The PCOS VENT YOUR FRUSTRATIONS ongoing thread:)

I'm going to get an ultrasound this Wednesday to see if I have PCOS. I read through this forum and noticed that I do have a few hairs that grow on my chin and I gain all my weight in my mid-section. I regularly go about 60 days in between periods. My doctor did a blood test and though I might have "mild PCOS"....so we'll see. I haven't been able to get pregnant, but hopefully I can get pregnant naturally- that's a goal of mine in losing weight.

It just makes me wonder, why do so many women seem to have PCOS? My entire family is SO fertile, so I don't understand why I would be the only one to have fertility issues. :frown:

currently in the process of lasering the heck outta mine with Sona... after 13 years i couldn't stand it anymore

Is there a certain brand of epilator that anyone recommends?? Thanks a bunch : )

I'm new to MFP, and just found this thread.

I have a PCOS and weight loss story to tell. I just hope I can make it more succinct than I usually do. ;-)

I've had PCOS since I began menstruating, but was diagnosed maybe 20 years ago, or so. I only had the inovulatory dysfunction, but none of the other symptoms. I was thin without trying. My normal weight from about age 16 to early 30s was 97lbs. It never changed.

In my 30s, I gained maybe 20lbs. But because I felt I looked better at that weight, it didn't bother me. That was my new normal weight for several years.

Then, in my early 40s, the weight started to pile on despite no significant lifestyle changes. I tried aggressive diet and exercise, and couldn't lose an ounce. I'd evntually give up, only to have to try again at a higher weight.

Last September, i began again. But, for some reason, this time was different. I was looking for answers, more than listening to the inexpert folks who think they know everything, and imply/suggest/insinuate/accuse me of lying about my diet and exercise claims. "Oh, just exercise more and eat less and you'll lose weight." Riiiiiiiiight...

I was killing myself in the gym, and eating the healthiest food, in small amounts. I only gained weight. For 2 months, September and October 2011, it went on like this. Out of desperation, I did an online seach of terms like exercsing like mad, eating nothing, but gaining weight. The most common result? PCOS women echoing the same problem.

That's when the light went on. I have PCOS! No doctor ever told me PCOS is linked to insulin resistance and, for sure, none of these self-described fitness "expert" losers were knowledgeable enough to recognize signs of insulin resistance, much less suggest a possible treatment.

From there I learned more about insulin, the link between PCOS and insulin resistance, and various treatments for PCOS-related insulin resistance. I decided to try one of the most innocuous, yet recommended, treatments: cinnamon.

It worked like magic!

Literally, I took 3g of cinnamon supplements one day, and lost 1.5lbs by the next morning. Then I lost a few tenths of a pound the next day, and the next, and the next.

I'd been keeping a weight graph, and from the day I started taking cinnamon, my weight has been in a steady, downward trajectory. It's undeniable.

I've been averaging 2.5lbs lost per week for the past couple of months, beginning with the day I started taking a cinnamon supplement.

Life is so different now than it had been for the past 5-6 years. I have some control. I'm nearly at my pre-insulin-resistant weight, and looking foreward to getting fit and DOING things. (I've been a virtual recluse because of my fat.)

And in case anyone doesn't know or is curious, the science behind cinnamon as a natural insulin sensitizer is pretty well accepted at this time. It was discovered by accident, in a study of insulin resistant people. Those study participants who hapoened to eat apple pie were found to have better fasting glucose levels. With further study, it was found that it was the cinnamon in the apple pie that was doing the trick.

Caution, though. If you aren't insulin resistant, cinnamon won't have any effect. All it does is improve fasting glucose levels closer to that of people who aren't insulin resistant. Also, even if you are insulin resistant, you won't lose weight without caloric deficit. Cinnamon's affect on insulin sensitivity is what makes it possible for insulin resistant people to lose weight through diet and exercise. As women with PCOS-reated insulin resistance know, it's nearly impossible to lose weight if you're insulin resistant.

Insulin resstance is linked to PCOS, but is not automatically present. For maybe 20 years I had PCOS but (apoarently) wasn't insulin resistant.

Learning about PCOS-related insulin resistance and cinnamon has changed my my life.

i've never known this many women with PCOS! it's nice to know i'm not alone!!!!!!!!! it can really suck sometimes, but i'm glad it's not anything worse!

Dear PCOS,
I have lost an entire person despite you- thanks for rearing your ugly head when things are the most difficult for me.
If you decide to blow another gasket in the middle of the night and leave me in such a state that I have to make an emergency doctor visit, can't lift anything or workout for a week, cause me to blow up like a balloon and generally feel like sh*it one more time I may be forced to take measures into my own hands. SERIOUSLY. I will punch you in your little cyst-y face.

Consider this fair warning

Thanks,
the body you take great pleasure in wreaking havoc on.

i've never known this many women with PCOS! it's nice to know i'm not alone!!!!!!!!! it can really suck sometimes, but i'm glad it's not anything worse!

I know right, I've only met 2 people with it, in real life. My cousin (hubby's side) she said she's been pregnant 15 times, but she has 4 kids. The other is an old co-worker of mine, who just keeps having miscarries like me. I had no idea this many people have this same issue as I do, its kinda nice to know I'm not alone.