Nov. 27, 2000 — By the age of 40, Lahle Henninger says she’d had only five naturally occurring menstrual periods in her entire life. She’s since had more, but only with the help of hormone supplements. For years, this Virginia mother of four also suffered from excess facial and body blood tests, a Metabolism that these women are three times more likely to develop overweight and have , Futterweit sometimes prescribes metformin, a diabetes medication. It helps the body’s cells become more sensitive to ‘s signal to convert sugars into energy. This insulin insensitivity is often associated with PCOS.
To normalize the body’s hormones, doctors usually recommend oral contraceptives along with a medication that counteracts male hormones. Women who want to get pregnant wouldn’t take these . Instead, they can undergo fertility therapy with other drugs or try in vitro fertilization.
While the condition requires lifetime management, Futterweit says, women can indeed go on to live a normal life. Henninger, now a member of the board of directors for the Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Association, lost 138 pounds after going on a low-carbohydrate diet for 13 months. Her diabetes, cholesterol levels, and high blood pressure are all under control.
And after fertility treatments didn’t work, she and her husband, who was her high school sweetheart, began a family together by adopting three children. Then, in 1998, they were handed the surprise of their lives: Henninger found out that she was pregnant. “We weren’t even trying,” she says. “This baby was a miracle and a wonderful surprise.”