New RE says I have to lose 40 lbs in 3 MONTHS!

[chwalsh]

Hey guys, I'm new here. My name is Halaina. So, I went to a new RE last week and he told me that I have to lose 40 lbs in the next 3 months so we can start our protocol of letrozole and menopur. He told me to prepare myself for 3 weeks of injections due to being overweight. He said that my body would absorb it and dilute the medicine because of the excess weight. I have been working REALLY hard! I hired a personal trainer, I have dramatically changed the way I'm eating, and I am exercising daily now. Do you guys think this is fair??? Should I seek a 2nd opinion? Do you think 3 months and 40 lbs isn't healthy? Please help.

I also have PCOS, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and am pre-diabetic. I'm only 22!

I am 5'9 and weigh 274 lbs.

I also have a septum in my uterus and he said that if he did surgery to remove it that I probably wouldn't make it through surgery! My Primary care physician said I was fine and in good health... The RE says otherwise, he based the pre diabetes off a fasting glucose of 101 and high blood pressure off 1 high reading (I was REALLY nervous) ! Oh, what to do...

[BC-IrishBrat1313]

Halaina,

First...WELCOME!

2nd...what the hey? 40lbs in 3 months isn't healthy. It's not good for your heart to lose that much weight that fast. Once again...a Dr is throwing a magic number to someone...I really hate that. Yes, because you are overweight your body will take medication differently. I was taking 1amp every other day of Repronex and it wasn't doing anything but with monitoring we upped the dosage and follies were going and things were looking great.

The best advice my RE gave me was, "With PCOS your ovaries are locked. I'm the locksmith and I am trying to find the right key." It's finding the right medication to work with your body the way it is now.

Seeing your other medical conditions might have been a factor with your RE, because some of them can be major factors when you get pregnant. High Blood Pressure can lead to a lot of other conditions that can harm you and your baby. So I can understand why he thinks some weight loss would help, BUT throwing the magic numbers at you is something just wrong.

I'm sure they are guessing how much weight you will gain while you are pregnant and figure losing some before hand would be good, but they should at least want to get some medications started while you are on your way to losing weight.

You might want to call another RE and just get a consultation see if his/her feelings are the same. I have always found it's better to hear from 2 than go on 1's opinion.

I wish you the best of luck in your journey! Hopefully we'll be here when you reach your BFP

[luckypenny]

Hi Halaina!

One resource that I have found very helpful during my ttc journey is a website where you can review what other people have to say about a doctor that you are seeing or thinking about going to see: www.ratemds.com. Not sure if this will help, but it may help to see what other people have to say about the doc (most will have a mix of good and some negative, but a high amount of negative feedback can be a red flag). It will also depend on how many people have made comments about the doc.

[Pray4Miracle]

your doc is a mess. change RE's I am 5'5'' 250 and never have been told weight was the issue. Many women have had their septums removed. Go to the mullerian anomalies yahoo group. they have alot of info. Obesity is not a primary cause of infertility! I hate that docs do not understand that.

[Coffee]

Hi Halaina, my RE told me the same thing. Only he did not put a time frame on it.
I buckled down and did it, I lost 40 pounds in 3.5 months.
I also have PCOS and am insulin resistance, high blood pressure, they got me back on metformin, I did the south beach diet and walked every day. The pounds literally melted away. My RE said once you get your BMI to 30 or under your chances are much better.
BOL to you!

[Little fluff]

Hi Halaina

40 pounds in 3 months sounds like too much too fast for me. I lost over 50 pounds but it took me ahell of a lot longer than 3 months. I think it is important to lose weight slower in order to keep it off, do realistic life changes that you can implement forever to keep the weight off. For me that was weight watchers, could eat whatever I wanted but just counted points (it's scary how many points some foods are) I also started walking a lot and bought a home gym and did weights to firm up where I was losing the weight.

Good luck.

[dodiedon]

Take it from me. Your RE says flat out absolute statement like that he will use weight as an issue for every up an down of your procedure. I have an RE that couldn't have been more matter-of-fact and blunt about things. I have fibroids, 40, with a BMI of 30 at 6" and maybe it was because she had too much fuel with my age and fibroids she didn't get around to weight (which after losing a lot started to fluctuate with all of the meds and hormones). It was painful at time since she was rarely encouraging. However, weight was never made an issue.

You have to make the decision that this RE is worth the pain. Because when that med protocol starts his bluntness will have much more of a bite.

I am pregnant now and in my second trimester and so far having a non-eventful pregnancy BMI and all.

All the babydust in the world to you.

[karaann28]

My RE also made an issue of my weight, I felt ripped apart
two weeks later they called with blood test results of a thyroid condition and insulin resistance
since then, I have lost 22 pounds in two months and he increased my thyroid med to 75mcg, taking 1500 metformin
Now we don't discuss the weight issue anymore as I am losing weight. I also got a lot of praise for the weightloss. IT did hurt my feelings. Weight can affect infertility but it is not the only factor and a RE should be supportive of you for the whole picture. This 40 pounds is brutal. Good luck with the weight loss but thinking that is too much at a time and I am as overweight as you are. I lost sixteen pounds fast but the rest is a little at a time, like 1-2 pounds per week. Just take care of yourself and good luck

[Sarah1124]

we were going to do IVF last July/August. the dr gave the green light, then called the next day and said, Opps...you have to be under 40 BMI.

i was pissed because it wasn't like he didn't have all the info he needed to make a sound decision the day before. i thought about switching clinics, but we are going to one of the best, so i sucked it up. now i wasn't able to really start the weight lose til this year, but i'm finally where i need to be to start our protocal with my next period.

it's a total mind F@^*. big girls get preggo all the time without the help of doctors...so us big girls who are reproductively challanged shouldn't be punished adversly IMO!

[BC-IrishBrat1313]

Originally Posted by Sarah1124

it's a total mind F@^*. big girls get preggo all the time without the help of doctors...so us big girls who are reproductively challanged shouldn't be punished adversly IMO!

I couldn't agree more. Big women go on to have healthy pregnancies and children. I think Dr's can be way to fatphobic now.


When do you start your cycle?