Let's Share!

Mommyoftwo727

Hi everyone! Thought we could start this post to share our stories (if you would like to) and/or tell us all a little about yourself.

I'll start below...

Mommyoftwo727

My name is Brittney and I'm from NC. I'm a stay at home mom to a 4 year old son and 2 year old daughter! I've been married 6 years and we have been together for 10 years.

Weight ... I was always skinny until I was 16 . I got up 150, then I lost 40 lbs. When I was 18 it started coming back on, plus the random ruptured cyst, but I was always told I was ok by my gynecologist. By the time I was 21 I was almost 200 lbs... I was going on a year without a period. I started exercising more in October 2008 (btw I wish my fitness pal was around back then,it would have made it so much easier!) in May 2009 I had lost over 50 lbs and I went on an amazing vacation for our 1 year anniversary. A few months later we decided to get pregnant and we were so lucky and thankful for it to happen so fast! After he was born in May 2010, I started gaining weight so fast and I was getting close to the 200 mark again. This is where this PCOS story starts ...

PCOS... I was first diagnosed in 2011 when my son was 10 months old. I had been hurting and irregular periods. I had an ultrasound and found cyst in my ovaries. This was such a a shock because I got pregnant with my son in 2009, our first try! Now, I'm having a doctor tell me I will possibly never get pregnant again or need medical help to get pregnant... I was devastated! After crying everyday for like 2 weeks, I started doing my own research and I decided that I would take the natural approach to fighting PCOS!

After 3 months of exercising, changing my diet(mostly organic, low carbs, and gluten free) , cleaning, health and beauty products... I was finally pregnant without any help medically. The only thing I had to do was be on progesterone until 13 weeks because mine was .2 other than that, everything was fine. We had some other issues but not PCOS related.

After she was born I had issues with breastfeeding and eventually had to stop. I was loosing weight really fast up until then. After that, it slowly started coming back on... then, BAM here I am again. I do blame my self some because I will admit I let my self go and I didn't work out like I should or eat how I should. If I had of done all of that I really do not think I would be dealing with the weight issue as much as I am today. It can be so stressful and depressing to deal with the symptoms of PCOS... For me that is the hair loss, weight gain, mood swings, depression, anxiety... I hope we can all help each other overcome this!

mindycredeur

Hi. I am Mindy and I'm from Louisiana. After so many missed periods, stomach pain and an 80lb weight gain, I was diagnosed with PCOS at the age of 18, I was engaged to my husband and we knew that we wanted to be parents some day, so this diagnosis was a hard pill to swallow (especially at such a young age), we married in 2003, I was 19, pcos is challenging for me. I found that my husband just didn't understand the mood swings and depression that is associated with it and I felt like I couldn't give him the one thing he wanted most, a child. We stuck it out and tried for 10 years and after one miscarriage, we were blessed with our miracle baby.

I am now the proud momma to a beautiful, silly, smart & playful 14 month old girl and she is my world, SO that leads me to the reason I am here on MFP; I am determined to kick pcos's butt and get healthy for myself, my husband & and most of all for our daughter. I want to be around for a long time and I need to be able to keep up with my kids.

I am so glad to have found a support system on MFP, let's do this! :happy:

Mommyoftwo727

Welcome! Congrats on your little girl! That is so great after everything you two stuck with the marriage and now you have your baby! Love to see stories like that!

rannc

Hi, I'm Rachael! I've always had really irregular periods. During high school, I was at an appropriate weight but struggled to stay there. I overexercised and struggled with disordered eating (eating sub 1000 calories on a regular basis) which I think just worsened my hormones.

I then began binge-eating, quit exercising and gained 80 lbs over the coarse of 3 years (30 the first year, then 20, then another 30). I hit my all time high in 2012 at 239 lbs. A full 100 lbs more than what I should weigh and what I was at just 5 years prior and that was a wake up call. I also started having issues with hirsutism, anxiety, and just a whole host of other issues including debilitating IBS. During 2013 my weight fluctuated a lot but towards the end of the year, I think I've found the proper diet for me and when I adhere to it, I definitely see progress. I currently try to eat under 50-55 net carbs and eat a higher fat, moderate protein diet. I eat between 1200-1400 calories a day depending on hunger and definitely activity level.

Eventually, if I don't see results in my fertility improving, I'll resort to eliminating dairy but for now, I'm pretty much grain free (definitely gluten free). Not to say I don't have occasional slips but I'm really focused right now.

My ultimate goal, which I worry may not happen, is to have children. My periods are super irregular and I have a lot of random light periods and spotting. I'm hoping as I lose weight things will regulate and I'm waiting until I get closer to my goal weight before I see a doctor about clomid/femara and other drug therapies (this is entirely a personal decision but I'd like to prevent some complications that seem to happen more often with women who are overweight/obese). Right now to ameliorate my symptoms, I'm trying the natural approach since I had some pretty horrific side effects from Metformin and hormonal contraceptives.

Mommyoftwo727

Rachel- That's great you are able to keep your carbs that low! That is the main thing I struggle with (as far as eating). I try to cut out dairy, but I do still have some. I really think you have a great plan with eating and exercise! You said your goal is to have children ... I obviously don't know your whole medical history and I'm not a doctor, but I think you have an excellent chance at getting pregnant naturally! You seem like you are taking the right approach to do things naturally, which really helps a lot when conceiving. If you do need medicine though, that's ok too! Whatever it takes to get you a baby! I really thought it would take me a long time and was prepared to take medicine eventually, so when I lost 15 lbs and got pregnant I was in shock! Doing all of this (diet & exercise) should regulate everything and get you back to where you need to be hormone wise ... faster than you think!

rannc

Thank you! I really hope I can get pregnant naturally and I'm not opposed to taking fertility drugs (so no judgements on that) but I definitely want to get fit and healthy so that's my primary focus right now.

greyness35

Hi Everyone! My name is Griselda (Gris for short) I am from Chicago and my story begins at 13 when I had my first period. It was super heavy and I felt I was going to bleed to death, then came all my long beautiful hair, it started to fall in chunks and I had to cut it shorter and shorter and in high School that was a huge point in me, I would cry all the time. Two years ago I did some research on why the irregular periods and all other symptoms and found PCOS. Last year in July I asked my doctor for a test or something so it could be determined if that is what I have and yup she confirmed. I started exercising regularly last year and noticed an improvement in my periods I started getting them for about 6 months. I noticed that instead of losing weight I was actually gaining I was 185 almost all my life now I am up to 195 lost four pounds weigh myself this morning and up to 194. I don't understand it.

I have been with my boyfriend for 9 years and he is very understanding, we decided to get pregnant and I tried last month provera and 50mg of clomid and I think it failed so I have to go back to bring my dosage up and hopefully it works.