PCOS and Gastric Bypass

Just a quick background on me... I was diagnosed with PCOS at the age of 17. I have never had a period on my own and went through 7 years of infertility treatments before we adopted our beautiful son Jack in 2005. Also, I never weighed more than 140lbs in high school. In August of 2006, I had Gastric Bypass and have since lost 125lbs. At the end of June I went back to my Reporductive Endorcrinologist to have my labs re-done to see if there were any changes.  My testosterone level dropped from 142 to 50. Normal is between 30 and 80. I still had high Estrogen and hi LH levels which is still typical of PCOS. (polycystic ovarian disorder) At that time I went back on Glucophage. (PCOS seems to be caused by high insulin levels and Glucophage is a diabetic medication that helps your body process your insulin better.) On August 17th of this year, 2 days after my 1 year anniversary of my surgery, my period miraculously appeared on its own. This has never happened in my life. I went to my RE on Monday of this week, they drew a progesterone level, a level over 10 indicates that you ovulated, mine was 14!!!!! This means that my body ovulated on it's own TWO months in a row! I'm going through puberty at the ripe old age of 42. However, this means I could possibly get pregnant on my own.  I just wanted to share this, so others out there with infertility issues due to PCOS or just being obese will know that having the surgery and helped me more than I ever thought possible.

haha.  so how does it feel to be pubescent?  Hopefully more good than bad.  I, too, was a very irregular teen and 20something.  I never had periods and hubby and I tried for years to get pregnant with no luck.  I lost 160 pounds after WLS and got pregnant within 6 months!  So though I didn't go through the treatments and labwork to prove my PCOS, I was self-diagnosed (had lots of other symptoms--hair growth, etc.)   Now post-baby and post-WLS I have an IUD to prevent pregnancy and periods have stopped again--but for a while there it was great to be so 'regular'.  I really felt better in general (or maybe that was the weight loss). This is just another example of how WLS helps more than just obesity.  I really wish more insurance companies would realize this--and the money that it would save them on other treatments if they'd cover WLS.  (Sorry, as a self-pay patient, I still want to rally to get them to realize the benefit of WLS and get off their excuse that it's purely cosmetic). congrats on your successes. :)  may your forties be the 'new twenties'.  haha. mary

I have also been diag with pcos about 10 years ago.  Of course I have prob had it my whole life without knowing.  Me and dh have been married 12 years in Oct and I am currently 8 1/2 months pg after 10 years of ttc.  I had surgery Aug of 04 and took about a year for my periods to regulate also.  I also want to mention I am currently 39 and dh is 41.  We had pretty much just given up on gettin pg all together when we got the surprise of our life in March.  I KNOW this surgery has EVERYTHING to do with me being able to get pg.  That along with the Grace of GOD!  So for ANYONE out there DONT give up hope!  It can and does happen!!!!! Denise