Lean PCOS, No Insulin Resistance and Metformin is helping

[deeya]

Hi Ladies,

I have something to share and hope it can help someone. I am 32 yrs old with lean PCOS, 5'1", TTC number 1 since 2009

a) I was always skinny, never gained weight easily and when I did it started accumulating in the middle. Since the pounds that were added mostly made my face look better I never bothered about the weight gain. In the past few years I noticed changes in my appetite I would be more hungry, start getting angry if I don't eat on time and basically not like my normal self. I noticed my digestion to be slower and I'd be more gassy. I used to weigh about 100 pounds but slowly it crept up to 120 pounds……. I looked pregnant but could not conceive. I began met and was easily able to reduce back to 104 pounds. I also lost my cravings and crying. My fasting glucose had gone up to 96mg/dl and that was at the higher end, it has come to normal at 80mg/dl. I digest my food better and am not gassy anymore.


b) I dont have any excess androgen hirusitism and my voice is squeaky. I am an aggressive person and cant take s**t from anyone. Since last six months I kept getting one hair on my chin, which gradually increased from 1 to 2 to 4 …. and I was plucking them and seeing them come back every 15 days……… Once I began met and upped it to 1500mg/day the hairs have disappeared. I have not plucked a single hair from my chin in the last 1 month. This is my third month on Met. In my second month of Met we had checked my hormonal values and testosterone was at 2.4….. the higher end of normal, this explains the bad androgenic environment my follicles develop in.

c) Since 4 years I have been experiencing hair loss from my scalp….. that has reduced but not stopped.

d) I took Clomid 50mg - July 2011- CD 14 follie at 18mm- BFN
Clomid 50mg - Sep 2011- CD 15 follie at 19mm- Chemical Pregnancy
Clomid 100mg + HMG 150 CD4,6 and 8 - Nov 2011- 10 Follies cycle cancelled. Advised no intercourse/IUI
Clomid 100mg - Dec 2011- CD 19 2 follies at 18mm and 19mm. IUI #1- BFN
Fostimon injections (Bravelle) from CD 2-12 using step down approach- CD 13 1 follie at 18mm more than 20 at 15mm - IUI #2 BFN

This made me so mad…. it meant that none of the follicles that I grew have a healthy oocyte inside them ……. I started Met….

Cycle 1 on Met 39 days ( My normal cycles are 32-36 days and longest ever was 38 days)….. I thought Met is not working…….. I added Clomid 100 mg the next cycle….
My response CD 14 , 2 follicles @ 22mm and 20 mm I have never in the past cycle grown such big follies……… but luck did not favor us and DH was down with 102 degree fever and infection turning his sperm yellow/brown (TMI) so I wont know for sure if it was the bad oocyte or the bad sperm……… but I definitely saw the change in the size of follicles which I produced by adding metformin.

I am moving onto IVF next month and hope I can post a success story soon…….. No doctor was ready to give me a diagnosis of PCOS until I used injectables and had a severe response. Last Year in June my FSH and LH were 5.7 and 5.8. A ratio of 1:1 and the ultrasound showed no cysts hence I was never given metformin. This year my levels in May were FSH at 6.4 and LH at 8.4. Now the ratio is 1:1.3 My point is that PCOS slowly sets in and the sooner we can find out ways to reverse it the better for us. Not many doctors are aware of the Lean PCOS and just cause our values for insulin resistance might be normal, they may never prescribe metformin. I feel that if anyone has a family history of diabetes and even though you don't show the classical symptoms of PCOS, it is better to get the testosterone levels and fasting insulin levels ascertained. If you're on the TTC road and not succeeding there has to be a problem with either the egg or the sperm….. Its better to check out everything and I am sure we will all get our BFP's .Good Luck and Baby dust to all.