Hey PCOSters

[cachcoco]

well thats nice to know! I wonder what the medications did to make you react that way. Its good news though.
How was your christmas?

[Annette]

There's a few steps to the medications for IVF. The first step is to stop ovulation so that they can control when your eggs will come out and how big they will get. So you go on a few weeks of birth control pills (irony! in your case they may have you go longer on those if you have active cysts), then there's an injection series that stops the eggs from ovulating and makes them grow at the same time. So I believe it is the medications that stop the ovulation process that also stop some of the PCOS symptoms.

Our Christmas was pretty mellow, I wasn't really in to seeing too many people since we had just found out about our negative blood test a few days before. But it was nice, just visited family. On Christmas Day, my mom and stepdad took us to a casino, not your conventional Christmas but it was fun to get out and do something different. We're not really into gambling but the buffet there is awesome.

How was your Christmas?

[cachcoco]

our christmas was quiet. I locked the door so relatives couldnt come over! We moved to Wyoming for family but they all turned out to be a huge disappointment. I have been having cyst pain for a week so it wasnt much fun.
I am so sorry for your blood test!
It sounds like what we did for IUI except I didnt need bc pills at all! I do remember being in a ton of pain when they induced ovulation. I am so terrified of this whole process... well of it failing mostly!

[Annette]

Oh I had a lot of pain with our IUI cycles too, I was on Clomid only though. It hurt to walk, I could barely walk. But our ivf cycle was different, there weren't any stabbing pains like the IUI cycles, it was more of like a bloated full feeling or pressure that was tender. And I asked our doctor before we started the ivf cycle if it would be painful and he said it shouldn't be painful.

I believe the reason for the BC pills during IVF is so they can stop ovulation all together and "re-set" your system to produce the eggs on the day that they choose (since most clinics have all their patients on the same cycle to retrieve eggs all during the same week and transfer embryos all on the same week, etc.). With IUI cycles they typically are working with your own natural cycle to help the eggs mature and grow on their own.

I know ivf sounds scary before you try it, don't be scared. I hope when you go through your cycle I can be here for you for support. It really helps to have a support person(s) to vent to or voice concerns to when you're going through the process

[cachcoco]

Thank you so much! This is the only support I really have. I have other friends with pcos and that are struggeling with infertility but they just dont seem to understand this whole process. I hope you are here too!
When we did the last iui we actually stayed in a hotel because we did it two days in a row and its a good thing there is no way I could have made the drive home three hours!!! I couldnt walk or move just like you!
I am still waiting for the doctors note and I figured we could use this years tax return and last years so I will send it in towards the end of January and by then I will have seen the surgeons for all the endo! I finally got my met back today so I am happy about that! I have been feeling like a mad woman!

[Annette]

I know how you feel. I was really in a depressed state before I found support with INCIID. Well I plan on being here as long as my fingers are able to type so I hope that you are here too when you do your cycle

You mentioned that the clinic in Utah had a more affordable option? Do you know what the details of that are?

What dosage of met do you have to take? I totally don't feel normal without it. Do you get high blood sugar or just emotional-type symptoms without it?

Sometimes I just shake my head when I think about the fact that I didn't seriously consider the thought before our ivf cycle that I might have PCOS. I mean how many women in their 30's have glucose intolerance. I always wondered why I had that, since my mid-20's, and it makes total sense now. And I even talked to people who had PCOS and were taking met and I never put two and two together. It just goes to show the difference of going to a specialist I guess, they immediately can see those kinds of things. Oh well, water under the bridge now. Do you know how someone ends up with PCOS? Is it just hereditary?

What happens when they remove the endo, like what is the process like? Does it hurt?

[cachcoco]

http://www.fertilitydr.com/index.html
This is the website for the clinic in Utah! Look under patient info and then treatment cost. It tells you all about it. Basically we could do a single cycle of ivf for about 4,000. I get the emotional symptoms and all I want to do is eat! And of course the much larger cysts.
I am suprised they never diagnosed you either! I was diagnosed for years but never was treated until I saw a specialist! I even had iui and all kinds of stuff but the doctor never put me on met! I am on 2,000 a day! I dont know how one ends up with pcos. I didnt have any symptoms till after the birth of my son and I havent been right since! I think there is a genetic link!
When they remove the endo they go in through my belly button and do it with a lap. It does hurt while healing but not terrible. It is a day surgery unless they have complications. Recovery is about 6 weeks total. If you even think you have endo I would have a lap before you go any further with any kind of treatment. Signs of endo are painful urination and bowl movements esp during menstration. Painful periods.....
Have they said you have endo?

[Annette]

Wow, that is amazing that it's only 4000 for an ivf cycle there! I can't find that option on their website though, where did you see that option?

I have never been diagnosed with endo, but I feel like maybe I have symptoms of a mild case. And a month ago my mom told me that she and my paternal aunt both had endo. And I think endo is something genetic. But I feel normal until period time comes and then I have uncontrollable severe cramps with bowel movement issues and sometimes it feels like I have a bladder infection when I urinate when I'm having my period. The rest of the month I am fine. What do you think, is that similar to things you go through? My doctor said that if I had endo it wouldn't make a difference for our ivf cycle, I'm guessing because my uterus looks normal on ultrasounds? I don't know much about endo.

[cachcoco]

I would bet you have endo. That is exactly what I go through! I think i have heard that before about being pg, but it will still relieve some symptoms to have a lap plus it will keep it from getting worse. It grows every cycle. It can get into your organs and cause all kinds of issues! it cant do anything but help to have a lap and insurance will cover it. Thats just my opinion though. I have had two laps and the relief I have felt after was amazing. Unfortunatly I have aggressive endo and it seems to come back every eight months or so! My endo fused my bladder and uterus to my abdominal wall and caused so much scar tissue my intestines were fused together! they put what they call a cage in the last time to help reduce the amount of scar tissue. I ended up with 9 incisions!! but I also had a narcrotic galbladder at the same time. I was rather ill!

If you go to the options on the left under patient info another list will drop down and it will say treatment costs. Find the one that says income based.
here is a link directly to the page...

http://www.fertilitydr.com/fertility...ment-cost.html

you have to read through everything but there will be a point where it talks about a less monitored ivf cycle for about 5,000. but then you take the discount that they give you and ours was 25% SO IT WAS ABOUT 4,000. We are considering trying to pay for it with income tax money but I dont know. that money could go far.

[Annette]

Do your cramps get better after the lap? That's what I dread mostly is the cramps every month. Sometimes I get so nauseous sick from the pain. In August I got a prescription for Naproxen but sometimes even that doesn't help. I will look into lap then, maybe it will help things. That is so horrible what you have gone through, I am so sorry you have to endure that, I can't imagine how painful all of that must be.

Oh! I see the discounts now. That's really cool. They seem like a really nice clinic, lots of information. Do you know what is included in the cost for the 4000 cycle?

What to do with tax refund money, hmmm. Well what if you apply for the scholarship and see what comes of that and just hold on to the tax refund money until you get a response about whether or not you got the scholarship?

[cachcoco]

you are a smart lady!!!! lol! That is a smashing idea!!!

Yes the cramps get better! The first time I went pee and it didnt hurt I was so happy!!!! So many things changed and stopped hurting. try asking for tramadol. That really helps because it is also an anti-inflamatory. I had to take two at a time but they really worked. I had to take two and a hydrocodone to even make a dent int he pain by the end of the last time! It tells you what is included I think. I dont think meds are but if you get them free from the company you are all set! How far do you live from Utah?

[Annette]

I will have to ask about Tramadol. Hydrocodone is like Vicodin right? Wow, I can't imagine the pain you go through it sounds like you get it a lot worse than I do and I can barely stand it so I don't know how you do it.

It's so interesting, it's like cramps get worse over time. Like 6 years ago I could take one Exedrin or Aleve and be fine all day. Now it's like a two-day saga and it's miserable. I wonder if being on birth control pills had anything to do with the pain being less before? I stopped taking BCP about 4 years ago. I know that BCP helps PCOS but I don't know about endo. Oh and in the past year, I have gotten really heavy periods, do you have that problem?

[cachcoco]

I have had that problem. It will continue to get worse. Every month the endo will grow.It reacts the same as the endometrium in your uterus which gets shed every month however, the endo has no place to go so it just keeps growing.
Vicoden is like hydrocodone. The best thing that also worked was hydroprophin whis has ibuprophine in it.
Birth control would only help the endo if it made your cycle stop like depo or something like that. As long as you are having a cycle your endo is increasing. Your cramps will for sure keep getting worse. I got to the point I couldnt go out at all during my period. I never knew when I was going to gush and bleed out through my pad. I would pass huge clots! And then I would bleed very heavy for about an hour. It really was horrible.
I am worried about what this month holds for me. I hope it isnt as painful as last month was!

[Annette]

Hi!! How was your holiday? Is your cyst getting better or do they stick around for a while?

I put endo on my list of questions for our RE when we go in on the 14th.

[cachcoco]

my cyst did get better but now the other cycle pain is starting again. I am so done with pain right now!
Thats good to ask about.
The holidays were quiet but good! How about you?