Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)

Hi Everyone!! New to Group!!! (long)

Question:

Hi everyone!! Well, I’m glad that I found this group!!! I had tried to join another group but there was hardly anyone in there and very few posts so I never really got any answers to my questions. I’m hoping that this will be ‘my answer’ and that you all can help me…let me tell you right now that I appreciate any input you can give me. Ok first let me tell you a little bit about myself and my story. My name is angie and I’m 27 years old. I got my first period at the age of 8!! I had my first child right after my 18th birthday and after that is when the trouble started. I would go months without a period and when I would have one it would only last for 2 or 3 days and quit. I got pregnant again at the age of 21 and had a miscarriage. Six months later I was pregnant yet again….and had another miscarriage. After that I didn’t have a period for 2 years!! I started gaining a lot of weight very fast and no matter what I did I couldn’t seem to lose it. I was wanting desperately to have another child and couldn’t so I went to the doctor. He put me on Clomid and gave me shots of progesterene (sp?) and after a year told me that I couldn’t have anymore kids but gave me no real reason. He put me on birth control pills which literally made me crazy!!! I was totally out of control emotionally on them and couldn’t stand it so I quit them. OK so for years I would just barely have periods and they would only last maybe 2 days and were very irregular. I was still gaining weight and not able to lose. Plus, now I was suffering from depression(which i take 50mg of Zoloft a day for) and my hair was falling out. I have severe acne and have had since puberty. So, about 6 months ago, I start my period and it won’t stop. I bled for 4 months before I could even get a doctor to see me!! In the meantime I had been reading up on PCOS and found that I had a lot of the symptoms. So, when I go to the doctor I ask him about it….and he says yes he thinks that I have it but that I need to lose weight and that should stop all the symptoms!! Like I haven’t been trying!!! He once again tried to put me on BCP but I refused. So, he tried proveria for a month…I was still bleeding. Now, I’m on Aygestrin and I’m not bleeding at all..but no periods either. To top it all off he wants me to lose down to 126lbs (i’m 5′4 and 208 now) and all he wants me to eat is 2 slimfasts a day and a healthy choice meal….does this sound right to anyone else or is my doctor a sadist? lol I have read a lot about the low carb diet helping with PCOS but which one do I follow? I would really appreciate any advice or input anyone might have and once again i’m soooo glad I found you!!!!! Angie  

Response:

To top it all off he wants me to lose > down to 126lbs (i’m 5′4 and 208 now) and all he wants me to eat is 2 > slimfasts a day and a healthy choice meal….does this sound right to > anyone else or is my doctor a sadist? lol > I have read a lot about the low carb diet helping with PCOS but which > one do I follow? I would really appreciate any advice or input anyone > might have and once again i’m soooo glad I found you!!!!!

Here’s my two cents worth (after inflation): There are different opinions about the right diet for PCOS: I’ve heard about Atkins, The Zone, and the basic food pyramid.  It seems like they do agree on a few things, though.  Sugars, especially refined, aren’t our friends, and it’s also a good idea to limit starches.  Getting an adequate amount of protein is good also, and tofu can be good for vegetarians.  Keeping insulin production down is important, and there are several things that help with this: dietary fiber, a reasonable amount of fats, and exercise.  What seems to work for me is non-starchy vegetables, whole grains (instead of stuff made with refined flour), chicken and fish, tofu, cheese, milk (skim, 1, or 2%) and some occasional fruit.  (Also, I sometimes eat nutrition bars for breakfast, though I read the labels and try to pick the ones with the least sugar.)  The 10-cent pieces of chocolate seem to work for the occasional cravings.  :-)  Also, nuts are good sometimes, though they can be rich also. Other people have said that SlimFast had too much sugar to be good for PCOS women, and it also doesn’t seem like a healthy thing to live on.  Some women have had good results with metformin/glucophage.  I’m personally doing well on Adipex, though some might not be comfortable with that. Wendy

Response:

This is just my opinion.  I think the severity of the insulin resistance, will determine the severity of the carb restrictions necessary for the diet.  I think many women with PCOS can do well on low glycemic style dieting or even The Zone (which is higher in carbs).  But I also think that women with a high degree of insulin resistance need to further restrict their carb count until their insulin resistance gets more under control. Currently I am on an Atkins type low carb.  I started out with fasting insulin levels of 86 (normal under 20).  I am currently 31.  When I finally get it to somewhere around 10, I hope to start adding more carbs and eventually be eating more low glycemic (beans and oatmeal, things I really miss). In fairness to Atkins and Protein Power, the maintenance program is very similar to The Zone (only with more calories).  So I guess their plan all long was to ‘correct’ insulin resistance then eat as normal as possible without causing it to come back. Kari : There are different opinions about the right diet for PCOS. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –

Response:

Hi Angie,   Did your doc do any hormone tests at all? Fasting Insulin? Any? I am doing low carb too. Alot (most) of the people here are doing one form of low carb eating. There are so many out there for us to follow. A way of eating for one person may not work that great for another. The best thing you can do is maybe go to the library, or the book stores and read some of every book you find and see what you think could be the best and easiest for you to follow. It really isn’t a diet but changing a eating routine that most of us have had since we were little. It was hard for me at first. I live in Southern Louisiana where the basic meals are some form of beans and ALWAYS white rice, with every meal but breakfast. That is hard for me!!! . I am sorry that you have to be here but you will always find support here wether it be for medical reasons or support. We all welcome you.. All I can say is educate yourself on every piece of information about PCOS as you can. I kind of made my doc feel inferior about his knowledge about this and now he listens more to me. I couldn’t do the bcp’s either…Well I am rambling here now so I will close. Welcome again. Tracy – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Angie-Is-2-C…@webtv.net wrote: > Hi everyone!! Well, I’m glad that I found this group!!! I had tried to > join another group but there was hardly anyone in there and very few > posts so I never really got any answers to my questions. I’m hoping that > this will be ‘my answer’ and that you all can help me…let me tell you > right now that I appreciate any input you can give me. > Ok first let me tell you a little bit about myself and my story. My name > is angie and I’m 27 years old. I got my first period at the age of 8!! > I had my first child right after my 18th birthday and after that is when > the trouble started. I would go months without a period and when I would > have one it would only last for 2 or 3 days and quit. I got pregnant > again at the age of 21 and had a miscarriage. Six months later I was > pregnant yet again….and had another miscarriage. After that I didn’t > have a period for 2 years!! I started gaining a lot of weight very fast > and no matter what I did I couldn’t seem to lose it. I was wanting > desperately to have another child and couldn’t so I went to the doctor. > He put me on Clomid and gave me shots of progesterene (sp?) and after a > year told me that I couldn’t have anymore kids but gave me no real > reason. He put me on birth control pills which literally made me > crazy!!! I was totally out of control emotionally on them and couldn’t > stand it so I quit them. > OK so for years I would just barely have periods and they would only > last maybe 2 days and were very irregular. I was still gaining weight > and not able to lose. Plus, now I was suffering from depression(which i > take 50mg of Zoloft a day for) and my hair was falling out. I have > severe acne and have had since puberty. > So, about 6 months ago, I start my period and it won’t stop. I bled for > 4 months before I could even get a doctor to see me!! In the meantime I > had been reading up on PCOS and found that I had a lot of the symptoms. > So, when I go to the doctor I ask him about it….and he says yes he > thinks that I have it but that I need to lose weight and that should > stop all the symptoms!! Like I haven’t been trying!!! He once again > tried to put me on BCP but I refused. So, he tried proveria for a > month…I was still bleeding. Now, I’m on Aygestrin and I’m not bleeding > at all..but no periods either. To top it all off he wants me to lose > down to 126lbs (i’m 5′4 and 208 now) and all he wants me to eat is 2 > slimfasts a day and a healthy choice meal….does this sound right to > anyone else or is my doctor a sadist? lol > I have read a lot about the low carb diet helping with PCOS but which > one do I follow? I would really appreciate any advice or input anyone > might have and once again i’m soooo glad I found you!!!!! > Angie

Response:

>and all he wants me to eat is 2 >slimfasts a day and a healthy choice meal….does this sound right to >anyone else or is my doctor a sadist? lol

Definately a sadist. Slim fast meals are full of carbs anyway.  I can’t see having liquid in place of meals.  Many ladies here simply reduce carbs, in particular refined ones that are near the top of the glycemic index.  ^—^ Cathy { ‘ . ‘ }       `  Those who play with cats must expect to be scratched. 4Cysters: http://pages.ivillage.com/cystercat Other pages: http://peaceonearth.faithweb.com http://littlec.faithweb.com http://www.i-love-cats.com/meow/cat

Response:

Thanks very much for all the info Kari, Wendy and Traci!!! I really appreciate it!! Oh and my doctor did some kind of blood test but i’m not sure what it was or anything like that…I’ll have to ask when I go back in. I have to see my doctor every 30 days…does anyone else see theirs that often? Well, I’m off to research some low carb diet..thanks everyone!!! Angie

Response:

lol Cathy…that’s what I thought about him too. I just purchased the protein power plan off ebay so I’m gonna start trying that out when it gets here. Thanks for the welcome!!!! Angie

Response:

Filed under: PCOS Diet

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