Treatment and changes in diet....successful or not?

saraha789

I've been spending a lot of time researching PCOS since I've been diagnosed with it. All of the doctors I've been to have told me the only way to treat it is with Metformin, a contraceptive, and possibly surgery. But I want to know if there are more options. I mean, there has to be, right? I have gone gluten free and have been watching my carbs and sugar. I'm also taking Metformin and a contraceptive. I feel better, but I want to know about what other options are out there. I really don't want to take meds for the rest of my life. So what kind of treatments is everybody else doing for their PCOS? What kind of changes have y'all made in your diet? Are any of these changes/remedies working for y'all? I would love to hear from y'all

MysticTigress

I take no medications. My treatment method is 100% nutritional. Birth control is actually horrible for PCOS sufferers. You're at an increased risk of certain cancers from the PCOS alone, adding birth control to that makes your risk factor skyrocket. Personally, I'd get off of them. Metformin can be successfully replaced by Myo-Inositol. Myo actually has been found to work better and is a naturally occurring food substance rather than a man-made chemical. Don't know about you, but I would rather use natural methods instead. I just wrote a blog post with my story and what I'm doing to treat my PCOS. Rather than type back out everything I said there, I'll just point you there since we're MFP friends. (If anyone else reading this wants to read it, friend me!)

PinkMartiniPls

In the beginning, I went the medication route at the advice of my doctor (metformin) and it didn't work for me. After considerable research, I decided to use diet and exercise to try and manage my symptoms.

Exercise helped me lose 50 pounds. Diet has helped me get my cycles back. I practice a low-carb ketogenic diet and I'm very happy with it. I supplement my diet with a high-quality fish oil supplement (Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega brand) and a multivitamin. I'm still in the beginning phase of this but after one month, I received a normal period, so I am hopeful that this will work.

saraha789

I agree with you Mystic. I would love to go the natural route. I'm going to talk to a endocrinologist and a nutritionist and see if they can help first before I come off the meds again.

saraha789

That's really great Pink! I hope I can get this weight off. I know it's going to take time but I'm just so frustrated right now.

Alliwan

Diet has also helped my cycles a great deal. Since I went LCHF/ketogenic my periods have been shorter, less painful and not as heavy. And for me that's huge as they used to last a week, be so painful id be laying on the floor in the fetal position for a couple days and over flow 3-4 overnight pads a day. Now I can take 600mg of motrin for pain, able to do some lightly active things around the house and only overflowed one overnight pad this month. Its progress.

I know exercise has helped a lot also. I also use a high quality fish oil, cinnamon, biotin and a good multi vitamin to help me process the few carbs I eat and balance things out. I've read stores from quite a few people who are able to do it with diet and supplements alone and I've also read quite a few people who are able to do it with diet and supplements and something like metformin, so its what works for you. If you try something, a diet change, a routine change, a supplement change, and give it a few weeks and it doesn't work, try something else.

What works for you might not work for others and vice versa. Welcome to the group and we can beat this PCOS thing together!

saraha789

Thanks Alliwan! My periods are like that It's slightly lighter, less painful, and more regular since I've been on the BC pill and Metformin though.

teddiebare

In the beginning I did OK with no meds. I was able to lose 42 lbs and then I just hit a wall. The diet and exercise just wasn't enough, and I knew something was going on. After 1.5 years of eating at a defecit, working out 6x a week, and GAINING weight, I finally got my PCOS diagnosis.

I started with just metformin and a keto diet. My doctor has me stay under 50g of carbs a day, but some people like to stay as low as 20. I allow one 'treat' meal a week for my sanity, and I immediately started losing weight again. I was down 13 lbs, and had one normal cycle, and then BAM, last month I was a hormonal mess. My doctor had me add progesterone, and I'm feeling a bit better.

Finding a good doctor who you like and trust is very very important. I was told a lot of BS before I finally saw a specialist. I really like him, and right now he's seeing me monthly. I hope to cut back/eliminate the metformin once I lose some more weight, but the progesterone is probably here to stay. I do not take birth control because my mother had a hormonally induced stroke when she was going through menopause. I'm hoping my body levels itself back out with the progesterone cream and weight loss.

I still lose stupid slow, and I know this will be a struggle for the rest of my life. I lift heavy 3x a week, try to run/HIIT 2x a week, and walk 10,000 steps a day. Consciously being more active overall really helps me fight the fatigue. My hypoglycemia/insulin resistance is pretty severe, and I feel a lot more level and clear-minded with a lower carb diet. It's weird at first, and you feel pretty bad for the first week while you switch from carb-burning to fat-burning, but I've gotten used to it now. You just have to find out what works best for your body, and having a doctor on your side helping you will make a big difference.

Dragonwolf

All of the doctors I've been to have told me the only way to treat it is with Metformin, a contraceptive, and possibly surgery.

Then keep looking for a new doctor. Not all PCOS will even respond to Metformin, and hormonal birth control is horrible for the actual underlying issues in PCOS (it only seems to help because it keeps you from having a period, then you have a withdrawal bleed -- that's not a real period!).

I highly recommend seeking out doctors that take a functional, holistic approach to medicine, such as DOs, doctors with functional medicine practices, and possibly certain alternative practitioners. No matter what doctor you choose, make sure they're familiar with PCOS, its variations, and how to treat it beyond prescribing Metformin.

That said, diet and exercise have done wonders for helping me. I'm still currently on Metformin, in part due to the issues I had getting medical backing of any sort (I kid you not, for nearly two years, I dealt with both my GP and my OB/GYN telling me that the reason I couldn't lose weight was simply because I wasn't trying hard enough), which wrecked any sense of what's reasonable effort. The Metformin has provided me with a reset on that front, proving that I can, in fact, lose weight without walking the ledge of Anorexic behavior. I've been using this time to reduce my carbs and find ways that will allow me to keep this progress going when I wean off of the Metformin.

One thing I found was that weight lifting (with heavy weights) has been a big factor in my periods. The Metformin and diet changes have made it so I have them...sort of. I tend to get a little spotting, but barely enough for a pad or tampon, for a couple of days. The lifting, though, seems to turn it into real periods. I blame the squats. I don't know how it'd affect the opposite problem, but the improved core strength might help on some fronts, so it might be worth trying.

Dragonwolf

My hypoglycemia/insulin resistance is pretty severe, and I feel a lot more level and clear-minded with a lower carb diet. It's weird at first, and you feel pretty bad for the first week while you switch from carb-burning to fat-burning, but I've gotten used to it now.

That happens to pretty much everyone (ie - it's not just you). It's known as "carb flu" or "keto flu," and is a common side effect of dramatically lowering your carbs. It's basically your body "detoxing" from carbs and getting used to burning fat as a primary fuel source. It does suck at first, but it does go away. It's well worth the initial "pain," in my opinion, since it does so much more than just help you lose weight. Killing cravings and not being a slave to the insulin rollercoaster is awesome!

saraha789

I'm currently waiting for a referral to an endocrinologist. Hopefully the new doctor will know more and help me with it. I'm not sure if I've ever been this excited about going to see a doctor lol.

saraha789

Thanks everybody for your input! I will have a list of questions to ask the doctor (and hopefully a nutritionist). It's comforting to talk to others about this. I'm still new to trying to manage the symptoms.