaribarix
    xsaribarix Posts: 26 Member
    I have PCOS and pre-diabetes. I take BC pills for the PCOS but I still get scant, irregular periods. I'm 30 but not currently TTC. However my endocrinologist says I'm infertile (that was before he told me to take the BC.) I've never herd of Metformin helping with PCOS but my Primary Care doctor asked me about whether or not I ever took it and maybe that's why? In any case, she never prescribed it for me, now I guess I will have to ask for it next time… anywho, feel free to add me if you like. x
  • Tiff6884
    Tiff6884 Posts: 28
    Hello,

    I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 19 and told that I would never have children because of it. One night I was at home and had a cyst rupture and caused me to pass out. Once at the emergency room I was told that I had internal bleeding from it, and that I had to go on immediate bed rest. I visited with my doctor and was told they had a laser surgery they could do to remove the cysts but there would be risk of scar tissue and even a lesser chance of having kids, at that point I told her she could have my ovaries because I couldn't take the pain no longer. She finally opted to do the surgery and I went in and had it done and found out there was some pre-cancerous cells on a couple of them, and if she hadn't removed the cysts I would have full on cancer by now. Needless to say I proved the doctors wrong about never having children, I have 3 healthy children and became pregnant with my 1st a year after my surgery, and 2 within the last year. I am now 28 years old and PCOS free, and finally able to lose weight again. The losing weight has helped keep my ovaries in check. The doctors warned me that if I did not control my eating habits I have a even more chance of becoming diabetic and other illness as I get older. Losing weight is the best thing you can do in order to keep them in check. Never let doctors tell you won't you can always try to prove them wrong. :) Feel free to ad me if you like.
  • JCWANNABE
    JCWANNABE Posts: 15 Member
    When I found out I have PCOS, my cycle was 5 months late and by then I was in stage 3. No diabetes, been tested twice a year since I was 19 or 20. I left MFP for the last year because nothing was coming off. I tried a diet when I was younger that helped me lose very quickly and my cycle was regular (why I stopped is a good question). Been doing research and talking to others for the last week and found out the diet they are on is very similar to what I was doing and I didn't even know it. So here I am tonight, I would be glad to have a few friends with the same issue.

    Glad you are back! I just joined up with MFP this past week, but have been "dieting" for about 7 1/2 weeks. The best diet for PCOS is atkins. I know a lot of people (usually men who can't even have pcos! Lol! ) down the low carb thing here. But I have go to tell you that it is probably the only reason that I got pregnant on my honeymoon! I just started exercising a few days a go, so I have not been exercising much. But in the last 7 1/2 weeks I have lost 24.6 pounds doing low carb, sitting on my butt most of the day (pain issues being resolved, slowly), and eating way yummy foods and not going hungry : ). I had lost over 100 pounds doing atkins before. But, I went back to my old ways and gained it all back : (. Totally do some research on low carb and pcos.
  • jnc8708
    jnc8708 Posts: 3
    I am losing weight primarily to increase my chances of concieving. I can't take birth control and neither could my mom and I haven't had a sign of my period in almost a year. I have tried metformin but it made me so nausaus all of the time I couldn't stand it. I have PCOS and my hopes are that if I lose enough weight pregnancy will happen, if not I'll be going to the doctors for help. Either way its not healthy to get pregnant at almost 300lbs and I know anygood Dr would tell me to lose weight first anyway so I am trying to make the first step of getting healthy enough to have a baby before seeking alternative methods.
  • TyFit08
    TyFit08 Posts: 799 Member
    I am really hoping losing weight will help. PCOS had a lot to do with my weight gain, 50 lbs in less than a year. I was always a size 6, suddenly I was a 12 it felt like overnight. I have tried several times, but 3 different doctors, including a reproductive endocrinologist won't give me metformin. So I have to lose this weight on my own
  • Tiff6884
    Tiff6884 Posts: 28
    I am really hoping losing weight will help. PCOS had a lot to do with my weight gain, 50 lbs in less than a year. I was always a size 6, suddenly I was a 12 it felt like overnight. I have tried several times, but 3 different doctors, including a reproductive endocrinologist won't give me metformin. So I have to lose this weight on my own

    I will tell you metformin works good for some people and not so well for others. I got extremely sick from it, and so did my cousin They ended up putting her on BC pills and she was able to conceive and have a child within about 3 months of taking BC. I even tried clomid to conceive and it caused an adverse reaction and caused my cyst to hyperstimualate. They preformed laproscopic surgery with a laser and haven't had trouble since. Be persuasive about getting what you need to treat PCOS because I had to go through multiple doctors and even my doctor was giving me trouble until I told them I know what my body needs and I should have a say so in what needs to be done, and it saved me from getting cancer.
  • jaimrlx
    jaimrlx Posts: 426 Member
    Metformin did not work for me, but that's because PCOS has caused auto-immune liver disease. I'm infertile, I've developed endometriosis, and PID. I plan to never have children, because every generation of females in my family has it worse than the one before. I can't take birth control because my body can't handle the hormones. I'm on my own with this one! PCOS has ruined so many major parts of my life, and I'm not going to let it ruin my self esteem. Good luck to all of you ladies!
  • Lillyjohn
    Lillyjohn Posts: 1 Member
    Hi, I ve PCOS nd TTC. Was on medicines till Sep last year. Then stopped as I found it not useful. Now i am trying to reduce my weight to get things easy. I am hitting the gym regularly and am on a healthy diet too. I am worried as there is no much change in my weight. i have inch loss but no much weight loss.....Some one pls tell WHY....
  • Tiff6884
    Tiff6884 Posts: 28
    Hi, I ve PCOS nd TTC. Was on medicines till Sep last year. Then stopped as I found it not useful. Now i am trying to reduce my weight to get things easy. I am hitting the gym regularly and am on a healthy diet too. I am worried as there is no much change in my weight. i have inch loss but no much weight loss.....Some one pls tell WHY....

    I tried many different avenues of treatments when I had active PCOS, and nothing worked Birth Control was way to hard on me with all the hormones, and metaformin kept me sick, and exercising was near impossible, so my doctor suggested laser surgery, originally her intentions were to just exploratory surgery to see what was going on and she found my cysts were worse then initially thought, and as i said in my previous post she found precancerous cells on a couple of them, and when she was in there she also found each one of my ovaries were the size of softballs, and could have ruptured any day. Try asking your OB/GYN to see if they will be willing to do laser surgery to remove them it gave me relief and they never returned again. When I had an ultrasound with my children the tech said he saw no sign of the surgery or the cysts and it has been 8 years since I had the cysts removed. Don't give up on trying to lose weight because that is the number one helper in PCOS. You have to have patients and the weight will fall off. As a matter of fact I am doing the diet now that I was told to do back when I started gaining weight and that is a 1200 calorie diet with out cutting carbs, because my doctor said to cut all of 1 item out of your diet is not the way to go because you still need carbs and a balanced diet. I hope this helps, you are more then welcome to add me as a friend if you would like. Good luck..
  • Tiff6884
    Tiff6884 Posts: 28
    Metformin did not work for me, but that's because PCOS has caused auto-immune liver disease. I'm infertile, I've developed endometriosis, and PID. I plan to never have children, because every generation of females in my family has it worse than the one before. I can't take birth control because my body can't handle the hormones. I'm on my own with this one! PCOS has ruined so many major parts of my life, and I'm not going to let it ruin my self esteem. Good luck to all of you ladies!

    That is the best way to look at it look at the bright side of things, but there is no reason to give up complete hope. I was like you about to give in and say the heck with it, but I found hope, and looked into other options. The internet can help be a great resource in searching for help. My friend had endometriosis and they said she would never have children but she was able to still had 2 kids by not giving up hope. I wish you the best.
  • HeidiSmith419
    HeidiSmith419 Posts: 71 Member
    Metformin did not work for me, but that's because PCOS has caused auto-immune liver disease. I'm infertile, I've developed endometriosis, and PID. I plan to never have children, because every generation of females in my family has it worse than the one before. I can't take birth control because my body can't handle the hormones. I'm on my own with this one! PCOS has ruined so many major parts of my life, and I'm not going to let it ruin my self esteem. Good luck to all of you ladies!

    I can completely relate. i'm sorry. it SUCKS! We've never been able to get pregnant in the 16 years we've been married.
  • bump
  • countrygirl75
    countrygirl75 Posts: 112 Member
    We have not really tried for almost 3.5 years, when we were not married, I gained 45 lbs, in that time. My hormones were worse. We just married this past weekend and I have lost 8 lbs, I was dignosed in 2010 that I had PCOS, I am on metformin now, and we will see what happens, we are both going to eat healthy,and start walking to get in better shape and health.
  • If they won't give you metoformin I would find a doctor that will.
  • NJGmywholewrld
    NJGmywholewrld Posts: 123 Member
    I too suffer from PCOS....please do not give up hope!! Just like others, I was told to accept the fact that I would probably not be a Mommy, and now I am spending my days chasing my little man!!
  • Persian99
    Persian99 Posts: 48 Member
    I too suffer from PCOS....please do not give up hope!! Just like others, I was told to accept the fact that I would probably not be a Mommy, and now I am spending my days chasing my little man!!

    This is really inspiring.

    I just finished a 2nd round of Clomid, but I think I'm done with it for now. I'm going to discuss some next steps with my doctor next week. I think I'd like to put the fertility treatments on hold for a while, and focus on losing weight and getting healthy. I weighed in at 241 lbs this morning - way too heavy to carry a pregnancy in any healthy way.

    I know I'm able to get pregnant, but my only pregnancy was ages ago, and I weighed significantly less. I'm hoping to kickstart my fertility by losing weight, so my son isn't an only child.

    I'm one of those people who signed up for MFP but never followed through. I hope this TTC struggle is the kick in the pants I need.
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