PCOS Sucks!!!

edurham79

I was diagnosed with PCOS at 26 I am now 35. Unfortunately none of my doctors completely explained the disease to me. This past summer, when my pain was at it's worst, my gyn recommended a full hysterectomy, thinking it would cure me of this awful disease I agreed, two months later we moved and I had to get a new dr. When I was talking to him about hormone replacement therapy and my weight gain he began to explain that I was still suffering from pcos??????? How??? I don't have ovaries???? He explained that cystic ovaries are caused by the bodies response to insulin resistance, a metabolic syndrome, and that I did get rid of some of the side effects of pcos, but that I was still insulin resisant and must cut carbs in order to lose weight and avoid diabetes.....sure wished my first dr had explained all of this....

mbibble

In a way, I guess it makes sense that the metabolic part of PCOS would still be there, even if your ovaries aren't. If the insulin resistance causes the androgenic response and then your ovaries form cysts, you grow extra hair, and all the other crappy parts of PCOS, then it makes sense that so long as you're still insulin resistant, you will still have symptoms. Your ovaries weren't causing the insulin-resistance, your genes probably were.

It doesn't seem very different to being pre-diabetic or being a male with insulin resistance. Your body under-reacts to sugar, you crash, you crave more, you gain weight, the fat you gain stores estrogen, your androgens overreact (even though you've had a hysterectomy), and it gets tougher to break the cycle as you inch closer to diabetes. Have you heard of a supplement called DIM? It supposedly helps with estrogen metabolism and I've read a lot about it for people with estrogen-dominant PCOS (which it sounds like you still have). There are also a few studies about plain, ole cinnamon regulating insulin resistance for people with & without PCOS (http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/30/9/2236.full).

I think I personally have the thin kind of PCOS where even though I don't have extra weight, I still have insulin resistance that responds only to low-carb (<100g) eating and daily exercise. I can't seem to get a diagnosis because I don't fit the standard (so take my advice with a grain of salt), but I see a huge difference on a low-carb diet in the obvious things: acne, energy/mood, muscle tone, and cycle.

andreiasw8

I too have pcos and its so dam hard to loose weight