Bipolar Type II Support Group

Hi everyone. This is my first post on here! Nice to meet you all I am having a scary issue. I am a female. 31 years old. I would like to have children in a few years. I was just diagnosed with bipolar ii last Feb. I was put on depakote in March and I've been taking it since...

WARNING: THIS POST GETS A LITTLE GRAPHIC IN A FEMININE HYGENE WAY-I AM DESPERATE!! I just got my period and instead of being red it is brown, the consistency is thick, and my cramps are worse than usual. I frantically looked up side effects of my meds (Depakote & Lamictal) and found Depakote can cause PCOS in women which can lead to infertility. I don't have any of the other symptoms of PCOS but I am TERRIFIED and angry I wasn't told about this risk before. My first pdoc (who put me on this med) was incompetent, I fired her. I am going to call my new pdoc first thing in the morning but does anyone know anything about this?

Hi Nancy! I don't want to pretend that I know a lot about anything, but I have PCOS, have had it for years, and had absolutely NO problems in the fertility department. I can understand the anger (seems good pdocs are hard to find!) but I wouldn't worry about this until you have a firm diagnosis, and even then it may not cause you any problems. Sending hugs your way in the meantime!!! Best of luck...let us know how it goes!

Whew! Thank you so much for the information Twylight72. It relieves me a bit to get your reply. I am anxiously waiting for my pdoc to call me back right now...

Does my description sound like PCOS to you?

Post edited by: NancyLove31, at: 09/19/2011 09:23 AM

Post edited by: NancyLove31, at: 09/19/2011 09:23 AM

Post edited by: NancyLove31, at: 09/19/2011 09:24 AM

Well, the things I know about PCOS are excess hair growth (like on the face–hirsutism), acne and oily skin, heavy period bleeding along with irregular periods (very few periods), weight gain in the middle-area, insulin-resistance...there are lots of descriptions of PCOS symptoms online. However the diagnosis officially comes when you look at the ovaries and there are many cysts on them. I was initially diagnosed just based on the fact that I have had these medical issues all my life, and one very adept doc called it. Then when I had my ovaries checked (because I was on Mirena IUD and the strings got lost) the ultrasound tech told me my ovaries were cystic. That was the "proof" I guess.

First off, I wouldn't be nervous about PCOS - if you DID develop it, it's not necessarily a game-changer :o) I think the heavy bleeding and cramping you describe is enough for you to broach the subject with your doc though, and perhaps have the conversation of whether or not you would like to continue using depakote if that is a possible side-effect that makes you nervous.

Keep in mind though, that the symptoms you describe may have been caused by many other things too. It doesn't sound like PCOS if that is the ONLY thing that you've experienced. Of course, I am NOT a doctor!!!! I highly suggest that you speak with your doc about this...then you will get much better results than mine from my years of "Google Research"! haha

Take care Nancy...let me know how things go!!