How CycleBeads work:

Move the black marker over the color-coded bead that represents fertile and low fertility days. Each day move the ring one bead forward in the direction of the arrow located on the clasp. If the ring is on a colored bead, there is a low likelihood of pregnancy and if on the white bead the probability of conceiving is high.

This inexpensive method is easy to use and most importantly more than 95% effective when used correctly. CycleBeads is the most natural way to identify potentially fertile days. No medications, no side effects!

Seasons strives to keep you informed and educated on the issues that concern you. We are happy to offer our patients CycleBeads as a more natural approach to monitoring fertility.

To purchase CycleBeads or for more information, please contact Seasons Wellness Clinic, Ruston, LA. 318-255-3223.

During the first three months following the procedure, your body and the micro-inserts work together to form a tissue barrier that prevents sperm from reaching the egg. After these three months, Dr. Goodyear will perform an Essure Confirmation Test, a special type of x-ray to confirm that your tubes are completely blocked and that you can rely on the Essure micro-inserts for birth control.

The benefits included:

- No cutting into the body so there are no unattractive scars.

- 99.80% effective (based on 4 years of clinical data)

- Quick return to normal activities

- This procedure is performed in-office with minimal anesthesia.

- No hormones or silicone to interfere with your body

o Unlike birth control pills, patches, rings, and some forms of IUDs, Essure does not contain hormones to interfere with your natural menstrual cycle.

o Your periods should more or less continue in their normal state.

- Peace of mind with the Essure Confirmation Test.

http://www.essure.com/

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Dr. Nathan Goodyear

After my last post on Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS or PCO), a reader from Arizona emailed us and said: “My doctor prescribed metformin for me and my periods came back after 5 months of no periods!! It also is helping me lose some weight. Keep in mind, I am overweight, hypertensive, and have slightly elevated cholesterol. Ugh!”

Let’s focus on her two implied questions. First, why did her periods return when she started taking metformin? Second, why she has lost weight? As we address those two questions, you’ll learn more about our treatment strategy for PCO at Seasons Women’s Care.

As I explained in my last post, PCO is characterized by

• High insulin levels and insulin resistance
• High androgen levels (think testosterone)
• Irregular cycles (due to anovulation)

Additionally, many women gain weight.

At Seasons we focus on alleviating these three areas without introducing any side effects. You work with the body, the body will work for you! Let’s go over them one at a time.

Elevated Insulin

Elevated insulin is the result of poor insulin sensitivity, or insulin resistance. The most commonly prescribed insulin medicine used today is the drug metformin. This is a diabetes medicine that improves insulin sensitivity and reduces the liver production of glucose. Metformin can also be associated with significant gastrointestinal side effects, though.

Metformin isn’t the only treatment to reduce insulin resistance. Alpha-lipoic acid also works, and it doesn’t have the side effects associated with metformin.

However, the easiest way to improve insulin resistance is through weight loss. You read that right. Merely losing weight will result in improved insulin sensitivity. At Seasons, we help all women with PCOS to lose weight through nutrition.

One final note about insulin. High insulin levels appear to be a primary factor in testosterone production (discussed below) because insulin binds to specific receptors in the ovaries that augment testosterone production.

Our strategy at Seasons: We work to improve insulin resistence and lower insulin levels, using weight loss, Lipoic acid, and metformin (if necessary).

Elevated Testosterone

Many drugs today are prescribed to lower testosterone. These include spirinolactone, finesteride, cyproterone acetate, dexamethasone, Lupron, flutamide, and finesteride. These are big drugs, and they can have big side effects.

At Seasons, we attack the cause at the source: lack of progesterone and elevated insulin.

OK, this part is a bit technical. Progesterone dominates the last two weeks of a cycle, following ovulation. When you don’t ovulate, your body lacks progesterone. When your progesterone levels decrease, your body stimulates more testosterone production. Raising progesterone levels again can reduce the stimulation to the ovaries for more testosterone production.

Even more important for most women, progesterone lowers the testosterone to dihydrotestosterone conversion. This will reduce the facial hair, hair loss, and acne so commonly associated with PCO.

Progesterone also improves a women’s estrogen dominance (high estrogen to progesterone ratio), and thus improves weight loss.

Our strategy at Seasons: We work with your body to lower testosterone levels more naturally by addressing the root causes of decreased progesterone levels and elevated insulin levels.

Irregular Cycles

Irregular cycles are a hallmark of PCOS. They are, however, just a symptom of the hormone problem. A woman’s uterus will only do what her body tells her to do. You might call the uterus a “Yes, Ma’am” organ. This is why removing a woman’s uterus won’t fix the problem.

The problem is hormone imbalance: high testosterone, high insulin, and low progesterone. When we add progesterone back in, we can address the high testosterone and the low progesterone problems. Additionally, we help women eat better and encourage them to eliminate their exposure to environmental toxins. This helps a woman lose weight, and it helps her body’s insulin sensivity and estrogen dominance.

Now, what about birth control pills? Most of your friends are probably on birth control pills to treat PCOS. Birth control pills do correct the cycle issues, but they replace a hormone imbalance with a hormone overload. This can be a big band-aid with dangerous consequences.

Of course, band-aids aren’t solutions. But we’re more concerned about the consequences of long term birth control. It has been shown to increase your chances of breast cancer and weight gain.

Our strategy at Seasons: When we treat PCOS, we look to the root causes, not quick fix band-aids. Treating the causes—high testosterone, high insulin, and low progesterone—results in long-term solutions that restore your overall health.

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One missed pill: take missed pill as soon as possible and take next pill at usual time.

Two missed pills during first two weeks: take two pills as soon as possible, then two pills the next day, then return to normal schedule with additional barrier contraceptive for the remainder of the month.

Three missed pills in the first two weeks: immediately start a new pack (without a pill-free interval) and use back up for 7 days.

Two missed pills in third week: immediately start a new pack (without a pill free interval) and use back up for 7 days.

Many couples use regular back up methods to be safe.