I was diagnosed with PCOS last October. I have always had problems with irregular periods,acne and hair growth. After I got married ( 3 years ago ), I gained about 60+ pounds within the first 6 months of our marriage. I saw doctor after doctor and they all told me it was stressed related. Finally after I started going to the doctors because I was unable to conceive one ob/gyn decided to check all my hormones and of course they were all abnormal. They diagnosed me with hypothyroidism and told me that the levoxyl would fix everything. It didn't and doctors kept telling me that I was too young to worry about having kids and kinda blew me off. I finally go tired of them and got a new doctor. On my first appointment with this doctor she walked in the room and the first thing she said was " You have Polysystic Ovaries, you are a walking book case ", I was lost I had never heard of it before. So she sent me for an ultrasound and some blood work and she was right. I am now on 850 mg of Metformin( twice a day ). It seemed to work, my periods were regular for 6 months, I used the clearblue monitor snd was ovulating. The problem now is that I haven't had a period for the last 2 months, and all the other symptons are worse than ever. My weight has sky rocketed, the acne is worse, same with hair growth and the dark patches. I don't know what else to do! I want to feel better,look better and have a child. Someone help! Thanks.
Connie welcome to the Board, you are just like the rest of us on here, we have different symptoms but are all battling the same thing!! This is a great place to talk about stuff and get lots of information. Sounds to me like your Endo may need to tweak your meds...You were doing good on the MET it seems and now nothing. Have you taked a pregnancy test?? All things are possible, I would check that first especially if your breaking out and haven't had a period in 2 months. If your not preggers I would go back to your Endo and see what else you can try!! GOOD LUCK AND WELCOME!!
Stormy~
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Have you tried low carbing? Are you exercising? I gained 100 pounds, and have lost 70. All I have done is lower my sugar, cut out junk food and fast food. Exercise can also help. And it sounds like your Metformin needs to be increased.
__________________ [color=Navy][font=Comic Sans MS]Jenn
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Me: 31 DH: 37 To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Married my best friend and soulmate on 12/7/2000.
PREGNANT!!!!!! After 6 hard long years of trying!
PCOS and IR since 2002
Endometriosis since 2001
Welcome to the board. Are you Insulin Resistant? Is your doctor checking to see if the dose of Met. you are on is working? I'm on 1500 mg/day and it works great for me. I'm also on a modified low carb diet. Refined carbs can be horrible for many ladies with PCOS. I still get lots of fruit, but no white flour, soy, rice, potatoes, sugar, etc. I have lost about 60 pounds since I was diagnosed with PCOS in 2002.
Thanks everyone who has replied, I did take a pregnancy test last month and it was neg. I have an appt. with my ob/gyn, my ins. doesn't cover the reproductive endo. who I was referred to.
I tried Atkins before and it caused digestive problems so I had to quit.
I tried Atkins before and it caused digestive problems so I had to quit.
Atkins can be a bit extreme. A lot of women on this board seem to use the IR diet (you can see the diet & exercise board stickies for info, I believe), or my doctor recomended South Beach.
You have to make sure you are cutting out the right kinds of food from your diet. Obviously we all know fried foods aren't good, but I have known people that live on baked potatoes with different toppings for each meal, and have no idea why they can't seem to lose weight while they are IR. So if you don't want to go on a "diet", think of it as a lifestyle change. Make changes that will be healthy for you and you'd be surprised how much little changes can add up to.
Good luck with your ob/gyn. She might tell you losing weight will help with the symptoms, so you may want to consider asking her what plans she suggests.
Insulin Resistance is often known as pre-diabetes. Lack of treatment can lead to type II diabetes. Someone else can probably do a much better explaination of what exactly IR vs. diabetes is in terms of how your body responds, because mine usually comes out muddled.
However, I can point you to this thread, which includes the following two paragraphs that may start to shed some light on things:
Quote:
Thirty-one percent of women with PCOS have impaired glucose tolerance and 7.5% to 16% have type 2 diabetes mellitus. Because of the association among PCOS, insulin, and diabetes, women with PCOS commonly attempt to follow low-carbohydrate or no-carbohydrate diets. There is no consensus however, on how to treat insulin resistance or how to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes. The American Dietetic Association and the American Diabetes Association both support individualized dietary treatment. They recommend that for people with type 2 diabetes or with insulin resistance, the majority of energy intake should be divided between monounsaturated fats and carbohydrates to provide 60% to 70% of total daily energy needs. This division of energy provides a higher intake of energy as fat than most women with disordered eating would consider on their own.
Weight loss has been the major recommendation by physicians for women with PCOS. Lifestyle modifications including stress reduction, exercise, and group support, along with a decrease in total energy intake, have had positive results [12]. A weight decrease of only 5% of total body weight is associated with decreased insulin levels, improved menstrual function, reduced hirsutism and acne, and lower free testosterone levels [2,11-12]. Exercise has been shown to improve use of insulin and can support dietary interventions to promote weight loss [10]; it is important that the exercise program chosen is enjoyable for the client. A combination of diet and exercise improves the sustainability of the interventions [12].
I am Insulin Resistant, also. I was dxed after years of symptoms. Potatoes are now my enemy, lol. I agree you need to think of it as a way of eating. I am going to be eating this way the rest of my life probably.
What do I do now? 
