Clue to my issues?

[DownAndDesperate]

I was diagnosed with PCOS in my early to mid 30’s - after I’d had my daughter (and symptoms of PCOS since I was 12).

I was thinking that my bad acne went away completely during pregnancy and returned far more mildly after having given birth. I also lost 2 stone in weight during the pregnancy without changing my habits at all.

I was wondering if these maybe gave clues as to what hormones may be imbalanced and what I need to do to find relief from symptoms? Doctors aren’t interested in helping unless it involves birth control. I’m also now struggling with secondary infertility and hirtuism started a year or two after pregnancy and has gotten progressively worse.

Thanks for any help or insight.

[Hidden]

Hello, sorry to hear you are battling skin hassles. For all things "skin", over the years, I have usually found a Pharmacist (the actual Pharmacist within a chemist shop) has been more helpful than a GP is able to offer.

That said, there are a couple of myth-busting web pages I found useful to help me challenge my default daily practices.

nhsinform.scot/illnesses-an...

changingfaces.org.uk/advice...

With a GP; it can (sometimes) help to print pages like this, tick / date / annotate the outcomes of trying the different self-help techniques ...then showing a GP as part of "what else might we try?".

Within my GP Practice; there is one GP who has more specialist interest in dermatology than does my designated GP. (Maybe you might notice someone like that within your Practice bio / introductions to the GP Team).

I do hope you might find some new strategies which may better suit your own skin's situation, or improve your experience of managing your skin's challenges.

My skin, boringly, is prone to whinging about a (tedious) list of things, plus I have an allergy and another fun skin complaint which can also give rise to visible skin differences too - often on my face (which can takes days to settle from flare-ups).

Unfortunately, I do not have an ally relative also dealing with these challenges ...and I get jolly fed up with relatives "helpfully" giving me random skincare product gifts (without prior discussion with me) ...thanks guys I did look in the mirror recently! I have tried to explain this to Family ...to no avail.

So, to do something more (hopefully) positive; I donate the unopened skincare products to a local women's refuge (in the hope they may be a treat in the "welcome" toiletries bags the refuge gives to new residents) and then ... instead, I consult my tame Pharmacist - of personal preference - if I actually want to try a new skincare regimen more applicable / safe for me.

Best wishes.

[DownAndDesperate in reply to Hidden]

Hi. Thanks for your reply. I’m sorry you struggle with your skin too - it can be very frustrating and more painful than people imagine, can’t it?

I was more interested in what my skin did during and after pregnancy may be telling me about what my body is doing so that I can potentially find answers to other, more debilitating symptoms like fatigue, pain and infertility though. I feel it suggests that my body favours and therefore works better with whatever extra hormones I got during pregnancy but I don’t really know enough to know what that might be.

Thanks again 😊

[halfamo]

Hi The hirsutism is caused by increased androgens, which come from the ovaries. The female body becomes over sensitive to the androgens. The fact that you were pregnant altered the levels for that period of time. Although no 'cure' for PCOS, it is advisable to keep to a very low carbohydrate diet. Eat more animal fat too protein. This helps with insulin resistance, which will help with the androgens. Have your vitamin D3 level checked and make sure you maintain it to help with inflammation in the body. It is advised that you also take vitamin K2 to make sure calcium goes to your bones. Have a look at some videos for the best protocol.

[Afive]

Hi! Pregnancy is a hormonal rollercoaster for everyone but for PCOS it can help stabilise the cycles as it sort of works as a reset button. I suspect that this is more apparent in some sub-types of PCOS than others.For two and a half years after my first pregnancy I had very regular cycles. I always had hirsutism so I didn't notice an increase in hair, but my acne got way milder like yours. I lost the 10kg I got during the pregnancy in the first month postpartum, but when I got back to work I recovered the weight (and then gained like 15kg more) due to stress eating (plus adjusting to work during lockdowns).

My second pregnancy ended in an early miscarriage but I had two regular cycles after (29 days each), and then back to 57 days. Thankfully I got pregnant after that and I'm now postpartum - I don't have any acne but need to remove facial hair weekly (it's not that bad though).

I again lost all the weight I put during the pregnancy in the first month - I think this is mostly due to breastfeeding.

To reduce my PCOS symptoms and control weight I take supplements of inositol which is a molecule similar to insulin that acts on the ovaries and in the lipid metabolism. The scientific evidence for inositol treatment for PCOS is mixed but I have reviewed the literature and I think this is due to the studies not account for the different sub-types. Newer studies with inositol that stratify PCOS patients get way better results. Personally I found it really useful, it helped me lost weight before pregnancy and keep my cycles regular. Ideally you want a 1:40 proportion of d-chiro-inositol and myo-inositol (this is the correct physiological levels). Those are more expensive so I use more regularly the coline+inositol from boots. I also take vitD all year round (100ug during winter and 75ug during summer).