Living with PCOD...

And I'm finally at my 1^st blog with the intention of reaching those who are suffering from PCOD/PCOS.

PCOD - polycystic ovarian disease

PCOS - Polycystic ovarian syndrome

Before I start I'm no doctor but a patient like you all who is still struggling. (To my knowledge both the above terms are more or less the same and have seen them getting used interchangeably.)

We belonging to this generation of 'Googling', googles a lot to find out and read more and more. And even more in case of PCOD as we have not many around who are aware of this term PCOD or who can commonly treat or who can handle this confidently or redirect the patients to those specialists.

So I thought of starting to write about my experience not just to share but also to gather patients with PCOD. Not sure how this is going to be of any help but when one googles, one ends up seeing many such groups and forums with all sorts of queries and experiences but in US, UK, etc.

This is just an attempt to fetch a little help to those who are new to this term, who are unsure of their further steps, unsure of the cost and time involved and so on. This won't be a guiding tour but a place to share experiences, a place to find out friendly answers to queries if not scientific and more importantly a place to meet those who are just like you and going through the same.

It was around 10-12 years back from now. It was then when I had regular menses, thin body line, clear and uni tone skin, thick and long hair. Few years passed and I started to have elongated menstruation cycle along with tremendous hair fall. Luckily I was one those girls in the school with best long hair and so till now I at least managed to have bare minimum to cover my scalp ;)

In the meantime I got graduated and started working. Deep somewhere I used to be happy that I had elongated cycle and if I'm missing any menstruation cycle as it used to keep my work routine undisturbed. Later the symptoms followed with extra facial hair growth and weight gain.

Now this was something that shook me a little and I started to run to different dermatologists who could treat my extra facial growth and of course, the hair fall. Tried creams, shampoos, lazer and what not. Though I admit I was never that regular in fallowing the treatment but once my dermatologist suggested me to go to one of the leading Endocrinologist in the town to get my hormone level checked since he wasn't getting expected results in his treatment.

And that was the start. My menstruation was the root cause of every problem mentioned above but sometimes your professional life becomes so important that I always felt relieved in the cases of no menses.

Got my hormones checked. Sonography done. And it turned out PCOD.

By then I was left with 10% of hair and hella excessive unwanted hair growth. Fortunately I had no acne problem which is a common symptom but my hair loss and excessive unwanted hair growth were compensating for this.

Endocrinologist prescribed me metformin, advised me to immediately start conceiving after my marriage and referred me to one of the best gynaecologist specialised in PCOD cases.

And there I was without realising how serious or tricky situation was waiting for me to test my patience.

A month after my marriage I decided to start with the treatment as naturally there wasn't much of hope unless some treatment. I went to visit the same gynac as referred to. She heard me while going through my reports and firstly greeted me for not wasting time and for my decision of starting with the treatment earliest (my marriage was just a month old). Doctor prescribed me my first complicated prescription ever. I think it takes a little while to get used to with gynac prescriptions. One needs to develop the habit of speaking in number of days from their last period and of course memorise it. Pills are prescribed from day 2 and there is a list of different medicines from day x to day y and so on. Its really an art to be able to comprehend the prescription for those initial months but later one masters that art. To start with few Rounds of follicular monitoring to track things like ovulation, size, etc. Medication to boost the performance. In case of no expected results from Pills, then follows an operative Laperoscopy/Ovarian drilling. And then onwards We actively tried for conception for every month (with of course few gaps in between to rest my ovaries) with different doses of injections daily. The process took me under 4-5 IUI and 1 IVF rounds. Nothing worked. PCOD requires one to be really really patient. One important note for those going under rounds of IUI/IVF, start injecting yourself than going to nearby hospital or convincing some nurse. It saves lot of your time, energy and headache.

We then decided to take few months break as after all this it was advised to rest ovaries in the hope to perform better in the next cycle. By few my doctor meant 3 months. We then chocked down the plan splitting those 3 months as 1 natural cycle and 2 under contraceptives.

During 1^st cycle I got myself monitored on day 15^th (remember I told you to talk in number of days from menses) and saw several dots. Typical PCOD. What else I could have seen on that screen.

Discontinued the cycle and started next cycle with metformin. Again monitored myself on day 15^th and to my and even to doctor's surprise there was one follicle with 14mm along with those several small dots. Monitored again on day 19^th and it was standing there with 19mm diameter all smiling :)

Yaa. I actually saw the follicle smilling :).

We planned for an another round of IUI on day 21^st. And now I'm waiting with my fingers crossed.