Hi, My name is Karen and I would like to introduce myself and talk a little bit about Trying to Conceive with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome).
I'm 42 years old and have had PCOS since puberty. I didn't know it though until I was in my early thirties. I had always had irregular periods but it didn't really bother me that much going 38 days or more between them. It was just stress or whatever, I thought. What did bother me was the acne and struggle with weight gain. Then came the even more frustrating struggle with infertility.
I got married when I was 32 years old and my husband had had a vasectomy so he had to get it reversed before we could start trying to get pregnant. The procedure was a success but we were still unable to conceive. He did have a slight problem with sperm antibodies which is common after a vasectomy reversal but my lack of periods due to extremely long cycles was most likely the problem so I went to get checked out.
The nurse at the clinic mentioned "the string of pearls" appearance of my ovaries on the ultrasound but the doctor didn't even tell me I had PCOS. He just said something to the effect of "take two clomid and call me in a month". I pretty much self diagnosed myself with the help of the internet and while I was concerned about the long term effects of PCOS, I was relieved that I finally knew what my "problem" was. At first I was pretty angry that none of the doctors I'd gone to over the years had ever mentioned that I might have PCOS but I guess I never really made it a big issue that I didn't get my period all the time. I had no idea that my being overweight, acne and excess hair were all somehow related. I also had high cholesterol even when I was thin.
Well, after several cycles of clomid, a laparoscopy, hsg and numerous blood tests and ultrasounds, still no ovulation. I switched doctors and went on metformin. It was a little bit rough on the tummy so I tried the extended release version of the drug Glucophage XR and that was better. We then tried clomid and glucophage together but still no luck. Then we did a combined glucophage, clomid, fertinex, hcg, cycle with sperm washing and intrauterine insemination. It did the trick. I was finally pregnant!!
The pregnancy was easy (I know, don't hate me). Well, there was that last month or so that I did lay on the couch all day moaning, uuuuughh, get this thing out of me. I was two weeks overdue as well, but we won't talk about that here. The delivery went well and I had a beautiful baby girl. I thought all my problems with PCOS were done. But then I tried to breastfeed. My milk never really came in. I felt like such a failure once again. First I had so much trouble trying to conceive and now I couldn't feed my baby. Again, I was frustrated. Why didn't anybody tell me breastfeeding might be a problem?
Apparently some women with PCOS have trouble with breastfeeding, either too much milk or not enough. I had an extremely low milk supply and had to supplement with formula. I tried Reglan and lots of pumping, but that didn't help. I tried the herb Fenugreek. That seemed to give me the most milk possible but it was still nowhere near enough. Fenugreek has this strange side effect. It makes you smell like maple syrup. Not an unpleasant odor but still quite strong. My husband would tease me that whenever he was near me he thought of waffles. I don't think anyone else really noticed or at least they didn't say anything. Maybe they thought I went to IHOP for breakfast. Anyway, I did comfort nurse for a long time and we both enjoyed that special bond.
Well, if I haven't bored you to tears with my ramblings I'll try to write more for you later and tell you some more of my story. Thanks for reading.
1 comment:
WOW! what a story! I to have pcos, and have been trying to get pregnant for almost four years. I started my first period at 12, and always had irregular cycles, but thought like you, it's normal. I would have a period every 35 days or so, sometimes longer cycles occured, which was not fun! I got married to my wonderful hubby in september 2007 and wanted to be pregnant right away!!! after two years, of being told that things were fine, I was just overweight, and insulin resistant, and was recommended to lose weight and try clomid... first round was 50mg for five days in 2008...ovulated occording to Blood test, and CL BL monitor, but didn't conceive :( After two OBGYNs didn't seem to be getting me anywhyere, and two rounds of clomid between 2008 - 2009 I decided it was time to see another OB! I knew I had a problem and that's why I coudn't get preggers, but finding someone to tell me there was a problem, was going to be tricky... October 12,2009 I walked into my new OB's office feeling like I wsn;t going to find out anything:( She came in and greeted me, looked at my chart, and said your periods are really irregular.. by then they were comng every 60 - 90 days... she said with your history and what you are telling me, You have PCOS! I had all the symptoms in the book, the irregular periods, not ovulating, obesity, high BP, high tryglicerides, depression, skin tags, insulin resistance, and dark patches of skin on bk of neck and in between breast, excess hair, thinning hair, acne, you name it, I had it! I was put on metformin, and some other medss to get BP down.. am off the BP pills now, and on 500mg metformin a day... still unable to conceive.. but have lost 75+ pounds all on my own.. with the help of meds, and gluten free eating... turns out Gluten intolerance which I have, is linked to PCOS and infertility!!!!
Great story girl.. hope your doing well and baby dust
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