By: MIchelle
Email: moxyb@webtv.net
Website: http://
Favorite1: http://www.ivf.com/pcostreat
Favorite2: http://
Date: 11 Sep 2000
Time: 00:14:07
Remote Name: proxy-1432.public.svc.webtv.net
First of all, I can't tell you how good it feels to know that there are SO many others out there that have also experienced the hell that is PCOS. I have done a lot of research on PCOS, but I learned something new tonight, just by reading your stories, so thank you...for the information and for the support.
Allow me to tell you my story. I am a 32 year old woman who had her first period at age 10. My first periods were very painful for the first half year or so, but then they started skipping and becoming very irregular/unpredictable. I started missing periods for months at a time. My hair started thinning and no one could figure out why. I thought the hair products I was using on my hair were too strong, but when my hair continued to thin with no signs of improvement for months and months, we started to get concerned. My mother took me to an endicrinologist who was less than helpful...said he didn't know what the problem was and that my pituitary looked fine. The beginning of confusion set in at that point. I started growing hair around my mouth, but especially under my chin which people started to notice. I began gaining weight, even though I remained a fairly active child. Yes, people commented on the weight too---constantly. Always making sure to let me know how much weight they thought I must have gained since they last saw me. This began to really destroy my self esteem---emotional scars which have not healed, even two decades later. I have been put on Progestin which stopped working as soon as I stopped taking it, Provera, various birth control pills. Gained weight on all of them, bloated, breast tenderness with Provera big time.
I don't exactly remember what show I was watching, but a about a year ago on a news type program, a woman began describing symptoms she had experienced with a medical condition that was causing her to be infertile. She called it PCOS. So many of the symptoms matched that immediately I got on the internet and looked it up. Bingo. At least 90% of the seemingly unrelated symptoms I had experienced since puberty were listed as symptoms of PCOS. I was ecstatic to have this information. I wrote down everything I could, made an appt to see my gynocologist and told him everything I knew from my internet search. I asked him to a hormonal panel to confirm the diagnosis. He said "no need. I know you're right". Well, thanks for pointing that out, doc. You think you could have told me something sooner? I was a fairly new patient to him, but he knew many of my symptoms and didn't seem to think it was that big of a deal since I wasn't trying to get pregnant.
Well, I was poking around on the net again recently and found new information on Metformin. I did not know that people were being prescribed this medication for the treatment of PCOS. I immediately made an appointment to see my gyno...if I have to chain myself to his front desk, he WILL write me a prescription for it. The research looks very hopeful and I am looking forward to seeing if I get good results with it. Thanks for letting me know about the research and development of INS-1...I had no idea that a drug for the specific treatment of PCOS was underway. Thank heavens for the internet.
Through reading this site, I realized that I have even more symptoms than I realized. I too have had the "dirty neck" for as long as I can remember. And, yes, my father used to accuse me of not cleaning my neck properly when I was in the shower although I knew I scrubbed it until it was sore. Also darkness under the arms.
I also have the occasional acne along the jaw line, on the chin AND in the pubic region. I had no idea that was a symptom, but I have gotten pimples in the pubic area forever and didn't know why. Until a couple of weeks ago, I didn't know that the thinning hair and male pattern "bald spot" I have experienced for twenty years was related to PCOS. I am so embarassed by it, that I have been wearing hair extensions for four years. In a bold move, as a testament to my leap of faith in Glucophage, I am having them removed after my gyno appt on Tuesday and am going 'au natuale" as I have read repeatedly that many women in the research studies experienced an alleviation or reversal of symptoms, including loss of scalp hair.
I also have problems with my joints and my infernal weight gain doesn't help. The only way I lose weight is with "extraordinary efforts" , meaning twice the exertion of a normal person for maybe half the results. This has been infuriating and depressing for me for years and years. I thought it was me. I felt trapped in my body, a body that refused to cooperate with me and let go of the weight. Now I see it's one of the symptoms of PCOS. My doctor warned me about that...I was in denial and didn't listen. Thought if I TaeBo'd for an hour every single day and walked two miles each morning plus eating a balanced diet and taking vitamins and drinking water, the weight would fly off of me. Just takes diligence. Not so in my case. I just about destroyed my knees with the persistent exercising and yielded very little result for all my time, energy and copious sweat. It broke my heart and still does. Often I feel trapped and imprisoned by my body, particularly when I continue to gain weight despite my best efforts and despite the fact that I have a very balanced diet. I actually started seeing a therapist, thinking there must be some psychological block which is causing my "apple shaped" body not to let go of this weight. I am so tired of looking like I am pregnant, when I am so definitely not. It's the damn PCOS, my research revealed. Low carb diets left me feeling deprived/punished, feeling physically weak and making my breath stink. Not something I would ever maintain for life. And mood swings, sudden crying jags, irritability, anxiety and depression? Been there, doing that. Reading that Glucophage helps even some people out emotionally is very encouraging as I thought I was going nuts....didn't understand why I was not able to "hold it together" lately. Was so close to considering an antidepressant. Now I am going to try Glucophage and see what happens. I pray that I enjoy favorable results and marked improvement in the alleviation of my symptoms. I am not trying to get pregnant. Just trying to take control of my body. The weight is actually the most irksome to me at this point as I am extremely self-concious about it.
If anyone has any Metformin/Glucophage success stories, I would LOVE to hear them. I can be reached at moxyb@webtv.net. Thank you! :)
Michelle
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