Introduction

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Hello, ladies! I'm so excited to have another platform to utilize to help spread the mission of 1in10! We all know that getting/remaining fit with PCOS is especially difficult given the plethora of other serious health complications that come along with it. Even if you don't have other health complications, staying fit with PCOS is enough of a struggle in and of itself! I hope that we can use this group as yet another source of support for our fellow Cysters. I know it's hard not to focus on that number on the scale, but I encourage each of you to embrace nutrition and fitness as just another part of your individual lifelong journey with PCOS. Getting healthy isn't about seeing a specific number on a scale - it's about fueling your body with the proper nutrients it needs to function properly and putting all of those muscles (Did you know that there are over 650 skeletal muscles in your body?) to use! While we all may be at different fitness levels and have different goals, we can never forget that we are united by a common bond - PCOS. - and that, while we may live miles apart, we never have to make this journey alone!:smile:
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Replies

  • sarita66
    sarita66 Posts: 142 Member
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    Hello

    I am thrilled to see a post about PCOS and to talk to others with similar problems. I have had discussions with my doctor about this but I have not been able to find other women with these issues. I find it impossible to try and lose weight. Any suggestions?

    Thanks
  • sarahp840
    sarahp840 Posts: 11
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    I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 15, I am 23 now and at my heaviest I had gained 100 pound since my diagnosis. I can't blame all of the weight gain on PCOS but I started packing on the pounds even when I was most active. I love carbs and have just decided to go on a low-carb diet. I feel better and I am starting to lose weight. Since Sunday I have walked at least 10,000 steps a day and my scale says I have lost four pounds already. I'm glad to see a forum for PCOS, I am the only one in my family, or that I know who has it. I am looking forward to the support and understanding I will get from this group.
  • RAS10710
    RAS10710 Posts: 53 Member
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    Hi all,

    I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 18 (I turn 22 in April), after I'd had a cyst drained on my right ovary. Here in South Aust there doesn't seem to be much support or knowledge about it. Even amongst doctors. I was diagnosed by a gynecologist after the surgery, but apart from mentioning it for history when I moved towns and to a new doctor, that's about as much as it's been covered. From what I read on the net and have seen on that 'The Doctors' show, PCOS seems to get so much more attention over in America than it does here. I've heard that there's different tests and things you can do with your doc or gynecologist or other specialist to find out the level of severity of your PCOS, or just discussing the basic things such as a management plan for symptoms. Nothing like that here. At least that's been my experience.
    No matter how many times I ask or try to bring it up with my GP it gets brushed off, subject changed, ignored. The only time it sparked a conversation of interest was with a couple of midwives at the women's health clinic when I was going for my regular appointments when I was pregnant. This really disappoints me as I'm getting heavier and heavier, especially after the pregnancy. After the initial weight loss that happens with giving birth - I lost 7 of the 19 kilos I gained - I've only lost another two kilos since then. In eight months. (In American: about 4 or 5 pounds...in eight months...just so slow and frustrating!!)
    Yes, I'm one of the lucky ones who has no trouble getting pregnant. As my husband and I were semi-expecting issues with me getting pregnant we weren't being very careful with contraception and surprise!!......now we have a gorgeous 8 month old son =D
    My next step is to try and get some more solid information about PCOS and what I can do to manage symptoms, especially diet and exercise, is to try get a referral to an endocrinologist from my GP. Hopefully then I can start to get somewhere, or at least get some knowledge through a specialist appointment.
    I look forward to getting to know others with this condition, getting support, and hopefully actually learning something about PCOS!!

    Ruth
  • brittlynn07
    brittlynn07 Posts: 386 Member
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    I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 17 and I'm now 22. I have only been able to lose 1 pound so far but at least I haven't gained anymore. I get frustrated because it seems that no matter what I do I can't lose the weight. Also, I am just now learning about supplements that might help which frustrates me because I don't understand why my doctor hasn't told me about them. I've tried metformin but it makes me sick and then I tried Glumetza. Glumetza just made me tired all the time so I recently stopped taking it. I love that this group is here cause I would like ideas on what you all have tried and what has been successful.
  • sarahp840
    sarahp840 Posts: 11
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    I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 17 and I'm now 22. I have only been able to lose 1 pound so far but at least I haven't gained anymore. I get frustrated because it seems that no matter what I do I can't lose the weight. Also, I am just now learning about supplements that might help which frustrates me because I don't understand why my doctor hasn't told me about them. I've tried metformin but it makes me sick and then I tried Glumetza. Glumetza just made me tired all the time so I recently stopped taking it. I love that this group is here cause I would like ideas on what you all have tried and what has been successful.

    When I was first diagnosed they put me on that pill that only gives you a period 4 times a year. Based on my experience I would avoid it. I became very emotional, very lethargic, and my period lasted a month. Then they put me on Nuvaring. I really like it. I've lost 5 pounds since starting it again and I was able to maintain my weight without diet or exercise. I'm not overly emotional like I was on the pill, and I can't think of any side effects I have.
  • brittlynn07
    brittlynn07 Posts: 386 Member
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    Thanks sarah! I will definitely ask my doctor about that.
  • SereneRose
    SereneRose Posts: 499 Member
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    Hi.

    I don't remember when I was diagnosed as it seems like I always had an issue with my periods and the doctor placed me on Microgynon (the pill) from as early as 13 and even then I had been suffering with lack of or very prolonged periods. Longest was daily for well over a year before the GP decided to take notice and do something about it. This for a teen can be very frustrating as you can imagine.

    I'm coming up to a year with this site and so far love it although I have fallen off the wagon quite a few times but the positive friends I have made on here always draw me back in. I am on Metformin 500mg twice a day and I can honestly say I do not feel any different from taking it so I was never consistent and it's only been in the recent few weeks I have made myself take it everyday as I know it has worked for others. I still have appointments with the gynaecologist although I see it as pointless as all they do is say lose weight and the condition will improve and prescribe me more Met. Hello! If it was that easy to lose the weight would I be in this mess?!

    Anyway i'm always positive although I do get a little down when i've tried so hard with minimal result but I have to remember this is a life change and I will see it through to the end. Good luck with your journey ladies.

    Feel free to add me if support is needed i'm always willing to help and appreciate the same.
    Thanks for setting up this group.

    Serene :flowerforyou:
  • MrsSchoales
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    I also have PCOS and am glad there is a group here to support me on my weight loss journey. I have yo-yo'ed with weight my entire life and I had reached my highest last year when I broke my ankle (had just got my PCOS dx five days before the break) and had started seeing an infertility specialist finally. Doctors think I've had PCOS for at least 7-8 years now. I'm glad to finally have a name to what has been going on, but I'm so frustrated with my weight gain. I reached 258 last year and a size 20. I'm now down to 236 and almost in a size 18 and hope to keep it up. Just a few years ago in 2008, I was a size 10/11 and wore a bikini! That was the smallest I had been in my adult life.. I'd like to get there or below by the end of summer or by the end of the year. I hope this is a place I can get encouragement and support because we all have one goal in common---weight loss through PCOS!
  • ashley_torres89801
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    Hello I was diagnossed with PCOS about 8 years ago and I have been to many doctors. my email is ashley_torres89801@yahoo.com and I would love to work together on this. you can email me anytime. hop to hear from you soon :)
  • jnhillard
    jnhillard Posts: 15 Member
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    Hi ladies, my diagnosis with PCOS was a long road. In 2008 I got a blood clot due to the NuvaRIng (it was my 3rd month on it, I had been on birth control for a couple of years before that). 2010 (a year after getting married) I got diagnosed with PCOS after my periods started getting crazy long (45 days for one...when usual had been 28-31...now they are 30-32). My old gyn wouldn't call it PCOS because I "didn't have excessive hair, a deep voice, and wasn't overly obese" Needless to say, I switched and my hormones showed PCOS. After two miscarriages they tested for clotting disorders and found out I have MTHFR. After another two miscarriages I had an hsg and it showed a Unicornuate Uterus.

    I am 24 years old, ttc 20 months and have had 5 miscarriages. PCOS, Clotting disorder, and UU all add to my craziness. I have am on 1,000 mg of metformin and in the past have done 3 cycles of clomid.
  • BritskyB
    BritskyB Posts: 13
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    I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 17 and I'm now 22. I have only been able to lose 1 pound so far but at least I haven't gained anymore. I get frustrated because it seems that no matter what I do I can't lose the weight. Also, I am just now learning about supplements that might help which frustrates me because I don't understand why my doctor hasn't told me about them. I've tried metformin but it makes me sick and then I tried Glumetza. Glumetza just made me tired all the time so I recently stopped taking it. I love that this group is here cause I would like ideas on what you all have tried and what has been successful.

    Have you tried taking cinnamon tablets? Cinnamon is supposed to naturally lower blood sugar. This may help, especially if you can't handle the Met or Glume. Good luck!
  • mzkhaye
    mzkhaye Posts: 4
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    Hi,

    I've always been big and heavy. Weight has been a struggle for me. I've been in all sorts of diet. I am one of those who does "yo-yo diet". So I found out this application and I just started. I just hope I can keep up with it.

    Two years ago, I was diagnosed of PCOS and it was such a devastation. I was 24 back then. Now that I am 26, I just lost 20 lbs since then and I really need to lose more weight atleast 60-70 lbs.. Since then, I have not went to my OB/GYN because I am scared and I just hate the thought of having PCOS. I am scared that I might not able to have a baby because of PCOS.

    I thought I can do it in my own but it has been a struggle for me.
    I hope this community will help me to keep losing weight.
  • KBill17
    KBill17 Posts: 3 Member
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    I was diagnosed when I was 16, and am 22 now. I have been on Yaz since I was 16, it seems to help with my extremely heavy periods. I tried switching to the generic when it came out last year, it just turned me into a raging *****. Hah. Seriously, headache for 3 weeks straight. Uh, no.
    Have you tried taking cinnamon tablets? Cinnamon is supposed to naturally lower blood sugar. This may help, especially if you can't handle the Met or Glume. Good luck!

    This works. I have read that it "stabilizes" blood sugar, so you don't have the spikes and crashes. It helps me with cravings and sweets, but (TMI warning.) I have found that it gives you "cinnamon burps." It's nothing like fish oil, but literally one time a CLOUD of cinnamon dust came out of my mouth when I burped. Lol.

    It's not super cheap. (~$13 for #60 1000mg capsules, and at 2 twice a day, that will only last me two weeks. Ugh.)

    My mom has PCOS too, and she had a LOT of trouble losing weight. She had a prescription for Phentermine and lost 30 pounds, but has been stuck for a month now. We both have used ReishiSlim which was pretty much a miracle in pill form. But that has been discontinued for some reason. :/

    Right now I'm also taking Chromium and Hydroxycut Max. I'll keep all ya posted.
  • Shirvona
    Shirvona Posts: 43 Member
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    I was told that I had been diagnosed with PCOS in June of 2011, even though my doctor new about it since Jan/2011.

    This passing April my doctor decided that I need to have surgery to have a tube unblocked and he wanted to make sure everything was healthy. When I came out of surgery the doctor left a note says that he removed some endometriosis, unblocked my tube, and that my uterus was healthy.

    In June when I went for my post-op appointment my doctor repeated his note back to me and then says that he also drilled holes in my ovaries. At this point I was kinda freaked out because that sounds really scary and he didn’t even mention that it was an option before the surgery. He told me that my ovaries were harder then they should be and that it should help with ovulation and to release hormones, when I ask why did that happen he then told me that I had PCOS, I asked what that was and he didn’t give a clear answer just made it sound like no big deal.

    So when I got home I decided that the doctor was just too busy to actually talk to me even though I have to take a 3 hr drive there and back home, I really hate having to drive 3 hrs to see him for less than 10min and then drive 3hrs back home. So I did some research and got really upset. I discovered that the order treating PCOS is usually:

    1.Diet and Exercise
    2.Hormone Therapies
    3.Surgery (After everything else is exhausted)
    My doctor decide to go backwards with me:

    1.Surgery
    2.Hormone Therapy
    3.Hasn't even mentioned anything about diet

    He didn’t even mention to try and lose weight and to make sure to exercise daily. I know it should be something in everyone’s normal schedule but a lot of the time it was the last thing that I made time for.

    Since my surgery I have and 5 menstrual cycles last about 9 days vs. the 21 days I would have before and they were about 60 days apart, but my last one was in Oct/2011 and only lasted 3 days.

    I am now on my second rotation of clomid (double dose), and am not waiting anymore to take my body back. Starting with a gold of 20 lbs by the end of June and rewarding myself with $100 for every 10 lbs I lose for new clothes when I reach my final gold of 125 - 135 lbs. If I get pregnant in the mean time, BONUS!!!
  • jamie_dawn87
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    I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 19. (I am now 24). I had always had irregular periods, but I was put on birth control to help with them @ 14. Then when I graduated highschool, didn't have insurance so I never went to the dr or yearly visits. 2 years passed...NO PERIOD. @ 19 i was thinking, "this is sweet!". But when I started a new job, and got insurance I went to have it checked out. Dr. gave me progesterone to get my period started again, and put me on the nuvaring. Had a period every month, most of the time just spotting, but the dr told me that was better then nothing.
    I ended up in a relationship and we had talked about kids. So I went off the nuvaring to try to get pregnant. Nothing happened. We split and went our separate ways.
    I went to the dr 2 yrs ago, and was diagnosed with PCOS, and then @ 22, I was mortified of the idea of not being able to conceive. I literally had a break down. Here it is 2 years later, I"ve done NOTHING about my PCOS, and i'm showing more and more signs every day it seems.
    Recently i've had the horrible acne, and hair growth (that totally grosses me out). And a bit of weight gain.
    I"m getting married in July, and after that I'm determined to start a family!
    I started this road in January this year hoping that i'd lose quite a bit of weight for the wedding, but totally fell off the wagon, it's been the last month that i've actually started doing something about it.
    I'm following the calorie count almost to a T. and i'm exercising, Zuma has become my 2nd love :).
    And i've seen a little difference. the scale says i've lost 8 lbs. but I don't feel it or notice it in my clothes.

    **It's a hard struggle, but together we all can get through it. Feel free to add me, i'm always up for positive reinforcement :)
  • MauiAnne90
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    Hi All! This is my first time posting like this but I just wanted to say that I'm glad to have found this support group. I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 17 and had been struggling with my weight. I was able to lose about 30 pounds after being put on meds that were supposed to help but unfortunately in the time since then I moved and had other stresses and feel as if I may have gained some of it back. It's a relief to know that I'm not alone in my struggles and that there are others who understand and know first hand what I'm going through with this. So if anyone wants to talk and share feel free to add me as a friend :smile:
    MauiAnne
  • MrsTyHarris
    MrsTyHarris Posts: 88 Member
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    Hello everyone I am a 28 year wife and mother of 2. I'm currently on a mission to get this temple fit once and for all. I started having weight isssues about 9 years ago after the birth of my first daugther, after my second in 2006 my weight remained steady. Over the last 2 years ive been balloning and experincing more health problems. I have discovered that I am an emotional eater and am working hard ( with much prayer) to change it. The eye opener for me was discovering that I have PCOS. I didn't really take it seriously until more recently. I got pregnant in Feb and misscarried in April. In June I determined to go for it! Im currently down 25 lbs and am pushing toward a healthier temple and life. I know I have a ways to go but I know that God is on my side. Feel free to send me requests, I can always use some positive friends
  • RevCO30
    RevCO30 Posts: 176 Member
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    I am so glad I found this group. I was 15 when I was dignosed and I am 32 now. I have struggled with my weight my entire life, I had Gastric Bypass in 2008 when I was at my heaviest(345, I am 5'2") I am currently 221. My Dr. and I believe that it is the PCOS that is preventing me from losing more weight. I can stick to a low carb, well balanced diet and exercise every day and only lose 1 lb in an entire month. It is incredibly frustrating. Fortunately I have been maintaining my weight within 5-7 lbs for the last 3 years, so i guess that is good, better than I was. I have tried mny different BCP in the last 17 years, I currently use nuvaring and have been happy with it for several years. The thing I could do without is having hair in places a woman doesn't need it. It's like, ok God...I am already overweight, my mood swings don't make me pleasant all the time...do we really have to compound this with facial and back hair?

    Now on to my next task...lose some more weight in an effort to get fit 1) for my wedding in a year and a half, and 2) to hopefully be able to make babies after that :).
  • Blugrasgrl79
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    Hi ladies! Looking forward to gaining knowledge from this group. I've been on this road before, but hopefully this will be the last time and I will be able to reach my goal of being healthier, happier and having more energy. I love to motivate and to be motivated so feel free to add me!
  • megs12e
    megs12e Posts: 8 Member
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    Hey all! I was diagnosed when I was 13 (now 28) when I had a cyst rupture that landed me in the hospital. I'm on Glucophage (Metformin) and Spironolactone - I hate taking them though because the Glucophage makes me feel ginormous and the Spironolactone tastes horrible. I'm going to try getting them filled again and start taking it because my Dr. said it will help with the symptoms and with weight loss.

    I'm currently on a 1200 cal plan on here, exercising almost daily (I've recently discovered that I LOVE biking), and for the most part sticking with the plan... but I haven't lost any weight in the past 2 weeks. I'm starting to get frustrated, but I know that reguardless of what I weigh in at that this is good for me and I just need to stick it out.

    I'm stoked to have found a group out there - because no one I know has PCOS, and as such they don't really understand what it's like to work out more than they do and be a size 14 while they are a size 6, or to constantly pluck your face free of facial hair, or have cramps so bad that most people would go to the E.R., etc.

    I'm really determined to loose the weight - my gw is 140, I'm currently 211 - and have my outside match what I feel like on the inside. Feel free to add me! :happy: