Just Diagnosed :0

[GilbertK]

Hello everyone,

I was diagnosed with PCOS this month, after multiple blood tests. My period was all over the place at the start of this year and I missed a month. This has happened before. At first the doctor thought it was because I was extremely stressed , is this a trigger for PCOS?

I have not had the chance to sit down with my doctor to discuss it fully, I have only been told, so far, that it is mild and I should continue to eat healthy and exercise. I already eat healthy-ish, exercise regularly and I am a healthy weight. So, is it possible for PCOS to get worse?

Also, I have read online that you should avoid carbohydrates and sugar? I have spoken to my family about diet and they do not take it seriously, they tell me not to follow stuff online.

Sorry, for all the questions. I will, hopefully, speak to my doctor again soon.

Best,

Kelly

[abs-1234]

Hi kelly, I know every person is different but hopefully my story will comfort you a little. I was diagnosed at 16, I had all the common symptoms very irregular periods (only getting 3 periods a year) and hair in all the wrong places (it was bad enough for me to have hair laser removal). my doctor put me on the contraceptive pill to regulate my periods and and said it would ‘give me the hormones I was lacking’. For about 4 years I was getting on with life as per normal. But in the autumn 2016 I started getting spotting about a week leading up to my periods then after the next few months it got worse to the point I only had 1 week without having to wear a liner. I went to see a gynaecologist (privately) who tested me for EVERYTHING and could not find anything so put it down to a change in my PCOS. He put me on a stronger contraceptive pill which did not improve anything. He also recommended another pill to take twice a day on top of the con pill. He even suggested the injection to just stop my periods altogether. I took some time to think and decided that at 23 I should not be taking all these pills and that all these false hormones cannot be any good for actually treating the source problem. So I declined his advise and spent the last 6+months researching, writing on forums like you have to find out the best NATURAL way to fix my body. I found out that just a very small change in your weight can completely throw your hormones out of whack and flare up the bad symptoms. I decided to stay on the pill for 4 months whilst eating healthy, no processed foods, especially processed sugar and carbs!! Sadly after loosing nearly 1.5 stone (back to a size 10) I still did not see any progress so I came off the pill three months ago and maintained the healthy eating as well as upping the exercise. The last two months I have had 0 spotting leading up to my period, apart from last weekend when I went to Paris and I ate so much bread and wine and it came back for a couple of days. I cannot tell you how proud I am of myself that I have naturally reduced the symptoms just by being annoyingly healthy and picking up the exercise. I did this through my own complete will power, admittedly my mum has helped me with buying foods but my family kept eating all the naughty stuff in front of me but something changed and I no longer had a desire to eat it. PCOS is your body having an insulin resistance, you have to treat yourself like you are diabetic, would a diabetic eat loads of carbs and sugar, no! It’s exactly the same with us but the problem goes on behind the scene. I have no idea of your age but if you have not yet had children I would recommend going as natural as possible to see if it works for you. I have a long way to go yet and if when the time comes and I need help to have children, I will know I have done everything I can the natural way and will be my last resort.

If you have any further questions, I am happy to try my best to help.

[Hols969]

PCOS varies hugely between ladies, some ladies only get it mildly and some dont even realise they have it until they TTC. I think the biggest reason for symptom getting worse is if you put on weight so I think just carry on as you are and keep an eye on the weight. Make sure you have 4 periods a year to keep your uterus healthy tho and dont let the GP's fob you off that it is ok not to have them!

PCOS can come down the male and female lines and is hereditary they believe - it isnt really ovary related so the name is misleading (they are discussing changing the name currently), they thought that the cysts were the cause of pcos but the cysts (which are really follicles) can come and go so further research has shown that the cysts are only a symptom and not the cause.

[HijuHihu]

Hi Kelly, it’s been a few days so perhaps you have found out a bit more. I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 15, after years of chasing the doctors since I wasn’t 12. Of course self diagnosing isn’t good but I saw all my symptoms pointing to PCOS and have been doing much research since then.

NHS did not help me in the initial diagnosis and I’ve had to go private- but that’s where my luck came in. I was able to sit down for however long to have them explain to me what this means, what medication is available (though research online could tell you the same)

PCOS as you may know is the imbalance of ‘Male’ hormones - females have them in smaller amounts.

However, I don’t know if a lot of people know this but, this excess of Male hormones can be ‘hidden’ - for example I have a normal level of testosterone but.. the activated testosterone is what I have more of because of some other hormone.

The ‘type’ of PCOS you have might influence what a doctor prescribes. If you are mild, the best is to diet and exercise. You may be a healthy weight but BMI only tells you so much. You should look at your body fat percentage and it’s really easy to get that checked at a local pharmacies machine for perhaps 50p, maybe even at a gym.

Medication that could be prescribed is the contraceptive pill, combined. The oestrogen and progesterone hormones basically balance out the testosterone and stop it from forming too much- or it tells another hormone that they should deactivate the testosterone.

This also helps make your periods regular.

Another’s medication is spironolactone, and it basically does the same as above.

Not all PCOS sufferers are insulin resistant. Your doctor would Ben able to tell you if you are, for me I had dark patches on my neck, and stomach and other areas which showed I was becoming resistant. Only diet and exercise could fix that. For serious suffers they’ll get metformin , a diabetes medication. But by losing only 3kg of weight (I am overweight) all these dark patches are gone!

My dermatologist has told me to gain confidence back about my hair I can take minoxidil. Bad thing is you have to take it twice a day, everyday, and once you stop it the effects disappear it’s about £25 and GP will norm prescribe it burn you can get over the counter- but weldricks pharmacy online sells it for £15 currently!

All these medication have side effects, and you shouldn’t use them if trying to conceive.

There are soooo many ‘pcos’ diets, but truth is you don’t have to follow such diets so strictly. I had many diet advices- private endocrinologist telling me to go on the Atkins diet (really unneeded, did not work, I got an unhealthy relationship with food and couldn’t stand another salad)

But you have to find one for you.

As I had insulin resistance, I just portion controlled my carbs and ate a side salad. Porridge for breakfast with fruit.

I did lose weight on a low carb diet but as I said in the long term it will not benefit you. Lower carb is different from lower carb. I will take bits and bobs from diabetic diet, low carb diet, and another day high carb vegan diet and I’ve lost 8kg since, without exercise.

But that isn’t my story. PCOS is different for all, and the way you deal with it depends on your symptoms. You need to get to know what you’re suffering from and follow general advice for it. If you feel your condition is worsening then you should update with your doctor. If you do not feel bothered by any symptoms then just try to maintain a healthy life style and a healthy weight.

Pardon this very long reply... but I hope t helps and helps with some others.

I hope to be studying medicine soon, and hopefully I can one day Be qualified and More knowledgeable in PCOS.