PCOS Message Board - View Single Post - Questions, because my girlfriend has PCOS. She takes DEPO as a treatment for it.

VivC · 07-13-2004, 07:29 PM

I wish my hubby had taken as much interest in my health before it got serious! Your GF's lucky to have you.

1)Birth control pills made my insulin resistance, and my PCOS symptoms, a thousand times worse. I will NEVER take them again. My main problem with them is that doctors tend to prescribe them (and DEPO) to mask symptoms. They do NOT treat the underlying problem, PCOS. And if your girlfriend insists on birth control for birth control reasons, there are definitely better alternatives - Yasmin pills, for instance.

PCOS treatments:
1)Metformin/Glucophage, as someone already mentioned. If her doctor won't prescribe it (if her insulin's not high enough), Alpha Lipoic Acid did wonders for me. I also did essential fatty acids, antioxidants, and a B-complex.
2)Low-carb diet. Carbs trigger insulin to be made by your body. If your body is already insulin-resistant (most of us cysters are this way, even if it's not measurable in tests), this means lots of extra insulin swims around your body, wreaking havoc with other hormones. Not just reproductive hormones, but hormones that stimulate the brain, etc. So before you know it, you've got out-of-control symptoms, and you're miserable. Also, if your pancreas is producing this much insulin, eventually it may wear out and put out little or no insulin. Then, you're diabetic. And you're even more miserable. There are lots of low-carb diets out there, and they tend to get a bad rap. I didn't use a traditional diet - the closest to what I did was Sugar Busters. Basically, I cut out the refined crap - no white flour, no sugar. I cut out artificial everything, and ate organic wherever possible. It did wonders - I lost 42 pounds, regulated my menstrual cycle (which you know is a big concern for us cysters), had tons more energy, and got my blood pressure, insulin and cholesterol under control.
3)There are herbs out there that help, but they do only help individual symptoms. And I'd definitely recommend seeing an herbalist before using them.

When I was starting out, I read The PCOS Diet Book by Collette Harris. It lays out possible triggers of PCOS in plain language, and it helped me get started. I would definitely recommend you guys reading it.

Also, there's a board on this site for guys who love us cysters. If you ever need to vent, you can go there. I've heard they're as good for each other as we cysters are. But if you just need advice from the horses' mouths, feel free to ask us!

Good luck!