kristen_s512 wrote: »

So after two years of marriage, as most couples, my husband and I are wanting to start our family. I have never had a regular cycle, so we started looking into why. My first appointment with a doctor I was diagnosed with depression, but she had no idea why I was irregular. So that came with my first referral. Hello, endocrinology. Had about ten blood tests and all of them came back right on the border of off balance, but according to the endocrinologist, there wasn't anything she could do to help me. Second referral, OB/GYN. As soon as she walks in the room "Well your hormones don't say you have PCOS but you have physical symptoms, so we're going to move forward in that diagnoses. Usually, we put patients on birth control, but you want to get pregnant so here's some Provera you'll get a "withdrawl bleed" in 14 days. But your BMI is a few points to high to help with your fertility issues.... Soooooo, lose 20-25lbs and come see us in 4-6 months so we can look into stuff to help ovulation (but not guarantee it) ."
On top of the harsh news, I've recently been switched to second shift, I am exhausted all the time, cravings are terrible, And my depression is getting the best of me. I have done so much research on this PCOS and all I find is people that give up almost everything. HELP!! I've been on a weightloss roller coaster my entire adult life. Do you have any suggestions? whats worked? Do I have to completely cut out carbs to have any form of success? I just feel that sets me up for failure, because I know I will relapse...

Welcome to the wonderful world of pcos.

Let me first introduce myself, I'm faye. Currently trying to loose weight to help me increase my chances of conceiving.
I have one daughter already who was a surprise after being told I would never conceive naturally.
Any who, pcos isn't something serious so that's a good thing to know about it. It's an accumulation of things, hormonal imbalances cause a lot of the issues.
Loosing weight and being more active can help improve the symptoms of pcos.

My weight loss plan works by doing Portion Control. That's what's worked for me.
By keeping to a low calorie intake and eating controlled portions of food have helped me loose 17lb so far. Been at it just over 80 days.
When I say portion control I mean things like rice/pasta/noodles are as little as 20-25g per portion kind of portion control.

Some advice I would offer you is measure all of your foods. Use a kitchen scale or digital scale to weigh everything you can. Measure liquids with a jug of some sort and use mls as your unit of measurement.
Drink water. Plenty of it. About 8, 8ounce cups a day should do it.
Research low-glycemic diets and adjust some of your recipes or meals to a lower glycemic value.

Log everyday, and log everything, even if you end up over on your calories it doesn't matter. Denying what you eat can make it worse for you so alway be honest, don't leave things off because they will make you go over, this will help you pick up on what foods you eat too much of and what foods you need more of.

Another thing you may want to consider is getting an app on your phone that helps you track your periods, If and when they happen! I myself use an app called ovia, it's very handy.
There are others but if you have a browse through the apps available to you, you may find one that you get along with.

Research how to track your cervical position, cervical mucous and basal body temperature. See if these are anything that interests you.

There's a supplement I am currently researching : Inositol.
Have a Google and see if it's something you would consider.

As for your depression, that's something only you can deal with. My depression is still evident from time to time but it's gettig better, I use meditation to help me. It sounds silly, but it helps a lot. I listen to it before bed and it helps me get a sound,solid sleep, which, in turn, helps with the depression.

I honestly wish you the very best on your journey, I am going to send you a friend request

I hope some of the information I have given will be helpful to you

xx

kristen_s512 wrote: »

Thank you so much for the advice. On the medication front all they have me on is Fluoxetine for the depression... Which helps... most of the time, I started taking the inositol in August, and it helped regulate for the first month, but i was 19 days late with six negative tests in October. That's when the gyno put me on provera. After I started taking it, I was in a slump (slowly trying to get out of it.) Took it for eleven days, three days later AF showed up... I'm trying to get back into the portion control, and working out. It's difficult when all I want to do is sleep allllll the time.... I have a 4 month check in with my dr in Feb to see if I'm down enough weight to start "helping the fertility" issue. 17 lbs to go.

You're welcome!
If you have any questions just send me a message.
I don't take mediCation for my depression, the doctor once prescribed me citalopram but I decided against taking it because I wanted to get over it myself. I actually visited a Life Coach, and he helped a lot. I use mediTation to help with my depression, as I said in my previous post, it helps me sleep and I feel wayyy better after a good night sleep. It's pretty easy to get hold of if its something you wanted to try, there are lots of videos on YouTube, make sure you get a beginner one though lol!

I'm personally on cycle day 100 at the moment with no signs of AF. I don't think I've even O'd yet!
I'm still debating on the inositol front, I'm wondering if I should wait first, I'm meant to be seeing a ob/gyn somewhere around February

When it comes to 'dieting' and 'lifestyle changes' it takes a lot of time. Don't pressure yourself into being different overnight. Or even in the first few months. I'm about 4 months in and I'm still having good an bad days. I try not To beat myself up about it, find new motivation and move on.

Once you find something that works for you, it will come easy. You'll get into the groove of things and all of a sudden it will just start working

Enjoy the journey because it's about you and your future, your not doing it for anyone but yourself so if you really want to have a bad day, have one, but get on with it again the next day everything is great in moderation so don't deny yourself anything and it will be much easier for you xxx