Excessive hair growth & weight gain

Hi I'm Nicola I've joined on behalf of my daughter she has pcos and has excessive hair growth and considerable weight gain has anybody got any suggestions about how to overcome both of these . Thank you

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Hi Nicola, I also have poly-cystic ovaries, facial hair, loss of hair in the scalp and acne. I struggled with my weight as a teenager but now I have a healthy weight, which I achieved through exercise and eating healthily. The doctor said I do not have PCOS because my periods are regular and my hormonal and glucose levels showed up "normal"...but I am going to ask for a second opinion and get informed well because I am not convinced, tbh.

By eating healthily, I mean I have cut on gluten and dairy. I am a bit reluctant to eliminate dairy from my diet completely until I do some proper research on other sources of calcium. I also try not to eat many sugary foods, which has at times been a struggle as I love chocolate. Consistency and being able to manage cravings has been key to me, as when I was unsuccessfully trying to loose weight, I would be eating "healthily" and little until it would get to a point when I am too hungry to control myself and would end up getting stuffed on unhealthy snacks (mainly chocolate bars with a low percentage of cocoa in them). Now I have un "unhealthy" meal once or twice a week, which could be pizza or a big dessert and try to eat healthily the rest of the week. When I do eat unhealthily more often than I had planned, I do not beat myself up for it and focus on staying on track in the future. Please bear in mind that there are no miracle cures and that out body needs time and a caring attitude to adjust to new eating habits.

Also, from my experience it is important to eat less processed food and to eat more home-cooked food (better if it is organic).

I hope this info about controlling body weight helps. As for controlling hair growth, I am looking for an answer myself and have been reading on some topical creams. I have a doctor's appointment in a few days time so I will let you know if I do try any of the creams and if I find them useful.

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Combined contraceptive will help both. I went on it when I was 15 - I am now 47, it generally keeps the weight more controllable and reduces the hair growth as well. I know a lot of ladies don't like the thought of a contraceptive but, for me, it has made my life a lot easier without the pcos hormonal symptoms. Obviously their are increased risks of being obese with pcos as well and in my view the small risk of the combined contraceptive outweighs the negatives of pcos like diabetes and heart disease due to being overweight.

I had regular (ish) periods as well but when I came to try for a family I found out I didn't ovulate (even though I had periods) so periods don't really mean much. It is important your daughter has 4 periods a year to keep her uterus healthy so don't let the GP fob her off that she is lucky not to have them as this isn't the case and can cause serious issues.