So I was reading up on all the different treatments for luteal phase defect (LPD). There's progesterone, though some think that's not the best because there are different factors that can result in LPD. It could be that the follicle doesn't produce right which means when it turns into corpus luteum after ovulation it won't produce the right amount of progesterone so the uterine lining is insufficient and then your body sheds it. It could also be that just the corpus luteum does a good job at producing progesterone at first but then just stops for reasons unknown and then everything else effected and so on. Or the uterine lining might just not respond. Everything else might work fine but the lining doesn't respond to progesterone so it's not prepared and the egg can't implant. So they talked about progesterone can sometimes help but sometimes its not enough. Sometimes they use clomid or another kind of injectable drug to make sure your body produces a good strong egg and follicle and so on. There are also more natural ways some people believe that help but I don't know. Some of that stuff seems a little weird to me.
As I'm reading all this stuff I started thinking back to getting pregnant with Charlotte. I hadn't had my period for about 9 or 10 months. The previous summer was when I started having some horrible pelvic pain. After 3 months of ultrasounds and a CT scan the doctor said he needed to get in there and get it out. According to my CT scan it looked like my right fallopian tube was swollen. They thought the right ovary might have to be removed with it. There was also talk (at first glance) of something possibly cancerous but after some blood work pretty much ruled out (that was a long 3 hour wait at the office!). It's always scary when the doctor wants to meet with you first thing in the morning before his office is usually open then all of a sudden you have surgery scheduled in the next 5 days. I had the most painful 45 min ultrasound of my life that morning and would rather have 10 children in my lifetime than experience that again. The surgery was cake and pretty easy to recover from. Plus I got lucky and got to keep all my parts! The cyst was removed from my ovary and colon... and I think some other organ. I can't remember. It took a lot longer than planned but after a couple other surgeons were brought it I was on my way to a normal life... kind of :)
So the surgery took place Halloween of 2007. My doctor ended up moving to Wyoming in the next 6 months and we had bought our house. I decided that I really should get in to see the doctor because I hadn't had a period for so long and if we were to start a family any time in the near future I would need to be in good working order. So I just decided to set up an appt with the guy that replaced him and that was one of the best decisions ever made. He is amazing. First thing he does is walk in and kind of look at me and my past records. He asks me a few questions....do I struggle losing weight?... yes.....do I break out a lot on my skin?.... yes......are my periods very irregular and when I have them are they very heavy?....yes......probably some others I don't remember but then he says, "well, you have polycystic ovarian syndrome?" Translation please? He explained it and what it does. So he said, first I'm putting you on a pill that will force your body to have a period. Take it tonight. Then you'll be on birth control for 3 months. The kind you'll use will help you to not have such a heavy period. Then lastly, the magic medicine, metformin. This was what made me think today. He told me that it was more like diabetic drug but it helps women with pcos to lose wieght since your pancreas doesn't work quite right. Hence the weight gain and difficulty losing it. Plus it helps increase fertility. Yahoo!
Okay so after I finished my last dose of my birth control I was supposed to go in but we were in between insurance (we were cancelling mine and going to Scott's since it was his open enrollment and wanted to be prepared if I got pregnant) and I just started testing my ovulation. Within a couple weeks I was ovulating. Now here's the key. I looked at when I tested. You're not supposed to test until you're first missed period but since I had no idea when that would be I went for just 10 days. The earliest you can pretty much test with an at home pregnancy test. Of course it was positive. It got me thinking though. It generally takes about 12-14 days in your luteal phase so technically didn't I get pregnant even with a shorter luteal phase? I'm not positive on how that works when you're actually pregnant but it makes sense to me. So then the wheels keep turning and I wonder if its really metformin that made the difference for me. Maybe I can avoid all these other treatments if that's really all I need. So I found a medical journal talking about the correlation between metformin and using it with women who have pcos and a short luteal phase and how it helped them. They found it increased this protein and other things. It was very medically worded but basically made the endometrial function and environment much better.
So there is, hopefully, my answer! Metformin. I should have asked him about it before when my IUD was removed. But I didn't think much about it. So anyway... I really need to find some more cleaning to do or something. I can never be alone with my thoughts. I can't rest and have to find out more until my problem is solved. That's what I've come up with and I'm really hoping the doctor will have the same answer. I never had problems with the metformin (plus I can't complain about the weight loss) and I know its cheap. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
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