Is anyone fighting PCOS?

I have PCOS and am new to this site (and LOVE it!) I've dealt w/PCOS for 10 years now and after overcoming some recent challenges w/my hormone levels am back on track and ready to shed those pounds! Looking to lose 33 lbs. Any other cysters around?

I have PCOS. I was diagnosed about 7 or 8 years ago. After gaining tons of weight, feeling tired all the time, having dark splotches on my skin, hair growth where it should be, and hardly ever having TOM - I went to the doctor and was diagnosed. I was put on birth control pills and metformin and told that losing weight would be very difficult for me but that I needed to watch my carb intake and exercise more.

The birth control pills made me feel like I was going insane -my emotions were all over the place. At the time I was a single mom with a 4 year old at home - losing your temper and having your emotions all over is not a good option. I went off the birth control pills. My Dr also had me on Metformin - it gave me ulcers and again just made me feel crappy.

The mistake that the Dr. made was telling me that it would be difficult for me to lose weight... as I did with everything else at the time, I used it as an excuse. "I have PCOS and it makes it very hard to lose weight - no matter what I try, I can't seem to lose - could you pass the hot fudge please?" I was awful!

I met my husband a little while after being diagnosed and I was just so daggone happy that I had found someone who loved me in spite of being fat that I ate more. Finally as the scale started getting a little too near the 300 lb mark I got scared. On March 23rd I started MFP at 286 lbs. Today I weighed in at 271. That's 15 pounds in 15 days! Has it been easy? No... but it hasn't been NEARLY as hard as some of the other things I did.

Weight watchers? LOL - thanks, I followed the plan and gained 30 lbs in 3 months
Atkins? I lost 10 pounds in 2 months and felt terrible (and poor) while doing it
Subway Diet - Surprise, surprise - I gained on that too...

Really and truly - following the calories that MFP tells me to and finding an exercise routine that I enjoy has been the key - for me, that's walking on my treadmill and listening to good music.

I'm so glad this thread revived, it was my first and only post and I wasn't sure there were any cysters around...glad to hear from you all!

Pipinana, I know the heartache and disappointment you feel, my dh and I felt it too. I had heavy cycles (sorry, rusty on my abbreviations, laf) in high school and had a bad episode, after which I was put on bc to control and things went on normally. In college a few years later I gained some weight gradually due to poor eating habits but it wasn't much because I was into exercising regularly. I started having ovarian pain so bad that at one point I rushed from class to my OB in the next town and waited hours to see some random fill-in dr. that said "congratulations, you felt yourself ovulate" and changed my bc and pushed me out the door. If he'd had done an ultrasound I'd have been dx w/pcos. Same thing happened w/other drs over the years w/o answers & I didn't know any better.

When my dh started talking about getting married and "our family" I told him I had a feeling I couldn't have kids, something just wasn't right. He was willing to cross that bridge when/if we met it. Several years later we bought our house and I wanted to just go see if I could find out if we'd have any trouble if we wanted to start talking about trying soon...my new dr was old school, he actually LISTENED. He said there wasn't much to suggest I had anything "wrong" and most dr's would say to try for a year and then they'd see me and run some tests. I told him I'd called around and was told that and someone told me he was different. As i decided to leave feeling defeated he said he'd go w/my gut and if there was nothing on the us I could pay for 1/2, since insurance wouldn't cover it. An hour later I returned home hysterical and near tears, having been diagnosed with PCOS...he counted 14 cysts on one and 11 on the other, several sizeable enough to indicate that as the active cause of stabbing pain in that area. When I asked him to write it down, what PCOS stood for he said "no....it's your syndrome, it's important that you remember it and go home and study it.....find out everything you can, search every resource and then decide on a plan to conquer it. Call me when you're ready to fight it." That doctor stuck with me for 2 years of the most painful and emotional journey that had highs and lows so drastic that when I read your post it just flooded my eyes with tears and I couldn't breathe as the memories poured back in.

I'm not a physician, though I've worked for many, ironically, laf, but as I studied, read and searched for answers and help I promised myself to encourage and help any other cysters if the opportunity presented itself. It's lonely, it's down right depressing to want a baby and try so long and so hard that every day is like an eternity for you while others can only try to relate on the surface, going on with things while you are stuck in that place that feels hopeless. I thank PCOS for bringing me empathy where I may have lacked it and for putting the fight in me where I wasn't sure I could find it.

Don't lose hope, pipinana! I'm sure you've visited the numerous cyster boards as I did and have and I don't presume to be any more knowledgeable than the next, but I'm here and willing to listen and help any cysters that want to vent, talk, rant and rave, bounce ideas off of or hear more of my trials/tribulations and eventual "success," for lack of a better word, because it's always ongoing, even when you clear an insurmountable hurdle, the next looms...however, in my experience there is no stronger woman than the woman with a mission to overcome an obstacle!

I apologize for the length, hope this posts :-) I just want to share that none of us are alone, no matter which sx we have or stage of triumph we're beginning. I have literature and info. that helped me and friends thru the past 8 years, let me know if anyone wants to talk.

Btw, my son is seven....and because he was so very hard to conceive, hard to keep b/c of the risks after pg, hard to bring home b/c he was a preemie, it was the fight thru all that that made me feel as strong as I do now. What else could compare?

Be strong cysters and remember how many of us there are!

I to Have PCOS and i cant win with my weight. As soon as i start talking birth control the weight just seems to keep coming . i have managed before comeing here to lose 25 lbs but i had to stop taking birth Control to due it .

:happy: That's awesome Pipinana, boy do you have the right attitude! Sounds to me like you're already a mother, probably to many, you're just waiting for your little one to complete their journey to you. Just think what would happen to those little one's if loving people like you and your dh didn't open your hearts to them.

Keep us posted!

JJ

My best girl has PCOS, just found out today she lost another baby (4th miscarriage).......sucky syndrome.......:frown:

I may have PCOS and I was wondering if anyone has had problem losing weight? I have been doing really good the past 4 weeks and I have actually gained.

Yes, I have it and was diagnosed along with Diabetes in 2003. My OB/GYN and endocrinologist told me the only way to lose weight is to follow a low carb (or controlled carb) plan for LIFE, change your eating habits to natural eating and you will lose weight...........

Following a low fat / low calorie plan made me gain, gain and gain some more............

Pip,
Hey sweetie! Sorry to hear that you're having a tough time. First things first - Metformin is not for pain... it's to help your cells accept the insulin that your body is producing.

To answer your question about pain after TOM - YES. I generally get cramps the first day of my period and then for about 2 days after it feels like someone tied a weight to my uterus... everytime I move it "pulls". I will say that since starting my new way of life, I've had TOM once - and it wasn't AS bad... wasn't GREAT - but it wasn't as bad.

If you haven't had those symptoms before though - it can't hurt to call the Dr. It could be that THIS time your ovary actually dropped an egg and you did have a "real" period. I don't take BC pills (despite what my Dr. would like) - because they really affect my mood - since I've been off of them for a year I can tell a difference in my cycles.

If you can - walk, slowly for a little while - it generally helps me. Ahem... sex is also good for cramps. :blushing: You might also try a hot water bottle - but that's not nearly as fun! LOL!

Hope you feel better soon!

Hey babe!
OK, thanks! Good to know that you get pain for a few days after you're done also.... I was just kind of scared.... I did all of what you suggested.... Except the sex part - just couldn't do it! hahha :blushing: Nothing helped..... The entire week I was in pain, but more pain after I stopped on Friday.

I accidentally put Metformin (I'm not on it...) as the pain killer my doc gave me - it was really Naproxin.... Just a little confused here... LOL.

I actually called my doc's nurse while I was out on lunch. She's going to have the doc call me back, although he'll probably just tell me to wait a few more days and then see.

I hate this crap! I thought B/C pills were supposed to help w/ cramping/extreme moods....... :explode: Sometimes I wish that I didn't start on the B/C, and I could just continue not getting it. But, I know it's unhealthy not to.... Sucks to be a girl..... :grumble:

I have PCOS and hypothyroidism. It makes it really hard to lose weight but for years I've used that as an excuse, too.

I was told by my doctor that I had PCOS in 2004 and was told that I would never had children again (my husband and I were trying for "one" more for about 10 years). In 2005 I lost 30 pounds by diet and exercise (and sheer will), by 2006 I had my little girl (lol, and 2007 had my son). Of course, I gained it all back with my last child....which is where I find myself today.

It took ALOT of exercise and dieting to lose 30 pounds....but I don't think it was necessarily the PCOS and hypothyroidism. Sure, they make it even harder to lose, but I think it's just plain hard to lose regardless of my medical condition.

Anyways, good luck to you (and me, too)