PCOS and WLS

I have PCOS. Polycystic ovary syndrome is a condition in which there is an imbalance of a woman's female hormones. This hormone imbalance may cause changes in the menstrual cycle, skin changes, small cysts in the ovaries, trouble getting pregnant, and other problems. It is more common for Obese women.

I am 31. I have no children. I am on the waiting list for WLS and I have no idea how long its going to be until I get the surgery. My BMI is 50 and I have Pre-Diabetes. I was wondering if any of the women here have PCOS and have gotten pregnant after having the surgery. I have read that fertility is greatly increased after a healthy weight is achieved. I have also read that it is not recomended to get pregnant until 2 years after the surgery so your body has time to adjust to the Vertical Sleeve.

I would also like to know if other nasty symptoms of PCOS go away, such as the excess hair....I don't know if anyone is in the same boat as me but i would like to hear from someone if there is.

I feel like my biological clock is ticking and my time for having a child is decreasing by the day. I am trying to get approved for the sugery in another province. I am just kind of down with all the info I am learning on this fourm. I don't think I will be going to the May 3rd info session. I have no idea where I am on the list. Do you think I am over-reacting??? LOL.

Mary

Hi, I am sorry I don't know any thing about PCOS. But that would be a good question to ask "the team" or Dr. Ellesmere. You can call or send an email to Diane Lawlor, I think to find out where you might be on the waiting list. Have you asked your family Dr. any of these questions? Surely he would know the answer to some of them.
But keep reading the posts on here and maybe you will find some info. here. Sorry I am not much help but I want to welcome you to the forum. There are meetings you might want to try. One in Halifax and one in Truro. If you are near either of them. Their info is all here in the forum too.
I am sure if they don't know the answers they will find out for you. Enjoy the forum there is LOTS of good info here.

Hi Mary,

I have/had PCOS & had a terrible time getting pregnant until I got to see Dr. Bouzayen @ the IWK - she is an OB/GYN and she is amazing!  She started me on metformin even though I wasn't diabetic (yet) and I got pregnant right away (I had my son when I was 38) - healthy & happy baby boy!  My bmi was in the high 50's at the time...  I would like to have another child & when I met with the team I told them that - I was almost 40 at the time - they told me I would have to wait at least a year but that I could try after that as long as I saw my doc first & that in my case it would be better to have the surgery before trying to get pregnant again (even though I am 'old' lol) since my body would actually be younger after surgery due to my improved health.  They told me to be very careful meantime because they thought I would become pregnant easily after i had surgery...

The other symptoms, including excess hair & irregular periods go away!  YAY!!!  :)

It's hard not to over react when everything is interwoven like it is for you - why not get a referral to Dr. Bouzayen while you're waiting for Dr. Ellsmere if you're tired of putting everything on hold while waiting to hear from them  :)

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my message. I am glad to hear you have had a son with PCOS. I am really happy to hear the symptoms go away. To know I won't suffer any more from excess hair is amazing, really. You give me hope. Thank-you. 

I know the odds are really against me but I am still hopeful. I have a great OB/GYN, Dr. Dolhanty. She is great. I started seeing her about 10 years ago when I was first placed on Meteformin. I take it 2 times a day. I am treating my  boarderline Diabetes the best I can.I have been told if I want to get pregnant I need to lose a significant amount of weight. I am hoping I will get called for the May 3rd infomation session!

Mary

Hi Mary,
No problem!  Hang in there - I'll keep my fingers crossed for you  :)

I have PCOS as well.  I was diagnosed at 21, and continued to gain weight over the next 8 years.  After losing about 20-30 lbs, I received a big surprise!  I was almost 3 months pregnant...it took me 4 years to get pregnant again, and it was after a taking metformin for 3 months, then cold turkey off it.  I got pregnant in the second month of the 3 month window they gave me.  

I am not diabetic, but if I go off Metformin, i gain weight like crazy!  I tried it in 2009, leading to my highest weight ever, which led me to this program.  I also take spironlactalone (sp?) for other PCOS symptoms.

I have lost 78 lbs since I started working with the weight loss program/dietician at the hospital, 40 since my WLS surgery, Nov 25.  None of my syptoms have improved yet (I think i am creating a vicious circle, taking Biotin for hair loss, and making it grow more EVERYWHERE else), but I look forward to them going away.  Ang-when did this happen for you?  Trying to be patient, but I would love not to have to deal with the hair growth, loss etc!!

I can't say when it went away for sure because it happened gradually - but I'm at the 8 month mark today and I can't think of any symptoms that I still have  :)  I did lose a lot of hair but that has slowed to a regular rate again too (thank goodness!!  lol)

Did you get to go off the Metformin?

I don't take any prescription meds any more - I used to take metformin, labetalol for high BP and they wanted me to start a cholesterol pill as well...  My BP is now normal and my last A1C was 4.2 - they told me not to be so stingy with the salt & sugar if you can just imagine! lol  My cholesterol is still a little high but it's getting better every time I have blood work done (I never did start cholesterol pills because I was trying to get pregnant ).  The only thing I have left to get rid of is the C-PAP machine - I can sleep without it now, but I don't get the same quality of sleep without it - I used to have severe sleep apnea.  I do take a multivitamin, omega's, vit e, vit d, and vit b complex as well as calcium citrate, but the only one I HAVE to take is the multivitamin  :))

I was told that after WLS you become VERY fertile!! When you begin losing fat the hormones within it are released as well. You can also become very moody lol!

Good luck with everything!