I was just diagnosed with PCOS...

jenyfer24 · 06-29-2004, 08:13 PM

I just went to the doctor today and he diagnosed me with PCOS. I have been on the pill since I was 15, went off it when I was 23 because DH and I wanted to try to have a baby. Since then I have been so irregular and when I do have bleeding it is pretty much always brown blood. So doc put me on progesterone to get rid of anything that might be built up inside me, and also put me on Metformin, to hopefully help to stimulate my ovaries to ovulate.
My question is, does anyone else have this and if so did you get pregnant and how long did it take?

He said he will have me take Metformin and if it looks like I am not having a period on my own by September, he will put me on Clomid to help me ovulate.
So hopefully this will work!!! He said he hopes for me to get pregnant by the end of the year!!!

I have been doing some research on PCOS since I got home, but I don't understand why or how I got this. He said that because I was on the pill that it was masking the symptoms of PCOS. He also said that more than likely I will need something to stimulate my body in order to get pregnant, and then when I don't want to get pregnant I will be on the pill to keep everything regular and in check. I guess there could be worse things that could be wrong with me that is making me not get pregnant, right? Or is this pretty much the worse thing you can have? I really don't know?

Sorry this is so long, any information on this topic would be greatly appreciated, I could do all the research in the world, but nothing compares to hearing other people's stories about having it and going through it. Thank you so much for some replies!!!

faith88 · 06-30-2004, 11:01 AM

Hi Jenyfer, I made an earlier post about this - but to save you the trouble of sifting through all the different threads, I'll just post a reply here. I was on the bcp for about 2 years my husband and I were dating and went off of it in July, 2002 when we got married. After that, my period never came back "regularly" and starting in December, I started to spot daily for over 4 months! I came to this site for help and found that no one had experienced anything similar. My regular family doctor subjected me to a whole bunch of blood tests, u/s, different drugs (back to the bcp, provera etc.) and nothing worked .. the bleeding continued. After a year, she FINALLY agreed to refer me to a fertility specialist who within a few months, diagnosed me with PCOS. I was also told that the bcp masked the symptoms and that it was hereditary. At the end of April of this year, I was put on metformin (500mg a day). By the next week, I doubled it up and took 2 x 500mg a day. I started to do some research on the internet and found that several women posted about getting pg while taking metformin - so I posted the same question on THIS board and did not get too many hits. Well, while I was waiting for any responses .. I started to feel like AF symptoms were coming. In short, it never came and I found out I was pregnant (after 2 years of TTC and taking metformin for just 2 weeks!!). I am now almost 10 weeks along and still praying to God that I continue to have a healthy baby/pregnancy. I hope this post has given you some hope .. best of luck to you!!

dolphin27 · 06-30-2004, 11:11 AM

I know exactly what you are going through right now. I too was diagnosed with PCOS last September. I was put on metformin. The metformin made me so sick that I stopped using it for a while. Waited until a month ago and tried again. I experienced the same sickness again but after a week it goes away. My doctor had me start with 500mg and after a week add another 500mg and I was suppose to add yet another 500 but can't stand to take that much. So for the past month I have been taking 2 500mg tablets a day. I really was down about it too. After doing some research I found that most women who have PCOS and are overweight(either a little or a lot) start loosing weight and can get pregnant within 3 months(provided they are BD around ovulation). After being irregular for so long it will be hard to know when exactly you are ovulating and that's why they say 3 months. Well I don't think the good lord wanted me to go through all the stress of figuring out when my ovulation is so my DH and I BD any chance we had(he's an over the road truck driver so it wasn't too often). Anyway to make a long story short we must have at exactly the right time because after only being on metformin for a month I am now pregnant. I go see the doctor for the first time in 2 weeks. I wish you the best of luck with TTC. Baby dust for you!

jenyfer24 · 06-30-2004, 08:09 PM

Thank you ladies so much for your responses!!! I really appreciate it. It is nice to hear success from women who are going through the same thing you are.
So Faith-How were you exactly diagnosed by your doctor that you have PCOS? All my doctor did was look at the blood work I had done and then the things I am experiencing with my body and periods. Last month I had brown spotting for about 3 weeks...it finally ended...and then a week later it started again. I can't imagine having it for over 4 months!!! I didn't think anything was wrong with me because my family doctor ran my bloodwork and said everything was normal and she said it could take up to a year to get regular again. I just thought what I have been going through for the past 10 months was just my body trying to get regular again. Most of the time when I thought I was having my period it would be light enough to only need a pantyliner. Sometimes it would be reddish but mostly it was brown. And yes he did say that by me being on the pill it was masking the fact that I had this. The doctor had me start with 500mg of Metformin and after a week add another 500mg, and he said that if I am not seeing a regular period by Sept. he wants me to come back in and he would put me on Clomid. But he said hopefully by Sept. I will be coming in for my first Ob appt!!! I sure hope so!!!

Dolphin-I wanted to ask you what were your symptoms from taking the Metformin? I just took one pill last night and during the night it gave me cramps like I was going to get diarria, then this morning it was the same way, I didn't have diarria but loose stool. Then my stomach was crampy and gassy all this morning. The nurse at the doc's office said after a few doses the symptoms should subside.
Well, sorry this was so long, I just really want to know more about this and I just wonder how does the doctor know that this is exactly what I have?

Anymore info from you ladies would be great!!! Thanks again and congratulations to both of you on your pregnancies!!! I pray that everything continues to go wonderfully for you!!!

dolphin27 · 06-30-2004, 09:56 PM

The way I felt on metformin is the same way you described. Except I got the diareha. I found though that after the week of taking it that it subsided. Also by taking after eating it helped tremendously. Good Luck!