My 18 yr. old daughter has PCOS  and has a very hard time with her weight.  She goes to the gym 4x a week and eats well.  Also takes Metformin & Mona-Vie for her antioxidents.  She just can’t lose the weight and it’s mostly in her lower belly area.  She gets so very depressed and for several years now cries alot because of this problem.  I feel so bad and I don’t know what to do.  Also, with the PCOS she has to get waxed several times a month, and at this age I give her lots and lots of credit for going through this.  Please help!  I don’t know how to help her with this weight battle.

I have that too and was put on the orth evra patch.  I still have a time with weight, but it does come off.  I hope this helps…good luck.

Melissa.

Hi Melissa,

Thanks for your comment.  I will tell my Doctor.  Have you asked “The Doctors”?  So with orth evra patch it does help you lose the weight?  Because I’ve heard that some make you gain the weight?

I also have PCOS and am haveing trouble looseing weight and getting preganent. I have been to the doctor and he put me on fertility pills and as of right now its still not helping. Maybe someone can help me out and tell me if I’m doing something wrong. Because I have been trying to have a baby for 5 years now…

Hi karen96292,  I dont’ think the ortho evra patch has anything to do weight, in terms of losing or gaining.  It didn’t have any effect on me with gaining weight when I started a few years ago.

Melissa.

I also have been diagnosed with PCOS since I was 22, Im now 28. It is very hard and embarassing to deal with. I too cant seem to lose weight and have excessive hair growth, I wish they would do a special on this because there are so many unanswered ?’s! I have heard there is a specific diet for PCOS.

I have also been diagnosed with PCOS. I have also had a weight problem. I had my PCOS early. I was 13 when i started gaining so much weight and i was active. I played sports and ran lots the weight just never seemed to go away. I had my son in 2006 and it took me three yrs to get pregnant after they told me i may never have a baby. After my weight went down and i was so excited. All of a sudden it was like it came back worse and i gained 50-60 lbs in about 7 months. I hate it. I didn’t change my diet and as for activity level it is up aswell since i run after a 2 yr old boy. The doctors should have a show with the PCOS because my doctor never gave me information about it. I learnt all i did on the internet.

I’m 20 yrs old and I also have PCOS!! I HATE IT!! Everything is so hard because I’m over weight…I’ve been overweight since I was probably 10 yrs old. I’ve taken birth control to help but wanted to get pregnant and stopped takin it. An the metformin I can’t take cause it makes me sick everytime I take a pill and I end up throwing it back up! I’ve been trying to get pregnant since I was 18 yrs old and I can’t because of my PCOS! I agree they need to do just a segment on this because so many females are getting it these days. I really don’t know nothin about it except what I’ve read online and I still kinda don’t understand it that much!!

When I was 19 I went to the dermatologist for something completely unrelated and she asked me if I had ever heard of PCOS and suggested that I see my doctor to run some tests to see if I had it. I did and she did a few tests including an ultrasound and said that I didn’t have PCOS I was just overweight. 10 years later I went to a gynocologist who took a special interest in PCOS and I had nine of the 10 symptoms. More tests to follow showed that I did indeed have PCOS. What is SO frustrating to me is no matter how much I exercise I don’t seem to lose weight. This is what I know about myself and PCOS. I know that a low carb diet, glumetza (a medication), and lots of menu planning works. I also know that the sugar cravings have been so bad that I have gone off my low carb diet, which I think is an essential piece of dealing with PCOS, and have gained back a lot of the weight I lost. What a battle!

Hi Ladies. I also have PCOS. I was diagnosed last year after spending
my entire high school career and most of my university career battling
with a weight and hair growth problem. My doctor suspected some type of
infertility problem as well because I was only getting my period once
or twice a year. I was diagnosed by an endochronologist who put me on
the birth control pill. After being on the pill for about 3 weeks, at
which point it is procedure to take the placebo pills for a week while the woman is on her menses. However, I began at this point to have seriously debilitating migraine headaches. Due to these headaches, I had to extend my school year into the spring session just so that I didn’t fall behind.
My family doctor, not being an expert in this area, thought that
perhaps my body just needed to get used to the birth control pill and
therefore suggested that I skip taking the placebos and just go pack to
pack on the birth control, skipping my menses altogether. Although this did help with the headaches and reduced my hair growth, it obviously wasn’t successful in regulating my cycle. After visiting my endochronologist again, she informed me that it is extremely dangerous to go for more than 3 months without having your period and then proceded to prescribe me a lower strength form of the pill.

Later in the year, I attended a conference in which a woman from the Margeurite Bourgeoise Family Health Centre in Toronto, Ontario was speaking on the growing trend of women with fertility problems. Once she sited PCOS as one of the main causes of infertility in women, she had my attention. She spoke about how the birth control pill is not a good option for women, no matter what their reason for being on it may be. In fact, according to recent studies which she cited at the conference, the birth control pill does nothing to treat symptoms, but rather masks them, effectively tricking the human body into extremely dangerous and unnatural processes. After taking the birth control pill for many years, women often experience infertility problems. In the case of women with PCOS, these women already have infertility problems and yet doctors are prescribing the pill to regulate their cycles, which actually increases their chances of being infertile later on, even more! The pill has also been linked to breast cancer, btw…but that is a whole other issue.

Anyway, I decided to be proactive about my diagnosis, and I did some research on how the birth control pill actually works in relation to PCOS. I made an appointment with the Margeurite Bourgeoise Centre and the doctors explained to me exactly what indicators in my body point to PCOS. They prescribed Metformin and Progesterone. The problem with women who have PCOS is that often their bodies are not producing enough progesterone and therefore, there is nothing for the woman to shed for their menses-which is why their menses rarely occur. The progesterone is made from scratch and taken for 10 days each month. After this 10-day period, menses occur. The great thing about this is that progesterone is something that is supposed to be produced by the female body so it isn’t like I’m pumping myself with unnatural chemicals. The reasoning behind the metformin is that women with PCOS are often insulin resistant, meaning that their cells are not so keen on accepting sugar and using it to help the body. Rather, sugar gets stored, turns into fat, and disrupts the kidneys. Left untreated, women will develop diabeties and kidney failure. Also…and this is really important for those of you who are on Metformin for PCOS, but still finding it difficult to lose weight- Metforming works best alongside Progesterone and it’s success rate for weight loss is much higher when taken together. If you’re still having trouble losing weight, check out books online at Chapters/Indigo bookstores on the PCOS Diet. These books will help you balance your daily protein and carbohydrate intake. Last but not least, I also went through a series of tests and found that I was Iron deficient and also lacking in vitamin B and D and the doctors at the Margeurite Health Centre put me on Iron supplements (Palafer), B12 viatmins (1000mcgs) and D3 vitamins. So far I’ve lost 25 lbs and my hair growth is under control. Best of all, my cycles are becoming more regular and I know that when the day comes and I am trying to get pregnant, the odds will be in my favour :)

Can someone please tell me what PCOS is and what the symptoms are, because I am gaining a lot of weight even though I eat well and excercise. Thank you

Hi, PCOS is where  you might have a lot of facial hair or just body hair in general…..can’t lose weight and your  periods are messed up. 

What is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)?

Polycystic
(pah-lee-SIS-tik) ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a health problem that can
affect a woman’s menstrual cycle, ability to have children, hormones,
heart, blood vessels, and appearance. With PCOS, women typically have:

• high levels of androgens (AN-druh-junz). These are sometimes called male hormones, although females also make them.
• missed or irregular periods
• many small cysts (sists) in their ovaries. Cysts are fluid-filled sacs.

ow many women have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)?

About
one in ten women of childbearing age has PCOS. It can occur in girls as
young as 11 years old. PCOS is the most common cause of female
infertility (not being able to get pregnant).

I just wanted to point out to women who may be reading this thread for informational purposes that it is very possible to have PCOS and be thin.  I’m one of them.

I was diagnosed with PCOS last year even though it was something I’ve had since I started puberty.  I don’t struggle with weight problems(or at least, I haven’t so far).  The two things that affect me the most is irregular periods which I’ve had since I started my period when I was 13 as well as acne and that started when I was 10.  I’ve been trying to deal with this for all of those years and now I take spironolactone for my acne and it also regulates my periods as well.  If I had the money, I’d go back onto Diane 35 since it did such a great job at clearing up acne and regulating the period.

im 18 years old and i have pcos. i asked my doctor many times if theres any way i can cure this. my doctor told me that i have a thyroid problem and iv been taking medication for 6 months now and there is no change or difference in my body. im overweight and i have a lot of hair growth. i dont let this get in the way of my life but i would like to sometime find a way to cure this pcos. eventually i might want to have kids one day and im not sure if i can. i havent had a period for 5 years.my skin is always dry and i have some spotted skin thats darker than my skin color. i have taken many blood test and they say i produce a lot of male hormones. once in a while i get this pinching feeling that will hurt for a few seconds. i really want to get rid of pcos soon. i hope they have a topic on the show about this. itll really help me a lot.

Jazz24,

Unfortunately, there is no cure for PCOS.  If there was a cure out there for it, a lot of women would just cure it instead of trying to manage it as best as possible.  Some people say that you can manage it through changing your diet like cutting out a lot of carbs but I don’t know if that really works or not.  I know some women take Metformin to control their insulin levels and that tends to work great for them if too much insulin is the cause of the excess hair and acne.  If your doctor said that it’s a thyroid problem and is overlooking the fact that you haven’t had a period in five years, maybe it’s best to go to another doctor and get a second opinion.  That, or ask to get referred to an Endocrinologist.  They would know a lot more about PCOS and what you can do to manage it.

I was diagnosed with PCOS earlier this year. My OBGYN put me on Metformin 500mg 2x daily, and suggested a big lifestyle change for me. I have put up with weight gain, painful, unpredictable, and heavy periods since i was about 14. On top of those problems came the excess hair growth and the rediculous mood swings. After a couple bouts of bloodwork and a few ultrashounds I was very happy when my Dr. was able to put a name with all of my symptoms. After being diagnosed i started taking the metformin and i started out with Yaz birth control. I had a bad reaction to the Yaz and now am taking Femcon FE instead. On top of the medications I am taking I have changed the way I eat in every way…my OBGYN recommended I life the lifestyle of a type 2 diabetic (in other words stop the sugar!!). I bought a few diabetic cook books and have started walking a mile every morning with my dog and I have lost 20lbs to date (I am taking the weight loss at 1-2lbs weekly so that my body isn’t malnourished, dehydrated, or damaged during the weight loss phase.) I highly recommend to women who are going through this to go to the bookstore and buy a book on PCOS, there are quite a few good ones out there and while you are there get yourself a cookbook! I feel better than i have in years.

I’m 27 and just diagnosed with PCOS by Lap Sugery after 10 years of cysts and pain. Besides Large ovaries that looked to be filled with cysts and tons of pain I have no symptoms, I am 5’2 105 pounds and have been since high school, no problems there, I had two babies in 2 years, both concieved 1st try and no problems there, no sugar, cholesteral, blood pressure issues, no random hair or acne, You get the point. So couldnt this be something else? When the surgery was done they found a ton of scarring and lesions all over my insides and did not cut into the ovaries to biopsy because the surgoen said it would make the cysts spread, is this right? Please help me! I dont want to start taking femcon fe and have side effects and stuff if its not really neccessary. Thanks so much!!

Hi bekd27,

What you could have may be PCOS but it also could just be ovarian cysts which is different from PCOS.  While you obviously can get cysts with PCOS, I don’t recall many women complaining about pain of any sort.  What they tend to suffer from is the excess amounts of testosterone and what it can cause like acne, irregular periods, etc.

Did your doctor say that it was PCOS just because of the cysts?  If so then I would strongly recommend that you go to an endocrinologist and get him/her to test your hormone levels.  If everything is normal, then you most likely have ovarian cysts.  With PCOS, even the most mild cases always show testosterone levels to be just slightly higher then normal.

Btw, many people with PCOS don’t suffer from weight problems or other problems like high glucose, blood pressure or cholesterol levels.  Some don’t even have cysts on their ovaries but they do have higher then normal levels of androgens.

Thanks so much for your help! I have made an appointment with an Endo for next week, hopefully they can do some tests and things and narrow down a correct diagnosis. I guess there is always that possibility that I am one of those people who only show’s one symptom but it doesnt feel right. I have been on so many types of birth control over the years trying to prevent pregnancy and stop the cysts but nothing has helped with the ladder. Also, I have had ultrasounds so many times its crazy, not counting pregnancy ones, and not once have they ever found irregularities inside the ovary, its always been a big one growing on the outside. Even the last one about a month ago said there was a 3" cyst on the outside of my ovary but when they did the surgery nothing was there just a giant ovary. Shouldnt the cysts be viewable by multiple ultrasounds if the ovary is that full of them? Not to mention all the scarring and lesions all over my insides?