Options for thin women with pcos

jewelcats · 05-26-2003, 12:51 PM

Hello Everyone, I am a new member and I have to say that I think this site is a wonderful support network. PCOS is a very frustrating condition with LOTS of mis information out there! I tapped in to this particular part of the site because I was diagnosed with PCO in January and I weigh 140 at 5 foot 7 inches. I have ordered and read numerous books about this condition and all the possibly "cures" (this is in quotations since there is no true cure only relief from symptoms). The funny thing is there isn't a lot of helpful information out there for those of us who already eat right, exercise, maintain a healthy weight and ate a low carb healthy diet before being diagnosed!! I am suffering from all types of symptoms from irritability, infertility, irregular cycles, severe chronic pelvic pain, back pain etc. I have an appointment with an RE for help with the fertility and my regular obgyn put me on the pill for the time being. However, I am still having lots of symptoms and feel like I am not in control of these and can't improve my situation because I am already doing all the things everyone suggests will help my symptoms and I am still having them. This is a very frustrating position to be in so if anyone has any experience with this and has pursued alternative treatments that have helped their symptoms please email me and let me know or post something. I feel like I have already succeeded at the suggested regimine for Pcos women and that it didn't provide the relief that it does for most women. Thanks to all who took the time to read & respond to this post.

Jewelcats

green · 05-27-2003, 04:14 PM

I have always had the same problems as you, but as my now ex doctor was so unhelpfull i done a lot of reading up on pcos both here and in books and other websites. As i was having fertility probs and was in despair that we coudn't get pregnant as we so wanted a baby i tried everything i could think of. You mentioned that you eat a healthy diet and excercise regularly, do you take any vitamins?, i started taking multivitamins every day, along with iron tablets (i'm aneamic too), and changed my diet slightly. My dr woudn't help me with ttc, as i didnt meet certain criteria, so i looked into alternative medacine. I started taking saw palmette and vitex capsules 2 each twice a day. This eventually regulated my cycles and allowed me to ovulate every month (it does taake up to 6mths to work depending on how irregulat your cycles were to begin with). After around 7mths i got pg and we now have a healthy happy 8mth old baby boy. Your doctor may be more helpfull and put you on something to help. After i had our son i was put back on the pill again, and my symptoms are not as severe (yet), but i'm still hairy,spoty and grumpy. I know this may not be of much help, good luck.

jewelcats · 05-27-2003, 06:16 PM

Hi Green,
Thanks for your suggestion, I do take a daily multi vitamin but I will add the supplements you suggested. I have heard of saw palmetto but what is Vitex? Also in case the doseage is different what is the milligram content of each pill? My periods pre pill were about 45-60 days apart. Congratulations on conceiving a healthy son, it seems to be an uphill battle! My husband and I are considering adoption as an alternative if anyone has thoughts on that as well or personal experiences. May I ask which type of pill your doctor put you on? Or if anyone else has input on whether one type of pill is better than others that would be awesome. My obgyn put me on microgestin and it has bad side effects, nausea, cramps, spotting, headaches, the works!! Add that to all the Pcos stuff and I am a real mess.......ha ha. I think it is good to maintain a sense of humor it helps get through everything! Thanks again for your post

Jewelcats

green · 05-31-2003, 03:26 PM

Hi, i think it was 400mg of saw palmette and the same for the vitex (also called angus castus in some countries). Vitex balencces out the hormones in your body(i forget all the technical termes...lol). I am currently back on the dianette contrceptive pill, wich helps reduce acne as well . I have been on other pills but they had side effects and didn't make much diffrence to things. Let me know how you get on. As for adoption i think it's a good idea, one of my friends has starte proceedings for adoption as her and her huband had 2 miscarriges and have had failed ivf too many times to cope. Her doctor told her she will never be able to carry a baby full term due to internal probs. Some peole see it as a last hop to care for a child. But i agree with it being a good idea and my friend has so much to offera child, she will be so happy. Take care.

jewelcats · 06-01-2003, 11:56 AM

Hi Green,
Thanks for your reply, I will give that a try. I have an appointment with a reproductive endocrinologist on Tuesday so hopefully she can help. I was wondering if anyone had successfully gotten their PCOS treatment covered by Blue Shield or other insurance? They called and told me they wouldn't cover anything!! They said it all related to fertility and that it wasn't covered. Obviously it relates to fertility but as any of us know who have suffered its symptoms it is not only a fertility problem. Any tips anyone has or any success anyone has had in getting insurance companies to cough up money for treatment or diagnosis let me know. They cover specialists and I even got this specialist off of their list of preferred providers! Typical huh? Thanks everyone and have a great weekend.

Jewelcats

sunnier · 06-03-2003, 11:49 PM

hi jewels,
i too am a thin cyster i am currently taking about 1500 mg of Metformin, and i was 152 down to about 135, thought by losing that weight my periods would come back, but they didnt

i am seeing a fertility specialist at the end of the month to try Clomid, unfortnately i know my insurance company wont cover fertility drugs which sucks, what can you do but pray they are not too expensive. i havent really tried the low-carb diet thing cause i am wondering since i am already thin weather that will really help or not, i agree with you though its so frustrating to be following everything your told do but still have this condition.

the best thing is to leave it in God's hands, he has a reason for everything.

Good luck to you if you try Vitex that might be next route if the traditional treatment fails.

jewelcats · 06-04-2003, 12:04 AM

Hi Sunnier,
Thanks for your response, it does get frustrating! Good luck with your fertility appointment. I went today to a Reproductive Endocrinologist and I can't tell you how wonderful it was to deal with someone who has a clue about PCO she knew all the latest studies and had answers to all my questions. I hope you will have the same good fortune with your specialist. I am not sure about the effectiveness of a low carb diet for thin women with PCO but I just figure it can't hurt and I need all the help I can get......LOL

I know that Clomid is not terribly expensive in and of itself although the monitoring to see if you actually ovulated can add up quickly if it takes awhile. Also you should ask your doctor about clinical trials, sometimes if you agree to participate in them your treatment/drugs will be free! Plus, you will be helping others along the way. I hope it works for you, let us know how it goes!

Take care, Jewelcats

waiting for first · 06-04-2003, 01:49 PM

Low carbing and metformin can be beneficial even for thin cysters. I did not technically test + for IR but felt strongly I wanted met due to the studies I had read saying it can still help. I found an outstanding RE who is very up to date on the current research and I currently take 500 mg 3x per day (w/ each meal). I have also been low carbing...prior to met I did about 50-75 g. of carbs per day but w/ met I felt lousy going that low and bumped it up to about 100 g carbs per day. I recently met w/ a Medical Dietician who works in the same complex as my RE and knows a lot about women's health to make sure I was doing okay nutritionally since we are also ttc. She was thrilled w/ what I was doing, and based on my current weight (5'3" and about 118 lbs) she gave me a range of 100-120 g of carbs per day as a good range.
I no longer eat sugar (or eat it very very sparingly), I use Splenda (a no carb sweetener that does not affect insulin levels while Nutrasweet does affect insulin levels and it gives me headaches), no longer eat potatoes, I haven't eaten white bread, white pasta or white rice very much in years(even before I knew I had pcos)-had been doing whole wheat, no more high carb bananas, i eat carrots sparingly, etc. Oh, I do eat cheese, cottage cheese, etc. but I do not drink regular milk anymore. I use unsweetened soy milk for smoothies, etc. I balance carbs w/ protein at every meal and snack...i never eat just carbs. The balancing helps avoid an insulin spike.
My concern that I addressed w/ the dietician is that I still like to eat some fruits, but I am good about sticking w/ lower carb fruits (cantelope, honeydew, citrus strawberries, blueberries, etc.), and that I was wondering if it is okay to eat a small serving of brown rice or whole grain pasta from time to time. She said I absolutely could have about 1/3 cup of brown rice a few times per week and still stay in the carb range we had set. Several small servings of relatively low carb fruits are fine. Fiber grams do not count as carbs because they have no effect on insulin. There are some good low carb breads out there.
I take a prenatal vitamin (primacare) that has a morning dose of essential fatty acids and a p.m regular multi vitamin. I take calcium and magnesium, and of course my metformin 3 x per day.
There are debates over low glycemic index diets vs. truly low carb diets such as Atkins. I think my approach is kind of a combo (for ex, beans are relatively low glycemic index foods but still have quite a bit of carbs...i do allow myself some beans from time to time which she said was fine). I don't feel terribly deprived. There are more and more products out there that make it easier to eat this way. For sweet cravings (which have really slowed down now) Blue Bunny (at Walmart super centers) now makes a fabulous vanilla ice cream popscicle covered with crunchy chocolate made w/ splenda and it is only 6 carb grams or so.
Thin cysters may not need to lose weight but our insulin can still be screwing us up and long term it is still important that we avoid sugars, refined flours, etc. for our health.
There are some good low carb cookbooks...Fran McCullough has two out...one is the Low carb Cookbook (made prior to the introduction of Splenda to the US) and one called Living Low Carb. Both have some great recipes!

GOod luck! Hope you don't mind my input!

Beth