[For those of you not familiar with this condition, please see the PCOS links section.  There are many great sites on the web that can cover the theories on causation, symptoms, and treatment of PCOS.]

I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) over 15 years ago.  As those of you who have this condition may know, if you have it, you may have always had it.  Having heard that there were some new treatments being tried, I stated to search the web.  I found a great deal more information than I expected, and I wanted to use this opportunity to share it with others.

The problems with infertility due to PCOS have been widely covered on the Internet, so (other than providing some links), I won't go into that problem here.  My husband and I are in our 40's, and have only been married for several years.  Having kids wouldn't be in our future even if I didn't have PCOS.  I will admit to wishing for a child a bit every now and then, but I know that it isn't going to happen.  My heart truly goes out to those folks who are struggling with infertility, though.  I can't even imagine how hard it would be.  I didn't think I'd ever find a husband, and I know how I ached to feel loved and cared for by someone.  Wanting a child must be even more painful.

My struggles with PCOS center around the hyperinsulinemia and other hormone related problems.  I have reactive hyperglycemia due to the excessive amounts of insulin my body produces.  I am insulin resistant. Until I was put on medication to treat the insulin resistance, I felt hungry almost all the time, and a lot of the time I experienced the shaking, sweating, and irritability that hypoglycemia causes.  I am very overweight (that's why I thought I'd never find someone to love me!), and losing weight has been a horrific struggle.  I have been trying, yet again, with success!

I have been taking spironolactone to prevent the hirsutism since I was diagnosed with PCOS.  I am also on birth control pills (Ovral), because without them I never have periods.  With them, I have very short periods--usually less than a day or two.  I have been on the spironolactone and birth control pills for nearly 20 years.

In the last two years, my gynecologist and family practice doctor have worked together to treat my insulin resistance and polycystic ovarian syndrome. I was on Metformin for a while, which is now being used more widely for PCOS, but had to stop it due to gastrointestinal problems (OK, it caused me to have horrible diarrhea!). We then switched to Avandia, and did much better. However, I gained a great deal of weight. So, when they came out with a different formulation of Metformin, I went back on it. I've been on it for about a month, and it's causing the same old GI problems, including nausea and diarrhea, but I haven't been gaining weight like I did.

OK, that's enough for my story!  On to some useful information!  

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