I've also been wanting to give gluten free a try, but I really don't see the difference between doing that and perhaps a paleo lifestyle. I know there are marketed foods for a gluten-free, but they look just as processed as everything else they're trying to replace. I'm not saying don't do it, but it might be worth looking at other options that are inherently gluten free.

I have adopted an 80-90% GF lifestyle. It affects everyone differently, but in my case I started getting my period again (after a 1.5 year absence) two weeks after not eating gluten. It hasn't been a fluke so far--I've had my period two months in a row and around the same time. I'm hoping for month 3. In the past I'd tried Metformin and had been on birth control to regulate my cycle for a while (I stopped when the Pill made my period disappear completely).

Gluten and wheat proteins are in many foods, particularly soy sauce and many sauces and marinades. Anything that requires a thickener of some sort or that has fillers is a likely culprit. A good guide to GF-living is here: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/p/how-to-go-g-free.html.

I cook at home as often as possible making my own corn tortillas (Maseca corn flour has been a wonderful addition to my pantry for many foods!), the occasional treat of homemade GF banana bread, and focus on high-quality meats like bison, fish wild boar, and occasional commercial poultry, along with lots of vegetables. I'm not super sensitive that I have to avoid marinated items in a restaurant, but I do get bad headaches if I eat a few pieces of regular bread. It takes some advance planning and can make eating out a little annoying, but has been worth it for me. When in doubt, I can never go wrong with salad (no dressing) with cracked pepper and fresh lemon or oil and vinegar.

Giving up gluten is not a miracle and I did NOT lose any weight as a result but the swelling in my joints did diminish and I seem to be turning around my reproductive health. We'd love to have kids someday, so this has brought back some hope for me.

I'm gluten intolerant, with PCOS and I'm insulin resistant. I went the paleo route (someone suggested this above), as I have issues with dairy and need to manage my blood sugar as well.

Since I stopped eating sugars, grains, and all processed foods at the same time, it's hard to say what actually helped and what had no impact on my PCOS symptoms and other health issues, but all is going very well for me. I'm losing weight without too much trouble, periods are on a normal schedule, acne is GONE, arthritis is GONE, strange rashes, digestive problems, issues I've had with tendons (related to internal inflammation) are GONE. I sleep better, have better moods, lots of energy and motivation.

Regular exercise, and particularly strength training has made a huge difference in my symptoms as well.

I'm not on BC pills or any other prescription meds, for PCOS or otherwise.

This has been a topic I have been wrestling with. I am happy to read everyone's stories. I suffer from horrible migraines and I have seen studies linking PCOS and migraines to gluten. I would like to give it a try, but need to see if I can get hubby on board. It would be so much easier to have his support.

Is there any benefit from simply limiting gluten or does it have to be all or nothing?

From my understanding of a gluten free diet I would only adopt it if you have have a sensitivity or an intolerance (like celiac disease). There is all this hype around about gluten being bad for you but in actual fact gluten is a protein so cutting that from your diet also means cutting protein. Aside from that if you go gluten free after some time your body will find it much harder to process gluten if you decide to give that lifestyle up. They call this non celiac sensativity. I've included a link below for you to read. I realise that as PCOS suffers (I hate using the word suffer but really can't think of a better one atm) we need to modify our diets but my advice would be that unless a doctor has official diagnosed as having a sensitivity or being celiac I wouldn't go down that path. Someone suggested a Paleo diet which I believe would be a much better option however I would personally still involve dairy to some degree just for the calcium (whether it just be milk or even yogurt nothing too processed like some cheeses).

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/gluten-free-diet

I hope this helps