Greetings all! I am so glad I found this forum! It's great to finally feel like I can relate. I have been overweight ever since I can remember and have always had excessive hair also - much like my father...I thought I just took after him. When I got to my teenage years, the years came but my period didn't. I had 3 or 4 during my teen years and the family dr told my mom not to worry about it. Then I was told I had PCO in my early 20s, now 35.
Now have been married 4 years and we are trying to have a baby, and you can imagine how that has been. Have gone through 2 rounds of clomiphene/dexameth and have been on glucophage for 2 years. My gyno keeps saying he is sure I will get pregnant... but I haven't detected ovulation at any point.
So, due to other health concerns, something just clicked and I decided that I needed to "do Atkins". And it has been so natural - it just feels right for me, and my dr is ok with it.
I have lost 15 pounds in the last 3 weeks and much more in inches... didn't measure before I started so not sure of exact amount... hopefully this will help.
Does anyone have any stories (success hopefully )that relate?
I am really looking forward to sharing with all of you.

Your story is a lot like mine! I'm not trying to conceive yet, but probably within a year or two. And Atkins has felt really right for me. I havent' lost as much as you, but I have a hypothyroid as well (whee fun).

PCOS is so complicated, so changes take a while, but I'm willing to bet you'll ovulate/get a period within a few weeks. I recently had the first normal period I think I've ever had, after six weeks of Atkins. With your more rapid weight loss, perhaps sooner.

I'm on metformin (Glucophage) as well - I think it helps a lot, especially combined with low-carbing and lots of exercise.

Good luck and good health to you!

Welcome Karen,

I am sorry to hear that you, too suffer from PCOS, but you really are in the right place to learn lots of stuff.

My story sounds very similar to yours. I started getting my periods much later than my peers, and even then, very sporatically. Maybe 4 per year, until I went on BCP, which made me regular.

I was on BCP for 10+ years, and when I went off, after getting marrried, and deciding to conceive, that is when I began to have the majority of the difficulty.

My ob-gyn started me on clomid, but it did not work. THIS RARELY WORKS FOR STUBBORN CASES OF PCOS.

After that, I was referred to a reproductive endocrinologist. This doctor started me on dex daily, on clomid for days 5 thru 9 of my period, and ovulation induction (OI) meds following that. The OI meds were injectible.

Although aggressive, this is the fastest way and most successful way to conceive. I have two beautiful children conceived this way.

After the birth of my last, I decided that I wanted to be healthy, and I began taking metformin and lowcarbing. I have not been consistent, but I have had success.

For the last 2 months, I have taken 1500mg of metformin every day, and committed to a LC lifestyle. I have not yet had ovulation or a period. I recently had to take Provera just to get a period. I guess my body is just a little more resistant.

However, when I Low Carbed last year, I did get several periods that occured spontaneously (read w/o provera). In fact I actually had ONE cycle that was exactly 28 days. U nfortunately for me, I stopped LCing after that and my periods quickly vanished again.

I would strongly suggest that you begin working with a reproductive endocrinologist as opposed to your ob-gyn. With the help of a good RE, and with metformin, and a proper LC diet, I am sure that you will have great success.

The reason I suggest that you work w/ an RE is for several reasons:

* An RE will test you throughout your cycle and can determine unequovicably (as opposed to charting temps) whether or not you are ovulating.

* If diet and metformin alone are not working, you can begin other processes

* Additionally, many times PCOSers have leutal phase defects, which would go undected without the assistance of a skilled RE. A Leutal phase defect means that you don't have a progesterone surge (after the estrogen surge). This is crucial to sustain a pregancy. W/O the proper levels of progesterone, a fertilized embryo will not implant into the uterus.

Goodluck with your efforts. I am SURE that you will be successful. Please keep us posted.

-Beth

This was one of my problems, and I had to have supplemental, injectible progesterone throughout my first trimester with BOTH pregnancies.

Read my success story & check out my web site!!Hope you find the Hope I have!!