Educational Post

I think I should probably give a little education on PCOS, treatments and medications. So I will start with PCOS. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a condition in which a woman has an imbalance of a female sex hormones. This may lead to menstrual cycle changes, cysts in the ovaries, trouble getting pregnant, and other health changes. There are many different symptoms for PCOS and you can check those out here, this is also where I got the definition of PCOS. I don't have all of these symptoms but do have some of them. 1 in 10-15 women is effected by PCOS. That means out of my 300 female facebook friends 20-30 could have PCOS. That is just crazy to me! Fertility in itself is much higher then one may think. 1 in 8 couples are affected by infertility that is 7.3 million American women having trouble conceiving! Did you know that? I sure didn't! It is because nobody talks about it. I have a disease just like people have diabetic or high blood pressure or even cancer but I am not suppose to talk about mine. Because as a women it is personal to not be able to get pregnant. All women can get pregnant, right? WRONG! I just wish that it wasn't such a secret for people and they would share their stories. It sure is nice to know you are not alone.

I could go on and on but I will move on to the treatment I am doing. Right now I am taking Metformin. Metformin (BP, pronounced /mɛtˈfɔrmɨn/, met-FAWR-min; originally sold as Glucophage) is an oral antidiabetic drug in the biguanide class. It is the first-line drug of choice for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, in particular, in overweight and obese people and those with normal kidney function.  Its use in gestational diabetes has been limited by safety concerns. It is also used in the treatment of  polycystic ovary syndrome, and has been investigated for other diseases where insulin resistance may be an important factor. Metformin works by suppressing glucose production by the liver. Basically when used for PCOS it is used to help trigger your brain to ovulate or at least get you closer then not using it. I was instructed by my doctor to also follow a low carb diet with this and research I have read supports this being a good diet for PCOS in general.

So far that is the only treatment we are using but with time that may change. As our treatment plan changes I will update my blog. In closing I am going to include some pictures that best describe how I feel about PCOS and secondary infertility.