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Re: Pill/DietFrom: drfred (anonymous@obgyn.net)Tue, 7 Aug 2001 04:07:10 -0500 (CDT)
At Tue, 31 Jul 2001, penny wrote: > >After several months of contending with several drs and after paying >over £200 to see private consultants I have had a diagnosis of PCO . >After doing my own research I had to pressure the dr for a blood test >for sex hormones, thyroid and blood sugar. All came back as within >normal parametres, but the dr would not submit a blood test for insulin >as it's "too expensive" (this is the UK's great National Health >Service). If blood sugar is a normal reading, does this mean that >insulin will also be normal? I have put on a stone in weight, have a >constant thirst, lower back ache, feel lethargic, pee none stop, and >have sugar cravings. Second question, I've been put on Marvelon which >I'm not happy about because of the DVT association, and also my boobs >are killing me - is there another pill which is recommended for PCO >which is not on the DVT hit list - I was on Cilest a few years ago which >seemed to work although at that time I don't know if I had PCO. Thanks >in advance. > >-- >penny > Penny, You are getting a pretty standard UK approach to PCOS of being put on the pill and left to it. There are certainly better long term solutions through diet and lifestyle changes, but the NHS lacks interest and resources to explore them. With regard to your questions: 1 Insulin levels can be useful in identifing insulin resistance which may underlie your PCOS, but it is not a recognised mainstream investigation in PCOS. It is not particularly expensive but your doctor may not feel able to interpret the result or use it to influence your treatment. Your weight gain is quiet likely to be associated with insulin resistance. You would expect normal glucose and raised insulin. 2 Marvelon is a pill associated with DVT, but the risk of a problem is very small (half that of when a woman is pregnant). Some of the older pills can make skin symptoms worse which is why Marvelon may have been choosen. Usually the first choice is Dianette which is particularly good for controlling skin symptoms. 3 Another member of the discussion group suggested Metformin. This is a fairly untried use for the diabetic drug. The Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the UK has declared it should only be used in the context of a trial so getting it prescribed maybe rather tricky. There is a suggestion that it may work at first but not provide a long term solution. Best wishes Fred
-- Dr Fred Wadsworth Centre for Nutritional Medicine London
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