Posted by krystina on April 18, 19100 at 03:55:55:
...and to think that I almost missed the article on PCOS in Ladie's Home Journal that provided me with AIA's web site! I have been living with the symptoms of PCOS for almost 16 years now. I can still remember looking in a mirror one day while I was in school (8th grade)and noticing that I had a beard. A few days later I began shaving it. All of my friends got their periods, but mine never came,until it was induced by birth control pills at the age of 17. I soon became obsessed (and still am) to find the answers to what was wrong with me. It seems like I have read almost every medical textbook on the subject. I have suffered in silence my whole life. I have Kaiser medical coverage (HMO) and have fought with them for years to get the medical tests done that are often recommended in the texts. I finally had blood work done in 1997, and although my testosterone levels were high, they still fell in the high end of the "normal range". How high do the testosterone levels need to be to qualify as abnormal??? I have EVERY symptom of PCOS. The doctors I've seen only recommended taking BCPills, which I can't take because when I do, I get horrible migranes. I am interested in learning about treatment with Melformin. Is it utilized to just help women with PCOS get pregnant? or just to tame PCOS symptoms? Since it isn't approved by the FDA for treatment of PCOS, are doctors willing to prescribe it?