Pcos?

[tomanygirls]

A nurse called me today & said that I have PCOS. She said that my testostorone was at 73(is this high) All she said was to excesie & stay away from sugar. So what is it & how does this affect infertility. Also does this increase my risks for cancers ovarian & cevical ( am already at a high risk now)

[kriket]

crap, that was rude of her...

It took me literally years to figure out my specific breed of PCOS and successfully manage it. There is so much on the internet about PCOS www.soulcycters.net is an amazing PCOS only website. There are women here that are fighters. Look for the teal ribbons in siggys.

The thing with PCOS is there is no cure, no treatment, really just prevention, or working on a goal. You can either, try to keep cysts away and the hair and things that can snowball and make PCOS worse. You can also try to manage it so you can get pregnant. Then breastfeeding can also be a challenge!

The biggest thing is get healthy. Exercise, eat right and you will be doing all you can do. After that if you need herbs or meds, they are in addition to getting healthy.

I you ever want to chat you can PM me! You can click the PCOS ribbon in my siggy and it takes you to a site. If you run vista it gliches out tho, I don't know why. I hate vista...

[notwonamesalike]

I would check out www.soulcysters.com

It's a great source of information for those of us with PCOS.


When I was dealing with PCOS related infertility I was seeing a reproductive endocrinologist.

I was told to go on a low carb diet (the nurse sat down with me and went over low verses high glycemic foods), exercise and was placed on Metformin to help manage my insulin resistance.

I was unsuccessful conceiving at that point even with the help of clomid. It was several years later, all on our own, when we weren't even trying that I finally got pregnant.

If you do become pregnant, you should have your progesterone levels checked early on. It is not unusual for PCOS pregnancies to have low levels of progesterone - and need subsequent supplementation.

I really recommend seeing at RE to help manage your symptoms.

[lifeguard]

Well, getting the diagnosis is one of the biggest battles for most of us. The site the pp listed is a good one. Unfortunately there are not a lot of great books on the subject but if you look around there are a couple out there.

Everyone with PCOS tends to get a different compliment of symptoms. For me weight gain, depression, irregular periods & infertility were the big ones. But dealing aggressively with my weight (no walks to lose weight here - I MUST work out HARD to see any results at all) I was able to get it down & was lucky to have my first round on clomid result in a pregnancy - although I suspect that was in part to the weight I had lost.

Yes, it can increase your risk of ovarian & uterine cancer - usually this is due to the infrequent periods (some women do not get periods at all). If this is a concern then birth control pills are often used to ensure regular periods.

Insulin resistance often goes hand in hand with pcos & that is why the nurse mentioned monitoring your sugar intake. It is something to be aware of as having pcos can dramatically effect our chances of developing diabetes.

Keeping your weight under control is the most effective "treatment" for a lot of women. But not everyone with pcos struggles with their weight.

If you have any other questions don't hesitate to pm me.

[leerypolyp]

Wow, "exercise and watch sugar." How, um, useful for a condition that will affect you for the rest of your life!

On the upside, those are things you ought to do, but really a small piece of the picture. Do some reading, and then think about scheduling a visit with an RE, whether or not you're interested in getting pregnant anytime soon. Like notwonames, I took metformin and eat a low-glycemic diet, and I manage my PCOS well enough that my new midwife was shocked I had it! (If she could have seen me six years ago...)

I'm glad they caught it, and I'm glad you're looking into more of it, and the pp's have given good advice. Good luck in dealing with it -- it can be done, once you figure out what works best for your body.

[Happily Blessed]

How sad that the nurse rushed through an explanation for you. I have dealt with PCOS for a long time. It is possible to conceive and breastfeed. You just have to work harder at it.

soulcysters is a wonderful website to go to. The Insulin Resistance Diet is a good start to understand how to balance your diet. Most PCOS ladies are insulin resistant.

Good luck and start your research! You can take control of your situation!

laural

[PaulaJoAnne]

Rebalancing hormones

The following list will greatly help you in balancing your hormones.
Maca Root
Ioderal
High Vitamin cod liver oil by Blue Ice
High Vitamin Butter oil by Blue Ice
Nutrient dense foods
And never eat any kind of sugar. It just feeds the PCOS.
Paula
www.steveandpaularunyan.blogspot.com

[majorsky]

The previous posters have given you a lot of good suggestions... most of all, I recommend becoming your own informed advocate. PCOS seems to be misunderstood by a large number of doctors, so it's our job to educate ourselves as much as possible and make the changes or get the medical help our bodies need.

It took me two years to find a doctor that would admit I had PCOS, even though I exhibit most of the clinical symptoms (including cysts on the ovaries, visible through ultrasound). I'm lean, so nearly all the doctors I saw said "You don't have PCOS -- you're not overweight." So how else could they explain all my PCOS symptoms? With a shrug.

It's a tough road sometimes, but just stay informed, try a variety of different ways to tackle it (exercise, weight loss, diet modification, possibly supplements or medication -- but remember to give each treatment ample time to take effect), and you'll find what works for your body.

Kristin

[cristeen]

Unfortunately, with PCOS, every one of us has a different set of symptoms, and every one of us will have different responses to the things we try to control it.

Underlying all of it is the Insulin Resistance. That is at the root of the problem, since insulin affects the hormone balances. Controlling the IR is key to controlling everything else, IME. Some people can control it fairly easily, some can't control it at all. For myself, I get the best results when I remove all refined sugars, and all grains from my diet, and use only the occasional small amounts of unrefined sugar (honey). Eating this way, I actually ovulate on a 29 day cycle, which is amazing considering I used to go months without a period, and even longer without ovulation. The depression pretty much disappears, the hot flashes go away, the sleep problems go away, the only thing it doesn't touch is the hirsutism and the weight.

Losing weight is a great thing to do with PCOS, but it is incredibly difficult for most of us, as a pp said. I was able to lose about 50 pounds doing a strict low carb diet, and then the weight loss stopped. I'm still about 100 lbs "overweight", and can't lose it for the life of me. But, it is possible to be healthy and "overweight" at the same time, so that is what I strive for.

A lot of doctors throw BCPs at PCOS, as a "quick fix". Yes, it means you menstruate on a regular basis, which reduces the risk of uterine cancer. BUT, it does not address any of the underlying issues, and as many of us have learned when we come off the BCPs, the problems are even worse because they were hidden for so long. They also contribute to both weight gain and depression in many of us. I do not recommend anyone goes this route except as a last resort.

If you're TTC, your first stop should be an RE (my HMO let me skip the required 18 month TTC time because I had a diagnosis of PCOS). If you're not TTC, you may still want to look for an endo (reproductive or otherwise) that you can talk to about it... but just make sure that they're well versed in PCOS before wasting your money. If you can't find one who is experienced with it, educate yourself and then go to your family doctor or OB/GYN with specific requests (like blood tests). In a lot of areas you will be the best informed person you can find on the subject.

There is a PCOSers Tribe buried in the archives somewhere, it hasn't been active for a while, but it does contain a lot of great information.