PCOS Messages for June, 2001: Re: Help for wife and I

Re: Help for wife and I

From: Celeste (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Fri, 29 Jun 2001 13:10:28 -0500 (CDT)

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At Fri, 29 Jun 2001, John wrote: >

JT, Metformin is one of the best things she can try at this time; I hope you can track down a doc who will try her on it. It can help reduce insulin by improving sensitivity to it and letting the natural balance of hormones come back. However it can take months for the effects to show. It's also safe to take while conceiving and during pregnancy.

Prior to my cycle shutting down on PCOS, I can tell you that in a normal cycle, releasing an egg feels only like a tugging twinge--it's over in a second.

Since developing full-blown PCOS, I can't say I've had the feeling of egg releasing since. I have had cyst pain, and it can be very intense when they burst, or even when they grow large.

I think that what may have happened is that the Clomid caused your wife to develop more and/or larger cysts. That is a very common and undesirable side effect in many of us, myself included. It can cause swelling (hyperstimulation of the ovary) and the pain can be very difficult to bear. I found that anti-inflammatory painkiller, loose clothing, and a heating pad helped. She should definitely not try any more Clomid at least until she has things under control with Metformin, and maybe not even then. The other fertility drugs do not have this side effect, though they are more trouble and expense as they must be injected rather than swallowed as pills.

The Clomid can take weeks to be fully out of one's system, but if the pain is from the drug, rest assured that it will diminish. It could also be some level of scarring from the surgery, which is something that is increasingly not done in the US since the risks of scarring and adhesions are so high.

In the interim, she should look into a reduced-carbohydrate diet (cutting back on and even eliminating pasta/bread/wheat/desserts, potato, rice, sugar, sugar-enhanced products) such as Atkins, Protein Power, or Carbohydrate Addicts (all are diet books easily found) because it is a very easy remedy to do on one's own and is always useful even in addition to medications. I felt better with all of my symptoms within a week of starting on it, and have dropped two sizes of clothing also. On http://www.atkinsfriends.com, there are PCOSers who have become pregnant from the diet alone (no fertility drugs) as well as PCOSers living abroad, so consider posting there for recipes, doctor referrals, support, and general help with lowcarbing. It also sounds as if she needs a doctor who is more in tune with the latest info on PCOS.

She might also consider a mono-phasic birth control pill (just make sure it is not a tri-phasic as they cause more pain) to "rest" her ovaries for a couple of months before you proceed with trying to conceive; I know it's hard. But it might help the current crisis. You don't say how long it's been since her last dose of Clomid or the surgery, and it sounds like she could use a little break for comfort. The anxiety over not conceiving only makes things worse.

I hope that things improve and that you will let us know how your wife is doing!

>Hi,
>I hope that someone reading this can give some answers or shed a little
>light on our prob. My wife is currently in bed suffering and I'm not
>sure where to turn. In April after having pain so bad that she couldn't
>walk we entered the hospital. Her Gyn. and surgeon after opening her
>up and removing 1/4 of her left ovary informed us that she had PCOS and
>that one of her cysts had ruptured. Up until three days ago she has
>been doing fine. Now, she is in bed again (for the last three days) and
>having similar pains but not quite as bad as before. We have been also
>trying to conceive and she has been on all kinds of drugs (clomid,
>metformin, dydrogesterone). She has just had an u/s and it does show a
>rupture but they don't know if it is a released egg or another cyst. Are
>the pains similar? I read that maybe she shouldn't be on metformin
>because she has PCOS. Does anyone know if this is correct or where I
>can begin to search for info regarding this? We are both very worried
>with what's going on. She's in pain and doing a lot of crying and I
>just feel so helpless. Were living abroad right now and I wonder often
>how good the doctors and medicine is over here compared to that back at
>home. Thanks for any help. JT

--
Celeste

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In reply to: John: "Help for wife and I"
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