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[Annik]

Hi. I'm Annik and I'm new to this forum.

Quick background... My husband and I tried to get pregnant for about 9 months, at which time I was finally referred to an OB/GYN who would treat me (gotta love managed healthcare). I have always had irregular periods - usually three or more months between periods. I have also battled acne since my early teens. The doctor diagnosed PCOS even before running any tests. Well, my FSH and LH levels were out of whack, but I didn't have any insulin issues (no excess body hair or weight, either). I took one round of Clomid (which the Dr. assured me wouldn't work) and I got pregnant. My DS is now a year old.

Okay, now for my question. I don't think I have PCOS. Actually, I think I may have been "damaged" from endless antibiotics use that started when I was a baby and didn't stop until I was in my late teens. Nobody ever prescribed anti-fungal medication to offset the ill effects of the antibiotics, nor did we ever eat an ounce of yogurt in my house. :crying Every time I get a pap smear they tell me the results are normal but there's yeast. I haven't taken antibiotics in a long time.

Is there anybody else out there who took loads of antibiotics as a child who is now suffering from infertility/irregular periods? Thoughts on my theory?

Thanks,
Annik

[sleeping queen]

This is very interesting. My mother said that my dr. gave me antibiotics for every fever or sore throat I had till I was 5 and she took me to a different dr. He took one look at down my throat and seen how awful my tonsils were and did surgery to remove them. I was hardly ever sick after that or was rarely on antibiotics. Fastforward several years. My periods were alway very irregular and it took 11/2 to conceive first dd. I another pg 21/2 years after first dd and we weren't using any bc. That baby died 23 wk gestation. After that we went years trying to concieve till we finally moved on to infertility treatments. Our diagnosis was unexplained infertility.

[alexisyael]

I did, too. Loads and loads of antibiotics until I was five for ear infections... and then loads and loads more anibiotics every winter b/c I had bronchitus. I still have to take more antibiotics than I'm happy with :( We did eat a lot of yogurt, though, specifically to counteract the antibiotics.

I never thought about the connection before... I've been trying 6-7 months w/out ovulating until this last cycle (that's not long, but it is a long time not to ovulate, imo.)

I also don't really have excess weight, or any of the PCOS symptoms, but people are starting to ask me if I have it. I guess I should get it checked out...

[Annik]

SQ - sorry to hear about your loss at 23 weeks:hug

AY - If you do go to the doctor, maybe you should ask about being tested for yeast and taking Nystatin or another anti-yeast/anti-fungal medication. Thank goodness your family was smart enough to feed you yogurt. I wonder how much one needs to eat in order to counteract antibiotics? Good luck TTC!!

[Quirky]

You should check out goodpapa's posts about probiotics in the Health forum - he claims he healed his wife's infertility with his homemade yogurt applied vaginally. If you do have yeast issues, have you looked into the anti-candida diet? It couldn't hurt to try it and see if it helps. I've also heard amazing things about a supplement called Candex for fighting yeast.

Check out the breastfeeding forums for threads on yeast and thrush - I realize the slant is a little different but there are lots of threads about how to fight systemic yeast.

:w to MDC and good luck TTC!

[Annik]

Quirky,

Thanks for directing me to GoodPapa's posts. Wow, he's serious about probiotics. He should meet my mom - they're two peas in a pod :) The Health and Healing forum is just teeming with information about Candida, too.