Back In The (Chemical) Saddle Again

Anyone else out there have PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome)? Let me tell you, it's fun times. Periods are anybodies guess as to when or where or IF they will show up. Pregnancy...it's dicey, maybe yes, maybe no, depending on if your body feels like ovulating. Extra weight, extra acne, extra hair...all part of the package. Really, if you are looking for more ways to be neurotic about yourself, this syndrome has something for everyone.

I've had very active (by that I mean, symptomatic) PCOS since I hit puberty. I went years (I'm not kidding) without a period. Now, I know that sounds like heaven to some, and I wasn't exactly complaining about missing Auntie Flo, but...not real healthy, ya know? So, anyway, when I was approaching 30 and began thinking about (ok, freaking out about) wanting kids and realizing that my time was limited if I wanted to have more than one kid prior to turning 35 (the big "advanced maternal age" limit when all the scary shit happens or at least that's what they tell you) I decided that, obviously, to be able to get pregnant, I would probably need to do something about the lack of period/ovulation stuff.

So, I entered the fun, fun land of Infertility Treatments. Luckily for me, I found a doctor who didn't tell me to "try for a year on your own and then come back and we'll do some testing" (I would have kicked him so it hurt, I swear). He was very compassionate and started me on treatments right away. "Treatments" meaning, mostly, medications. Turns out, long story short, that on top of having PCOS, which messed up all my lady hormones, I had a orange-sized tumor attached to my left ovary, which was crowding everything and I never would have gotten pregnant without having it removed. So that year would have just been for the benefit of my heartache and stress. So, thanks, Dr. Shaw, for being awesome.

Now, if you have ever even looked at my blog, then you know this story has a happy ending. I did get pregnant, had a mostly uneventful pregnancy, with the exception of having to take progesterone supplements for the first trimester (vag. suppositories...ewww.) and wound up with the coolest, cutest, sweetest girl around, my G. I stopped taking medication during and after my pregnancy. The primary medication is Glucophage, or metformin, which is an insulin sensitizer, and please, God, don't make me go into all the details of why I have to take a diabetes medication for cystic ovaries or I will have to stab myself in the eye so I have an excuse to run away. Google it if you want the whole shebang. Suffice it to say, it works. And, it helps me lose weight...B-O-N-U-S!

Lately, though I have been having my cycles regularly, (yay? shit?...it's complicated) I have noticed that the time span in between them is getting, gradually, longer and longer. 30 days, 33 days, 37 days, 45 days...not a good sign. And the weight, oh the weight. It all settles right around my waist, which is oh so attractive. So, back to the OB/Gyn I went on Monday. I mentioned the ever expanding cycle, and he put me right back on metformin. And, to boot, I mentioned (for good measure, I really wanted that medication) that we are thinking about thinking about trying for another kid in 6 months or so. So he put me on folic acid, too.

I'm happy to be taking the meds again. It will help with my cycles, my weight, my exhaustion level. I wish I didn't have to be medicated for the rest of my life, with the threat of developing Type II Diabetes in the future, too. But I am so glad that I have a doctor who listens and cares. I wish my daughter didn't have to worry about dealing with these same issues in her future, but it looks like she probably will. But I am glad that her doctor caught her symptoms so early so we can monitor them and help her. And I wish both of our ovaries would just work right, not that it's that simple, but still...But I am so glad that we live in an age where there is help, and that I was able to conceive and have my daughter. And that I might get to do it again (though I am still ambivilant about that...we'll see.) Oh, and I promise, when the time comes, I will not turn this into a TTC blog all obsessed with my lady parts and such...I've done that, not doing it again (I hope, you'll keep me to it, right? Thanks.)