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TO BELLE: Re: Prednisone/Pregnancy Caused PCOS (Part 2)
From: anonymous (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Sat, 23 Mar 2002 23:14:38 -0600 (CST)
Belle,
I think my last message was a little bit unfair towards Dr. Legro. I
did ovulate the cycle before I saw him, so he figured that things were
"fixed." I also breast fed my son for some time after he was born so Dr.
Legro attribued my anovulation to nursing (a reasonable assumption, but
I really felt like something else was going on). When his test showed
that I didn't ovulate this month, he agreeded to see me sooner to see if
he could further identify a problem. He acknowledged the first time I
saw him that I had some kind of "ovarian dysfunction" caused, he thought
by my Lupus. (This attitude is so frustrating to me because I feel like
when you have Lupus and doctors can't figure out exactly what's wrong,
Lupus becomes the easy out. I feel like many doctors stop trying to
help me because "it's just your Lupus") The reason I'm upset is because
I've known since my first bleed (not a period, but a 4 week long, 2
weeks of hemmoraging bleeding episode where my HCT dropped from 40 to 29
and it took me 7 months to recover from the anemia)after the birth of my
son and through all the subsequent, provera-induced periods that
something was WRONG. I just wanted someone to see it too and help me
fix the problem. I hope that now I've proven to him that I don't
regularly ovulate, he'll help me sort of all this out.
I'll see him again in a few weeks and let you know how it goes.
Thank you for listening.
At Sat, 23 Mar 2002, anonymous wrote:
>
>Belle,
>The RE that told me this was Richard Legro, an expert in the field of
>PCOS research. He never asked me the questions you did. Is he still
>wrong?
>
>To answer your questions: Everyone in my family has heart disease and my
>maternal grandfather had diabetes. My mother lost 9 babies in 6
>pregnancies to miscarriage. All of my family gains weight around the
>middle. I know that I qualify for a diagnosis of PCOS. Dr. Legro said
>he didn't know.
>
>Thanks for your insight.
>
>At Sat, 23 Mar 2002, Belle wrote:
>>
>>You were born with PCOS. It is genetic. You may have seen evidence of
>>this disorder but sis not recognize it. Do you have a parent or
>>grandparent with heart disease or diabetes. Do you have any men or
>>women in your family who are balding or have weight gain around the
>>middle? Any women who suffered from miscarriages (miscarriages are
>>common with PCOS as well as lupus) or who were unable to conceive?
>>
>>According to your post, you only had 7 to 8 periods a year *before* your
>>pregnancy. This is a symptom of PCOS. Having geststional diabetes is
>>common with PCOS because of the insulin problem which seems to be the
>>cause of PCOS.
>>
>>Blood sugars alone do not really mean much with us, you need to know
>>what your insulin is in comparison with the blood sugar levels. It is
>>worth noting that the prednisone did cause your blood sugar to go up and
>>stopping it may be the reason that your sugar level is now lower.
>>
>>Your RE is not using the research that is available in the area of PCOS.
>>If you are depending on this person to help you achieve good health
>>and/or another pregnancy, you may be spinning your wheels.
>>
>>PCOS needs to be treated. It leads to diabetes, heart disease and
>>possibly endometrial cancer. A couple of the symtoms of PCOS is fatigue
>>and hairloss, by treating your PCOS, you may be helping the symptoms of
>>lupus.
>>
>>http://www.pcosupport.org may be of help to identify the symptoms of
>>PCOS.
>>
>>Bottom line, neither the baby nor the meds did this to you.
>>
>>P.S. Does it really matter what caused you to have PCOS? With what you
>>have stated here in this small post, (1. 8 or fewer periods a year, 2.
>>hx of gestational diabetes, 3. elevated insulin, 4. polycystic
>>ovaries) you have enough history to indicate that you do have PCOS. You
>>have to deal with it from here on out. It is up to you to take care of
>>your health in the best way that is possible. Your son deserves to have
>>a mom who is able to be there for him. This comes from a mom of two
>>with PCOS and 2 other auto-immune diseases.
>>
>>At Sat, 23 Mar 2002, anonymous wrote:
>>>
>>>I have Lupus and took prednisone throughout my pregancy (my son is 18
>>>months old) and after it for about a year. During pregnancy I had GD
>>>that had to be controlled with insulin, but my blood sugars returned to
>>>normal after pregnancy. I have been completely off prednisone for 5
>>>months and a 2 hr gtt showed elevated insulin levels and I have
>>>polycystic ovaries and have only o'd once on my own since my pregancy.
>>>When I asked my RE whether or not I had PCOS, he said "I think you just
>>>have Lupus" but my Rheumatologist said plainly that LUPUS DOES NOT CAUSE
>>>ANOVULATION. Before I got pregnant I had mostly normal cycles
>>>(7-8)/year, but since then nothing. Could the prednisone have done
>>>permenant damage to my endocrine system? Could it have made turned a
>>>little anovulation into PCOS? Or could the pregnancy itself caused my
>>>PCOS or chronic anovulation? What do you all think?
>>
>>--
>>Hope this helps,
>>
>>Belle
>>
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