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Jaymee had been on birth control since she was fifteen. At the age of thirty she threw the pills out, ready to expand her family. In the months that followed acne had taken over Jaymee's face and she began growing a noticeable amount of facial hair. Not only that, eight months had passed and she still was not pregnant. Finally she consulted her OBGYN. Her doctor diagnosed her with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Jaymee explained, "It turns out that birth control had helped hide my symptoms of PCOS all of those years!"
Polycystic ovarian syndrome is a hormonal disorder, and in many cases the ovaries are enlarged and contain several small cysts. Symptoms include infrequent or irregular menstrual periods, excessive hair growth, acne, obesity, and in some cases, male pattern baldness. Many of these symptoms are a result of elevated levels of male hormones. The proper way to diagnose PCOS is through a simple blood test.
Many women with PCOS struggle with fertility because of infrequent or lack of ovulation. Those trying to become pregnant will sometimes restore ovulation by losing weight (diets low in carbohydrates are recommended). Insulin resistance is suspected to be the main cause of PCOS, so weight loss helps stabilize hormone levels. However, studies have shown that women with PCOS have more difficulty losing weight because they are not able to correctly metabolize. Weight loss is extremely difficult without the proper nutrition and vitamins to balance hormones and insulin resistance. If weight loss alone does not restore ovulation, your doctor will most likely prescribe medications to induce ovulation. Jaymee became pregnant after taking a combination of Chlomid and Metformin.
Additional resources: http://www.womenshealth.gov/faq/polycystic-ovary-syndrome.cfm#c http://www.soulcysters.com/weight_loss.html http://pcosinconnection.com/
If you would like to contact Lucy, email her at lucymlogan@gmail.com. To receive emails of Lucy's future articles, click the subscribe button.
Comments
Hi Lucy! As the Brooklyn Infertility and Miscarriage Examiner, as well as the Program Director for The American Fertility Association, I enjoy reading your column. I also wrote about pcos recently both for the Examiner and The AFA blog, and so the title of your article grabbed me! As a professional in this field, as well as a pcos'er myself, I wanted to mention an interesting fact. When insulin resistance is kept under control, laser hair removal will work for most women who have received this diagnosis. When insulin resistance, and thus male hormone levels, are out of control, no amount of hair removal will ever prove effective. Talk about an incentive! Keep up your wonderful column!
best,
Corey
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