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Best birth control as treatment for PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome)?

I am currently on YAZ along with a metformin treatment for insulin resistance. I have been taking YAZ for more than 2 years now, and once I started I became so fatigued I am incapable of performing simple tasks. I can sleep for 12 hours + and continue to be tired afterwards. During the school year, I manage to stay awake during school, but once I get home I will take a 4 hour nap and then sleep for 6 more hours during the night. Another problem I have with my PCOS is weight gain, which has been a problem for me since I began to go through puberty (around the time I was diagnosed with PCOS). Any ideas of a better birth control regiment for me? Thanks for any usable information.

I too have PCOS and have been treated with these medicines also. It may or may not be the Yaz doing this. Anyway, I was having the same symptoms and a thyroid problem showed up in my blood work.

This is what my doctor told me. I could have always had a slight thyroid problem and it is just now showing up in my blood work. A thyroid problem can contribute to PCOS. I have had my thyroid checked at least a dozen times over the past 15 years, so even if you have had it checked within the last year, I would suggest getting it checked again.

To answer your original question, I am now taking Loestrin FE 1/20 and I love it. However, everyone is different.

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Will I Lose or Gain Weight Taking Birth Control/Progesterone?

I’m sixteen years old, and was recently diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I’m still kind of confused about it.
My gynecologist told me that I have two treatment options: the birth control pill or progesterone.
One of my main concerns involves weight loss/gain on these pills.
I know that insulin resistance is directly associated with PCOS, but I’m not overweight. I eat healthy, I exercise regularly, I’m in decent shape.

So I’m curious- could I still have insulin resistance, and could I lose weight taking either of these treatments because of my diet/exercise routine? Or would I still be at risk for weight gain?

I was worried about this too when I first went on birth control. What my doctor told me is that the weight gain often doesn’t have anything to do with the pill itself, it just means that if you’re on birth control, it means you’re probably hanging out with guys more and, thus, eating like a guy. Any weight gain directly from the progesterone shouldn’t be more than one or two pounds and that can be easily taken care of by exercise

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Will Metformin work for me? Why won’t my doctor won’t prescribe it?

I’m a 24 year old female. I had a blood test done recently and my insulin level was higher than normal. My LDL cholesterol and sodium were also borderline high. I love food especially carbs. Sometimes I will eat a whole tub of ice cream or a whole pizza. I also eat at least 10-15 candy bars a week. I also get no exercise whatsoever. My weight is normal though, I’m 5’0 & 102 lbs. My doctor says I’m insulin resistant and pre diabetic. I have a strong family history of diabetes. Both my parents have it even though they’re in great shape and skinny but like me, they have a bad diet, and are physically sedentary. I know the treatment for insulin resistance is Metformin but my doctor will not prescribe it to me because my BMI is normal. My blood sugar levels are normal too. But I’m worried about getting early diabetes and thats whats going to happen to me if I don’t do anything about it. Would Metformin work for me?

Metformin hydrochloride does not reduce insulin resistance. Your question should be whether or not you should be started on a medication at this time. I do not use terms such as pre-diabetic or borderline diabetic as I believe that these terms miss the point entirely. There is an approximately 10 year lead in time of damage to multiple organ systems before the glucose becomes elevated. The loss of insulin producing or beta cells in the pancreas is the most often discussed but the problem is far more pervasive. Pancreatic alpha cells do not ‘sense’ circulating blood glucose correctly. The liver does not store glucose properly. Glucagon levels are altered which may cause the liver to release glucose. Insulin resistance most expecially is muscle cells is seen as you have alluded to. Incretins in the gastrointestinal tract do not function properly. There are further flaws but I think this will give you an idea that there is a lot going on in your system. I do not know if your physician measured a C-Peptide or an insulin level but if either is elevated it suggests that you are a type 2 diabetic. Early on type 2 diabetics may not require pharmacologic intervention. This is because taking medications may drop the glucose too low. Also even if medications are utilized they will not work as well unless you work with them. This means a change in diet and daily exercise. I tend to sub-type type 2 diabetes as 2A and 2B. 2A is a type 2 diabetic with a body mass index less than 25 kg/M2 which is your case. 2B is a type 2 diabetic with a body mass index above 30 kg/M2. Although 2As and 2Bs share similar flaws they tend to be biased in different directions as to which flaws pre-dominate. When pharmacologic intervention becomes necessary I prefer to start 2As on insulin and skip oral medications. For 2Bs I typically begin with metformin hydrochloride, add pioglitazone (Actos) when necessary, and finally add sitagliptin phosphate (Januvia) when necessary after which I add basal insulin and finally bolus insulin as required. Would metformin work for you? Without knowing your fasting glucose, post-prandial (after meal) glucose, and your 90 day mean (average) glucose it is not possible to say whether or not you require pharmacologic intervention. If you do there are many treatment options as suggested above. Whether or not pharmacologic intervention is required a change in diet with the addition of exercise would appear to be essential. The younger the age at diagnosis the longer a person will be exposed to the negative health consequences of diabetes. I hope that you will take this very seriously and not simply expect that a pill will compensate for a poor lifestyle. Even when well controlled diabetes remains a progressive disorder. I wish you the very best of health and may God bless.

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i have no insurance, doctor told me to get pregnant anyways? is it immoral?

I am 21 years old, married for 2 years, and still trying to conceive baby number 1 after 4 miscarriages. I have pcos. my doctor is ready to start me on provera followed by clomid, then use progesterone treatments, so that I can get pregnant. So far she has given me discounts on all my medical care through a special program she runs through her practice (for instance my pelvic exam/pap test was only $12, when it is normally over $100). and so far my husband and i have done ok paying out of pocket. and the provera/clomid is affordable. anyways she knows i have no insurance, my husband works full time in a restaurant waiting tables brings in about $1,800 a month and they do not offer insurance that is affordable and I run a daycare out of our home and earn around $2,000 a month. So we make too much for government insurance, and we cannot get private insurance because i have tons of preexisting conditions (i have the pcos, insulin resistance, crohns disease, asthma, mild endometriosis, and am overweight). the premium quotes i have been getting are over $500 a month! my doctor told me this, "go ahead and get pregnant. when you are pregnant you will automatically qualify for healthy start/healthy family’s".

well this makes me feel weird. i feel like she is telling me to purposefully manipulate and use the government. i mean knowingly getting pregnant without insurance because they will have to cover me. at the same time i see no other options. is it morally wrong?

btw as i know i will be asked or criticized if i dont explain, i have to try to get pregnant young because of how severe my pcos is and because of my endometriosis. she said if i do not have a baby by 25 i may never have one, and my husband and i actually want more than 1 kid.

It’s not wrong because your reason is a medical one. You are not taking advantage of any programs, you are a model for what those programs are for.
Someone who has a child without insurance for the sole purposes of collecting money and other benefits is someone who is taking advantage. You are doing this to fulfill a dream, an opportunity that may not be available to you later on.

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I take my thyroid medication, but it doesn’t help me?

I’ve been on it for a couple years now. I pretty much have every symptom of it. I’m 16, and I’m still having the same symptoms I’ve always had:

weight gain,
fatigue,
(I have migraines, but I don’t think that’s related)
Irregular periods, varying from 3-7 months or so, always has been like this, since I started at age 11
Lots of hair loss
and some other ones.

But I’ve been on medication for years, the blood tests show my levels are normal now. I’ve also been diagnosed with insulin resistance, about four months ago, I’m taking medication for that, and have shown SLIGHT improvement.

I take 100mcg Levothyroxine (I’ve been on synthroid too, same thing)
and 500mg metformin for the insulin resistance.

I’ve been tested for pcos and a pheochromocytoma recently,
My blood pressure has jumped up even though I lost ten pounds after starting treatment for insulin resistance.

Why doesn’t the thyroid medication help me? I’m living and avoiding, and expecting to feel better, but I honestly don’t feel any better than if I would stop taking it.
Hypothyroid, I forgot to mention.
Hypothyroid, I forgot to mention.

Look into celiac disease. All the symptoms you mentioned are associated with it. Insulin resistance, PCOS, hypothyroidism, weight gain, fatigue, migraines, hair loss, and a ton of others are all well known symptoms of it. I had all of the ones you mentioned. It’s basically a reaction to gluten in your diet, so the cure if a gluten free diet. You can get tested, but I personally think if you have symptoms, the best test is a gluten free diet to see how you feel. The reason for this is that most folks feel relief before too long on the diet and the testing has a high number of false negatives. But if you decide to get tested, make sure you don’t start eating gluten free before you do because you will cause a false negative.

General information:

http://www.csaceliacs.org/celiac_symptoms.php

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/

migraines (I haven’t had even one since I went gluten free!):

http://www.celiac.com/categories/Celiac-Disease-Research:-Associated-Diseases-and-Disorders/Migraine-Headaches-and-Celiac-Disease/

PCOS (again, it disappeared when I went gf and I conceived the first month I even tried!):

http://www.bellaonline.org/articles/art1507.asp

Weight gain(lost 40 pounds when I went gf):

http://www.celiac.com/categories/Celiac-Disease-Research:-Associated-Diseases-and-Disorders/Obesity,-Overweight-&-Celiac-Disease/

Hypothyroidism (didn’t go away completely, but my thyroid meds had to be lowered when I went gf)

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/latestresearch/a/celiac.htm

Depression:
http://www.celiac.com/categories/Celiac-Disease-Research:-Associated-Diseases-and-Disorders/Depression-and-Celiac-Disease/

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