Struggling

[Sophie_H]

I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism last summer and have only just got it under control! My husband and I have been TTC for a little over a year. After going to the GP, I was tested for PCOS and turns out I do have it!

Devastated is an understatement as it’s been my only goal in life to have a family. Friends around me are getting pregnant after one month of trying and half of them weren’t actually trying for babies.

I’m really struggling to:

1- loose enough weight to be at the suggested weight for conception.

2- coming to terms with the reality that the chances of conceiving are slim to none with having both PCOS and Hypothyroidism.

3- dealing with friends who are having babies and trying not to get immensely jealous.

4- dealing with anxiety and depression about having PCOS and Hypothyroidism.

I know I’m probably in the same boat as many women but feel like I’m totally alone. I know one or two people that have PCOS but both conceived before they were diagnosed.

Help

[Hols969]

Are you taking medication for Hypothyroidism, if so this should help immensely, it is extremely rare not to conceive due to pcos, I understand that you have the added complication of hypothyroidism too. Has your partner been tested as that would be useful as 1/3 of fertility issues are men (my hubbie being one of them!)

Ah the dreaded weight, do you know your BMI currently, generally it needs to be under 30 to qualify for fertility treatment on the NHS. Generally low GI is the way to go - I did a diet about 7 years ago called the Norah Lane diet and lost weight, two of my friends both lost 7 stone and conceived naturally so may be worth you googling her (she is about to bring out a new diet book, it is specifically for pcos ladies so she really knows her stuff). Generally though if we ate the RDA we would still put on 2lb a month so over a stone a year so we do need to eat considerably less just to maintain our weight. For me I found exercise just confused matters so the majority of my weight loss in the past has been done by diet alone and then I exercised after losing the majority.

From a depression point of view though exercise is good for the grey cells as it gives natural endorphins as obviously anti depressants are not ideal when TTC/Pregnant but they do do ones that are ok when pregnant if you really do need the help. It can be a long road, weight loss will help from a pcos point of view. What are your periods like currently, are you checking to see if you are ovulating (a period doesnt mean you are and you can ovulate without one - nice and straight forward - I had relatively regular periods but rarely ovulated)

Dont feel awful about feeling unhappy about pregnancies around you, you would be a bit strange if it didnt affect you, so you are not alone in that feeling at all. Also everywhere you seem to look are pregnant women when you are TTC, adverts, on the street, it is just strange !!!

[Sophie_H in reply to Hols969]

Yeah I’m on Levothyroxine 75mgs for the Hypothyroidism.

My husband hasn’t been checked yet, how long do you normally have to weight before he can get checked on the NHS?

My BMI is 30.2! Will definitely look up the Norah Lane Diet!

My periods are quite regular. I seem to be having 2 every 6 weeks at the moment though.

[Hols969 in reply to Sophie_H]

OMG you should be fine - mine was 30.6 when I got pregnant so honestly don't worry too much as your weight is acceptable - I was expecting you to be 4 stone overweight or something!!

Look at the NICE guidelines on what to expect with pcos and the NHS. Usually you can be referred after 6 months to fertility, but does depend on your age sometimes, if you are early 20s they usually get you to wait 2 years (like a non pcos lady) but if you are late 20s/early 30s you should be referred by now.

I conceived Noah via IUI 2nd attempt (I was age 36) and the only difference between the two attempts was weekly reflexology and my period arrived on the day and to the hour which had never happened before so I highly recommend reflexology (acupuncture is supposed to be good too but I am not keen on needles). Look at the fertilityfriends website as it advises how to check the body signs for ovulation and also for taking your temperature as it is the most accurate way for pcos ladies.

[emermaid]

Hi Sophie,

I'm also hypothyroid and had struggled with weight ever since diagnosis; piling it on no matter how much I exercised or how healthily I ate. What really helped me was doing the Auto-Immune Paleo dit (AIP). It is quite a challenge at first but it has helped me lose four stone and I am now in the healthy BMI range. Hypothyroidism is very commonly an auto-immune condition (called Hashimoto's in the US) - if you had tests for particular thyroid antibodies it would have confirmed this.

You can reverse it and put it into remission by following the AIP protocol and there is a fantastic online community that can support you in this - lots of AIP food bloggers sharing recipes etc. You don't have to worry about restricting portions or counting calories or any of that - just focus on eating the foods that heal your body and don't trigger your auto-immune response. That does mean giving up gluten, dairy, and quite a long list of foods - it was daunting at first I gave them up a food group at a time and the health benefits have been spectacular. Meaning I don't really need 'willpower' to do it now: I just want to stick with it because I feel good on it and all my health symptoms disappear when I do.

It is thought that PCOS might also be an auto-immune condition (see ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl.... So the AIP diet could really help both conditions. (I have three autoimmune conditions now, but can keep them all in check by sticking to AIP foods).

My favourite website for support/recipes is autoimmunewellness.com but there are lots of others. Have a Google! And try not to get too down about this. There are ways out of the place you currently find yourself, even though the medical establishment (which is a bit slow on the uptake about the importance of nutrition) might lead you think otherwise. Good luck!

[emermaid]

Hi again, Sophie... so I had a quick google myself and found this - hypothyroidism and PCOS AIP success story. Just so you know, there's hope! autoimmunewellness.com/aip-...