Like all prepubescent girls, I awaited the arrival of AF with much excitement and trepidation. While all my friends were getting their first visit, the years went by and I was starting to feel left out. At the age of 13, she finally decided to make her appearance. I was THRILLED, yeah...that sounds crazy, but I was a "woman" now! Little did I know that this would be the beginning of my IF troubles. I never, ever, ever have had a regular cycle. I went about 1.5 years of having periods every few months before my mom thought it'd be a good idea to see a gyn.
So here I am 15 years old, going to the gynecologist for a "chat." Well the chat turned into an exam and a prescription of BCPs. The first 3 months on them were horrible. My hormones were sooo out of whack and I literally bled the entire time I was on them. I was taken off of them and within 3 months had gained approximately 50lbs without changing anything in my diet. WEIRD! This alerted the gyn that maybe there was something more going on. I was sent to an RE and was given an internal ultrasound (NOT FUN) and had some blood work done. The results.........................PCOS!!!!
Basically what this means is that the hormones I need to trigger my ovaries to produce a "good egg" are not working properly....which in turn causes me to not ovulate. The follicles that surround the eggs just get stuck in the ovaries - instead of releasing the egg, creating cysts.
On top of the PCOS, I have insulin resistance. This means that my body is producing more insulin than it really needs. The insulin receptors are not working properly and can't pick up on the normal levels of insulin.....my brain is saying "make more insulin" but it really doesnt need it. As a result of that, my body turns carbs and refined sugars into fat really quickly....and being overweight helps perpetuate the PCOS....so it's one big lovely cycle of craptasticness!
My mother also had this IF issue. It took her 10 years...yes YEARS, to get pregnant with me. I know medical science has come so far in the past 30 years but it still feels like such an uphill battle.
Fast forward to August 9, 2008......I married Chris, my best friend! We just celebrated our first anniversary and can't believe it's already been a year! In May of this year we decided that we would officially start ttc. It's now August and no luck so far. In the beginning of May my gyn put me on 1000 mg of Metformin (used to regulate insulin levels). I went for my 3 month follow up blood work today, so hopefully in a few days I will have the next step of our ttc plan underway.
Thanks for coming along on this trip down Memory Lane. :)
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