Friday, March 15th, 2013. CD3.
So with this “lean PCOS” diagnosis, comes a whole line of decisions yet to be made.
On the one hand, I am having acupuncture, and am using a line of Chinese herbs to help regulate my cycle (which is regular in its timing, but irregular in its awful, terrible, painful heaviness). My acupuncturist is skeptical of some of the Western treatments for PCOS, and feels that since I am of a healthy weight, and am maintaining a healthy diet, that she can regulate my cycle and hormones to a natural balance with the use of herbs and acupuncture alone.
On the other hand, my new RE has offered Metformin. While I don’t appear to be insulin-resistant, there are many studies showing that Met can help regulate the balance of androgens and estrogens, which is a large part of my problem. My testosterone levels are a bit high, and my estrogens are a bit low, which I’m sure is causing crappy eggs to emerge. The husband’s swimmers are turning up their nose at said crappy eggs, or they are attempting to fertilize and failing because they are just so damaged.
Metformin could help over the course of a few months… And so could the herbs and acupuncture combo. What about combining the Eastern and Western treatments? What about adding Pregnitude, which sounds like a more natural alternative to Met? What about adding supplements to my already hefty list of pills? I’ve heard good things about the combination of CoQ10, myo-inositol (one of the ingredients of Pregnitude), and L-Arginine?
If I was younger, I would try each for four to six months until one of them worked, but let’s face it – I’m not getting any younger, and neither are my eggs.
Oy. So many choices.
I sometimes wish that I was the type of person I used to be. The type of person who could just take the doctor’s orders without question and proceed happily.
Not so. Not anymore.
I’m the person who asks questions with every recommendation. I’m the person who brings such a disturbing amount of knowledge into the exam room that the doctor asks what she can do for me, rather than telling me what I’m going to do.
Now, instead of orders, I have options.
Rather than making up my mind, I am going to the internet for help.
I know we talked about this recently, but can anyone out there shed any light on lean PCOS and the effectiveness of Metformin vs. Pregnitude vs. TCM and acupuncture vs. egg-quality-improvement supplement cocktails?
Help, internet! Help!!
