Hi DR.Shana,this regards absent periods.

[christine23]

i have ben diagnosed with PCOS for the past two yeras.im 23 now. i was put on medication after some tests and my periods regularised.i was on diane 35. my medication was changed a few months later to bigomet sr 500. my periods were regular with this. however for the past 2 months i have missed my period. is this a cause for concern?
also i was told by my doctor that if and when i wanted to conceive i would first have to have laproscopic surgery. is it possible for me to get pregnant without laproscopic surgery, while i m on this medication?

[drshana]

i have ben diagnosed with PCOS for the past two yeras.im 23 now. i was put on medication after some tests and my periods regularised.i was on diane 35. my medication was changed a few months later to bigomet sr 500. my periods were regular with this. however for the past 2 months i have missed my period. is this a cause for concern?
also i was told by my doctor that if and when i wanted to conceive i would first have to have laproscopic surgery. is it possible for me to get pregnant without laproscopic surgery, while i m on this medication?

Dear Christine,

Thanks for writing in! It is not unusual for the menstrual cycle to have a few "hiccups" of irregularity here and there. Also, even women who don't have PCOS occasionally have very late periods or even skip a month if they are under a lot of stress or exercising too much or on extremely low calorie diets. Is there any chance you are pregnant? If your period continues to be irregular over the next several months, you will want to let your doctor know, but 2 absent or late periods are not something to be alarmed about. What were your periods like before starting the birth control pill? Just to clarify, are you taking just the bigomet and not the pill?

Regarding the surgery, I would have to know more about your health history to know whether or not you need laparoscopic surgery or not. In some cases, women with endometriosis or blocked fallopian tubes may need to have surgery before being able to conceive. However, many women with PCOS are able to conceive without having surgery.

Regarding Metformin (bigomet), it prevents your liver from manufacturing glucose when you are in between meals and when you are asleep at night. This drug is used to slow your own body's secretion of blood sugar which decreases your pancreas' secretion of insulin. Once someone goes off this drug, if they have not changed their lifestyle, the will return to where they started. The Insulite PCOS System helps you learn to take in less glucose (through your diet) and helps you dispose of it better (through your muscles due to exercising) and these two things have bigger consequences in your body while you are on the system. We feel that the Insulite PCOS System treats the cause of the disorder-- being insensitive to your insulin-- by increasing your cell's response to your insulin whereas Metformin addresses the secretion of glucose only.

I hope this is helpful and I look forward to hearing back with any additional questions.