New here, diagnosed in December - Could use all the help I can get!

[Parsimony]

I'd rather there not be. nothing pissed me off more when a few articles came out a couple months ago about a woman with pcos. She described all the most embarrassing symptoms. Some of my coworkers know what i have, but i never told them the details. now this complete stranger has decided to announce to the world what happens when you have pcos, so when my coworkers and friends flip open the news paper they could learn that i have facial hair. Great. Thanks random well-meaning yet misguided stranger for sharing that with people i have to talk to every day!

[Parrot]

Oh yeah I can see how that wouldn't work too well. That's why I never tell anyone I have it. Because I don't want them to google it and find out what symptoms I may have. I'm lucky (?) that I have a close friend with PCOS. She has a much more positive outlook than me though. I do wish there was more awareness about PCOS and I wish people wouldn't always assume that the infertility is the only real problem
we'll have. Even tonnes of websites I've read just bang on about the fertility side of things!

[Parrot]

I also wish I was blonde so that I didn't notice the extra hairs as much. 😔 I used to love being a brunette - not any more!

[DixieStick]

I am in a very similar situation. I was just recently "for sure" diagnosed with PCOS and the amount of info I've read through is daunting. For me it started out with my gynecologist saying oh you have PCOS after having done a blood test and ultrasound, acting like I should know what that was, when I had never heard of it in my life.

After reading more in depth as to what it really is I was really bothered that a doctor would so casually say that and then tell me to just go back to taking BCP and I'd be fine.

Luckily I decided to take matters into my own hands and saw an endocrinologist who specializes in PCOS and set me up with a much better medication plan of Metformin(even though I was not testing as insulin resistant, she said it's worth a try to see if my ovaries will respond) and Spiro and trial number of a diet plan.

I'm still really confused though about what it means for the future but I'm hoping this is a good place for answers.

[StayAdamant]

I also wish I was blonde so that I didn't notice the extra hairs as much.  I used to love being a brunette - not any more!

I was just thinking the same thing today when I had to look at myself in those wonderful bathrooms with those wonderful fluorescent lights. They just show it all, I tell you! As if it doesn't show enough. Not to mention my gorgeous forehead pimples.

[StayAdamant]

DixieStick, it really is such a confusing thing to grasp, and I'm getting the idea that we may not have all of the answers anytime soon, but all we can do now is hope that every day is another day closer to another answer, another solution, etc.

Anyway, I hope the medication plan works for you! Let me know how it progresses.

My diagnosis is similar to yours, except the first time I received the diagnosis was over the phone first thing in the morning. What a wake up call.

I have a follow-up with my gyno on Monday and I'm demanding a referral for an endo. Even if I don't make her my primary source for my PCOS, I at least want that initial appointment. I want every little thing tested. I'm tired of having a PCOS diagnosis and no knowledge of what my levels are and what's going on in here.

[Parrot]

Hi girls, yeah I've also discovered you HAVE to take this into your own hands. It took THREE doctors to finally refer me to an Obgyn and get a diagnosis. I had diagnosed myself via Google as we were TTC at the time, and I just knew something wasn't right. No one would take me seriously. It makes me ****ty to think about it now. I could have gone on TTC for ages getting nowhere or having miscarriages, not knowing what's wrong. Not to mention my health! (I think unless you have a full beard, diabetes and have to wear a wig they don't take you too seriously)! After the twins arrived I decide I needed to control the symptoms and look after my long term health. I saw an Endo to get everything checked and now I'm seeing a Dietician. If you can, I'd do both. The dietician will tailor a food plan to your needs and it's essential so that we don't end up with problems when we're older.

I also figure that at the end of the day, all the GP's, specialists etc. don't really care about OUR well being so we have to rely on ourselves!

Can I ask, are you guys in America? I'm assuming so. I'm in Sydney, Australia. I live near the beach with my husband, kids and pet parrot (hence the name)! I'm currently on maternity leave but usually work as an Estate Agent. Have to say I far prefer being a mum although Real Estate is a good challenge aswell.

[Parsimony]

I was just thinking the same thing today when I had to look at myself in those wonderful bathrooms with those wonderful fluorescent lights. They just show it all, I tell you! As if it doesn't show enough. Not to mention my gorgeous forehead pimples.

Oooohh man. You should try airplane bathrooms. The light is bad, but the angle its at...it lights up every single hair on your face. I use to have really fine, really hard to see hairs (LONG ONES) along the side of my jaw... i never really noticed how bad it had got until i was staring at myself in mirror on an airplane. I had a full-on beard and had never noticed, because it was just so light and fine. Shaved it off the first chance i got.

[Parsimony]

Hi girls, yeah I've also discovered you HAVE to take this into your own hands. It took THREE doctors to finally refer me to an Obgyn and get a diagnosis. I had diagnosed myself via Google as we were TTC at the time, and I just knew something wasn't right. No one would take me seriously. It makes me ****ty to think about it now. I could have gone on TTC for ages getting nowhere or having miscarriages, not knowing what's wrong. Not to mention my health! (I think unless you have a full beard, diabetes and have to wear a wig they don't take you too seriously)! After the twins arrived I decide I needed to control the symptoms and look after my long term health. I saw an Endo to get everything checked and now I'm seeing a Dietician. If you can, I'd do both. The dietician will tailor a food plan to your needs and it's essential so that we don't end up with problems when we're older.

I also figure that at the end of the day, all the GP's, specialists etc. don't really care about OUR well being so we have to rely on ourselves!

Can I ask, are you guys in America? I'm assuming so. I'm in Sydney, Australia. I live near the beach with my husband, kids and pet parrot (hence the name)! I'm currently on maternity leave but usually work as an Estate Agent. Have to say I far prefer being a mum although Real Estate is a good challenge aswell.

I'm Canadian actually. Toronto.

[StayAdamant]

I don't feel like anyone takes me seriously, to be honest! So I can totally get that. With this, it's a matter of taking matters into your own hands. Until more people start giving a crap, that's all we can do.

I'm in America, yes. Can I go to Sydney instead? Ha. Anyway, that's adorable. Seems like one big happy beach family to me!

[CJ85]

Hi Ladies. I'm 27 and I also recently got diagnosed with PCOS. I'm a normal weight.

I initially went to the GP because I was getting my period twice a month even though I was on the pill. I got an ultrasound and they found 15 cysts on one ovary and five on the other. I too googled and scared the crap out of myself, thinking that I was going to get diabetes, uncontrollably gain weight and grow a beard! My doctor was no help. She put me on a stronger pill and sent me for a blood test to look at my hormones without telling me to stop the pill first and without even asking where I was in my cycle! I went back to see her and she said my testosterone was high and that I needed to see a gynaecologist and maybe go on Metformin. I was SO scared!

So I went and saw my Naturopath. He said my bloodtests were fairly useless because I was still on the pill, which obviously gives false readings for hormones, and that my testosterone according to that test was NOT high! The GP had effectively lied to me! In a nutshell he said: DON'T STRESS, THIS IS FIXABLE! He has sent me for a proper hormone test, that is, stop the pill, do a saliva test on Day 21 of cycle, then go back on the pill as prescribed for now. Immediately he said to cut down sugar and carbs (bread, pasta, rice, root vegetables such as potato and carrots) and eat a high protein diet (especially breakfast and dinner) such as fish, eggs and tofu. This sounds restrictive, but it's not. You don't have to cut carbs and sugar out, just reduce it. I even asked if I could have an alcoholic drink every night, he said of course. He recommended a book by Dr Sandra Cabot Syndrome X. He really put my mind to rest! Which is good because stress can increase testosterone levels and therefore exacerbate PCOS symptoms. RELAX EVERYONE YOU"LL GET THROUGH THIS!

So basically, the moral of my story, what your doctor tells you is not necessarily gospel, they can even be wrong. PCOS is manageable and even curable. I'm not saying that conventional medicine doesn't have it's place, it is necessary sometimes, I just believe in an holistic approach.

High protein, low sugar and carbs. Consider a Naturopath STAY POSITIVE LADIES

[StayAdamant]

Thank you so much for posting that positivity! We need more of that.

Even though a naturopath is not within my means, I do try to make protein a huge staple in my life now. I'm on BCP now and although I'm not happy about it, I don't want to get off it unless I'm regularly seeing a doctor that will track my hormones and wean me off. I don't know what my hormones were like before and I don't know what they're like now. I'm assuming my testosterone is high because I do have hair loss and growth, and I feel like the pill I'm on exacerbates it, but I've had that since before the pill (probably because of both PCOS and my European ancestors, lol!)

My biggest issue is the diet/exercise. I want to know that I'm doing the right thing and that I don't have to treat myself like a prisoner either. :/

[Parrot]

Yeah Parsimony something happened to me! We moved into a new house and there are these completely unforgiving down lifts right above the vanity unit/mirror in the bathrooms. So every time I look in the mirror with the light on I can see every single hair on my face, in a beard pattern!!!! OMG The horror when I first discovered it... I've been obsessing about it ever since.

Also, speaking of diets I saw one on the net written by someone with PCOS. She's on a purely meat diet. NO veggies, grains or fruit. Just protein. To me that's pointless because I don't see how anyone could possibly maintain that long term, let alone not die of a heart attack!!! CJ85 your diet sounds realistic. Have you noticed any change in your PCOS since starting it? What's a typical days food look like for you?

[CJ85]

I've only just started on the diet, but I think I have lost weight! The advice was to have a high protein breakfast (eg poached eggs) and high protein dinner (fish, tofu). Protein breakfast is important because it sets the metabolism for the day. Lunch I guess just minimise (not eliminate?) carbs, maybe salad, lots of green vegies. Basically he said something has put my hormones out of whack and we just need to sort them out. I think the diet will be stricter now to start off with and get everything back to normal, then it'll just be an issue of maintenance. Low GL is the key as well as Low GI. I think a good starting point is that book I mentioned by Dr Sandra Cabot, you'd get it on Ebay for less than $10.

I know if you're in the US healthcare is crap, but try and get a proper hormone test done like I mentioned before. It seems doctors sometimes assume what they'll find without looking and are just treating the symptoms not the cause. My doc wanted me to go on Diane-35 because "that's what women with PCOS take" but I refused. It's too strong for me and it's a bandaid solution. I do take the pill, but have been doing so for 2 years for birth control purposes. Also, about the hair thing, all women have hair on their faces to varying extents. We're mammals! We're supposed to have hair all over our body. Unless it's really super dark I wouldn't be concerned, no one is looking for a beard when they see you If it's light hair no one will notice and it's probably always been there (pre PCOS), you just weren't looking so closely! Stay happy

[Parsimony]

As far as diets are concerned, I'm not really a fan of all the fad diets, or really any diets that you refer to by a name. And as far as I'm concerned, if you don't enjoy the diet you're on. You're not going to stick with it.

What I"ve done so far, I think I may have mentioned it before, is just substitute out the things I shouldn't be eating with things I should. I've replaced white potatoes with sweet, white pasta with whole wheat. white rice with basmati. For breakfast I use to have yogurt on occasion, so I replaced it with the high-protein greek yogurt and now eat it for breakfast as often as possible (and mix in ground flax and chia seeds) and berries. If I have a craving for sweets, I try and tackle it by eating nice fruit instead. But if that fails - ya, I'll cheat a little. Its worked so far for me, and has been incredibly easy to take to, compared to some of the diets ive heard about.