Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Survey Says...

So, I had my infertility appointment with my doctor today. Here is what I found out...

He did some blood work and an ultrasound. I love him, I thought this was going to be more of a consultation, but he jumped right in! The blood work isn't back yet, but he thinks I have some form of Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome, or PCOS. Basically, it can do all kinds of things, cause acne, hair loss, hair growth, insulin problems, late ovulaiton, irregular cycles, etc. He thinks that while I do ovulate, I ovulate too late in my cycle (more like day 20 instead of 14) to produce a good quality egg.
PCOS effects the endocrine system, which can mess up insulin production, which, in turn can disrupt ovulation. So, he put me on a couple medications. The first one is a metformin, which is actually used to treat diabetes. I don't have that, but he thinks my insulin is too high, which the bloodwork can confirm, which makes me ovulate too late. So, by taking this, it will lower my insulin production, and cause me to ovulate sooner.
The second one is Femara, which is a fertility drug. If you've ever heard of Clomid, it's similar to that. It contains estrogen. He thinks I might produce too much testosterone, which is common with PCOS and late ovulation. So, this should make me have a more regular 28 day cycle and ovulate sooner. I have regular cycles now, but they are more like 34 days instead of the average 28.
So, I start the metformin tomorrow and take it every day. The Femara I take days 4-8 of my cycle, and then we are to time intercourse, starting on day 10 up through ovulation. I have to come back in on February 20 to get an ultrasound and make sure it isn't thinning the lining of my uterus and that there aren't 1200 eggs in there!
He said it's one of those things, that becase I am healthy, I have regular cycles, even though I ovulate late. However, if I were to gain 20 or 30 pounds, I might jump to 60-90 day cycles. The later the ovulation, the worse your chance of getting pregnant.
So, this is the plan for now, to try this for a few months and see what happens. He isn't recommend Brent get any testing for now, since he thinks this is the problem. I about crapped my pants when I picked up the prescription, though. For 15 pills of Femara ( 3 months supply) it was $208!! Sheesh, it better work.
All thoughts and prayers are still appreciated. I really hope this will be the solution for us!

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