I met with my “old” RE (reproductive endocrinologist) today and he was comfortable with the PCO diagnosis. In fact, he thinks that I probably do have it, but keep my weight and cycles somewhat “in check” by the amount of exercise I do. Now, don’t go thinking I am running marathons each month. But, I do hike, bike, light jog and walk….something each day, even if it’s just a nice walk with my pupper-doodle.
Right now, DH and I are considering whether or not to try another month or another few months of Letrozole (infertility drug,) along with the Metformin. Part of me wants to give it one more try before we jump on the IVF wagon. Part of me thinks it will be a waste of time and money. We’ll have to decide within the next 2 weeks, since that is when my next cycle will start. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to give it one more try. But, I worry about adding in more appointments and pharmacy runs to my schedule. I already have so limited free time, and I have a few more rounds of blood tests coming up that I’ll need to fit into my schedule somehow. I guess if we decide to go that route, then I’ll make it work.
The good news is that I started taking a very small dosage of Phenergan with the Metformin, which is helping with the nausea. It makes me VERY sleepy, so I have to take it all at night, and then peel myself out of bed in the morning. I’m hoping to discontinue the Phenergan very soon!
Lilypie First Birthday tickers
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
I'm blogging again....an update!
I can’t believe it has already been 8 months since my last post, 8 months since our last fertility treatment. To say the last 8 months would by quickly, would be an understatement….it flew by!
Well, we left off in February where we had our final IUI treatment. I had thought I’d only take a few months off. But, as it turned out my acupuncturist advised against fertility treatment while we did acupuncture…his hope was that we could regulate “things” with acupuncture alone. I thought this would be a good time to take some time away from the blog. Not only did I not have anything to report on, I wanted to take some time mentally away from infertility, which also meant....away from this blog. I went to acupuncture religiously every week for 8 months…..nada…no pregnancy. In August, I decided that I had had enough of acupuncture and chose to seek out IVF….time is a tickin away after all! I made an appointment to see an IVF specialist in September. I also chose to quit acupuncture for the time being as it wasn’t giving me the results I was hoping for.
We saw our new RE in September, where he ordered some blood tests and an internal ultrasound to be completed at the beginning of my cycle (I’ve never had an ultrasound done at the start of my cycle before.) Immediately after seeing my ovaries, the ultrasound tech said the words “you have polycystic ovarian syndrome.” Ummmmm…..ecsqueeze me? 64 itty bitty follicles/cysts lining my ovaries….the morphology/pattern of PCO. A few weeks after that, I got a call from the IVF nurses….yep, they said….it is confirmed PCOS. My AMH (anti-mullerian hormone) was off the charts. You hope for a high AMH because that shows that your ovaries are still fully functional….mine are….but heck….I don’t want THIS functional! No wonder my left ovary is always causing me excruciating pain! My glucose levels are also over the limit, as is my testosterone level. I later found out that PCOS is a hormone imbalance caused by a resistance to insulin. My body is not properly breaking down the glucose in my body (hence my high glucose levels,) caused by a resistance in insulin which is supposed to be breaking down the glucose. The body responds by creating more insulin, the extra insulin in the body causes the ovaries and adrenal glands to create extra androgens (testosterone in this case,) which in turn causes a whole host of nasty symptoms…..including multiple tiny cysts/follicles on the ovaries with no follicle ever ripening to become a dominant follicle/egg to be fertilized.
After much research, I took my new RE’s advice and decided to start a diabetic drug (I am considered pre-diabetic) called Metformin. Metformin helps PCOS in many ways, but most importantly it increases the sensitivity of muscle cells to insulin. This is supposed to help my body use the insulin my pancreas is creating, not create excess insulin, which should in turn inhibit my body from creating too much testosterone….my enemy.
You may be wondering why I was just NOW diagnosed with PCO when we’ve been at this “game” since June 2009. Well, when I called my old RE at Kaiser to see if I could get the Metformin through Kaiser, I was informed by the nurse that they always “suspected” I had PCO, due to blood tests, but that it was never looked into further because I am not overweight and seem to have regular cycles (two of the usual PCO symptoms are being overweight and irregular cycles.) Was I upset to find this out….yes, of course I would have liked to have been told I might have this a long time ago so that I could have made the choice to look into it further. It sure would have been nice to find this out even a year ago…..maybe we would have been able to treat it and we may have already conceived by now. However….one thing I have learned from all of this is that you can’t dwell on the what has already happened. The best thing you can do is look to the future and move forward.
So, what does the future hold for me? Well, I still can’t answer that. I’ve started Metformin….which is making me super nauseous. But, I am trying to fight through the nausea because I’ve been told 30% of people who start taking it will have this side effect, but that it usually subsides in a few weeks after the body adjusts to the meds. I can only hope this side effect goes away because it is no fun! We still plan to start IVF next year. Of course, the hope is always that this drug will regulate my hormones and we may be able to finally conceive on our own. But, I’m not sure I’m willing to wait however long that may take. Even if we did wait it out, there is no guarantee that the drugs will work and I’ll ovulate and conceive without the help of IVF. We are really playing each day by ear and seeing how this all plays out. Another option is to continue with the Metformin but add a fertility drug back in to assist with ovulation. We’ll have to see how this all goes…..
I’ll try to update my blog as we make more decisions and I have more to report on. As I always say and try to remember…..daily I am blessed beyond measure by the life I have been given. God has been so good to me, better then sometimes I think I deserve. I remember each day to not dwell on the past or the negativity, but focus on my many blessings. I've been through a lot in the past year and half, but I truly believe I am a stronger woman for it.
Thank you for your continued support through this journey...I am confident that we will reach the happy ending.
Well, we left off in February where we had our final IUI treatment. I had thought I’d only take a few months off. But, as it turned out my acupuncturist advised against fertility treatment while we did acupuncture…his hope was that we could regulate “things” with acupuncture alone. I thought this would be a good time to take some time away from the blog. Not only did I not have anything to report on, I wanted to take some time mentally away from infertility, which also meant....away from this blog. I went to acupuncture religiously every week for 8 months…..nada…no pregnancy. In August, I decided that I had had enough of acupuncture and chose to seek out IVF….time is a tickin away after all! I made an appointment to see an IVF specialist in September. I also chose to quit acupuncture for the time being as it wasn’t giving me the results I was hoping for.
We saw our new RE in September, where he ordered some blood tests and an internal ultrasound to be completed at the beginning of my cycle (I’ve never had an ultrasound done at the start of my cycle before.) Immediately after seeing my ovaries, the ultrasound tech said the words “you have polycystic ovarian syndrome.” Ummmmm…..ecsqueeze me? 64 itty bitty follicles/cysts lining my ovaries….the morphology/pattern of PCO. A few weeks after that, I got a call from the IVF nurses….yep, they said….it is confirmed PCOS. My AMH (anti-mullerian hormone) was off the charts. You hope for a high AMH because that shows that your ovaries are still fully functional….mine are….but heck….I don’t want THIS functional! No wonder my left ovary is always causing me excruciating pain! My glucose levels are also over the limit, as is my testosterone level. I later found out that PCOS is a hormone imbalance caused by a resistance to insulin. My body is not properly breaking down the glucose in my body (hence my high glucose levels,) caused by a resistance in insulin which is supposed to be breaking down the glucose. The body responds by creating more insulin, the extra insulin in the body causes the ovaries and adrenal glands to create extra androgens (testosterone in this case,) which in turn causes a whole host of nasty symptoms…..including multiple tiny cysts/follicles on the ovaries with no follicle ever ripening to become a dominant follicle/egg to be fertilized.
After much research, I took my new RE’s advice and decided to start a diabetic drug (I am considered pre-diabetic) called Metformin. Metformin helps PCOS in many ways, but most importantly it increases the sensitivity of muscle cells to insulin. This is supposed to help my body use the insulin my pancreas is creating, not create excess insulin, which should in turn inhibit my body from creating too much testosterone….my enemy.
You may be wondering why I was just NOW diagnosed with PCO when we’ve been at this “game” since June 2009. Well, when I called my old RE at Kaiser to see if I could get the Metformin through Kaiser, I was informed by the nurse that they always “suspected” I had PCO, due to blood tests, but that it was never looked into further because I am not overweight and seem to have regular cycles (two of the usual PCO symptoms are being overweight and irregular cycles.) Was I upset to find this out….yes, of course I would have liked to have been told I might have this a long time ago so that I could have made the choice to look into it further. It sure would have been nice to find this out even a year ago…..maybe we would have been able to treat it and we may have already conceived by now. However….one thing I have learned from all of this is that you can’t dwell on the what has already happened. The best thing you can do is look to the future and move forward.
So, what does the future hold for me? Well, I still can’t answer that. I’ve started Metformin….which is making me super nauseous. But, I am trying to fight through the nausea because I’ve been told 30% of people who start taking it will have this side effect, but that it usually subsides in a few weeks after the body adjusts to the meds. I can only hope this side effect goes away because it is no fun! We still plan to start IVF next year. Of course, the hope is always that this drug will regulate my hormones and we may be able to finally conceive on our own. But, I’m not sure I’m willing to wait however long that may take. Even if we did wait it out, there is no guarantee that the drugs will work and I’ll ovulate and conceive without the help of IVF. We are really playing each day by ear and seeing how this all plays out. Another option is to continue with the Metformin but add a fertility drug back in to assist with ovulation. We’ll have to see how this all goes…..
I’ll try to update my blog as we make more decisions and I have more to report on. As I always say and try to remember…..daily I am blessed beyond measure by the life I have been given. God has been so good to me, better then sometimes I think I deserve. I remember each day to not dwell on the past or the negativity, but focus on my many blessings. I've been through a lot in the past year and half, but I truly believe I am a stronger woman for it.
Thank you for your continued support through this journey...I am confident that we will reach the happy ending.
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