PCOS+baby=normal? (maybe a little tmi)

[laralee16]

I found out I had PCOS about 3 years before I had my son. Before that I was having AF every 6 months or so. I got on met, and on synthroid for hypothyrod. I started getting af every 3 months or so, but still not ovulating. So I went on clomid and have a baby (yay!)

Four weeks after my son was born af returned (dun-dun-dun) and has been coming to see me every four weeks, give or take a few days. Always a normal amount of blood. When I was on met, and even before, af was just spotting for a few days, not a full flow. The only time I have been late was for two weeks, and have a very heavy one then.

I went to go see a endercronoliges (ok, I cant spell, im sorry) she said my blood work is normal. That I must not have had any of it in the first place, or if I did, it went away. I dont understand how it can just "go away", ykwim?

Anyoen have this happen? I am just SO confused.

[astrophe27]

It's possible that the massive hormone load of pregnancy has caused the PCOS to go into remission for you. It doesn't mean it still is not there... remission is not CURE.

I have PCOS, and I too notice a difference post baby. Before I could go YEARS with no period. During TTC after a year of Metformin, I was averaging 60 day cycles. After baby, on Metformin, I average 40 days... so there's been improvement.. though my improvement is not as good as yours with remission.

Keep tabs on it -- PCOS is a lifelong condition to be managed.

You might get other experiences from people at www.soulcysters.net

GL!
A.

[tireesix]

Pregnancy is known to improve PCOS symptoms. Pre pregnancy my cycle was anywhere up to a year, no ovulation, post pregnancy I had a 6 week cycle that started on the same day, same hour every 6 weeks and the post 2nd pregnancy I have a 5 week cycle that starts every fifth tuesday, same hour etc etc etc BUT I still have PCOS symptoms.

[laralee16]

I did try to post this on soulcysters, but there banners and junk kill me cuz I am on dial up. I could not get past the first page, much less to be able to post, lol. I know the pcos is still there, it will never be gone, but i did not expect it to remiss this much ya know?I wanted to get back on metform, but the doctor would not put me on it till I stopped bfing, and when I did she said I had to have a note from his doctor that I had stopped. :

[tireesix]

Metformin is ok to take while breastfeeding. I have taken it the whole time I have been breastfeeding. I did, however, have to go armed with info fromHales and and other medication and breastfeeding sites.

[laralee16]

I took info to her also, I even took a note from his doctor that it was fine, and she would not even look at it. said "breastfeeding is not importent, you should just stop" Yeah, I did not like her, lol.

[Mavournin]

Find a new endocrinologist. NOW. She sounds like a royal UA violation.

My endo encouraged me to nurse as long as I want. And then refilled my prescription for Met. You deserve better care than what you are getting.

[Flower of Bliss]

Your story sounds like my dream come true I have PCOS and used clomid and an HCG shot to get pregnant with DD. I am hoping that my cycles will regulate and I will ovulate on my own now that I've had one pregnancy.

I agree, dump the doctor - though your pediatrician sounds great

[astrophe27]

but the doctor would not put me on it till I stopped bfing, and when I did she said I had to have a note from his doctor that I had stopped.

I was torn on this one... my family practice doc and my pharmacist told me Met was Class B (like Tylenol is) and was up to me. My endoc wanted to be more cautious and said not til I weaned. At the time I couldn't find the study so I went 2 years without it and felt really out of sorts. I went back on via family practice and just didn't tell him. Felt much better, no problems nursing the next 19 months... and still going.

So... if you endoc is being a drag, but the ped. has given you a note and everything... what about trying a family practice doc to write out the prescription?

A.

[bobandjess99]

Yes, pregnancy can "normalize" your hormones, it happens to a lot of us. You might still need drugs to conceive again, but you might not. And met is completely safe. You should have no problem finding a local doc to give it to you , since at this point EVERYONE seems to know it is safe, except the one doc you went to...(or else you just lie to the us violation and say you have stopped BFing.....) Or you can just buy it yourself. I get it from mexico, and since i have no prescription coverage and pay for it either way, it actually ends up being cheaper than if I had a script and got it locally.

[Angierae]

It happened to me. I used to get my period once a year. And have had a total of 5 pregnancies in 7 years, with 30 day cycles since my 1st was born. Now the Dr.s keep saying maybe I was misdiagnosed : . I think they just don't want to admit they dont have an answer for everything.

[erika978]

That happened to me aswell. I still have some other PCOS symptoms though.

A friend of mine tried for 4 years to have her second child. She finally got pregnant and 3 months after his birth, she was pregnant with her 3rd child.

[laralee16]

I will be going back to a gp in october sometime, so I will see what they say. The thing that gets me is im not preg, lol. I would have thought I would be by now, yk?

[twindaze]

I have it but it did not go away after pregancy. However, I used to have times when I'd have regular cycles for 6 months or so, so a sort of remission I guess, although I always would have the acne issue, which I later found out resulted from PCOS once I started on Metformin and it went away. Since PCOS is much more than just irregular cycles I agree that it's not necessarily in remission and still worth treating.

I have to mention too that I was one of the subjects in Hale's study on metformin. I was taking it when there was no research on it yet, my twins were 2 at the time, and Hale recruited me to do the study. I did it partly to assure myself that it was safe for the twins. If you go read the study, I'm the subject with the male twins.

Anyway, I've nursed now for a total of about 6 years while taking metformin and all of the children appear to be just fine, if that helps to reassure you any. I'd definitely find another doctor, my metformin is just prescribed by my internal medicine doctor, not the endocrinologist, although I did initially see an endocrinologist when I got diagnosed.

Good luck.

[thismama]

This happened for me too, which came as a total surprise as I'd never read about it!

I used to get my period about every 3 months or so, breakthrough bleeding and I was rarely ovulating. Got on Met, got pregnant, had my baby, went off Met (hated it).

At 8 mos postpartum my cycles returned, and they have been regular ever since!

When my daughter was 2 I changed my eating habits dramatically (cut out sugar and refined grains). I'm sure that has helped lots also. My insulin/glucose ratio is normal now, and I ovulate monthly. I just got pg with no drugs.

My nurse suggested that prolactin from breastfeeding helps with hormones too, and that I may see a shift back toward irregularity when I stop nursing.

So, who knows really? For me, was it pregnancy? Diet? Nursing? No way to pull those things apart, but I assume they all had a positive role. Definitely pregnancy and nursing helped a lot because my cycles regulated long before I ever started watching what I eat.

[laralee16]

Could you tell me more about the diet you went on? I would really like to hear about it!

[thismama]

Originally Posted by laralee16

Could you tell me more about the diet you went on? I would really like to hear about it!

Who, me? Sure, I cut out sugar and other high glycemic sweeteners (honey, maple syrup, etc), as well as refined grains, and potatoes. I limit whole grains. I eat lots of veggies, fruit, and protein at every meal.

That's pretty much it. For bread I eat ezekiel bread. Lots of eggs, nuts, etc. I'm a recovering vegetarian and try to eat chicken as well.

When I first went off sugar I made sure to eat something every two hours, from morning til night, to stop cravings and keep my blood sugar balanced. But now I'm not so careful with that.

I eat lots of fats too, like olive oil, avocadoes. I find eating enough protein and fat keeps me full and keeps me from wanting sugar.

eta - I'm pregnant and typing all that just made me nauseous.

[cristeen]

I've seen the same reaction to pregnancy + diet. After the pregnancy I still had some symptoms (lethargy, depression, insulin resistance), but AF arrived after 5(?) weeks. When we decided to TTC again, I changed my diet drastically, cutting out all refined sugars, refined soy and all grains. AF is now on a 29-day cycle, and I'm ovulating on schedule going on 3 months now. My lethargy and depression are both gone. The two symptoms I can't seem to touch are the extra weight and the extra hair, but I am no longer gaining weight.

[veg n mama]

that's exactly what happend w/ me (well, i never went on clomid... i was put on glucaphage w/ regulated my periods... which were non-existant before). But, my cycle came back about three months after my son was "born" and has been totally normal for 4 years now. It's nuts! I still actually have cyscts on my ovaries and they pop and are super ouchy and i still have some other symptoms of pcos... but having a regular cycle is so new to me! I thought it had more to do w/ breastfeeding... I was actually afraid to STOP bf'ing as I thought the period would go away again... but my ds has been weaned since 3 years... and it's still going.

[laralee16]

Oh no, all the stuff I love, lol. I am gonna have to try this. Anywebsites or books or anything that helped you guys in this?