PCOS and related hormonal issues

[CMM]

Hey girls

Yes I reckon there is a link with the thrush, I too have that drama. I have had almost all of your symptoms over time, but not all at once, does that make sense? Never had high cholesterol though, which makes a lot of doctors astounded.

Connie - yep, I was told PRE babies that I wouldn't have any withouth 'help'. LOL, that was funny wasn't it - NOT (well, not at 21 maybe). BUT - it makes me realise how precious they all are, that's for sure.

Ez - thanks for the encouragement/support - to have other people say it is bad enough, to have an endocrinologist ask if I have a new partner and if not, why else would I want more children, well that was a blow. Seems that some people have never come from big families (I am one of 5) or experienced the wanting that I have after no. 3.

Gotta go, dinner has arrived from room service, although it is NOT how I ordered and having been up since 4am I don't know if I have the energy to trot downstairs and ocmplain/buy more food. Now I'll just beat myself up for a week for deviating....

Cindy

[polka_dots]

Hey guys iv spoken to a few of you guys on another forum so you would have seen my post, im going to post it just for the ones who havnt...

I am 19 years old, I live in Melbourne – Australia. I have a boyrfriend who lives with me and my family, he is the love of my life and my biggest inspiration, my mother also, she has always tried to help me battle with my weight problem, not because she wants to see me skinny, but because she wants to see me healthy and finally happy!

When I was 12 (2001) I was diagnosed with PCOS one of the main symptoms is excessive body and facial hair. I have tried laser hair removal but it just doesn’t work for me so I have buried myself in pain and failure, I shave my face because I have nothing else to do, I cry when I touch my face and I can feel it. To be 19 and have to go through that is so painful, when I see other girls my age with a perfect body, not a hair and their complaining makes me so angry! With myself, with my family, with everyone! I cant live with it anymore.

I have always been overweight since I was about 11. I currently weigh 84kgs and I cant even look at myself, i need to do something, im just sick of giving up everything I try. I need to get to a weight of around 65 to be really really happy with myself and hopefully with a dramatic drop of weight my hair problem and PCOS will just leave me forever!!!

I called the clinic 2 weeks ago, recieved my pack and now i just have to get my blood test and pay.

i really just want to know because im not that big if the weight is going to just fall off me too like others, if i dont see results i know ill end up giving up, trust me..IM THE LAZIEST PERSON I KNOW! LOL

Laura
mwa

[louise41]

Best of luck mwa. I hope that you get some good results that will hope to motivate you. I was pleased to hear you say you are doing this for yourself as i believe that is the best reason. In regards to the excess hair problem, did you know there is a contraceptive pill (if your not trying to get pregnant of course)that will help with that. It is called dianne, I tried it and within 6 months there was a noticable reduction. Its not on the pbs so it is a bit more expensive than some of the others, but i reckon it was worth the cost!

best of luck

Louise

[polka_dots]

thanks for the support!

yeah im currently on Levlen (same thing) and Androcur, i really dont know if its helping, but all i do no is its making me miss alottttt of periods!! i just want to get skinny! and i think it will all fall into place, well i hope!!

[shell]

Hi Laura,
Welcome to the forum.

If you want to loose weight doing this program you will have to be willing to give it 100%.

You might not loose as quick as some others, but then again you might loose more!
You will loose the weight you need to, if you want to, and stick to the plan 100%. !!

There is no point already talking about giving up if you don't see "results"- you will be just waisting your money and setting yourself up for more disappointment.

It sounds like you have nothing to loose by joining Cohen's (except the weight!), so why not give it your very best shot and see what happens.
Just don't give up before you have even started.

Good luck, you will get a lot of support on here.
Shell

[enough!]

Hi all, just cut and paste this from my diary incase any new PCOSers are around and wondering aobut the effects of the diet.
Kate

I got a period!!!!! and I am soooooooooooo happy, I know you all think I’m weird but the last time I was so happy about getting TOM I was about 17 and it was for a very different reason
anyway,

What lead me to Cohens was PCOS and its god awful symptoms. As my weight piled on the symptoms became worse and my periods stopped for the last 12 months. So this signals to me that the good Dr has it right and things are working in my body the way they should. (he was a fertility doc after all)
I am not trying for anymore children but it is a fabulous feeling to be 'working' normally again and hopefully the other symptoms will look after themselves as this journey continues.
I am also thinking that this could explain my negative feelings and cravings last week and when it happens again I will know why and be ready for it!!

Anyway guys thanks for popping in. I may cut and paste the last paragraph on the PCOS thread incase we have any new lurkers interested in how this diet works for us cysters!!

((((((Hugs all round)))))))
Kate

[srose]

Hi Enough! I have had a really strange cycle this month and wonder if it is the diet and my body just reajusting to the change or not? I don't have PCOS but I'm in my mid-40's and it could be one of those things. Has anyone else experienced funny periods and if so do they settle down?

[enough!]

Hi Laura, and what a very pretty girl you are!! (Did I sound a bit like the wolf in Little Red Riding hood , lol )

Anyway, I was just wondering how long you have been on Androcur.
I too was on it but for hairloss and it worked but took a couple of months.

Shell is right. This programme WILL work for you, everyone here has tried it all without success and end up here with fabulous results. and for something to work for PCOSers is a small miracle.

I lost 7kgs at last effort at the gym (hard core) and that took me 18 months. I lost 6kgs in 3-4 weeks on Cohens and as my above post mentioned I have had a period which is amazing!!

Read the forum and I bet we see you with the same successes soon.
Cheers
Kate

[louise41]

Gee kate- when you put it like that it sounds pretty powerful - gym versus cohen -but very true!

Louise

[ConnieK..]

Hi guys ......

I agree with Kate

17kg in 3 years .....at the Gym ... or
almost 25kg in 21 weeks on cohens ........


Hmmmm tough choice ... and I am over 40 and a slow loser to boot!

Connie

[CMM]

For the lady who asked (sorry can't remember) - My cycles have been weird, month before last it was 5 weeks, the last one was 3 weeks, now I am getting ovulation symptoms but no positive ovulation tests? All very bizarre. I'll just wait and see at the end of the program...

[polka_dots]

hey kate!

ive been on it for about 3 or 4 months, i dont really know if its working well just have to hope that the weight loss helps.

i just went for my blood test this morning so hopefully i can hurry up and get started!!!!

[enough!]

That's great news,
Now all you have to do is start thinking of yourself at the other end. I found it harder than I thought to actually 'believe' that I could be a slim person. If you believe it and visualise it it makes the journey easier.
Good Luck and hope to see you in the diaries.
Cheers
Kate

[shaz72]

Hi all,
i was told i have pcos when i was 15 n told my chances of having kids was so slim if not imposible.
I have since had 5 kids n am trying for my 6th.
i had my tubes tied n had them reversed when i remaried after the death of my first husband.
We have been unsuccesfull for 4 years now n i did try medication n injections through ivf, to no avail.
I was told if i lost just 10% of my weight i would have a better chance. I have lost 40kg n still no baby< Although i went to see my gyno who is also an ivf doctor n he was amazed when he did an ultra sound that i have only 5 cists on my left ovary n none on my right...
I am now at 35 years old not in the class of having pcos..
I cant believe it im now being told that after all i have been through i may now fall pregnant naturally
I asked about the weight n hair n all those lovelly symptoms?
I need to always watch the weight, Unfortunatelly the hair is already there although i shouldnt get any more than i already have.Yay to that n the other symptoms should slowly subside. I was also told not to go under weight cos i will stop ovulating n put my body in reverse.
I am just happy to get a cycle everymonth n be normal for the first time in my life n if i do fall pregnant then thats a bonus.

[polka_dots]

hey shaz,

thats really good to hear that its gone..
im hoping the same will happen for me, as i think im the youngest and still have to go through the fertility stage i dont want any problems at all so i need to start doing something now about it..

good luck with everything

[Nat]

Hi fellow PCOS girlies!

I've been following this thread with interest and thought I'd put down my experiences.....

I had always been very overweight and my periods were always very erratic. It wasnt until 3 years ago when hubby and I started trying for a baby did i get diagnosed with PCOS. Scans showed that while I didnt have that many cysts on my ovaries, I definately had severe insulin resistance and because of this (if I wasnt on the pill) I would only have a period once every 6 months or so. After seeing an endocrinologist, she put me on Metformin (not the extended release tabs) which didnt make me lose any weight but I was getting a period every 4 months or so but feeling awful - dizzy etc. It wasnt until I changed to the extended release tabs (2000mg a day) that I felt better and slowly started getting a period every 30 days. Meanwhile hubby and I were going thru IUI fertility cycles. We went thru 4 cyles of this with only one producing a partial positive pregnancy result that I lost a couple of days later. We stopped the fertility cycles and I was just on met. and suddenly I found myself pregnant at a weight of over 130kgs! Unfortunatley I miscarried in my 9th week. That was the push that I needed and by a miracle I found Cohens.

I havent looked back!!

I stopped the met. and started Cohens just as I was having a period. After a month on Cohens, my next period took 39 days to come, then next one 35 days, then 32 days, then 30 days and has been pretty regular at a 30 day cycle. Until this month - 29 days. I have found that my PMS symptoms have been getting better and this month I havent even had my pre period migrains and my mood has evened out because I used to be a right royal b**ch just before a period. Period pains have also become dramatically better. I also now get definate ovulation symptoms as well.

I cant say that I have noticed all that much of a difference with things like skin condition or body hair growth because I was always lucky with that and didnt have much of a problem with those conditions even before Cohens.

So thats my story anyway. Hopefully if there are any newbies out there that are reading this thread, this might help as I definately put the improvement of my PCOS symptoms down to Cohens.

Nat xx

[polka_dots]

THANK YOU SO MUCH NAT!!
great inspiration and congrats!!

[Rue]

Thanks Nat for your experience, PCOS is one of the main reasons I am starting Cohen...

To tell my story, I was an extremely petite person. At 20 yr old I was at my highest of 38 kg, I had seen numerous doc to add weight but all had given up on me. I wasnt anerexic, just petite. After I got married, I used the pill for three months when I added 7 kg which took me up to 45 kg. I was elated to finaly be at an acceptable weight. However, this is when I was diagnosed with PCOS, I had added weight to fast for my body to handle. anyway after 2 yrs of failed atempts at pregnancy I finally fell pregnant. by the end of my pregnancy I was a bloated round ball, I added 25 kg.

that was in 2004, since then i have had a total of 6 periods, and all the symptoms. I do personally blame the pill for my problem. I have been on 5 cycles of clomid, 2 cycles of met, and plenty of other meds all to o avail.

I was told I needed surgery, but at $3000, i thought i should try cohens first.

Fingers crossed

[Shax]

hi ya'll

I began cohen's due to PCOS (and being extremely overweight) but the words rang true to me the things the Dr was saying was wrong and the words of cohen saying it will fix were the same, so our journey began.

I also have an under active thyroid too, these two things are what I casually refer to as my fat disease. for my PCOS was always in the back of my mind but it didn't worry me all that much, until the start of this year when my period finally came round and never stopped. So after about 6 weeks of that I went back to the Dr and started again the round of poking, dragging from one specialist to another to be re diagnosed as I had moved and so the GP wanted to do it all over again.

personally I don't care if I don't get my period but its the weeks and weeks at a time that end me up at the dr. I have never used the pill and in the 6 1/2 years of marriage and no contraception I have 2 children. But Bee is almost 3 and I am pining for another bub, but I try not to think about it.

the hardest thing was deciding to go all the way with cohen and not get close and try and fall pregnant. so I am hoping this will be a blessed time and it will go past quickly.

[ConnieK..]

Ok well here's the results.

PCOS causes low good cholesterol, High bad Cholesterol, high Triglycerides and reproductive hormone imbalances like excessively low SHBG and High FAI ( Free Androgen Index a calculation of testosterone to Sex Hormone Binding Globulin, which indicates the androgenous traits like hair growth and male pattern baldness).

When I was first diagnosed this was my results, compared to today:

SHBG: Then 14.1 (normal range 30-90) Today 53.0
FAI: Then 7.8 (Normal range 0.4-6.0, women preferrable < 3.0) Today 1.0

Cholesterol: Total then 6.6 ( Normal 3.9-5.5) Now 4.0
LDL Chol : then 2.8 (normal < 3.5) now 2.5
HDL Chol : then 0.7 (normal > 1.0) now 1.0
Triglycerides: then 2.4 (normal 0-2.0) now 1.1


Fasting Glucose Then: 5.5 (normal 3.1 - 6.0 preferrable under 5.0 with PCOS) Today 4.4

I AM ECSTATIC!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everything is normal ... my risk of type 2 is gone My Dr is amazed, he has referred 3 people to Cohens after seeing me last time. This is such a big thing for me ...... **dances happy dance**

Soooooo PCOS girls - the news is all Good!