Recently Diagnosed

kittysaruswrecks

Hello Everyone!

I'm new and thought I would say hi. I was recently diagnosed with PCOS after what seemed like an eternity of pushing my primary care physician for help. I've always struggled with high blood pressure even when just moderately overweight and pretty young and no doctor could ever tell me what was wrong. I was told to lose weight when I weighed 180lbs because that was causing it, so they said, when a pediatrician I worked for told me it wasn't.

Fast forward till about three years ago, my hair started falling out when I had Merina inserted. I had it removed a year later and the hair loss didn't stop. This past year I've been on a kick to get healthy after I had yearly blood work that showed high cholesterol and noticed more symptoms (acne, oily skin, depression) and the hair loss getting worse. Despite changing my diet completely, watching calories, eating fresh foods, cutting processed, and switching to whole grain/low fat dairy... nothing worked. I did couch to 5k completely and only managed to lose 15lbs. I ate more calories, took away calories, watched my protein/carb/fat ratio, went gluten free for two weeks, and talked with a dietician who said I was doing everything right yet nothing worked, so I went to my doctor. I had a pretty good idea it was a hormonal imbalance but when I asked for testing and to see an endocrinologist, I was told no and my doctor decided to do blood work himself. He ONLY checked my thyroid, cortisol, and progesterone, even when he discussed the possibility of having PCOS, which obviously wouldn't show anything because he didn't check the right hormones. When they all came back normal he told me everything was fine, I was just depressed and stressed out, and put me on depression medication (Prozac) and sent me to a dermatologist for my hair loss/oily skin/acne. LUCKILY, the dermatologist had some sense and asked me after telling her all of my symptoms, "Have you seen and endocrinologist?" I told her no, went on a rant about my doctor and she proceeded to send me for more blood testing. After my blood work came back with high testosterone, DHEA, and prolactin, I was diagnosed with PCOS and scheduled to see an endocrinologist.

My endocrinologist appointment isn't until January 22nd, but after some pushing from my doctor I managed to get him to start treatment now (Metformin and Nuvaring). I haven't had an insulin resistance test and was surprised he even put me on Metformin without one. I actually asked for Spironolactone because of it. I'm also now in the process of changing doctors because it seems this one isn't the best... and despite having a doctorate... he doesn't seem very smart...

Really, I guess me coming here and telling everyone this is out of my frustration... the symptoms get worse by the day and as silly as it is, this is really effecting me emotionally and is causing me to have body image issues. If anyone can recommend things that have worked for them I'm willing to listen. Also, how did you deal with the hair loss, oily skin, acne, and facial hair growth? How were you able to lose weight and get healthy again? I'm kinda at a loss and my doctor is a butt head and isn't really offering a lot in the way of support other than medication. I'm pretty desperate at this point! Also, thank you in advance ladies for listening and offering your help.

Much Love,

Melissa

Alliwan

Welcome!

there are some good posts here about how it all works. I'm just starting down the path of figuring it all out too. Just started metformin myself. Low Carb/High Fat is the only thing ive found that will let me lose any weight at all, no matter how hard I try. Its a new thing for me, just now learning to cook that way.

I'm sure others have good advice, but just wanted to say welcome!

Crystallee145

HI! Glad to see you on MFP!

I struggle everyday with PCOS and its side effects. I havent found what works for me yet, but I am in the process of learning. While I'm working the types of food work best for me I make sure I get to the gym at least 3-4 days a week. On the other days I remain active at home and in my community. I havent been able to loose much weight, but I haven't gained any. That's a big win for me

The ladies here have been a great support system for me.

miranda_mom

How long have you been on the Metformin. For me, it was a miracle drug. Stopped my hair loss (but this can take a few months because of the life cycle of hair). Also restarted my cycle. And I got pregnant. You have to be on the right dose though, which is usually not the starting dose so stick with what you've been doing! Find a new doc if you don't feel comfortable though - you have to have a good relationship with your doc.

Dragonwolf

I did couch to 5k completely and only managed to lose 15lbs.

Only?

Girl, I'd kill for that much weight loss by simply doing something like C25K! There was a point in time last year where I was doing martial arts (with sparring) and weight lifting and lost neither an ounce nor an inch. 15lb is HUGE! Congrats on that loss! Don't disregard it!

That said, I feel your pain. When you look for a new doctor, don't make the mistake that I did and think that just because the doctor is female, she'll be more receptive. My old doctor insisted that I was just "doing it wrong," even though I was doing the same thing as a lot of other people that were very successful, and my OB/GYN still insists that I should join Weight Watchers, despite me not having compliance or knowledge issues. The sad truth is that most doctors are pretty clueless when it comes to PCOS.

As for the Metformin thing, most women with PCOS, especially those that struggle with weight, have insulin resistance, which Metformin directly deals with (check out my response to someone else who was new how Metformin works and the whole rat's nest of interactions of hormones works in women with PCOS - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1139450-new-pcos-diagnosis-and-about-to-start-metformin ). It's probably why your doctor prescribed it (assuming he didn't just do it because "that's what women get prescribed when they have PCOS").

As for the symptoms, once you get your hormones straightened out, your symptoms should get better. Most women here do best on a low-carb/high-fat (moderate protein) diet, because it limits the insulin spikes. Some also find it beneficial to eliminate gluten and sometimes dairy (both are pretty high in sugar/carbs, anyway, so they get limited on LC/HF by default, usually, but some benefit from cutting them out entirely). However you go, stick with whole foods as much as possible, get most of your carbs from veggies and limited, low-sugar fruit (berries, avocado, etc).

The oily skin and acne should be the first to clear up, as it only takes a couple of weeks to deal with their causes and acne lifecycles are only about a week or so. The hair issues will depend on how long it takes your testosterone to straighten out and your vitamin and mineral stores to replenish. You may be able to help some things along by taking certain supplements, such as zinc and magnesium.

No matter what diet choices you choose, make sure to stick with it for at least a month. Otherwise, you don't really know if it's actually going to work. This is especially the case when doing things like gluten free, because the effects that gluten has on those that are sensitive can include things like GI damage, which take time to heal.

And some notes regarding LC/HF - I know it sounds counterintuitive, especially given your history of cholesterol issues, but there's increasing evidence that it's the carb sources, not fat, that determine your serum lipid levels (in fact, it's been pretty thoroughly debunked that dietary fat and cholesterol cause serum lipid issues). In fact, most people who switch to LC/HF, see stark improvements in their cholesterol levels, and even those with arguably good levels will often even see improvements (going from "good" to "great" or even "optimal" or better). And this is even independent of weight loss.