New to this board

Hi everyone. I am new to this board. I have a new username bc i dont want my friends/family to know what we are going thru until we get a bfp.

Just had my doctors appt with my gyno yesterday and im going for bloodwork this week and a sono next week to see what we are dealing with. Looks like PCOS. I am having 3+ month cycles since off BCP and alot of spotting in between.

Thankfully my doctor is supportive in not waiting to see what happens, but is going to discuss medication to help regulate my cycles and what not once all my tests are done.

I havent done much research yet since its not confirmed PCOS yet, but just wondering what types of medicine do they put you on? and how do they tell if you are ovulating if you have such long cycles?

thanks everyone!

Re: New to this board

hi i am sure someone here can help you more than i can but one thought is not to let a reg ob give you fertility medications. if they want to treat pcos with metformin that is different but talk to the ladies here and i find most see reproductive endocrinologists for fertility meds :) gl!

Re: New to this board

oh wow, i didnt even think about that. i guess when we have our follow up i will see what he says when i suggest seeing a specialist. my insurance is soooo crappy that i dont want this to drag on too long and if a regular ob/gyn isnt too familiar with it i dont want to waste time and money

Re: New to this board

Re: New to this board

Posted by LadyBug1209

Posted by prunepie

hi i am sure someone here can help you more than i can but one thought is not to let a reg ob give you fertility medications. if they want to treat pcos with metformin that is different but talk to the ladies here and i find most see reproductive endocrinologists for fertility meds :) gl!

ITA!! I have PCOS and started out with my OB... huge waste of time. The job of an OB is to care for you while pregnant and deliver a healthy baby, not getting you to that point. I would highly recommend seeing a RE!

Good Luck!! I was first diagnosed with PCOS as a teen and was immediately put on BCP to regulate my body. Once we started TTC, I started out with Clomid and then moved on to injections. I got a BFP with my DS after a Gonal-F/IUI cycle. I am on the same protocol now TTC#2. If you want to take a different approach without jumping into the meds, I know that Metformin has helped many women!

Re: New to this board

I also pcos and agree I wouldn't waste time with ob. I'd make an appointment with an RE ASAP. I was on metafomin which didn't help me, finally did clomid but it took a few cycles and iui (I also produce an sperm fighting antibody) to get pg with dd.

Re: New to this board

Yes def go to a RE. There are many great ones the girls on here can recommend to you. Also, I would call your insurance company to see your options. Do they cover monitoring, infertility drugs, IUIs, or IVF's. Mine does not. Its good to know what is available to you. It's unclear if I have PCOS. It can be hard to diagnose. I opted to not go on metiforin. My cycles we regulated with herbs and Acupuncture if you are not comfortable going on medication right away.

Message edited 3/14/2012 2:30:02 PM.

Re: New to this board

We are all here to help in any way we can. Your OB may recommend a RE that may not work for you- many of us here have been through 2 or 3 of them before we find the perfect fit. Things to consider are distance from your house/work (you will be there a lot), insurance, and reputation. You should have all of your testing done there for the - just in case your insurance doesn't cover it more than once. Chances are, your RE would like the testing done in his/her office, even if you did it at the OB.

Deep breath- and when you're ready, telling your closest immediate family can help alleviate some of the stress that goes along with IF.

Re: New to this board

def agree with pp...i wasted 6 months with a ob..i have been on metformi for years due to PCOS..i still do not ovulate on my own but it helped make my cycles semi normal

good luck

Re: New to this board

thank you so much for all your advice already, you are all so great!

so after talking to another friend who goes to the same obgyn she told me that they will most likely recommend me to an RE...East Coast Fertility in East Patchogue....anyone have any feedback? They are pretty close to me, which one of you said is important. And my insurance accepts them, but I have to call to see what is covered. Does anyone recommend a certain doctor their?

Re: New to this board

Just wanted to say good luck!! I have PCOS and don't ovulate on my own. I ended up seeing a RE for it and just got my BFP this weekend.
My doctor had me on clomid and HCG trigger shots to make me ovulate. Even if your insurance sucks they aren't too expensive (the clomid was like $10 and trigger was $67). My insurance didn't cover the prescriptions so that was out of pocket.
You're def. making the right choice to switch to a RE!! GOOD LUCK!!!

Re: New to this board

I actually somewhat disagree with some posters. My ob confirmed I had PCOS. And he wanted to see if he could regulate my cycles before going to a RE. Because if he could, there was a possibility that I didn't need to go. We did one cycle of clomid and it didn't work and then he sent me to a RE. My RE has praised my OB for taking all the right steps and plus I had so much paperwork and labwork done that we were able to pretty much jump into IUI.

I obviously wouldn't wait months with your ob, but they seem very proactive like mine and it definitely helped in the long run.

Re: New to this board

I wanted to wish you good luck and hopefully your journey with IF is short...I def agree with the pp's to not waste your time with a gyn...I wasted 2 months with my gyn taking clomid completely unmonitored...my RE put me on metformin (I dont have insulin issues but it has been shown to help regulate patients with PCOS), I was on clomid for 4 cycles but it really caused me to have issues with my lining and I developed cysts...I am taking femara with no issues so far...I also take a trigger shot to induce ovulation...the clomid is about $10, femara w/o insurance is $85 but with is $41, metformin at walgreens is $12 with their prescription plan....the trigger shot is between $70 and $100 depending on what you use.