confused pcos

[helsta]

I have recieved my results from the bloodwork done due to repeated miscarriages (3 in 1 year). All results came back normal except for my hormone levels which are slightly raised (eg testosterone). Gyno has said that he is diagosing it as pcos. He has told me to take 100mg of asprin per day (I dont have a clotting disease) and has said that next time I get pregnant to go straight there and he will put me on hormones,I asked if progesterone was one of them and he said yes. I thought pcos had problems ovulating and getting pregnant, I dont have problems getting pregnant I have problems maintaining pregnancy after 6 weeks.Does anyone know if there is a posibnliity that by taking hormones this will stop me miscarrying. He sid I only have mild pcos, but I am very confused and scared. Has anyone else had these results, I though you had to go on hormones before you get pregnant not when you find out you are pregnant. Could someone please explain any of this too me.

Thankyou so much for your time and advice

[IWantToBeAMom]

If you have problems keeping the pg, then maybe your progesterone levels aren't staying elevated after you become pg.  This is why you would need to have progesterone supplements after you become pg.  Many women need this type of hormone assistance.  What happens is in the very beginning you get pg and everything is going fine, and then your hcg rises but your progesterone takes a nose-dive and you miscarry because it is essential to maintain a good progesterone level.  You can easily get progesterone supplements and it might help...this is what your doctor is suspecting as the problem.



Good luck!

[helsta]

Thankyou for responding to me, is lack of progesterone a sympton of pcos, as he said that my hormone levels were high. Thankyou anyway for answering me, it has made me feel a little better. I know that I sound silly but I just dont know what I would do if I tried again and had the 4th miscarriage in 1.5 years.

[NervousDadToBe]

Get a new Dr, and get a 2nd opinion.

[Stacie30]

I have PCOS and as a result have done A LOT of research on it. The strange thing about PCOS is that it doesn't affect all women the same way. It tends to manifest in your mid to late twenties and get progressively worse.  Symptoms range from infertility, not ovulating, missed or irregular periods, increased inappropriate hair growth (neck, chin, chest, etc.) skin tags, depression, stretch mark type marks on breasts and underarms, slight yellow discoloration around the neck (looks like you didn't wash), obesity, diabetes, and an increased risk of miscarriage.



Not all women get all symptoms but you tend to get more as you get older. My guess is your doctor is correct. PCOS is caused by a hormone imbalance which can lead to a shorter luteal phase if you are lucky enough to ovulate at all. shorter luteal phase leads to a chance the eggs you release aren't matured properly and that when you do conceive your progesterone level will be too low to sustain a pregnancy. Women with PCOS have up to a 45% rate of miscarriage (one study shows 35% but that still sucks). The medication metformin (brand name glucophage) when taken before pregnancy and during your first trimester has shown to reduce the risk of miscarriage in women with PCOS to 5-10% (which is the normal risk range).



In my early 20's I had 2 children without event. When I was 27 I started trying for baby #3 and had trouble conceiving. It took 3 1/2 years to get pregnant. That pregnancy ended in miscarriage at 12 weeks (fetus died at 8 weeks but my body didn't know it). As you can imagine I was devastated so I went to my OBGYN and he diagnosed PCOS. It took 18 months to get pregnant again. This time I was on Metformin and once I got pregnant I was on progesterone and Metformin for the first 14 weeks.  I should also say that I was on the South Beach Diet (which helps level the hormone levels in women with PCOS) for a cycle before my pregnancy... anyhow- I just had a healthy happy baby boy 2 months ago so there is definitely hope.  Listen to your doctor, ask him about Metformin and as soon as you figure out you are pregnant go on progesterone supplements. :) If you have any other questions please let me know. I'd like to think I didn't learn all of this stuff just for myself. LOL :)

[first time mommy]

I also have PCOS. When I was first diagnosed 4.5 years ago, my hormones were all out of wack and indicated that I wasn't ever ovulating. My periods were so irregular. 2 years ago I went on the South Beach diet and lost 25 lbs and exercise regularly. I got pregnant all by myself in September and now am 8 weeks pregnant. It was the first time we tried. I'm saying all this because of the insulin resistance with PCOS. Most women with this condition will be predisposed to being overweight and it sticks because we have to work extra hard to keep the weight off. I really don't enjoy exercise, but if it keeps my hormones in check then it is worth it. Seriously, the diet and exercise really works for this condition.

[wondering1967]

I am 38 years old and I had a miscarriage back in May and a d&c. My dr said that when we became pregnant again, he would start me on hcg injections to force my body to create my own progesterone. He was convinced that at my age, my progesterone levels were not consistent and felt that it could have contributed to my m/c.



I couldn't find much research on this, so I asked him for more info. Apparently the hcg injections keep you from having to take synthetic progesterone because your body is creating its own in response to the increased hcg.





I am now 10 weeks pg with TWINS! I have gotten the shot once a week for the last 8 weeks. Now the down side is that I can't monitor my hcg levels, but as my dr said, twins will keep them artificially high anyway. We decided to continue with the injections to try and eliminate one potential m/c cause.



Don't know if this info is helpful, but I kinda liked the idea of creating my own progesterone instead of receiving synthetic stuff.