PCOS and related hormonal issues

[lise]

Hi all

I have read on someone's post that some of you suffer from PCOS. I also have PCOS. I was officially diagnosed when my eldest daughter was 4 - now that was 13 years ago. Her birth was actually a miracle - i was on the pill having being married only 12 months, when we discovered i was pregnant. Shock horror delight - all the usual emotions when not planning a family so soon. It was until i was trying for no 2 , couldn't fall pregnant and eventually went to specialist that he told me what i had and that she was a miracle. The pill i was on actualy caused me to fall pregnant - due to chemical imbalance in my body due to PCOS. Went on fertility for the no2 and no3 and then fell naturally for no 4. Very blessed and lucky to have my 4 beautiful darlings.

I had not realised that i actually had symptoms in my teens. I developed facial and body hair very early in my teens and have spent the spent the last nearly thirty years dealing with that in many ways - waxing, electrolosis, drugs. I haven't tried laser yet ( not enough money) but on Friday i am starting a alkaline based treatment . Will let you know how it goes. I have other symptoms including thin, fine hair, irregular periods and of course the weight.

I am hoping that losing the weight will bring my body back to a regular cycle - i will have to wait and see!

I am interested to find out if others have become more 'normal' after losing weight. Or if you have siblings that have PCOS.. Both my sisters have some of the symptoms but me being the eldest of the three have the most - lucky me!!

Til next time

Elise xxx

[Brieziel]

One of my best friends has PCOS, and Yes, it is really hard to lose the weight!
I have seen alot of people though cohens who have PCOS, and the common thread is that they feel so much better during the diet, plus the weight comes off!

[anna]

My sister has PCOS and she is also very overweight(more so than me)

When I signed up for Cohens i tried to get her to come onboard as well but she didn't want to(she has to want it herself)

She wants a baby and her doctor has reccommened that she loose weight and I thought that her doing Cohens would give her weight loss and maybe even correct her cycle?

When she has a period sometimes it might last for a month
Bugger that I couldn't put up with that.

Maybe one day she might just decide enoughs enough and sign up.

Anna

[lessfatty]

In regard to your sister, from my reading, going on a low carb diet (non insulin spiking diet in particular) would probably be the #1 (with stars) thing for those with PCOS and wishing to conceive.

To many carbs, stimulates the production of excess insulin (over a long period each and every day) and over time "insulin resistance" which for some complex reason causes the excess production of androgen's (sex hormones) and the resulting over stimulation of ovaries to start "ripening eggs".

Doing Cohen (or any other low carb diet) would be the first and easiest thing to do to correct the hormonal imbalances, the low carb (hence low insulin levels) aspect would be more important than simply losing weight particularly with a "traditional" low fat diet.

[moni]

Hi Elise,

I have had PCOS for 15 years I never had regular periods and had alot of trouble.
I have lost all my weight with cohen's. feel fantastic. and I have tests ( ultrasounds) I have no sign of cycst at all, and My monthly's are monthly...LOL

This is the only weight loss program I have ever been on that I have lost weight. everything else... well what can I say.

Hope this helps you.
Moni

[lise]

Hi moni - good luck with the competition! If asy doesn't win, well i hope it is another Cohen's like yourself. Congrats on your magnificent weight loss.

I have had PCOS for a long time as well - undiagnosed in my teens but had a few of the symptoms ( but knew nothing about PCOS to know what I had!) but was offically diagnosed 13 years ago when trying to have second child. It seems failing pregnant with no 1 ( while on the pill by the way - was told the pill i was on actually caused me to fall pregnant) actually made things worse - had been regular until she was born but since then, very unregular. I had a weight problem and excessive body/facial hair since teens, so the weight continued, the hair continued and then add the irregular periods......


Since losing 20kgs, I am seeing a change in periods already - they now seem to come every 5 weeks - better than 3 months or ???? so i am hoping when i lose all the weight, they may come back to being regular. The facial /body hair unfortunately needs medication and beauticians to help that - i am conatcting a new specialists to see what medication I need to go on to help with the hair issue and have started a new hair removal (non laser - cannot afford laser yet!) treatment .

I have finished my family (blessed with 4 kids - 3 drug assisted and 1 natural pregnancy) so now i can work on my body to get it ready for old age.

Thanks for your input

Till next time

Elise xxx

[lessfatty]

Maybe this is a way to start with your sister, if she wants to conceive she could seriously consider just to reduce carb intake like the after refeed "low carb" recommendations. Lots of low carb coloured/green vege's, lean meats and low levels of "white carbs", potato's, flour, rice, pasta etc.

[enough!]

Hi to all Cysters and Sisters (those with normal ovaries) and brothers if they’re game to come near all this secret woman’s business

Well as a few of us here have PCOS I figured we need a place to compare notes.
I have also noticed that a lot of other ladies are having strange cycles (TOM) and it’s all related to these wonderful hormones that we are trying to sort out for one reason or another.

So, PCOS or not its interesting to hear what’s happening to others and all their girlie issues.
Hair loss is another PCOS issue that has been a discussion lately with Cohen’s so fire away with those issues too.
Ill be back with lots of questions myself (when I have more time)
Cheers for now
Kate

[CMM]

I too would love to hear from others.

I self treated for some time, doctors have said "yeah we think that's what it is, but we don' trecommend anything but diet etc..." so I have done heaps of research and cut a lot of foods out initially (maybe why this program isn't such a huge struggle for me).

Anyhoo.. after doing all this, I managed, for the first time in my history, to get myself to a regular cycle, where I could actually tell I was going to be pregnant, but 6 losses later, was getting despondent and decided that I needed to look further, and that even though the specialist was happy with my weight given I was 'healthy' that I should give Cohen's a go.

I am now finding that my cycles are a little off. They were 28 days, now seem to be longer? Is this normal? I also am finding that I can't get a positive ovulation predictor, as I could previously. Again, normal? Hair loss has always been a problem for me, so not overly concerned there, but the hair GAIN in other areas where it isn't wanted is improving.

I have other questions but will leave them for a while and wait for more discussion to come.

Cindy

[SassyK]

Hi. Thought I'd chime in with my experiences too...

I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was about 25. I had never had a regular cycle and was struggling to lose weight, despite doing a lot of exercise and eating sensibly. I also have the excess facial hair.

It wasn't until about five years later that I was put on Metformin, which made little to no difference to my cycle, so I went back off it, and resigned myself to a life of obesity, trying to stave off the inevitable type 2 diabetes, childlessness and having to wax my face every month.

I have never tried to get pregnant, so my irregular cycle (I'm talking one period a year) was never really that big a deal to me. I lost 50kg with WW (put 10kg back on), but that didn't do anything for my cycle either.

I started Cohens in October at 125kg. Within a couple of weeks of being on the program I had a period, and have had one every four or so weeks since. It's the first time in my life that I've had anything like a regular cycle. It's also the first time that I have not struggled to lose weight. This program, for the most part, has been easy. It's not that much less than I was eating - it's just different, especially in the amount of carbs I consume. I can see that carbs are not going to be a big part of my life for the rest of my life now.

Since my early 20s, exercise has played a big part in my life. Even at 165kg I was relatively fit. I still exercise a lot, by anyone's standards, and I honestly believe it's something that PCOS sufferers have to do.

I haven't suffered any hair loss, but I've noticed that the amount of facial hair I get has decreased (which may also be due to waxing over time).

Anyway, Cohens has been a complete God-send. I can't thank the good Doctor enough for the changes he's made in my life.

[shrinking_moi]

Kate, thanx for starting a thread about a very common thing amongst us.
Thanx Cindy and Sassy for sharing your stories.

My story is that I had endometriosis (mild) but fell pregnent with daughter 1 2 weeks into my relationship with hubby. But after having her I noticed changes like; extra hair on bikini and surrounds, backs of legs, arms and face. I was gaining weight and found it hard to lose when I tried. Nothing became apparent until we started trying for another child and I realised I had swapped one problem for another. I found a great dr and she said it sounds like pCOS but a blood test and ultrasound will confirm. So blood test came back high testosterone etc but when i had the scan all they said was that ovaries were 'bulky'. So I was still in limbo. 12 months of trying and we fell pregnant with me doing temps.
Unfortunetly I went into early labour and we lost our baby girl at 17 weeks gestation.
While searching for answers I thought that PCOS was too blame but not so sure now. I fell pregnant again straight away and during a scanm to check for incompetant cervix the OB/Gyn said that I have classic polycystic ovaries. That pregancy also ended because the baby never developed. So in the almost 3 years since we have tried everything except IVF. I found Metformin helped initially and then stopped working. It sorta quietened the monster inside that made me crave sugary fatty foods. I even tried Clomid to get a 'good' ovulation.
We put trying on the back burner because it was taken a huge toll on me.
Then i heard about Cohens and thought about it for a few months.
Thats all history now and I hope to study nursing and then try for another baby. I think my hormone levels will be way better then to sustain a pregnancy.
I think the facial hair situation has slowed down but only slightly. My hair is falling out but that's cohens and not PCOS as I didn't have it before.
My cycles seem to be less painful and less headaches but I'm still not getting a good TOM.
So I've prattled on and on.
X
Ez

[CMM]

Hm Ez, you brought up one of my questions I didn't want to ask (for fear I might be the only one).

See, I have lost 6 pregnancies since my last child 4 years ago (tomorrow!!!). I almost lost him too, we were told it was touch and go for a lot of the pregnancy. I initially got told (at 21) that I had cysts all over my ovaries and would never fall pregnant without asssistance. So, like you, I fell pregnant about 4 - 5 months into my relationship with my (now) husband. Then come time to have another baby?? No way. So I have 4 years between no. 1 and no. 2, and 5 years between 2 and 3, and now looking like at least 5 years if we are ever blessed with our last baby.

So.. I was told that my inability to get past early pregnancy is due to my blood not clotting in the womb. I'm not convinced. I think if the hormones are sufficiently screwed, so if they have been since day dot and I have ignored them for essentially 22 years, well, could they be doing this too? And will it get better with this program?

Also, did you have GD when pregnant? I only ask because I did with no. 3. and I have a sneaky suspicion it was undetected (if possible) with the others. Just some indicators point to it. Again, I question the hormones..

SassyK - thanks for your story. I hear you loud and clear about the wanting to change your lifestyle to stave off diabetes. I think a lot of doctors have been reluctant to do anything with me because I have children. Their philosophy is, if you already have more than one, why worry? (and yes, they have said that). So good on you for doing something proactive.

I was offerred Metformin in the end, and Clomid, but I felt I should give Cohen's a go first. Glad I did.

Great discussion girls.

Cindy

[enough!]

Hi Ladies,
Yes it's good to have all the PCOS stuff in one area,
2 years ago I was at 70kgs (my lightest) but that took 18 months to lose 7kgs (77 was my previous heaviest) and 4x a week hard slog at the gym. Once I started study I went from that wonderful 70kgs to 87, in 12 months. And here I am on Cohens 4kg’s down in 11 days!! What the.....?

I was wondering about cycles, Sassy has answered already in her post about how hers have changed.
I have never been regular 40 to 60 days all my life but my cycles have stopped since the last 15kg were gained.
1 week into this programme I had some, shall I say 'waste material" (sorry for the graphics but its hard to talk PCOS without graphics sometimes.) So that was promising, seems something is changing.
I was just hoping to get a normal cycle back and feel like a normal woman again.
My endo just wants to put me one every drug and forget abut not having periods (“you have children why do you want a cycle back”) but I cant come to that. I tried estrogen and anti- androgens and that sent me loopy and depressed. Although it did stop the hairloss and acne!! Cant win

I have 3 children and have had 2 miscarriages (early) so I’m blessed but I’m just hoping to get back to a normal with this programme. My hair is very fine and falling out by the bucket so it is obviously thin on top and I’m really self conscious about it. It really worries me to lose more on the programme. The clinic told me to take zinc and iron to help prevent it.

Ez and Cindy, keep up the discussion re pregnancies because you often get some answers when you speak with others and get a few light bulb moments.

Cheers to all,
Kate

[CMM]

Hi girls

Kate - I don't know about you, but I have found that my weight triggers a lot of fluctuations in my cycle. It's all a lot of hypothesising because doctors will admit they don't know much about it (really), but I can think back to when I was a teen, say in the mid to late 50kg's. Well, I was like Sassy, once a year, and they were horrendous, to say the least. Then go over 60 just a little bit and it would be every second month?? Then fast forward to just over 70kg (well between say 65 and 75), and very very sporadic, as they are now. Go over 75 and it's like clockwork. So who knows really. I don't, like I say, it's just hypothesising.

I feel like a bit of a fraud when I have 3 kids and want more, so don't tell too many people, particularly as there are so many of us out there with no babies. But please, any info would be great. We are on the cusp of deciding against having any more, as it has all been a great emotional toll on us, but this program gives a bit of hope.

Chat later

Cindy

[Fattyboombah]

Hi ladies,
anyone home at the moment the channel 10 morning show (whatever its called) is about to have a story on PCOS.

Thought it might interest you.

[enough!]

Just read this, switched over and saw the whole segment,
Thanks for that.
I recorded it on the PC and may be able to zip file it and email if anyone is interested. For me there wasnt any really new info but it was good to get it our there and let people know what it all aobut.
Cheers
Kate

[Fattyboombah]

hehe, im a little detective this weekend
Yesterdays Sunday Telegraph, body and soul section pg 4 there is another story about PCOS and also it talks about a Doctor who is starting the second stage of her PCOS study and says ....
"if you are able to help go to www.jeanhailes.org.au and click on "research" for details. The results of her study will be used to help GP training on PCOS and to develop education and info materials for women in the community, health professionals and the public. For info on PCOS go to www.managingpcos.org.au "

I hope its ok that i post in this section sorry if not.

[enough!]

Brilliant, Thanks again,
I posted that to my PCOS group,
Cheers
Kate

[ConnieK..]

Well it must be my turn.....

I was only diagnosed with PCOS around 5 years ago. I had gone to my GP at the end of my rope because I had been unable to lose weight 'again' and was depressed and anxious about it. He had just come back from a seminar about PCOS and said he thought I may be a candidate. I researched the disease and there was my life!!!! All the things I had visited the doctor for over my life, all listed as symptoms. He put me on metformin and I became regular and my cramps were much much more bearable than ever before. I never lost weight by taking met, but it did regulate me, and stop me from being so moody, cause I was a right royal B*tch at that time of the month.

I spent 6 days a week at the gym and ate under 800 calories a day for 2.5 years and lost 17kg ( all of that in the first 1.5 years) I hit a plateau and stayed there until I had lost all hope, then SassyK saved me

I have 3 living children and 1 angelbaby between my last two. It took me 3 years to fall with my last one and that was after the loss, everyone said I was trying too hard etc etc etc. I wish I had of known then what I know now!

My doctor seems to think that I would not have any children had I not have had them so early. I am 41, my kids are 20, 18 and 14 respectively. He thinks I had started to get serious symptoms when my 2nd was born. I was on a 6 week cycle when I fell with him and it was getting more erratic each month. he was an elective caesar and when he was born they said he was 2 weeks earlier than they thought (I had tried to tell them that taking any dates based on my last period was a mistake), so with my daughter they asked me when to do the caesar LOL.

I have fibroids, my cysts are on my ovaries, my cervix and there are occasionally bubbles on what remains of my fallopian tubes ( I had my tubes tied after my 3rd so I couldn't fall again, what a joke). I have high bad cholesterol, low good. I have very high testosterone and very low SHBG levels, I am rechecking next week so that will be very interesting. I have very thin, fine hair and it comes out in bunches. I had very heavy flow periods for at least 7 days every time, on about a 6-8 week cycle with a lot of variation. I would lose large chunks of tissue as well as flow (sorry for graphics as well guys), and the cramps were bad enough to keep me in bed for a full day every month. I have the brown 'stain' on my thighs, underarms and under my breasts, skin tags, chronic thrush infections, I had very bad male pattern hair growth on my belly, legs and arms. I was waxing my legs every 2 weeks to keep the hair away, metformin helped, I stopped met to do cohens and have not had the problem's reoccur ... so I guess it's working

Connie

[shrinking_moi]

Connie, I too have the pigmentation but mine is on my face and up until last month I was having massive thrush episodes from ovulation to period.
I tried to research it to see if there was a connection but found nothing.
How frustrating that you had the symptoms for years and no one would listen. My diagnosis time was fairly short once I sort help.

Cindy, I am so sorry for your losses. I too have a clotting problem but I am not sure of the status of that since everything was checked after we lost Catharine. I didn't have GD at all with both my girls but I reckon had I fell pregnant at my highest weight, I most probably would have.
If you decide to have another child, your on the right path to make yourself healthy. Don't feel bad for having the children you have and wanting more.

X
Ez