I just had my annual exam with my doctor, and since I haven't had my period since April, and have only had 1 period since I had my daughter in July 09, she is inducing my period with Provera. I've used Provera before when I was trying to conceive my daughter, and its awful. She said that after this period, I could either do a monthly birth control or I could just induce a period every 3 months or so with Provera. I'm trying to weigh my options. Obviously having a period every 3 months is more ideal than every month but will the regular hormones given through birth control pills help alleviate some of my other PCOS symptoms (slight facial hair, etc)? I'm worried that going on hormonal birth control will affect my weight loss too. Since I've never been on any kind of hormonal birth control, I don't know what to expect. I was diagnosed with PCOS after failure to conceive, so treatment with birth control wasn't their first course of action.

ETA: I want to add also that I have been on 2000mg of Metformin since February 2008, including throughout my pregnancy. It doesn't seem to be alleviating my symptoms in any way, since my period is still MIA.

I swear by the NuvaRing. It's the only BC I've tried that hasn't caused me to gain. I was 100% bat-poop crazy the first two months on it, but I've been golden since then.

i really like depoprovera(shot/3mo) and implanon (implanted in the arm)
on implanon now, over a yr on it. can you do those kinds of bc? i never have periods on either, and really don't see the point. but it depends on the person. i'm good to go for 3 years on implanon. can't beat that!
i can't tell if i bc had anything to do with the weight gain or not, but i spent alot of time eating way more than i needed. so i think it's my fault.

i was rereading your post/question. having your period HELPS the symptoms?

ok, sorry, both of my suggestions are useless to you. i read the info about PCOS. you need to flush everything out, so then i would choose the option that works better for you. do you want any more children? can you take the pill everyday 100%. i know i won't. maybe find out if there are any side affects with your options. i'm going to have acne and facial hair no matter what i do. genetics. i wish i could help. ((hugs)) i hope you find an option that works well for you.

I HATE BCP!!!! I did one month of them and NEVER again. Because I found out that it can cause your lining to grow irregularly. I will now be getting a month progesterone shot every 30 days if AF doesn't come by herself. I am still trying to get pregnant though, so I am in a bit different position.
But my hormones were out of wack on BCP. I felt really depressed all the time. As soon as I stopped taking it, I was fine. Also my PMS symptoms were MUCH more accute. And after I stopped taking it I got this HEAVY, clotty AF. It was really bad, but it proved to me that the bcp don't let your lining completely shed. At least in me they didn't.
This is just my opinion. But I don't know if I will ever take BCP again...also, Metformin didn't do anything for me. I have had to learn to just try to control my blood sugars myself by avoiding sugar and eating low carb. Plus the Metformin made me so sick! Maybe I'm just weird...lol this post is making me really wonder that now!

Yeah, I went without a period at all from 2007-2008, and by January 2008 I was having very painful cramping and daily spotting from the lining of my uterus being too thick and it was sloughing off. So just going without a period for long amounts of time just isn't healthy for me, especially since uterine cancer runs in my family.
I am done having children - in fact, my husband plans to get a vasectomy at some point, and until then BCP would serve a dual purpose - "helping" my PCOS symptoms and providing contraception. But I'm just so torn!

Personally, I'm in the middle when it comes to BCP.

For PCOS patients, the pill that has been recommended is Yaz or Yasmin, overseas, Diane.

The Pros:

1) Regulates your cycles
2) Yaz/Yasmin have the right ratios to help reduce unsightly hair in awkward places
3) Helps acne caused by crazy levels of testosterone running around in your body
4) Some studies show reduced uterine cancer incidents
5) Helps clear out your lining instead of letting it build up (which can cause endometriosis)

The Cons:
1) BCPs (all of them) elevate your blood sugar (which is not good for PCOS patients with insulin resistance)
2) Have side effects like elevating your susceptibility to stroke, heart disease, blood clots, liver problems, etc.
3) No real long-term studies on women who are on BCP for over 10 years
4) Essentially "masks" the PCOS symptoms, it doesn't "cure" them

I was on BCP for 14 years and I decided to get off them. I feel 100% better.

In my case, my doctors, throughout the years, essentially "masked" my PCOS symptoms and I never felt the pressing need to treat my body well for PCOS. I thought -- and my doctors never cleared it up for me -- that as long as I took BCP, I was fine.

It took not being able to lose weight and health scare to finally put the pieces together for me and get off the BCP and decide to treat the PCOS itself and then make a decision later about more drugs.

I'm back on BCP and feel good on ortho-Cyclen.

But I've been on and off since I was 16 and different brands. In general, I feel better on. But now I turned 35, and am starting to think about the pros vs cons and if I've tipped over to the con side yet or not.

A.

So how are you treating the PCOS now? Do you have amenorrhea with your PCOS or do you have regular periods?

I'm treating the insulin resistance/pancreas. As long as I'm not treating my pancreas/IR, then I'm just masking the symptoms.

So, I'm eating a lot of whole foods, no refined carbohydrates or very few of them if I am eating out (although I mostly eat at home, to the annoyance of friends and family).

I'm also taking vitamins and supplements.

I'm exercising 5 days a week, usually anywhere between 5 - 7 hours total, sometimes more, depending on my bike rides.

In the last year, I've only missed my period three times.

In those times that I missed my period, it was on months when I was more "free" and was eating out a lot and probably consuming too many refined carbohydrates.

So far, it's working. My cholesterol is GREAT, my IR is under control, I feel great... I'm happy with what I'm doing.

I just wish I could lose weight faster!

I've watched several of my friends and family members go for the Quarterly Provera shots...and then NEVER do them again. The amount of weight gain that all of them had averaged about 20 pounds! Obviously us PCOSer's have enough trouble with our weight without having to add to the problem.

I've been on monthly BC for ten years now, but after the recent diagnosis of PCOS my doctor switched me to a monophasic pill called Loestrin. I feel a lot better on it and it doesn't send the hormones any further out of whack than they already are (which Ortho Tri-Cyclene did to me).

I pair that up with daily exercise, the South Beach diet and daily cinnamon+chromium supplements. It seems to be treating everything fine.

I have only been taking yasmin for 4 days but i have already notice my mood is a whole lot better. when my periods started getting irregular my moods would swing like crazy throughout the day. and my periods were getting heavier and heavier. since i started on tuesday with yasmin my bleeding has reduced and i don't have the large blood clots i use to pass before going on BCP.

I think everybody reacts different to different hormone treatments. i know some people who gained weight with yasmin and others who lost weight. i know some people who got blood clots while on the nuva ring and some who didn't. i know others who loved the shot and others who ballooned up like crazy.

my mom was on BCP before and she liked it and only stopped it because she was trying to have a baby (me). but when she went on the provera she got legs cramps and went off it.

so everybpdy reacts different. you have to find what works for you.

I benefited tremendously from birth control. I started on Desogen and moved to Nuvaring a couple of years later.

I miss my BCP. I have taken provera with my clomid cycles and never ever ever again. I didn't even respond to it, just had horrible side effects. In the future should I need to induce AF, I will just use BC.

Anywho, if you do go the monthly birth control route, be sure to give it 3 months. It can take some time to adjust, but it helped me tremendously with symptoms. The biggest factor in my weightloss was getting my hormones in check, which bcp did. For the 6 years that I was on it (came off to TTC), I had regular periods (or faux periods ), my acne went away, my facial hair went away, I lost weight, had cyst-free ovaries.... I've had more than one doctor tell me it probably saved my fertility. I'm a year off of nuvaring and my periods are 40-50 days apart on a non-medicated cycle, as opposed to the 90-100 days before I went on bcp and lost weight. HTH!