Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Treating PCOS... Naturally? Pregnitude, clean eating and exercise!

Prior to getting pregnant, I felt there was only one way to deal with my Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome... Medication.  The only two options that were given to me were to "get on birth control pill" if not TTC, or "take Metformin" if I was planning to conceive.  YIKES!  Is our only answer?  We have to stay on medication the rest of our lives or until we hit menopause?

Breast feeding had taken care of my symptoms for the most part.  My skin was still clear and I was losing weight.  If fact I had lost ALL of my baby weight by the time the boys were five months old!  However, in the back of my mind, I knew once I stopped at had two choices, get back on Metformin or BCP's.  I chose neither!

My two main PCOS symptoms are acne and irregular periods.  I have never been over weight however at times, like when my PCOS is in full force I do find it harder to lose weight if I gained or I will gain easy.

That being said, I had decided to research Natural remedies.  I don't want to be on medication.  Now that I am 31, I don't think it is wise to be on BCP, since it can lead to blood clots.  Metformin is a DRUG, that can't be good for long term use either.  Especially because it is know to cause Vitamin B12 deficiency.  I can only imagine what it does to our liver (just speculating!).

I found a supplement called Myo-Inositol.  There have been numerous studies that have shown very positive effects on women who have PCOS.  Some of these include more regular cycles, less acne, reduce miscarriage rates, improve ovary function, better egg quality, etc.  Even though C and I are not TTC, I am going to be taking the supplement called Pregnitude, which you do not need a prescription for.  It has the most mg/dose that I could find on the market and seems to be very easy to take.  I will be taking it every AM/PM for the next six months and will be updating my progress.

The greatest sign will be my cycle lengths.  With Metformin, my shortest cycle was, I believe, 39 days. Normally I range from 50-80.

My Current cycles Post Breastfeeding

First- 35 days
Second- 44 days (this is when I realized I needed to do something!)
Third- still waiting... I'm CD34 


My Plan

1. Eat clean. This is not a diet.  Its how I CHOOSE to eat and live my life. Its how my family eats.
2. Exercise. I workout 3-4 days a week. Three days circuit training, 1 day jogging. With added family walks/bike rides
3. Pregnitude. Take every morning and evening.
4. Document progress

I am looking forward to this journey and hoping for a positive outcome.  Although we are not TTC, we are not preventing. I hope you follow along! :)


12 comments:

Neamorfnost said...

Before i went on fertility treatment i tried TCM and was taking Inositol. I read it also needs to be taken with vitamin B-12. Another thing i was taking and it really helped to regulate my period was Vitex.

KC said...

It would be nice to go the natural route. I don't have many options with my endometriosis either.

Laura said...

I will be following along to see how it goes for you. :] Natural routes may take longer and are more "work," but they always seem better in the long run. Hope it goes well!

My (In)fertile Confessions said...

I too took vitex along with a whole list of holistic remedies. What gives me hope is finding that RE's are prescribing it to patients after the positive outcomes found through a study on pcos women in Italy. I like that doctors, not just naturopath's are using it. Like with anything else there is no"magic pill." I believe in conjunction with proper diet/exercise I may have better results. Fingers crossed! :)

My (In)fertile Confessions said...

Yes it will take longer. They say 3 to 6 months. But Because we are not TTC at the moment I am not in any rush and I can give my body time :) on the up side if we do have a positive outcome... Better control of symptoms, maybe I can give someone hope :)

My (In)fertile Confessions said...

Oh ya... Pregnitude has 400 mg of folic acid already in it! Which is a B vitamin:)

Stephanie said...

Interesting, I haven't heard of any of these, but I can't say I've looked into it too much either. I started Metformin a few months ago, but I am not consistent with taking it. I would love to take something other than medication to shorten my cycles and make me O - I'll have to check into them. Thanks for writing about it! I hope it works for you.

My (In)fertile Confessions said...

You are welcome Stephanie! I hope it works too! Metformin did work for me to shorten my cycles and reduce acne, but I had to be on 2250mg a day! I knew when it started working bc my skin would start to clear up. As with anything, its all about consistency! ;-)

Stephanie said...

Wow that is a lot every day! I usually just take 500 mg and sometimes 1000 mg, even though the doc told me to work up to 1500 mg, but it seems to be working, and even that low dose sure does a number on my stomach.

My (In)fertile Confessions said...

Are you taking the extend release... Metformin ER? I believe that is what it is called. If not ask your dr for that kind if you are having stomach issues. I had no problems with that kind and I took them all at the same time in the evening :)

Jos said...

A fellow blogger sent me a link to your site (I just started taking Myo-Inositol and I think I'll switch to pregnitude when this batch runs out). I look forward to following your results as well!!

Anonymous said...

i am 37....I have an irregular period(come on menstrual like once maybe twice a year), obesity & facial hair for years.... I've been diagnosed with PCOS I really want to have a baby so my dr just started me taking pregnitude on Friday...I use to take metformin but wasn't consistent..... should I take 1500mg metformin with the pregnitude

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