skeeweeaka

Hello Everyone,

I know that this is an old thread but I wanted to add some necessary information. Women with PCOS are more prone to depression because of the constant HORMONAL CHANGES. Hormones can and will cause depression if they are not balanced, and since women with PCOS have higher levels of testosterone that means your hormones are not balanced.

Please don't think that YOU are the cause of your depression because it is not about YOU, it is HORMONAL! To be bried, I have have struggled and was diagnosed bipolar 8 years ago after struggling for years with depression and fibroids since my early twenties...I am now 48! Anyway, 8 years ago they diagnosed me bipolar when I had a breakdown. I did not believe the diagnosis but followed their treatment regimens which did not work for me. This extreme mood swings left me debiliated and I lost everything I had worked hard for, my professional career, my business, etc. I have struggled for 8 years to find answers because I felt it was all hormonal since depression was first experienced at age 12 when my periods started! However, since the diagnosis noone would test my hormones and everyone simply said that the PMS type symptoms that I was having would and could make the manic depression worse.

Four years ago I read It's My Ovaries Stupid and Screaming to Be Heard By Dr. Vliet which talks about hormones and mood disorders and misdiagnoses for many, many women! I then started to try to find someone to prescribe bioidentical hormones for me. I went to 8 doctors and because of my diagnosis they would not give them to me...manic depression! I then gave up and succumb to the awful hell of major depression and psychosis every month for 10 days in the luteal phase of my cycle. I was usually hospitalized in that phase 2 or 3 days prior to my period and would ALWAYS start my period in the hospital and would come out of the psychosis as soon as my period started!

About 7 months ago someone convinced me to begint he search again because hormones had changed her life, even though she did not realize how much I was suffering because I did not divulge all of the details. It took six doctors before I could get a prescription for bioidentical hormone replacement therapy! Actually, what I did was contact a compounding pharmacy who took my history and who I faxed all of my blood tested (estrogen...estradiol, estriol, and estrone levels if you can get those done, most just do total estrogen; testosterone both TOTAL AND FREE, and progesterone in the follicular (days 1, 2, or 3 of your cycle) AND the luteal phase of your cycle (days 19, 20, or 21)) to him. Once he say that my estrogen levels were 13 in the follicular phase and 60 in the luteal phase he said that I needed hormones and gave me an order which a DOCTOR needed to sign for me. My FREE TESTOSTERONE was also high which had been resulting in unwanted hair, hair loss on my head, range and anger issues! Once you get your estrogen levels up, the estrogen will suck of some of the FREE TESTOSTERONE in your body reducing some of those unwanted symptoms! Luckily, I convinced the last doctor to sign it for me! Please remember, that women even in their 30's can begin to have ovarian decline which leads to hormonal decline. Normal levels of estrogen in MENOPAUSAL WOMEN should be at least 100...and we know that menopausal women DO NOT HAVE PERIODS! Therefore, for women who are NOT menopausal their numbers should be about 300!!!! Doctors will tell you that your numbers are normal if they are in that 50-300 level range, however, that may not be OPTIMAL for you and your body may be accustomed to higher numbers so anything less could cause the terrible mood swings and depression.

Once I received my hormones I waited to take them. Then in the luteal phase I woke up one night in a slightly psychotic state, I instantly went and took 1/4 of the estrogen pill and went back to sleep. When I woke up I was no longer psychotic and for the remainder of the 10 days of my cycle in the luteal phase I took the estrogen and REMAINDED in a nonpsychotic state for the first time in 8 years!

I have been taking the hormones for a little over a month and I am on a low dose but my moods are slowly lifting! I still am having some bad days but to have even a few good days is a blessing and obviously to have no PSYCHOSIS IS MAJOR!

Please have your hormones tested and don't take no for an answer, especially with PCOS. For many women with PCOS they have high estrogen and high testosterone and simply NEED PROGESTERONE to help balance out the high estrogen and high testosterone because progesterone is a precursor to the other hormones so once you begin taking it correctly...start with very small doses.....then your body starts to balance out and many, many women that I know start to have their periods again and get pregnant! My niece is one of those women, she had two children now...and no DOCTOR TOLD HER ANYTHING ABOUT PROGESTERONE!

Finally, not all doctors know everything, they do what they know. When you find that you tend to know more about your body and what is going on then your doctors, listen to your gut instinct and don't give up until you have found a doctor who is receptive to trying different approaches that just don't include AD's or things like that but include bioidentical hormone therapy because that is the kind that is MOST CHEMICALLY LIKE YOUR BODY, NOT THE SYNTHETICS!

__________________