Today is the day!

Today is the day.

I went to my doctor's appointment today. It was a pretty crazy adventure and I must say I am 100% impressed with my endocrinologist. We arrived for our 1:45pm appointment at 1:23pm. We waited maybe ten minutes before I went back to get my weight and blood pressure. My blood pressure was, for me, normal (my top number always runs a little high) and according to the scale I lost two pounds since last week! GO ME! :) That means I weigh 296 pounds for those keeping track. Approximately five minutes after that the doctor came out personally and took us to his office for consultation. He reviewed our medical histories as well as he could. My OBGYN never sent over my records. I cannot begin to tell you how irritated I am by that. I dropped off the release personally instead of faxing it and I told them "I have an appointment in two weeks" so that they would get it sent over. I don't want to think my OB is a complete douche... but I'm starting to lean that way. Anyway! My endocrinologist also talked to my husband about repeating a semen analysis to get an accurate count. He also reviewed some vitamins and supplements that we should try taking. My husband has a hard time swallowing pills so he recommended a certain one that's relatively smaller and would benefit us both. I must say I'm very proud of my husband. Not only is he taking this journey with me (as all good husbands should), he has also quit smoking. According to the doctor that should help out significantly in upping sperm count and motility. 

Then came the fun part.

Me. I have PCOS. I'm also Insulin Resistant. The doctor drew a whole diagram of how my body functions with these two particular things. Everything is related. Because of the PCOS my testosterone levels are elevated. IR also contributes to high testosterone levels as well as my LH levels. My LH levels affect my testosterone levels and my testosterone levels in turn also affect my insulin and LH levels. So basically it is one giant circle, and it's hard to understand without being shown the handy dandy diagram my doctor drew, but the important thing is that I understand it. To help my insulin levels I need to eat at least 80 grams of protein a day, and about 120 grams of carbohydrates. I need to split this up equally throughout the day, limit sugary drinks (no problem there), and limit white starches (pasta, rice, etc). He made it a very important point to say LIMIT and not ELIMINATE. I'm already doing the right thing when it comes to exercising so he wasn't too concerned. He was more concerned about the affects of the PCOS and IR on my body. He said that when I eat, my blood sugar goes up and in turn my insulin level ALSO goes up. So basically when I'm already running on the right amount of energy, my insulin spikes and says "oh well, I don't need this energy I'll store it for later!" and it turns into body fat. Hence... the difficulty in losing weight. In short. I'm one big mess, but now I know WHY. My OB never explained any of this to me.

More fun stuff!

My OB also never directed to me how to take the medications that I was on (Metformin). When I was first diagnosed he said, "here's a prescription for Metformin. Take two pills a day." and that was the end of it. My ENDO says, "here's a prescription for Metformin. Take one pill at your evening meal for the first week. Then take two pills the second week, then three the third, and then the fourth week take four and stay at the four pills. If you experience any GI discomfort, like nausea or diarrhea, cut back down to a smaller dose. There is no rush!" Now... WHY didn't my OB say this to me?? Oh jeez...probably will end up switching to someone who actually gives a damn. But seriously, back to subject, I also have prescriptions for Clomid, a prenatal vitamin, a hormone blasting shot to make me ovulate MORE... but they tell me when to take that, and some other medications I have no idea what they're called. I go for blood work to check my progesterone levels, LH hormone, testosterone levels, thyroid, and insulin tomorrow. They're also running a pregnancy test just in case, they've seen some crazy things in their time. So lots of busy for me in the upcoming months. I have to get that done before work tomorrow so it's early to bed; early to rise for this one. My husband's semen analysis needs to be scheduled so we're hoping to get in Saturday for that. I'm sure I'll have an update for you tomorrow seeing as I absolutely despise medical needles...

Ultrasounds?

I have had a vaginal ultrasound before, but I was not prepared for one on the spot! Needless to say, that's part of my endo's impressiveness. He jumped right into helping us, when he could have said "I'll just wait for labwork, analysis, etc." I was lead into an exam room by the nurse who gave me all of my prescriptions and she gave me a minute to collect myself, get ready, and then she proceeded with the vaginal ultrasound. I got to see my uterus and ovaries. She told me I'm definitely polycystic as she then showed me all of the follicles on my ovaries. I have ten on my left and too many to count on my right, but no cysts! Lucky me. Interesting fact, my uterus also tilts to the right. This was actually a pretty cool part of the visit, probe aside. I just enjoyed LEARNING everything that's going to be happening. I'm also sort of relieved that everything is happening somewhat fast, it lets me know that this guy actually gives a damn and WANTS to help us. He told us at the beginning of consult that a couple's chances of conception start at 40-30% per month. As the year progresses the chances get less and less. He said that by the end of year one of trying you're down to a 1% chance, but that is NOT ZERO.

Did I mention how impressed we were with our endo? :)