I'm new and need some advice!

aclassichorror

Hi, my name is Olivia, I am 16 years old and I was diagnosed with PCOS three or four years ago. When I was diagnosed I was 145 lbs and now I weigh 190 lbs in my Junior year of high school. When my doctor told me that I was basically infertile, and that it will be tough for me to lose weight, if I can at all. I was devastated, being a victim of bullying because of my weight already, I struggled with bulimia for about a year and a half after my diagnosis. The bullying and previous traumatic childhood events already made me extremely depressed, and then when I started gaining weight, it just got worse. I am absolutely disgusted with myself that I have let myself get this fat and ugly. Every girl in my school is petite and can wear adorable clothes, and has a boyfriend. While I am alone, and usually look like I am going to a funeral. Over the past year or two I have been struggling with self harm and am now covered in scar via cutting, and stretch marks from the weight gain. I have attempted suicide three times, and have been put in and out of hospitals for my safety. I am on medication for depression, anxiety, antipsycotics, and have heard about medications that can help level out PCOS but I have no idea if it will cause a conflict with my other medications, and throw me off. My therapist and I have been trying to make a weight loss plan to make me feel a little bit better and up my selfesteem, but I feel like if anyone knew ways to lose weight and to cope with PCOS, it would be women who have dealt with it. So I would really appreciate some sort of feed back.

wowgirl30

First, it is important that you work with your health professionals and take their advice above any that you would get over the internet. In fact, no one here is qualified to make those kind of calls for you - especially since you are still a minor and your body and brain is still developing so you have extra needs for nutrition and what kinds of medications you can take. Be 100% open and honest with your doctors and therapist and make sure they are communicating with each other too to make sure you get the safest and best care. Start talking about your feelings with those who care about you. Bring those dark places to light and you will find that you are not alone.

From my personal experience I had a similar teen years including the self harm. I was and still am very much bigger than you, but I can tell you that things get better. It is hard work, but totally worth it. I'm glad I stuck around through everything because now I have a better outlook on life and have a family that I love dearly. I learned on a trip overseas when I was 18 that there are much greater problems in life than not looking how you want to. You have to learn to love yourself unconditionally - love that doesn't depend on what you look like and you have to stop comparing yourself and your life to others. There is only one you. Take care of yourself. PCOS sucks but it doesn't make you doomed. You can lose weight, you can feel good, you can have a life. You may have to work a little harder for the things you want, but that is a small price to pay.

kenzietate

You definitely need to continue to work with your health professionals to level out your emotions and feelings!

I was gaining weight when I was your age but didn't know why. I wasn't diagnosed until I was 18. It wasn't until I was 23 (last year) that I finally started to find what worked to control the PCOS symptoms and level out my hormones. I would talk to your doctor about seeing a diabetes specialist nutritionist. Eating as a diabetic would has show great success for many PCOS women including me. There are medications that help but eating the right things can help even more. Especially if you start losing weight and gaining your self esteem back.

Each woman is different but the basic premise is to watch your carb intake. This includes everything from fruits, certain veggies, bread, pasta, potatoes, etc. and limit them to a smaller portion of your overall intake. Finding the right level for you is where a nutritionist would be able to help you! Keep the lines of communication open when your medical team and question everything you are concerned about.

The doctors told me that I was basically infertile and would never have children without help. I was off of BC and started eating low carb for 3 months. I lost 10% of the weight I needed to lose and bam I got pregnant! So take what they say about that with a grain of salt and still remain safe if you are sexually active! DO NOT TAKE THAT LIGHTLY!! Many women have been told they are infertile, to some time later end up pregnant!

I was never in the same place emotionally as you but I will say that I have been through some really dark times in my teenage years due to bullying and having no friends. Getting my PCOS symptoms under control really helped me to grab hold of my life and turn it around. Eating the right foods, feeling like I have control over something in my life, really helped. Talk to your therapist and see if maybe that would help you as well.

Keep your chin up girl and know that you are not alone! Everything will get better I promise!!

kpelky

I agree with everyone in that you definitely need to talk to your doctors about your thoughts/concerns and make sure they are talking to each other!

I got diagnosed in March at 27 years old. It definitely threw me into this emotional storm where I went through phases of being angry, and then depressed, and then convicted to fix it, then feeling defeated that its not working the way it worked with "Sally", etc etc. I am still going through that process myself, but I can tell you this, when I began eating properly and exercising I lost weight. It wasn't as fast as others had experienced, and it definitely required work on my part, but it was totally worth it!

What really helped me was reading the book PCOS for Dummies (no really). It broke it down for me. It had so much info in it about why my body reacts the way it does to what I eat. I have noticed that a lot of "treatment/exercise plans" are focused on being able to conceive, and you (I assume) arent there right now. Neither am I, haha. That's usually when people start to take medicines to help with how your body processes carbs, because its been shown to help you start ovulating, etc etc. Seeing as how you arent really trying to conceive, I wouldn't really worry about medicines to help. Your doctors will obviously be able to tell you whether metformin (or whatever medicine you are thinking of) will be a good option for you. Talking to them will definitely going to be your best bet. Right now though, I think the best option is to first learn how your body is behaving/reacting to what you eat. Each PCOSer is different in this. I react a certain way to a certain carb that you might not react as harshly to, or vice versa. Learn all you can about the way your body behaves and definitely go for walks/jogs/runs. It helps me immensely to have "me time" outside with my dog, so I go for walks/jogs with him. I guess some good guidelines would be to reduce your carb intake and substitute veggies/protein in its place, and be active. If you are a sports person, do that. If you are a gym person, do that. If you are a jogging in your neighborhood because you are a total people watcher and dont exercise when in groups or at the gym person (like me, obvs), then do that.

Last thought/point. I was always the "big girl" among my friends in HS and college, and I have always struggled with my weight. I just thought it was because I couldn't control myself when I was eating. Little did I know it was because my body was being silly. The thing is though, my value as a person is not directly proportional to my waist line/weight/jean size. I have an inherent value because I am human. It obviously follows that the same applies to you. You have value apart from anything physical. You are a living, breathing human and you are valuable to this planet. Sometimes people wont show you or tell you, but its true. I am going to get touchy feely here, watch out.... I personally believe in God, I believe that God has a purpose for everyone, including you and me, and that means he has something awesome for us to accomplish in this life. Perhaps its starting a cool business, being a rockstar aunt, being a mom, curing a communicable disease.... I dont know... all I know is that we all have a purpose and I'm here trying to figure out what that purpose is and then fulfilling it. I have dreams and passions for a reason. I LOVE working in construction... love it... I love the smell of freshly cut wood, the sound of a construction site, the tenseness of a crane lifting steel into place, the amazing men and women who build the world around us... I just love it! It took me five majors in college to find the right one, haha, but thats okay!

Okay Im super longwinded.... let me know if you have any questions that you come up with in your research, but as everyones said, your doctors should be the ones that you should listen to in regards to medicines and such. We arent medical doctors so we really dont know what happens in your body.... bbbuuutttt, we are all super nice and like to share ideas on how to stay motivated and encouragement when that motivation starts to wane.

See ya!