We tryed to get pregnant for several years before I found a DR. that discovered what was wrong. I have PCOS. I went on the pill for 2 years to regulate me. My husband and I decided to start trying again and went off the pill Jan. 6th. Has any one been in this situation and went off the pill with convieving successfully or does any one have any advice for us??
Thank You
Jenny
I just wanted to share this with you!! I am not sure if you already know this. But I was doing some looking, and I came across this and thought of all of you who are dealing with this.
Good Luck!!!
Women who have polycystic ovary syndrome and take the drug clomiphene are more likely to become pregnant than women with PCOS who take the drug metformin, according to a study published in the Feb. 8 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, the Washington Post reports (Washington Post, 2/13). PCOS is a hormonal imbalance that affects approximately 5% to 10% of U.S. women of reproductive age and is the most common cause of infertility in women. PCOS can cause a lack of ovulation, polycystic ovaries, irregular menstruation or missed periods, and clinical or biochemical evidence of high androgen levels – such as facial hair or male pattern balding. Other symptoms include weight gain, insulin resistance and skin discoloration (Kaiser Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, 8/31/05). For the study, which was funded by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, researchers from NIH and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine enrolled 626 infertile women with PCOS in three groups. The first group took only clomiphene, the second only metformin and the third a combination of the two drugs. Researchers tested the women’s progesterone levels to determine when they were ovulating (University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine release, 2/7). The women were asked to have sexual intercourse every two to three days, and they took the drugs daily for up to six months and stopped if they became pregnant. Sixty percent of the women who took both drugs ovulated, compared with 49% for women who took only clomiphene and 29% for women who took only metformin, the study found (Washington Post, 2/13). The study also found that 26.8% of women in the combination group gave birth, 22.5% of women in the clomiphene-only group and 7.2% of the women in the metformin group. Obese women were less likely to conceive and were less likely to ovulate when taking metformin, according to the study. Christos Coutifaris, director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of Pennsylvania and lead author of the study, said, “The bottom line here is that ovulation does not necessarily result in a successful pregnancy,” adding, “The results suggest that an ovulation due to clomiphene is two times as likely to result in pregnancy compared to an ovulation caused by metformin” (University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine release, 2/7).
Hi, I have PCOS also, and the pill will help you have regular cycles, but it's not a "fix" for your cycles to come back. You might want to talk to your doctor about things like Metformin as a next step. I have an appointment the first week of April to get this ball rolling and see if I can get pregnant. My husband and I have been trying for a couple of years now, but if I'm not on birth control, i don't ovulate.
I don't know why so many doctors think that birth control is the fix all for women who don't have cycles on their own. It's a band aid, masking a bigger problem....grrrrrrrr. I've been on birth control of some kind or another since I was 16 for my cycles...and here I am at 34 and still don't have them unless I'm on the pill. Didn't fix anything for me.