PCOS Messages for November, 2001: Re: New

Re: New - lot of questions

From: jodi (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Tue, 13 Nov 2001 08:44:28 -0600 (CST)

Messages sorted by: [ date ][ thread ][ subject ][ author ]
Next message: anonymous: "doctors in WV"
Previous message: jodi: "Re: Update on diet and Thanks to Jodi and some book info"
In reply to: Stef: "Re: New - lot of questions"
Next in thread: Renee: "Re: New - lot of questions"

At Mon, 12 Nov 2001, Stef wrote: >
>Hello Jodi,
>
>thank you very much for your long answer. No, My head is not spinning
>and I appreciate every little bit of information I can get at the
>moment. The more the better.
>Anyway, I think I should also add some more info/history about myself. I
>am a German and I just moved to the USA in Feb. 2001, so it is
>difficult for me to find a doctor at all. I found at least a medical
>group that has gyns and encs, so I thought I would start by going there.
>As I perhaps said before, I only stumbled even over the terminology of
>PCOS at the end of last week and the quiz at obgyn.net. So I never even
>knew that this existed. I made emmidiatly an appointment with this gyn.
>I thought that I have to start somewhere.
>

Well, welcome to the US! When you made your appointment, did you ask if they treat PCOS? I learned that is a good place to start. Ask if they treat it. Ask if the use insulin sensitizers to treat it. You want to know that because even if they don't use them on you it shows they are up on the latest treatments. You might even want to call back and check if you didn't ask that, you could then try somewhere else and avoid wasting time if the answers are negative. (When I was first looking for a doc to treat this aggressively [as opposed to just tell me yes I have PCOS but no I can't try insulin meds], I asked these questions of all the docs I called... If I got an answer such as "What is PCOS?" or "You'll have to discuss that with the doctor when you come in for an apointment" I hung up and tried a different doctor.) I had never heard of PCOS either before being diagnosed, which I now find bizarre because one of the early docs I went to did a scan of my ovaries... you'd have THOUGHT he'd have mentioned what he was looking for. Maybe it's because I was only 15 or 16 then, he thought it was more info than I needed. In the end this guy told me nothing was wrong and I just happened to be hairy and not have periods.

>However, I have had the symptoms since I first had my period (well, the
>interval between the first and the second was about 1 year, after that
>once a while. The ones I had were very strong). I did go to a gyn as a
>teenager but was told the same as many posters of this forum have
>stated: that I should worry and everything would get normal when I would
>be somewhere betwee 18 and 20.

Common story... The "Your young, it's normal for your periods to be irregular" story gets less and less believable as time goes on. At 15, I could believe it. At 21, it was getting a little old.

>Later, with my first bf, I went on a bcp. Until then I was very slim.
>But this changed when I started to take it. I had the feeling that I
>always gained weight in the time I didn't need to take it.
>A few years later I stopped taking the pill. Then I gained a lot of
>weight. Then, I went to another doc, who also treated this with a bcp,
>this time with a special one, that should ceep my periods under control
>and he told me to lose weight. He said that would be the reason for my
>problems (I didn't believe him, as I had the same problems also when I
>was slim...)
>

Was this special BCP by any chance Diane 35? They don't offer that one here but it's supposed to be good for PCOS symptoms... Anyway your BCP story is a great illustration of how we all react differently to different meds. I gain weight on the BCP - or at any rate I constantly feel fatter on the BCP. During the off-week, however, I always feel thinner, and whenever I stop taking the BCP, I always lose 5 pounds or so!

Weight has long been a scape goat for PCOS. Doctors say if you only lose weight, you'll have periods again, etc. I think this belief comes from the finding that women who have even a small weight loss often experience a resumption of menstrual cycles. The thing is, this resumption is probab;y due from the lowered insulin levels while these women are dieting - not the weight loss itself! It's possible that even at this lower weight, regular periods will not continue indefinitely.

There are many fat women who do not have PCOS, and many thin women who do. Weight itself is not the whole story.

>The strange things were, that PCOS should have been ditected much
>earlier. When I was about 15, my appenix was removed. After that my
>mother was told that my ovary was bigger than normal and that there
>might be a cyst. This is why I went to a gyn for the first time.
>However, he didn't find anything. the cyst seemed to be gone.
>With the last gyn I had in Germany, he told me also that my ovaries were
>bigger than normal. But noone ever mentioned anything like PCOS to me.
>Well, anyway, the last bcp did help and I did lose some weight, but
>because I wasn't told anything, I started to take the pill iregularly
>and then stoped it. I wanted to stop it for one cicle and then start
>again. Well, I am still waiting for this period, after nearly 2
>years...

Not having PCOS detected earlier is quite common. It's crazy how many of us have seen various doctors for YEARS with symptoms that clearliy indicate PCOS... but never heard anything about PCOS! It seems almost like you have to diagnose yourself before you can get a doctor to look into it...

>Also, I didn't only gian back the weight I had lost, I gained even a lot
>more...
>I am married happily now. Needless to say that I can't get pregnant -
>We don't use contraceptives and I don't have any children.
>
>Well, enough whining for one day.... You asked me if there were any
>similar problems in my family, I can only answer this with yes. My
>mother had similar problems like I do. She only had me because of
>fertility drugs (a big achievement for that time). By the way I should
>perhaps say - I am 28...
>
>Regarding the carb diets or something similar, I have ordered some books
>about it. I hope it will help.
>Again thank you for your help (see, my post is as long now as yours).
>Stefanie
>

You're welcome! Good luck!

Next message: anonymous: "doctors in WV"
Previous message: jodi: "Re: Update on diet and Thanks to Jodi and some book info"
In reply to: Stef: "Re: New - lot of questions"
Next in thread: Renee: "Re: New - lot of questions"

Women's Insurance Checklist from Auto Insurance Quote

use when must restrict search to only the pcos forum...
Enter search keywords:
	Returns per screen: Require all keywords: