Posted by Ellen Bender on April 24, 19100 at 09:39:47:
In Reply to: Am I at the end of the road? posted by Naomi on April 19, 19100 at 21:47:10:
Dr. Stein is right. 28 is too young to feel that you are at the end of the road. I had my first child at the age of 37 after 5 1/2 year of infertility treatment. Like you, I have PCOS, have very irregular cycles and am about 20 pounds overweight. I was also "clomid resistant." My question for you is what kind of protocol has your RE used with you. In my case, I had seen one RE who put me on a standard protocol of 2 amps of pergonal a day (this was back in the early to mid 90s when pergonal was just about the only game in town). I did this for years with no success. I then went to my current RE, who put me on a low dose protocol (one amp a day). It takes a lot longer but I only developed one or two dominant follicles. I got pregnant on the very first cycle on low dose gonadotropins. You may already have tried the low dose protocol bu if you haven't, you should talk to your doctor about it or about possibly using another drug. I know that my doctor said that he has found that his patients with PCOS can be extremely sensitive to purified FSH. You ask whether PCOS ever "corrects itself." It's a good question. There is no known "cure" for PCOS but certain things can minimize symptoms. For example, diet and exercise. Studies have shown that a weight loss of as little as 5 to 10% can restore ovulation in women with PCOS. I know that in my case, I started a low carb diet about three months ago and lost 10 - 15 pounds and have been having regular ovulatory cycles since then. You may want to join us for our Diet and PCOS chat with nutritionist, Martha McKittrick next Monday, May 1st at 8 pm. Go to the AIA homepage at americaninfertility.org This doesn't offer you much solace right now, but I also had ovulatory cycles for several months after my daughter was born even though I was breast feeding at the time. Also, not to get too personal, but I hope that you are continuing to have sexual relations with your husband during your "down time" between cycles. I got pregnant three years ago a month after a failed pergonal cycle. We surmised that even though the cycle failed, something about the pergonal may have kicked my ovaries into gear. In terms of IVF, if you choose to go down that road at some point, take a look at the article by Drs. Steven Spandorfer and Zev Rosenwaks in the April issue of the AIA newsletter about IVF for PCOS patients. It discusses a protocol that they have used at Cornell with much success (but I agree with Dr. Stein that IVF is not your only option at this point.) Once again, don't give up hope and please feel free to post any additional questions for the board or our two physician moderators. Good luck, Ellen Bender, AIA's PCOS Center