Chinese Medicine- PCOS

For PCOS sufferers, there are often sticky/damp side effects in your body. The stickiness gathers in your ovaries so the eggs don't develop or ovulate properly. In essence, they are stuck. Google "Chinese Medicine: Dampness" and you'll see a whole slew of ways to treat dampness through food, spices and teas.

Here are a few dietary changes my acupuncturist recommended to me: 

1. Drink lots of water. Add lemon or lime to it. Sour flavors = dampness scissors. Because of this, green tea, apple cider vinegar, and grapefruit are also good for you.

2. Limit and avoid sugar, refined carbs and added sweeteners.

3. Eat food that is warmed up or heated. Avoid putting ice in drinks or eating anything cold. Cook your vegetables and fruits instead of eating them raw. If you are going to eat something that is cold, make sure you pair it with a warming food or drink or add spices like cinnamon that have a warming quality to them. This is because your body has to use energy to heat up the food before breaking it down which when treating PCOS is not recommended.

4. Avoid dairy products. Yes, even yogurt...

5. No bananas. :(

6. No peanut butter (or peanut products).

Basically, my favorite foods have been put on the no-no list...

Good luck!

Three Cheers for Acupuncture!

I started going to acupuncture a few days after finishing my second round of Clomid pills and while I wasn't sure if it would work, I fell in love with it!

It helped to give me a deep sense of calm, focus and mental clearness. My skin cleared up and my hunger was greatly diminished following the Clomid and Metformin side-effects.

My acupuncturist listened to my experiences in great detail during our first meeting. She looked at my tongue, the colors in my face and felt my pulses before deciding where to place the teensy, tiny needles in my legs, feet and stomach. (I did not feel them go in at all.) As she continued her work, she would check my pulses to see if they were becoming more even and added needles accordingly. I felt so peaceful.

Once satisfied with the placement, she left me to relax on a heated bed with soothing music playing and then returned at the end of the session, pleased with my improvements. She added little, tiny gold beads to three pressure points in my legs. I loved being bedazzled and was so excited to go home and show my husband!

My next post will be devoted to the dietary recommendations she made for PCOS. If you haven't tried acupuncture yet, I highly recommend giving it a try! You'll feel soo relaxed and refreshed.

Our Fertility Journey

It's been a long one so far with a lot of highs and lows. We are still hoping and wishing for our own little one.

A little about myself: I am now 29 years old, happy and healthy but after about 100 days of amenorrhea (lack of period) following birth control last year, I was diagnosed with PCOS via ultrasound and was put on progesterone to start my period. I switched from my general women's health doctor to a specialized ob/gyn who also confirmed the PCOS through another transvaginal ultrasound. My husband's sperm was tested and he has no diagnosed issues. She started me on progesterone again after a long cycle and I tried one round of Clomid 50mg on which I did not ovulate. I began another round of progesterone and got my period after 50 days. I completed a second round of Clomid at 100mg but again, failed to respond and ovulate. Following the second round's failure, my doctor broke up with me and referred me to a fertility clinic.
 


Feb/March 2013- Preconception Meeting with women's health doctor, given the green light. Began taking prenatal vitamins

May 21, 2013- Take out last NuvaRing

May 24, 2013- NuvaRing induced period

July 29, 2013- Start officially tracking CM on fertility friend

August 17, 2013- CD 86, Start officially temping

August 26, 2013- CD 95 Start Metformin 1000mg, t/v Ultrasound. Blood work (PCOS diagnosis)

August 29, 2013- Metformin 1500mg

August 30, 2013- Bloodwork done

Sept 4, 2013 Horribly sick, stomach pains

Sept 5, 2013 Back down to 1000mg Met for a week, then back to 1500mg

Sept 26, 2013 Switched Drs to specialist, t/v ultrasound confirms pcos, prescribed Provera for 10 days to induce a period.

Oct 5, 2013 Last Provera pill CD 136

Oct 7, 2013 Provera Period #1! (Light, no major cramps or symptoms)

Oct 9- blood test, fsh, progesterone, wbc- not ovulating

Nov 2- Hubby SA- all clear! (rushed to get done because we thought I'd start provera/clomid but dr said to wait two more weeks to see if my period would come first...)

Nov 19- No luck, Provera round 2 (cd 44)

Dec 2- Provera Period #2! (after 56 days, more substantial and longer flow than p#1)

Dec 6- Begin Clomid Round 1 (cd 5-9)
Dec/Jan Test with OPKs and temping, did not detect ovulation. Blood work confirmed this.

Jan 21- Provera Period #3 began after 10 days of Provera round 3. (50 Days...)

Jan 25-29 Clomid increased to 100mg Round 2 (Taken days 5-9)

Feb 4- Begin Acupunture! :)

Feb- More bloodwork confirms that I did not respond to Clomid

March 7- Ob/Gyn breaks up with me, telling me I'm infertile and she can't help me any more, refers me to fertility center and asks if I have considered adoption... obviously devastated

March 17- Was scheduled for a 4/21 appt, but got a new patient appointment at fertility center because of a snow day cancellation and a lot of Irish luck! Dr. Hope says he feels confident he can help us get pregnant! Start Provera round 4!

March 26- Genetic testing is in- I'm a carrier for SMA.:(  DH needs to be tested to see if he's a carrier too. If so, it will reset our plan again. 2ww for results.

March/April ??-Provera Period #4
April 26- Start Clomid (days 3-7), plan to take trigger shot and progesterone if all goes well
May 4th- Day 11 ultrasound and blood work, one follicle at 7.4mm (too small), others tiny, no trigger shot necessary
May 8th- Another u/s and more blood work... failed again
May 13- Day 20, Another u/s and more blood work... failed again, no Clomid response, begin Femara 2.5mg
May 26- Femara failed, began Follistim at 50iu and continue Metformin/Acupunture (estrogen dropped to 25, yikes!)
June 6- Estrogen jumped  to 102 -6 larger follicles, largest at 14.5mm
June/July- Failed injection cycles
August- Successful with follistim and ovidril but ended in chemical pregnancy
September- Again successful, but same result 
October 2014- Started with follistim and converted to IVF
Oct 8- Egg Retrieval- 28 eggs, 22 mature, 18 fertilized!