Pcos

I was just wondering if anyone else had been diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome...

I just found out I had it two months ago...

If you do have it, what sorts of medicine are you on? I want some herbal remedies I've heard of...

~Jo

 

Yes. I have. I've bored people with my traumatic story on here enough times... if you ask I'll tell you, but I don't want to repeat myself too much. Right now, I'm on nothing (and I'm uninsured) but depending on the severity of your PCOS (and whether you want to conceive) the most popular med for it is plain ol' BC pills, followed closely by Metaformin (usually if you have severe insulin resistance or are trying to conceive). From what I remember, dandelion tea can be good for it... but I don't remember what it does exactly.
One of the most important things you can do is control your weight with diet and EXCERCISE! A lot of problems will fix themselves if you do this.
Do you menstruate regularly/at all? If you go long without a period, or you experience a lot of abdominal pain/cramping, I HIGHLY recommend requesting a pelvic ultrasound, and requesting a copy of the results yourself (don't simply rely on your doc to translate for you)
This is especially important because PCOS patients can develop very serious complications if you have a cyst grow too large. You DON'T want that to happen. Good luck!

 

Thanks, dear. My doc has me on metafomin right now, but so far, it hasn't done shit. My periods are still out of whack, but my doctor won't listen to me -grumble-

Since the diagnosis, I've lost 14 pounds, and myblood pressure's gone down from 140 to 110. So I've done some good, though I still have a loooooong ways to go.

Nice to know there's someone else here with it.

~Jo

 

I don't have it, but have seen some really great things with metfomin. I am a Lactation Consultant, and have seen womyn's milk supplies go way up once their insulin resistance is treated. It may take a while, but it works for many womyn.

 

White flour and white sugar need to be used sparingly with PCOS until it is under control. I'm on metformin too. Give it some time to kick in! Also, exercise can work wonders. Something as little as 10 minutes of walking a few times a day can help! Of course 30 minutes of brisk walking can do even more. Good luck!

 

Yes, insulin resistence causes problems with properly digesting carbs. So the greatest thing you can do is (RESPONSIBLY) up your protein intake and watch the carbs. I try to ingest ONLY complex carbs when I can. Nothing but whole wheat this and that, brown rice, etc. And stay away from the sugar whenever I can manage it. Before I was diagnosed IR, I actually went in to the doc, not because of my period being weird, but because I was tired all the time. It turned out that since I was eating a carb-heavy diet, my body didn't properly process much of the food I ate, but basically just turned it directly into fat, and I didn't get much energy from any of it - so my body thought I was starving. Diet changes, really will not do shit though if you don't follow through with lots of excercise. You need to just pay lots of attention and work hard on speeding up your metabolism. PCOS/weight problems are a kind of chicken/egg thing - but all you can do at this point is work with the weight and hope the rest will work out.

And like I said, if your period is way "out of whack" as you say - it can't hurt to do an ultrasound. It'll give you a better idea of what you've got to work with - whether or not you HAVE cysts (surprisingly, many women with pcos don't even get them) and whether they are IN or ON your ovaries. If it looks bad, then at least you'll know what's going on and you can check on it again as you get your health under control. Good luck, and feel free to PM me any time if you want more moral support!

 

Thanks guys.

I've already switched to all wheat products concerning my bread and grains, and most of it is homemade so that I know what's going into it.

I'm waiting for the blood tests to come back to see if my blood sugar's gone down any, to see if my met is helping. My dr. said that it takes time, and I understand that, it's just very frusterating....

 

I was diagnosed 5 yrs ago.


I have been on BCP, except for the pregnancies for my two sons, since I was 13. I am 27 now, 28 in January. No help from the BCP.

You do need to know that PCOS can drastically affect your cholestoral. It will markedly change your triglycerides usually, making them high.

It can also totally screw with your moods.

Check out the pcos website for more info. www.pcosupport.org/ Awsome, helpfull site. I learned so many things that my docs didnt seem to know, if they did they didnt tell me. They let me think that my problems were all MY FAULT.

My old ob-gyn just kept putting me on one diet after another and telling me that I had caused the bad readings. I have since found out, there wasnt anything I could have done that would have made any difference.

My MD, didnt even want to get me an ULTRASOUND, till my MOTHER (who is also his patient) scolded him and reminded him that the US he didnt want to give HER, saved her life. He still wont admit anything is as wrong as it is, he assures my mother (who gave him an update at her visit on FRI) that she must be mistaken, that what the other DR found cant be there. We have it set up at our DR that he can share that info between her and I.

I had to have my boys C-section due to another problem. I have had severe scar tissue from both.

Im going in for a complete hyst. Dec 20th. I have a fibroid on the back of my uterus that by the time I get in will most likely be bigger than my uterus and they didnt see it on the US. I have a 6cm cyst on the right ovary. I have severe adhesions linking my uterus to my bowel and bladder. I also have it linking my left ovary to my bowel and bladder. AND adhesions completely fixing my uterus to my abdomen. I was to have the 2 cut laperoscopy on the 19th of OCT. All DR could do was get the belly button cut, too many adhesiond to get in for the other pelvic cut. SO for the hyst. I get the up & down cut instead of the side to side I had with my boys. DR feels thats the only way he might be able to get around the adhesions to get everything out. He gave me the option to keep the left ovary, but said it would mean repeated surgical procedures to keep removing the adhesions. I told him to take it out.

So, ARM YOURSELVES GIRLS, KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, OWN YOUR BODY! AN INFORMED PATIENT IS IN CHARGE OF THEIR HEALTH. DONT DEPEND SOLEY ON THE INFO YOU GET FROM YOUR DR. A LOT OF DRS DONT TELL YOU MORE THAN YOUR $ PAYS THEM TO.

 

Yes, I have PCOS. I was diagnosed when I was 15, so that means I've had it for 10 years now. When I did get a period, I would bleed for a minimum of 8 days and I was hectically heavy. My cycles were anything from 60 days to 14 days depending on my body's mood swing at the time. I had hectic water retention, bad skin, overweight, male pattern hair growth - you name it I had it. I have sorted out the skin and got the weight under control. I went as far as laser surgery to improve the hair thing because I was really self conscious. I have regular blood sugar tests to catch any signs of diabetes early (becasue it also runs in the family).

I refused point blank to go on any medications that were hormone related for a long, long time. I eventually agreed to take Spiractrin (Spirinolactone) which helped a lot with my skin and a bit with water retention. However I stopped taking about 2 years back. I am now taking BC pills, but more because I don't want to fall pregnant than anything else.

Best advice I can give - read up on it, learn about it, understand it. Learn what you need to watch out for (for example, pcos makes you prone to insulin resistance so make sure you get you blood sugar tested regularly) and what you can do to help yourself - like most people have mentioned here, diet and exercise.