I was diagnosed with PCOS today..... anybody else out there?

Princessmoe333

So I have had such an awful time over the past few years with my health. I knew something was wrong. I've had symptoms for the past ten years (unwanted hair, weight gain, imbalanced hormonal craziness, difficulty losing weight, extreme fatigue, acne, skin tags, anxiety, depression and so on), these symptoms progressively get worse the older I get. So after what has felt like thousands of tests, I have finally been diagnosed. I have severe Endometriosis (not a shocker) and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). The latter of the two has me terrified.

Here is a little background

Oddly enough, I have been unknowingly fighting these symptoms individually for years now, and apparently I have been doing an pretty bang up job.

The hair? I've had a heyday with laser hair removal packages from Groupon. The result? Full body laser hair removal. I'm on my 6th session. Seriously. And my hair seems to be disappearing.

The acne? I was totally sold on the Proactive system due to their genius infomercials. The result? My acne is totally gone, as long as I continue using the system. Thank God.

The skin tags? Again, my laser hair removal clinic. The result? Ironically enough, whenever one pops up my "laser nurse" just zaps it off. I had no idea these were being cause by an actual illness. I had no idea any of this was caused by an illness for that matter.

The hormonal psychosis, depression and anxiety? Supplements. My sister works at a local health store and she gave me a list of all the vitamins and supps that she thinks I should take to make me less of an emotional roller coaster. The result? I actually feel remotely balanced for the most part, and my depression has improved drastically.
In case you are wondering, I take DIM (a miracle pill in my opinion), a B complex, an Omega complex, Vitamin D and a healthy dose of probiotics.

And now for the biggie. The weight. I have always weighed around 130lbs. In the last 3 years my weight has jumped up to 150. And this happened no matter how healthy I lived. I have to tell you, I went to the doctor so frustrated because it seemed like no matter what I was doing, I wasn't seeing the scale budge. I was so upset by this. I told him "Listen, if any other Joe Shmoe out there ate as healthy as I did and exercised as fanatically as I did, they would be as thin as a pin... so WTF???" Initially, he thought that I had a Thyroid issue (apparently a common misdiagnosis). I took all sorts of different pills, but in the end, nothing helped. Now I totally understand why. PCOS. For effect, let me give you a snapshot of what my health routine has been. Within in the past 6 months. I run 3-5 miles about 4-5 times a week. I also do P90X or similar videos about 3 evenings a week. I also walk a mile every day at lunch. On top of the exercise, I stick to a high protein low carb diet of about 1300 cals a day. Sugar is basically nonexistent in my world. I have adhered to this ( 99% of the time) for the past 6 months. RELIGIOUSLY!! The result? A loss of about 3.2 lbs. This floored me. Especially because I see my other friends doing something as simple as cutting out soda in their diets drop to a size 2 in a couple months. I just kept telling myself that I must not be pushing hard enough. After talking for awhile with my obgyn, she told it to me straight and like this "The fact that you have lost any weight at all proves that you must be busting your butt. In order to lose weight with PCOS, it generally takes alot more effort than it would for most. And unfortunately, diet and exercise are really the two most important things we tell patients with PCOS to do." That's it. So basically, how am I supposed to keep up with this? I'm gaining weight faster than I can lose it. I feel defeated on this one.

So here I am. Sitting in bed. Scared of this diagnosis. Am I just slowly going to get bigger and bigger no matter how hard I bust my *kitten*? And I don't even want to start worrying about all the other terrible side effects. Am I going to seriously lose my hair or grow a beard?

I just need to know how every body else out there is dealing with this. Like I said, I know that I have been doing the right things all along to keep this thing in check. But what happens when I can't keep up with such a strict existence? I'm just really scared.

AC417

Has your doctor suggested metformin? It has worked wonders for me in terms of weight loss. I just need to remember to keep my carbs in check.

jmxxiiii

I was recently diagnosed as well, my head is still spinning. My only symptoms where being fat, not having a period. I'm 1000 mg metformin (even though I'm not insulin resistant) and I'm working out, a lot.

I'm still really sad about it, but 5-7% weight loss will make a big difference in my body.

geral4479WECHANGED

Yes, I have PCOS myself and it is frustrating at first. I gained a large amount of weight in a short period ot time, and developed diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Not to mention I have to take a lot of medication throughout the day. Losing weight is the hardest thing for me. I have never been terrified, but PCOS has kept me on my toes so to speak. I sometimes go to soulcysters.com since there are so many other women like us out there.

missattitude57

Hey there There are lots of us PCOSer's out there so don't worry, you're not alone! I was just talking to someone today and between the two of us we could name off 4 or 5 people who we personally know that have been diagnosed. Just remember that it is NOT the end of the world! There are medications that your ob/gyn can prescribe that will help with regulating your cycle and honestly exercise is one of the best ways to fight the effects. I'm still about 130lbs overweight but I've noticed just in the past 4 months the exercise has helped get my cycle to a more 'regular' length. That being said, if you're really having a lot of trouble I would suggest watching the sodium intake and upping your water intake. Other than that, just keep working at it is all the advice I can give. I do find that switching things up in my workout works better than continually doing the same thing.

jenniferlthomas0305

PCOS as a diagnosis can be scary. PCOS as a condition, eh, not so much. It's something that's fairly commonly diagnosed now. When my sister and I were diagnosed years ago, it wasn't very well known. Yes, it can cause weight issues, hormonal imbalance, "womanly" issues and at times infertility (along with the other not so "pretty" issues) but it's something that can definitely be dealt with.

I have PCOS and type 2 Diabetes. At one point in my life, I did go on a VERY low carb diet and it did seem to start throwing my hormones back to "normal" and I got pregnant with my daughter. The baby weight came off fast but life caught up to me and I gained and gained until this March when I was 344lbs. 88 days ago, at 341lbs, I started on my health and wellness journey and I'm proud to say I'm kicking PCOS's hiney. I'm currently down 45lbs, my body feels better than ever and my "womanly" issues are getting in check. My husband says I'm in a better mood too lol.

Here's what has worked for me...Clean eating (no boxed, canned, full of salt, sugar or preservatives crap food. lots of fresh, organic fruits and veggies, lean proteins and a little whole grain to help fuel my body), working out at lease 6 days a week and LOTS of support and accountability. I'm currently finishing my last 2 days of TurboJam then starting TurboFire next Monday.

Make sure you're getting enough calories, drink plenty of water and make sure you get enough rest! If you need any support or motivation, feel free to add me. I'll help any way possible!

navywife5810

To start, I want to tell you that you aren't alone so you don't need to be scared. It's can be a shock for people who assume everything that their body is telling them to be the norm. I've had problems with hair, my weight, trying to conceive (which i can't even consider again until i lose weight in addition to needing medication), constant mood swings, cysts, etc. It's a roller coaster type of life and no matter how many quick fixes or supplements we take, it's still there. I gained 30 lbs two years ago in less than 7 months and I couldn't understand why it wouldn't stop with all the exercising. It was so frustrating that I came to a point where I self-diagnosed. I knew something was wrong. I didn't get it confirmed until a 1.5 years ago. I panicked for about a month and eventually gave up. I figured I would never get better until I found this website. There are success stories everywhere from people just like us and others that have it even harder. I for one am determined to lose all my extra weight & as long as I can walk, I'll maintain it the best I can. You never know if the future version of your body will bring you less resistance to weight loss. The younger version of me never had as many problems as what I have now, but that's because I stopped taking care of myself for so long. You take care of yourself consistently so I wouldn't worry. Live in the now

The way I look at it is even though it's very difficult to lose weight, most people just need to find what their body agrees with. For me, I walk because my weight jump from 115 to 165 over the past few years along with all the running I did to try to combat it (15-20 miles/wk) destroyed my knees. I also do resistance training or weight lifting and instead of restricting my diet to 1200 or 1300 calories, I eat my TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) minus 20%, eat tons of protein, & don't eat back exercise calories. Sometimes it's as simple as a metabolism reset where your body has gotten so used to trying to hold onto the little amount of food you give it after all that exercise that you need to eat more for a couple weeks and then drop down again. As your body changes or your workouts change, you have to adjust how much or how little you eat.

I'm relatively new to this site so I'm by no means an expert, but I just got serious less than 20 days ago & I've already lost more weight than I have doing any kind of strict diet or not alternating my workouts.

If you want to know more about TDEE go here:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

If you want to look at just one of many success stories go here:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/729956-pcos-ladies-it-is-possible-106-lost-in-a-year-w-no-meds

I hope this comforts you and helps you a bit. Good luck and feel free to friend me if you'd like!

Princessmoe333

Thank you all for your kind and supportive words. It helps knowing that others are fighting and beating this thing. It is scary. But I have faith. I can do this. Thank you thank you thank you.

Princessmoe333

Yes, I have PCOS myself and it is frustrating at first. I gained a large amount of weight in a short period ot time, and developed diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Not to mention I have to take a lot of medication throughout the day. Losing weight is the hardest thing for me. I have never been terrified, but PCOS has kept me on my toes so to speak. I sometimes go to soulcysters.com since there are so many other women like us out there.

I just checked out soulcycster.com. So awesome. Thanks!!

Lina4Lina

Welcome I did have laser hair removal quite a few years ago. Sadly, a lot of the hair has come back. It is better than it was but it was something I had issues with since a teen so it was worth it.