Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)

Good Housekeeping article

Question:

I was in the check out stand yesterday and saw the Good Housekeeping did an article on PCOS.  I didn’t buy it (thinking my grandmother receives it) quickly looked through it and it mentioned both insulin-regulating tablets. Hopefully, this article is the first of many.  I am excited that they did an article; now with more exposure more doctors are going to be forced into studying this disorder. Wendy

Response:

Hi Wendy, I was glad to see the article myself, but I felt that the slant on treatment was much more toward BCPs and exercise and weight loss as being the "cures". But at least we are getting some exposure, right? Best of luck, Leslie J. McKay Leslie_…@msn.com Richard and Wendy Lee wrote in message <6p58fc$5im…@newssvr04-int.news.prodigy.com>… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->I was in the check out stand yesterday and saw the Good Housekeeping did an >article on PCOS.  I didn’t buy it (thinking my grandmother receives it) >quickly looked through it and it mentioned both insulin-regulating tablets. >Hopefully, this article is the first of many.  I am excited that they did an >article; now with more exposure more doctors are going to be forced into >studying this disorder. >Wendy

Response:

    "Loosing weight" is touted as a cure for everything having to do with insulin resistance: high cholesterol, high triglycerides, diabetes, etc. etc.   It’s so annoying.  Like every person with pco "chooses" to be overweight.   I saw Dr. Glueck last week to be in his glucophage study.  He said that women with pco can eat barely anything and it all turns to fat. He understands and sees it definitely as a symptom.  He thinks insulin resistance is the overriding factor that has to be dealt with.     BTW, He took me off of bcp because he believes it is not good for pco. He said that he has had pco patients who were on bcp for years that can’t get pregnant once off of them.  I have been on bcp for over 5 years.  I hope that hasn’t screwed up my body further. Barbara PintoDrsg wrote in message

<1998072300212000.UAA07…@ladder03.news.aol.com>… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->I’m glad too that it’s becoming more publicized–but the thing that is most >frustrating to me is that ‘loosing weight’ is touted as a cure, as opposed to >obesity being a symptom.  Most of us would do just about anything to loose >weight, it’s part of the whole process… not the miracle cure.

Response:

I’m glad too that it’s becoming more publicized–but the thing that is most frustrating to me is that ‘loosing weight’ is touted as a cure, as opposed to obesity being a symptom.  Most of us would do just about anything to loose weight, it’s part of the whole process… not the miracle cure.

Response:

Leslie J. McKay wrote: > Hi Wendy, > I was glad to see the article myself, but I felt that the slant on treatment > was much more toward BCPs and exercise and weight loss as being the "cures". > But at least we are getting some exposure, right?

I was also concerned at the treatments recommended.  The author stated that BCP will erase the excess hair.  In my experience this is nonsense.  All BCP did for me was regulate my cycles and get rid of the acne.  I find this kind of misinformation frustrating because if I didn’t know better, I’d take it seriously and be very disappointed when the BCP didn’t "erase" the hair. Even aldactone doesn’t "erase" the hair (I take 100mg a day).  My GYN told me that once the thick, coarse hairs grow in, the only thing that can get rid of them completely is electrolysis and that’s what I’ve been doing for the past 7 months.  My chin is almost clear and we will soon start work on my upper lip. 15 minutes every 2 week is the most I can take.  I’m not looking forward to doing it on a sensitive area, but I am looking forward to achieving the same results.  I’m also taking 320mg of Saw Palmetto every day and doing the low-carb diet.  I can’t say for sure that it all helps with the hair, but it certainly hasn’t hurt. I believe that the aldactone and BCP slow the hair growth down and keep it from getting worse, but by no means do they "erase" what’s already there. And as for exercise being "the cure," that’s garbage too.  I worked out vigorously for an hour every morning for three months last fall and all I lost was 3 pounds…and I gained a ton of exhaustion and frustration in the process! I was practically burnt-out by Christmas and I couldn’t do it anymore! The low-carb diet is the only answer for the weight as far as I’m concerned. I’ve lost 29 pounds since March 2nd.  There aren’t enough hours in a day for a woman with PCO to lose weight at that rate with exercise alone.  And there’s no way anyone could have enough energy, especially a single parent with full-time career like me.  I wanted my self-esteem back sooner, rather than later, and I didn’t want to half kill myself for it! I really believe that PCO is a metabolic disorder and the reproductive dysfunction is just a symptom of it.  Maybe that’s because I am coming from the point of view of someone who is not trying to conceive.  By the time I got it, in my late 20’s, I had managed to have 3 girls (albeit at a young age, but I have no regrets).  I have no need or desire for more children.  I understand that for most women with PCO the reproductive dysfunction is the primary concern, but that isn’t the case for me.  I’m just concerned with maintaining my health into my middle years so I can live long enough to enjoy life without the responsibility of raising children. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –

Response:

I have to agree with you, I do think it was slanted.  But like I said before, its a good thing that we got exposure. I wrote to GH on the net to thank them for the article but went on to say how I thought the article was slanted and gave misinformation. I too am on a lc diet and have lost about 36lbs and then I had already lost 20lbs on Redux for a total of 56lbs

Response:

I AM READING THAT A LOW-CARB DIET IS THE WAY TO GO FOR LOSING WEIGHT WITH PCO, I AM TRYING TO LOSE THE WEIGHT, I WAS WONDERING IF SOME ONE COULD TELL ME ABOUT WHAT AMOUNT OF CARBS I SHOULD EAT A DAY, THANKS JEANNE

Response:

Jeanne- I suppose it depends on what diet you are on. I have just started the Atkins diet two weeks ago(and 12 lbs.!!!!) and the maximum grams of carbs for the first two weeks on that diet is 20 per day. That uis really low esp. when you consider how packed most foods are with carbs ad sugars.  It would be useful for you to buy the book if you wanted to seriously start a low carb diet. It offers recipes and a lot of extra supporting info to help you be successful. Hope this helps some. Jody

Response:

Barbara- Did Dr. Glueck say WHY he thinks BCP aren’t good for PCO?  I was on them for nearly 12 years and now of course I’m kicking  myself since it’s obvioucly NOT so easy to get pregnant.  For a long time I thought that the BCPs were the the cause of my problems (before I knew about PCO) and several dr’s told me it was impossible. I’m very interested in what Dr. Glueck thinks. Lisa

Response:

Hi.  I’m new to this group.  I actually found out about PCO from an article in Cosmopolitan, of all places. Here’s my story – I’d be glad if someone could tell me if I have this condition.  I live in Israel and am unsure if I can be tested for this here. From the time I got my first period (I was almost 14) I was lucky if I got it twice a year.  Only after I went on the pill did I become regular, but they were very painful, short and heavy.  My OB/GYN suggested that when I wanted to get pregnant I should go off the pill for a 6 months first.  I did this and got my period twice during that time.  After the 6 months were over, I spent three months trying to get pregnant naturally.  When this failed my doctor gave me a shot to get my period going, put me on Pergonal immediately afterwards and had me check my temperature.  I was lucky and I got pregnant that first month.  (My doctor explained to me that my problem was that my eggs were not leaving the ovaries and that was why I didn’t get periods or pregnant.  He gave me the reason that the outter skin of my ovaries was not soft enough to allow the eggs to get out!) By the time I wanted a second child I had moved and changed doctors. This doctor gave me Pergonal in injection form, but this didn’t help. He then gave me pills to take (don’t remember the name) and I did get pregnant, but miscarried.  That took me a year.  It took me another year to get pregnant again and I was lucky not to lose him as well – although I did end up in the high risk pregnancy ward for 5 weeks and then bed rest at home for another 6. After this I used IUD’s for birth control, but both times they caused me problems and had to be removed.  We changed to using only condoms as protection.  After this second pregnancy my periods started coming more often – about once every 3 months.  There was a three month time when I actually got my periods on time.  Then they didn’t appear again.  This coincided with my husband being sick of using the condoms and saying "you don’t get pregnant anyway and even if you do we want a third child, so why bother".  That’s when I got pregnant with my daughter – yes, naturally!  Since she was born I still get my periods irregularly, but closer together – anywhere between 4 and 8 weeks apart, but so far no further apart.  My periods are still very painful, very short and start out very heavy for about the first 12-24 hours and then very light for the last 24-36.   Other symptoms:  I have always had trouble with my weight.  One problem I found I have is that I cannot use artificial sweeteners since they blow me up like a balloon.  By cutting these out I am able to keep my weight at a fairly reasonable level, but about 10 lbs above my ideal weight.  When I gain weight it appears almost only in my stomach and midrif areas – no hips, no butt, no thighs (except a very small amount on my inner thighs when I’m really heavy).  This has always been the case, even when I was young.  I try to stay as far away from sugar as possible since both my parents were diagnosed with adult-onset diabetes, as was also my older sister.  During my pregnancies I had huge drops in my blood sugar and tended to get lightheaded (my sister had the opposite problem).  When not pregnant, if I don’t eat I can get headaches as bad a migranes, which dissapear when I eat something – especially something with sugar.  I have cravings sometimes for foods – mostly for meats (and always chocolate!).  I could do without bread and such most of the time, but when I prepare meals for the family I need to make some starch to fill out the meal.  What’s worse, if I don’t eat (and many is a day when I just forget to eat altogether), I GAIN weight! The one thing that doesn’t figure for me is the body hair thing – I’ve got very little, almost no body hair!  However, I understood that not everyone has all the symptoms. I’d appreciate any advice you can give me. On Wed, 22 Jul 1998 10:54:14 -0700 during the alt.support.pco Community News Flash, "Richard and Wendy Lee" <RWL…@prodigy.net> reported: >I was in the check out stand yesterday and saw the Good Housekeeping did an >article on PCOS.  I didn’t buy it (thinking my grandmother receives it) >quickly looked through it and it mentioned both insulin-regulating tablets. >Hopefully, this article is the first of many.  I am excited that they did an >article; now with more exposure more doctors are going to be forced into >studying this disorder. >Wendy

The Chocolate Lady Davida Chazan ~*~*~*~*~*~ De chocolatei non est disputandum!  Ergo, carpe chocolatum! ~*~*~*~*~*~ Support the Jayne Hitchcock HELP Fund: http://www.lutzbooks.com/booksale/

Response:

Filed under: PCOS Symptoms

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