I am curious to know how many women have been told to lose weight to help them conceive. Before my husband and I finally found a sympathetic doctor who referred us to our local hospital one of the excuses used for not referring us was that I had to lose weight. Our current doctor laughed at that as well as saying it was a load of rubbish as weight shouldn't interfere with conceiving.

Philippa

[Palenaki]

Philippa,

I was told by my RE that I needed to lose before he would treat me...he wasn't very nice about it either.

I have lost the weight, but I haven't been back to him...I do understand the medical concerns with TTC while being overweight, my problem is with the bedside manner of some Dr.'s/RE's...

[TMorris]

It's common for the weight-loss suggestion by physicians to irritate patients, especially if the doc has no 'bedside manner' skills (an unfortunately common situation, I'm afraid.) However, the truth is that women who weigh either too little or too much can have problems conceiving -- and not expressly because of their weight per se.

It's easier to understand if you look at a person's weight as a symptom of other problems, some of which might be hormonal and could impact fertility. Another important point to make is that the reproductive system is just one of many in the body, and the most optimal setting for conception is a body in which all systems are 'go'.

On the more positive flip-side, a study was just published that showed no difference in pregnancy outcomes for women who were overweight when donor eggs were used. This likely highlights the fact that it's not so much a uterine issue, but an ovulation issue. Ovulation, of course, is so very, very dependent on a well-functioning hormonal system, the very system that can go awry either as a result of over or under weight or as a precursor.

Still, yes, docs have a hard time expressing all of the above in a sensitive, sympathethic manner. There's no substitute for people skills, even in the most highly trained physician!

[drea72e]

I was told when I was 18 I was 150 lbs overweight and if I ever wanted any chance of conceiving I would have to lose it.


I tried for two years to lose weight and it didn't budge. On my 21st birthday I found out I was pregnant! I was shocked and baffled but after I had my son I ended up losing 100 lbs.

I think everyone is different, what works for some doesn't work for others.

Just thought I would throw my two cents in.

[sarah ann]

I weigh 300 lbs, and have pcod (Poly ctstic ovarian d) and am having a hard time getting pregnant. i am taking leproi it is an injectable from Europe that has not been regulated to the US yet, my Dr. says people use it offten as it is 1/3 of the price as US fertility injectables. My husband and I want nothing more than a baby to love and was wondering if any one out there has any simmilar situations or is also using Lepori or knows anything about it? Maybe a sucess story would brighten my day! Thanks all.

[squindler]

I heard the same thing. But the reason was that I wasn't ovulating because of my weight. My periods are sporadic and infrequent. I was put on progesterone but it gave me awful leg pain.

[Soki]

squindler, welcome to the boards! I'm assuming the progesterone treatment was ceased. What's your next option?

[angela26]

I talked to 2 OBGYN and they both told me that I had PCOS and in order to have children is to have this surgery called gastric banding to loose weight so I can ovulate and to have a regular period. and my surgery was feb and I've lost over 45 pounds and now mY period is regular and now Im ovulating to where Ic an now have children.. My OBGYN said that the fat was making it to where there was soemthing wrong with my body and loosing wieght would helpt hat alot so I did and a few months later there are great results. SO now my husbnad and I can start tring to have a baby now.
Angela

[Soki]

Angela- Congratulations on your weight loss! Such surgeries take such dedication to keep yourself healthy, especially for your doctor to give you the go ahead to get pregnant! I hope you're posting about a BFP soon!

[anpdoyle]

Hi!
My name is Amy. I am about to be 30 in September. I think that I am about 150 pounds overweight. When I was 18, I noticed that I haven't had any periods, I went to the dr and all he did was run a sonogram and he said that everything was there and looked normal. He gave me birth control pills to regulate my periods, and they did, but as soon as I got off of the pills, my periods would stop. I got married in july 2000. Me and my husband decided to try and have a baby. We tried and tried, but nothing. I wen back to the dr again and told him what was going on, he ran tests and then sent me to obgyn, he ran tests. The ob said that I have small ovaries and they are just there, they are doing nothing, I still don't have my periods and I desperately want a baby of my own. I asked my regular dr if I can take hormone pills to see if that would start my period, he said no, not at my age. I don't know what else to do but pray. Can somebody give me suggestions on what to do?

Amy

[Soki]

Ditch your regular doctor! If you aren't ovulating and want to get pregnant, 30 is plenty old enough. Seek out an infertility specialist. It sounds like there are a lot of tests that should be done first.

[embroider]

There are a lot of doctors who are "fat haters" and I have had my share. When I first figured that I had PCOS I went to a doctor who simply told me to join Jenny Craig and stop eating! I was bawling on the table and then he still went ahead and did a pap smear.

If he knew anything about PCOS he would know that the condition itself makes losing weight difficult.

Get another doctor- and get aggressive! This is your health and don't let anybody push you around.

On a side note though- extra weight tends to increase your levels of estrogen which can make things difficult- but that can be worked through with drugs and the right doctor. Sometimes just losing 10 lbs can make a huge difference.

Don't let anyone deny you treatment though beause of your weight.

[kayaker516]

I am very overweight & my Dr. said it isn't that big of a deal fertility-wise. Yes, I know I need to lose it anyway and may affect pregnancy (like gestational diabetes) and some women don't ovulate when overweight. However, all my tests came back OK -- ovulating, hormones, tubes are not blocked; our problem conceiving is from my husband.

The DR. did tell me that "fluffy" women don't gain a lot of weight while pregnant, just looks like gained a little more weight, not like the super skinny I-have-a-basketball-under-my-shirt women.

[Jackie5]

While I agree that losing weight can help both your health and possibly your chances of getting pregnant - I don't think doctors are doing the right thing when they use your weight as an excuse to either not treat you or to say that's the reason why you're not getting pregnant. While obesity can cause a number of health problems, I don't think that it's the number one cause of infertility or duh, only skinny women would be having babies, right?

I was 30 pounds overweight when I started work on the first one and 50 pounds overweight when I started on the second one (hadn't lost my pregnancy weight yet). My doctor NEVER mentioned my weight during my infertility treatments (other than when she was first describing PCOS to me). I've since lost my second baby fat and am working hard to get back down to pre-baby 1 weight!

Maybe some doctors don't want to take on less than ideal patients because it will mess their wonderful stats up. Find a doctor who cares and wants to try to help you. It's YOUR money and YOUR time. Nobody should go to a doctor that makes them feel bad.

[culdron]

the first dr i saw about making a baby told me that i needed to lose 30 lbs before she'd gave me clomid (i'm 5'5 215lbs) now in addition to being pcos (she told me it is very hard to loose weight because of it) she had weighed close to 300lbs and had the bypas. now i think the bypas is great, but it is cheating. i work in pluss sized apparal so i see a lot of women who have had it done. the benifits are great, and the currage it takes to decide to go under the knife is impressive. but i also see a lot of women who loose weight by dieting and exercize- other words hard work. so for the dr to tell me to loose weight was a double slap in the face. i fond a dr who would help, no weight loss required.
Andie