PCOS and No Meds?

triplestepping

Anyone out there taking the low road and trying to do this the natural way with just diet and exercise? Tips?

I've been on Emoquette b/c for probably the last four years since diagnosis, and I want off. Not really to have a baby, but pretty much my libido has gone through the floor and I think that's what's to blame. I joke that it's effective birth control because you don't really want to have sex! Without going into a lot of detail, I think improving my marriage and our general happiness is more important than my other symptoms. The b/c also makes it harder to lose weight, which affects self-esteem, which affects libido... vicious cycle.

I weigh 160 or so at 5'4" so I think I'm an okay candidate to do this the hard way. I exercise moderately already (we have a dog who needs going out) and I only want to lose about 15-20 pounds or so, so I think getting off b/c should help with that. What are the diet tips? Avoid dairy/soy/carbs? Avoiding soy will be hard as I'm vegetarian.

Your thoughts would be appreciated. Going to the doc on Thursday to ask.

tifnguyen

I understand the low libido on b/c. I recently went off of the pill and my libido has gone up although not as much as I would like. Unfortunately I am quite a bit heavier than you are (243) and going off of it has allowed other symptoms to present themselves - quicker weight gain, acne, etc. However I think you're probably in good enough shape that going without medication won't necessarily lead to other symptoms appearing. I think you will do just fine losing weight all on your own and I'm sure your body will thank you for not giving it foreign meds. You can do it!

hellonheels88

I am doing this without meds. I am unable to take birth control because of a pulmonary embolism that I had a couple years ago. I also lost my medical coverage the day after I was daignosed with PCOS so I'm in between coverage at the moment. So I just did a lot of research and found different dietary changes that needed to be made. I switched to mostly organic/all natural meats to avoid added hormones, I have added a ton of fruits and veggies, completely cut out soda and most processed foods/refined sugars. I try to at as "naturally"/"organic" as possible. I also started drinking a couple different herbal teas a couple times a day. I got Traditional Medicinals Female Toner tea and a Spearmint tea that I combine. It's tasty. And I switched to a food based all natural multivitamin for women that includes a lot of the things I needed.

I have only been really working at this for the last 2-3 weeks but I already feel better. My face is still breaking out but not as bad as it was. My hair isn't falling out in HUGE clumps like it was before. And I just had my withdrawal bleed after 10 days of Provera. So with the help of my nifty little fertility calendar thing on my phone, we'll see what kind of results we get.

I do have a lot of weight to lose though. I'm 5'4" as well but weight about 215. So I have a goal of 70 pounds to lose. I do want to try to concieve in the near future so I'm hoping that between the diet/nutrition and losing some weight, I'll get my menstrual cycle straightened out. If you want to add me we can chat about it or share ideas. I'm on here every day!

toadoftoadhall

Hi Triplesteppin,

I was diagnosed in 2001 and put on metformin, dianette and cyproterone acetate. I was always a healthy weight and symptoms weren't too bad so I got pretty lazy and just relied on the meds to keep everything in order.
I came off dianette about 4 years ago as I get bad migraines and was hoping they would improve (they haven't) and I came off cyproterone acetate 6 weeks ago. I have ridiculously low oestrogen when I am on CA, and I feel so much better off it. I had my first period in 4 years exactly 4 weeks after coming off CA. I'm sticking with metformin for now. I'm struggling a bit with my skin and have noticed a slight increase in hirsutism but better than I expected (and I'm not sure whether my body getting used to no CA may mean that things may be worse initially and then may quiet down eventually).
I'm not taking any supplements at the moment as getting blood tests done in a fortnight and want to know exactly what my body is doing, but will be going back on wild blue-green algae, fish oil and spearmint tea once the tests are done.

I've put on a lot of weight over the last 4 months and am now 163lb (5ft6"). Not too worried about the weight but know my body is happier without it so trying to lose 30lb so I feel better but mostly to see if I can kick PCOS's ugly butt! I'll let you know how it goes. I tried going med free once before and gave up as found the bad skin too embarrassing (I am a lawyer and meetings with clients with a face full of cystic acne was humiliating), but hoping now I am older (32) things might be more under control. Plus I am nicer to myself now and give myself more of a break so its far less stressful!

I have 4 close friends with PCOS. All are off all medication, all have children (one had to take clomid but the others conceived naturally - one got pregnant on her honeymoon!) and none have acne or hirsutism which is noticeable.

Best of luck, let me know how you are doing, I'd be interested to know how med-free works out for you.

Px

crazygreenmonkey

Hey,

I was recently prescribed Metformin and have previously been on Dianette, but haven't had the b/c for about 5 years and never started the Metformin as I was worried about the side effects and wanted to try the no meds approach first.

As with a lot of people who have PCOS, I have always struggled to lose weight. But I looked back at things that have worked in the past and what makes logical sense to me from all the blogs/forum posts/research I have read on PCOS and I really thought about when I have had most energy/felt most healthy. After losing and gaining the same 14lbs for the past 2 years by continuing with poor eating habits (eating less, but not necessarily better!)I am now determined to shift the weight once and for all.

I can strongly recommend eating foods with a Low Glycaemic Index - one of the most common symptoms/issues with PCOS sufferers is insulin resistance. Low GI foods help avoide peaks and lows in blood sugar. This helps you to avoid cravings, stopped me feeling dizzy and nauseous and also helps keep my body (and PCOS symptoms) more stable.

Cutting down processed foods is also a good idea - most of them contain lots of sugar/salt/chemicals. Fresh meat, vegetables, fish, seeds, etc are much cleaner sources of nutrition, so they interfere with your body's natural processes less. I am not going so far as to cut out other foods completely, just making simple substitutes most of the time.

Exercise is a tough one that I am working on (haven't quite got into it yet) - but I always find that doing something I enjoy makes me much more likely to get up and move a bit than if I dread it. I love Zumba and the fact that it seems to begin toning my middle and help aid my weight loss is a big plus!

I have gone from losing around 0.5lbs every 2 weeks to 1.5lbs per week by changing these things, so it is working for me at the moment!

Good luck!

caljo06

Trying it naturally sounds like a good plan. I was diagnosed with PCOS last year. Before I was put on med I dropped from 225 to 193 on my own by changing my diet to low fat choices. Once I was put on Metformin I actually gained weight (went up to 200 and stayed there for a while) and also gained some crazy side effects. I'd like to go natural but know that since my weight is high it would be tricky. Has anyone been successful in losing weight and curbing PCOS symptoms naturally when they started from a higher weight?

MeepleMuppet

Until I joined this group I didn't even know that meds were an option! As others have suggested, knowing yourself and having lifestyle tweaks that you haven't tried yet should help the decision. And if you don't feel good - if things start sliding in the wrong direction, you can always go back on.