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Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Community

PCOS is a hormonal imbalance involving irregular periods, infertility, and ... more

Reply: Newly diagnosed with PCOS

Not everyone PCOS becomes diabetic, but in my family where insulin resistance is...

Posted by Thistledown1973

8 Replies | Reply | Watch This DiscussionReport This| Share this:Newly diagnosed with PCOS Not everyone PCOS becomes diabetic, but in my family where insulin resistance is...

Reply: PCOS birth control link?

I had irregular periods, facial hair, increased body weight starting at 12. I...

Posted by Thistledown1973

I had irregular periods, facial hair, increased body weight starting at 12. I wasn't diagnosed with PCOS until age 18 when I had gone 3-4 months at a time without periods and had abdominal pain. I was on BCPs for seven years and had regular periods. I went off the BCPs and had irregular periods. I started metformin a number of years later and have regular periods.

BCPs do not cause PCOS. PCOS is an over-production of estrogen by the ovaries, and estrogen is fat-soluble. Because estrogen is fat soluble, the body stores the estrogen in the fat tissue, and when you normally have a dip in estrogen level (which signals the brain to make FSH - follicle stimulating hormone - to ripen an egg), the fat releases some of the excess estrogen into the bloodstream.

If your body releases estrogen into the bloodstream from fat storage, there is rarely/never a significant dip in estrogen level, and the brain will not make FSH to ripen an egg. Clomiphene citrate (Clomid) blocks the estrogen receptors in the brain, so taking Clomid on days 5-9 of the menstrual period creates a PERCEIVED dip in estrogen levels and then FSH causes an egg (or sometimes EGGS) to ripen, which is why people who conceive using Clomid have an increased chance of fraternal twins.

The reason birth control pills are used in PCOS is to keep the uterus from developing endometrial hypeplasia, which can then become uterine cancer.

Metformin increases insulin sensitivity, and this in turn reduces the amount of insulin the body needs to do the same job. Insulin not only transports sugar into the cells, but is responsible for increasing/maintaining fat storage. This is why many insulin-resistant people gain weight; not because they necessarily eat more, but because their body is bent on storing the energy rather than utilizing it.

If you developed PCOS after having taken BCPs for many years, it may be due to insulin resistance that has built over the years, and for most people won't appear as diabetes 2 until they are over 50. Insulin resistance is sometimes genetic (in my family 60% of the women are), and sometimes environmental. There is speculation that refined/processed foods and increased sugar consmption (especially high fructose corn syrup which is hidden in many foods) are part of the problem.View Thread

Posted byThistledown1973

(FromPCOS Support Group)

36 Replies | Reply | Watch This DiscussionReport This| Share this:PCOS birth control link? I had irregular periods, facial hair, increased body weight starting at 12. I...

Reply: BBT question.??.on metformin

I was never able to tell by my temperature; I relied on vaginal secretions and the...

Posted by Thistledown1973

1 Reply | Reply | Watch This DiscussionReport This| Share this:BBT question.??.on metformin I was never able to tell by my temperature; I relied on vaginal secretions and the...

Reply: Advice on taking metformin for PCOS during pregnan...

I took metformin throughout my entire pregnancy (Type 2 diabetes, PCOS) and my son...

Posted by Thistledown1973

2 Replies | Reply | Watch This DiscussionReport This| Share this:Advice on taking metformin for PCOS during pregnancy... I took metformin throughout my entire pregnancy (Type 2 diabetes, PCOS) and my son...

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