My name is Lisa, I'm 33 as of this past August. I live in Indianapolis, IN but I'm a cheesehead at heart (born and raised in WI.) My husband Tony and I met on Myspace in 2003. Started dating in 2005 and we got married in 2008. About a year later we decided to stop birth control and see what happened. Now I knew I could have problems getting pregnant, I have a thyroid condition that has proven to be stubborn to treat. It's just hypothyroidism but I apparently am hyper-sensitive to the medication and its been a four year battle to get my levels somewhat stable.
After a year, I started reading books on getting pregnant and started charting. But it's very hard to chart when you don't get a period but once every three or four months or even longer. I was encouraged by my primary care doctor to "give it time." I cannot tell you how infuriating that sentence is! But I digress...
I decided to try losing weight. I kept reading that too much body fat can mean too much estrogen and a harder time getting pregnant. After about seven months of counting calories, eating less fast food and more veggies, and exercising regularly I'd lost thirty pounds. My periods started coming regularly. I started charting again with high hopes. I even got a positive pregnancy test (it turned out to be a false positive.) Then came the epic period. Seventeen days of heavy, horrible bleeding. I called my doctor primary care and she put me on something to make it stop. After three days it did.... For two days. Then it started back up like it had never stopped.
I was told to get a ob/gyn. This doctor ended up getting me in the same day I called despite the fact I'd never seen her, talk about awesome. She got me to stop bleeding by giving me three high dose bc's a day for a week. But she wanted to do more tests. An ultrasound, just to see what was what. It didn't take five minutes for the screen to show cyst-riddled ovaries. Even I could see it, and I'm not a doctor.
I'd read that a lot of people with thyroid problems have PCOS but I'd never thought it would be me. Never. It had never been suggested or even hinted at. I've had a PCP doctor for all of my life. Why did no one ever tell me about this? They started watching me for thyroid issues when I was 13! Every time something came up that could be a PCOS symptom it was always written off as thyroid related. No one even mentioned this!
I work for a pharmacy as a technician and we happen to be a fertility center. We sell all of those medications and I always take the time to talk to my fertility patients. I feel their pain and listen to their frustrations. Many of them told me they had this condition. It prompted me to read about this, to find out what Polycystic Ovary Syndrome was. After they left I always counted my blessings that it wasn't me. Well it was, I just didn't know it at the time.
For those that don't know, here's the basics:
Polycystic ovary syndrome is a condition in which there is an imbalance of a woman's female sex hormones. This hormone imbalance may cause changes in the menstrual cycle, skin changes, small cysts in the ovaries, trouble getting pregnant, and other problems.
My doctor told me I just don't ovulate because of this condition. I was given the option of starting Clomid. Clomid is supposed to work very well in these cases. I was told my chances were very good. First we had Tony's swimmers tested, and they passed with flying colors. Next came the pills. 50 mg once a day for five days. The first round I felt very hopeful. Hearing that it didn't work was really hard. But we upped the dose and tried again. 100 mg once a day. Hearing that didn't work was even harder. But we upped the dose again and tried again. 150 mg once a day.
This morning my doctor called and told me very gently that it hadn't worked. She offered to try one more time with another dosage increase, the maximum dose of 200 mg, but in her opinion it probably would not work. I trust her opinion and if she thinks its done, it probably is. She told me about a reproductive endocrinologist in the same hospital network. Now originally I'd wanted to try to do as much as I could without going this route because of the cost involved. Well I've done what I could. Now I'm going to see Dr C. His office is supposed to call me sometime next week to set up an appointment. We'll see what happens then, what my options are.
I know all of the medications they use in these cases. I know how expensive they can be. I know I'm probably going to be learning how to give myself injections soon. I know how hard this is going to be. But if it can help Tony and I have a child of our own, it will be worth it.
hang in there lisa. always in my thoughts.
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