Tony and I had our very first RE Doctor appointment and from the second we walked in the building, we felt like finally, someone was on our side. I can't even begin to describe our fabulous Doctor. I went through all my medical history, my symptoms, and gave him my temping charts. He sat there for a few seconds and finally said, OK from now on this is my problem to fix. In that moment, I felt like a thousand bricks had been lifted off my shoulders and I started to cry. It felt so good to have someone else worrying about my body and actively wanting to fix it.
The nurse took blood and he asked a few more questions that seemed totally random to me, but obviously helped him make his final decision. The outcome...I have PCOS, or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.
The good news, I can get pregnant. However without these new medications to balance my hormones and insulin levels, we would have miscarried again. It makes me sad knowing that our miscarriage was my fault. This whole time I thought it was just a chromosome issue. I'm trying very hard to live in the NOW and to only focus on the future. I don't have the time or energy to feel bad for myself so after today I'm done playing the "what if" game.
I wrote down so many things the Doctor said, but long story short, I'm not ovulating and my hormones are all out of balance. My crazy acne is due to PCOS and having too much testosterone in my system. What the Doctor is also worried about is diabetes. He put me on Metformin to help with my insulin levels and I'm supposed to be eating cinnamon at least once a day. Cinnamon is supposed to help with PCOS and also help the body's ability to process glucose and insulin. Unfortunately this doesn't mean I can visit Cinnabun for every meal. I also need to change my diet asap. It's best to cut out all carbs, however a low-carb lifestyle can be maintained. Researchers discovered that reducing carbohydrate intake lowered insulin levels, which in turn reduces testosterone. If eating less to no carbs everyday will help lower my testosterone and help my PCOS, then yes I will say goodbye to bagels and pasta for good!
I wrote down so many things the Doctor said, but long story short, I'm not ovulating and my hormones are all out of balance. My crazy acne is due to PCOS and having too much testosterone in my system. What the Doctor is also worried about is diabetes. He put me on Metformin to help with my insulin levels and I'm supposed to be eating cinnamon at least once a day. Cinnamon is supposed to help with PCOS and also help the body's ability to process glucose and insulin. Unfortunately this doesn't mean I can visit Cinnabun for every meal. I also need to change my diet asap. It's best to cut out all carbs, however a low-carb lifestyle can be maintained. Researchers discovered that reducing carbohydrate intake lowered insulin levels, which in turn reduces testosterone. If eating less to no carbs everyday will help lower my testosterone and help my PCOS, then yes I will say goodbye to bagels and pasta for good!
Since I'm also not ovulating and may not for another couple of months, the Doctor also prescribed Clomid. On the mention of this drug, my heart stopped. A few of my friends have taken Clomid and have experienced severe side effects like hot flashes, cramping, breast tenderness, and crazy mood swings. Tony better be ready to deal with these side effects.
My next step, to start these two medications tonight. I go back for a follow up on April 28th to do blood work and an ultrasound. On that day, the Doctor will either tell us to go ahead and start trying OR up the dosage of Clomid because it wasn't successful. Please please please let this first round of clomid work! Oh yeah, I almost forgot, on my to-do list is to ditch Google. If I can STOP reading every horror story online and just listen to my Doctor, I know I'll be more relaxed.
In the end I found out something was wrong with me, but honestly I already knew that in the back of my mind. I'm just so happy we finally got answers and have a game plan moving forward. So why did we wait so long?
My new cocktail of choice - Metformin & Clomid