I am TTC, and have been on clomid 150mg + Estradiol (estrogen for lining issues) for 3 months. I never ever ever ovulate on my own...and haven't had a period on my own in over 2 years, so I was hoping that the clomid would help.

Today at my appointment, my doctor says "I want you to start taking Metformin. It will help with your PCOS."

And I'm like...what? I have PCOS? This was the first I've heard of it...

So, I guess now I know. I am supposed to start taking Metformin along with the clomid and Estradiol.

I guess I am in shock and just trying to process this. Has anyone here used Metformin and what else can I do?

It all just seems really overwhelming right now... :-(

Please don't be too down about it. i know way more than anyone should about fertility... and PCOS is one of the most common things out there. Additionally, metformin seems to work for a very large amount of women. While it may take a little longer and be harder for you to "time", the fact is you will ovulate, and that's really all it takes. i suffer from scar tissue around my tubes so there isn't much hope for me, but i do know how it feels to try and get preggers and deal with all the crap. Also, if you lose weight (even a little) your cycle should continue to improve. Please try and be positive, there are LOTS of positive stories out there. Go to www.ivillage.com and click on their parenting & pregnancy message boards. There is one for everyone including PCOS and infertility issues. Lots of wonderful information and girls there

hth
-fm

My bestfriend has severe PCOS. I had never heard of it before I met her. She had one child before she knew she even had it. About 6 years after her first child was born she remarried and had 3 miscarriages until she finally saw a high risk pregnancy doctor. Once she saw him she had no problem getting pregnant, and now has 2 healthy boys which are 3 and 5. It will happen!

thanks so much for replying.

foodmasochist- I am so sorry about your scar tissue. that is awful and so hard. (((hugs))) are you going to try ivf?

I wish that pcos were my only fertility issue... i have had recurrent losses- i have had two stillborn babies as well as miscarried one baby in the first trimester. i also have a severe luteal phase defect, get pre-eclampsia when i am pregnant and get gestational diabetes. and we have male-factor issues to deal with as well (varicocele). so yea...it just seems like ONE MORE THING to add to the pile, you know?

it drives me crazy that ttc is so easy for some and yet it takes me YEARS to even get pregnant and then when I do, my pregnancies are quite hard.

I guess i am just in a little bit of shock. I have already lost 76 pounds- you would THINK that would have helped my fertility- but nope, guess not!

i am having a little pity party at the moment...but i'll cheer up in a little while. i just needed to get this out. thanks for listening.

little ducky- i am glad that things worked out for your friend. that makes me feel a little better....

yes, we did one round of ivf and lost the baby. i have a frozen embie now but really do not have the money to transfer him. With one, the chances are so low-and truthfully, my body just doesn't respond to IVF well. Actually, it tries to grow anything i put in there, but i always lose it (before i knew about all these issues i attempted to be a surrogate so i have more IVF experience but only one of those rounds was my own).

PLEASE check out those message boards. the ladies have natural ideas for LP defects, there are also recurrent loss message boards there. i have had two miscarriages of my own plus the surro-losses, one of which was trips There are also lots of male factor ideas there too, but you may already know that stuff. i'm sorry, i didn't realize you had so much going on i thought it was mostly the pcos. i do honestly think there is hope though, none of those are deal breakers! Obstacles for sure, but not impossible!

i still do think there is hope though, i am forever the optimist. do you like your doc?

i have the scar tissue and then some kind of clotting issue too, it's all a mess. i just figure if it's meant to be it will be! simple, i know!

-fm
edited to add, this is technically secondary infertility for me. i do have a child from a previous marriage and the c-section caused the scar tissue i am experiencing.

I know it can be a shocker when you get the dx. I remember being upset years ago when I got mine. Give yourself the space you need to absorb this new info.

If it helps, I took Metformin to regulate cycles and only got as "good" as 60 days apart. I had wanted to give Met a year to work, before adding the Clomid, and on the very appointment that I was supposed to go in to talk about Clomid it turned I didn't need it after all since I was pregnant. I found www.tcoyf.com useful too.

Some people take Met through the first trimester or even the whole pregnancy to help prevent loss and other bits, so talk to your doc to see what their take on that is.

hugs,
A.

thanks so much for the support. (((Hugs)))

fm- i am so sorry for your losses. so heartbreaking((((hugs)))) i am currently just under the care of a gyn, but i have an appointment to see an RE in two weeks- my insurance doesn't cover anything fertility related, so it has been helpful to just go to the gyn b/c more stuff has been covered there (i think) than would be at a fertility clinic...but i think our next step is injectables, and then if that doesn't work, then we will move on to ivf.

transferring one embie is a low probability of pregnancy- it is a longshot. i can understand why you would be hesitant to go through with FET with one embie. it's a hard choice to make. (((hugs)))

one of my friends has asherman's (she ended up having a singleton girl and then twin boys via ivf), and my best friend has a severe clotting disorder which went undiagnosed until she lost twins at 23 weeks. she just had a rainbow baby even with her clotting disorder- she was on lovenox the whole pregnancy, baby aspirin, hospital bedrest from 20w on, and mag for 10 weeks. she went through so much this last pregnancy, but it worked out for her. she delivered at 30 weeks (even after all that) and the baby was in the nicu for 6 weeks- but now she is home and growing well, which is so good.

i will definitely check out those message boards. i could really use some support with everything going on. part of me is hopeful that injectables will work for us, and i am glad that ivf is an option (even if it is incredibly expensive-at least it's a possibility).

astrophe- yes, it was a shocker! although i have to admit i have thought that i had it for awhile- it was just different to hear him say it. i was never overweight until the last few years- but i always struggled with my weight. i also had a lot of the other symptoms (hair growth, acne, etc.)- and i have basically never had a cycle. i was on bcp for a little while about 6 years ago, and that gave me a cycle (of course)- but other than that, no cycle even in my teens and twenties.

i guess i am just kind of scratching my head on what to do. i am basically already at a normal weight. i have 3 pounds to go until i am no longer "overweight" by my bmi - so i don't know if losing more weight will help. maybe it will...

i am so glad that i have you guys to talk to about this- i really just am sad. i was hoping to go to my appointment today and see a mature follicle, since last thursday my doc said i had one follicle growing that looked promising. but today when i went in, it had collapsed, and there was nothing (and i for sure did not ovulate already)...

it just sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was diagnosed while pregnant although I did not know it yet and was on metformin for the first trimester. I did have preeclampsia and my son was born a month early at 36 weeks and spent a week in the NICU but he is a healthy 8 month old now. My current doctor has me off metformin because my blood and glucose tests have been normal but I wish I could be back on it.

My son was concieved naturally. We were actually using tcoyf to chart and prevent. I messed up with charting and thought I was ovulating a week earlier than I was and got pregnant. A condom failure was also involved. The ovulation that caused my baby was on day 88 of my cycle. He is a miracle considering we weren't trying for a baby. Good luck!

I was 18 when a gyno told me to come back and see her when I wanted to get pregnant...I had 2 laprascopies for cysts on my ovaries the size of grapefruits...left fallopian tube was twisted from scar tissue. At age 33 after my second child (au natural) I was finally given a diagnosis...I can't tell you how happy I was just to know it had a name, that I wasn't crazy or imagining it all or that I just had to suffer in silence, b/c no one knew. I don't know how old you are, I am now 45 trying to get a handle on this heading into perimenapause... watch your starches, all of them. I am on Metformin, but I can only take it every other day b/c it mess up my intestines...very painful. I hope I can start the Insulite labs PCOS program or find something for those going into perimenapause. Do more research on BCP, my mother survived ovarian cancer and we suspect the BCP...get info on HRT (hormone replacement therapy) BCP's are hormones. Also, take a Complex B vitamin and COQ10 Enzyme...metformin depletes your body of these. Vits B help w/ breakdown of foods, energy and nerves. CoQ10 is cardiac related health.
Best wishes.

All of my issues (lining, luteal phase defect, etc...) were totally related to my polycystic ovaries. It was a vicious cycle every time so when I would actually ovulate, the egg quality was so poor because of what was going on within my ovaries that chances of conception were slim.

I eventually had ovarian drilling, which literally turned me into a new woman. My LPD corrected, I ovulated on time, my symptoms disappeared and I lost the weight I had put on when I stopped birth control. I got pregnant my 3rd cycle after surgery. No meds or anything. Clomid was a nightmare for me (zapped lining, worsening of cysts and I didn't even ovulate on it most of the time).

It does sound like a lot of your cycle issues are related to the pcos so the Met will hopefully help with all of that. I'm so sorry about your losses I know many, many women with pcos who have had great success with injectibles. Good luck to you!