Well, after about 4 years of relief from major depression it looks like I am depressed again. Metformin seemed to really help with my moods, energy, and with weight loss too, at least at first. Over time I began having worse and worse nausea and vomitting. After 4 years I had to stop taking it because I would throw up most times I took it. The nausea is better now, but I still vomit a lot so I am seeing a stomach specialist next month. I have no energy most mornings and have had to take many sick days. Today I went to see my doctor to be off for another week. I don't know what I am going to do, I feel like I have no control over my body. I have also had a light to normal period for about 8 months now. All anyone keeps saying is that it is my hormones. Um- duh! My endo tells me to go on a diet and exercise. How do I do this if taking a shower drains me so much that I have to take a nap? Somes days I have to call my father to walk my dog, I am just so tired. Oh, and I have begun developing skin tags, something I have not had in about 15 years - they're back! One thing that I find so hard about this illness is that it seems to manifest itself differently over time. So, just when you think you have the symptoms under control --boom, another symptom appears. I have been told that the reason I am depressed is because I am obese etc, but I have been obese for the past 4 years and not depressed. Anyways, I have asked for a referral to another endo because mine seems to be out of ideas. I am now on sick leave until next week, at which point they will assess where I am at. So, for all the other Cysters out there who are suffering from depression, you are not alone!
It seems as though carbs HELP with depression? *However*, we with PCOS all know we should avoid avoid carbs / sugars in general, to reduce insulin resistence and elevated androgens. This is a contradiction. So we suffer the PCOS symptoms, trying to avoid carbs, but it turns out carbs help with depression? I don't know what to do!! Any thoughts anyone?
I have never heard of lowering whole grains/wheats before but I have heard that they can act as an inflammatory food causing allergic type reactions especially to those who are insulin sensitive. I will surely lower mine now, this really makes sense. Thank you!
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you cant imagine how much better i feel after reading knowing this that i am not crazy and this isnt my fault i can "just get over it" my whole life i have been emotional wreck lately though i feel like i am going to crack and every day something adds on to the load i already have. i have major break down at least twice a month i cant take this much longer luckly i am see a specialist for this first time this month and i am going to make her sit a listen to every thing i have to say and make her under stand that this can not go on any longer i need help. a weight has been lifted knowing that there are others out there and this isnt something i can help i was born this way.
I was diagnosed with depression less than a year after I hit puberty, which is when PCOS starts, so I know that my depression is caused by the PCOS, I've been on medication for about 5 years now, and have no complaints. I've come to terms with thte fact that I will probably be medicated until the day I die. I also was in intense therapy for about a year to address other issues. I still cut sometimes, but for the most part things have gotten better.
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Wow - I never was even told about Cushings until I came to this site. My doctors just told me I had PCOS ! My dad has a pitutary glad adenoma even. Looking at all the symptoms ... I pretty much fit into it 9 out of 10! Going to go get tested asap. Thank you all for this website or else I would still be in the dark about so much ...
Thanks! maybe now my Nurse Practitioner won't say I am being silly to think that my menstrual cycles, hairy face and all of that are not related to anxiety and depression lol.
I was so relieved after reading this. I don't get depressed or have panic attacks because I'm "weak" and "hypersensitive", it's the hormones! It's a good thing to know that I'm not driving myself crazy...
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!
__________________
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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 nor would test her hormones!
Finally, not all doctors know everything, they do what they know. Learn about PCOS AND ABOUT BIOIDENTICAL HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY...DR. VLIET AND DR. UZZI REISS ARE GOOD STARTS! 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! If you have further questions, please feel free to message me because it is very difficult finding a good doctor to help with hormones, usually naturopaths or alternative doctors are the best. Unfortunately, most hormone specialists DO NOT TAKE INSURANCE which is why I went through a compounding pharmacy to get some names. Womens International Pharmacy is one of the best and I have no affiliation with them, but they are certified so make sure that whatever pharmacy you use MAKE SURE THAT they are certified. Women's International will send you a list of doctors FOR FREE! Some of those doctors will take insurance and some will not! You an also google "bioidentical hormones and your state and city" and may be able to find some doctors that way!
P.S. Don't think that your OBGYN will be up on bioidentical hormone replacement therapy because most are not and because babies is mostly their business they don't and haven't taken the time to do the research to become familiar with that aspect of our bodies...heavy sigh! Mostly, because they think that has only to do with MENOPAUSAL WOMEN, but perimenopause CAN START AS EARLY AS 30 for some unfortunate women!!!
Best Wishs to All...
TJ
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Last edited by skeeweeaka; 04-18-2009 at 06:09 PM.
I'm very excited to find this site! I've been diagnosed with PCOS for 12 years. I was on prozac for the depression...then I had to up the dose and the dreaded weight gain began, so I went to a shrink who told me I was bi-polar. I brought my pcos book and explained it was my hormones and would he please take a look. He said no and told me I was bi-polar and addicted to flour and sugar (yeah right...like I get to eat sugar). Well now I'm on nothing and struggling.
Meds. Spironolact 100 MG.
Metformin 500Mg 2x a day
Jolessa (3month in a row)
Depression strikes again 
