PCOS/Insulin Resistance Support - PCOS Monthly Chat December 2004

Happy December, Ladies! Countdown to 2005!!! I'm doing reverse resolutions. I plan on being 6 pounds lighter by the end of the month. LOL! I lose weight as fast as a slug. But I'll shoot for it anyway.

Happy December, folks!

I'm with you, Jennifer - an un-resolution! I pledge to be 4.5 pounds or more lighter by the end of the month. At least that's the goal. Guess this means I'll actually have to stay on plan...

Yahoo!
Solarmama

hey jennifer

I dont even know what to tell people about pcos when they ask me. You mentioned handing out informational sheets. Where can I go to get something like that?

Hello Cysters!!

Sorry, I have been MIA for a little while but I am back at it. My ovaries and PCOS aren't troubling me but my digestive system has been (GERD which manifested itself as heart pain but turned out to be acid reflux - thank the Goddesses and Angels for that one!). Just another warning call to take care of thineself verses everyone else in the world that I typically take care off while neglecting myself (mother trait as I am sure all of you with kids or pets can understand!). Glad to see that everyone here is doing well .. the influx of new people and new ideas is nice to see too!

Noodles, I think of your cactus pictures from last year as I commence with my snow shovelling once again - you must keep me posted on your gardening activities and lovely weather so I can live vicariously through you and make it to spring thaw with some semblance of sanity! (never mind, snow shovelling will soon be classified as a bona fide aerobic activity - build those biceps is my mantra lol)

My weight has been stable but time to kick it into gear - I turn 40 in a few months and I would like to be at a healthier place. My resolution - I want to see new numbers which means losing six lbs. It would be nice to do this by the end of the month but with the season upon us, I will plan to maintain and celebrate any loss that comes my way. Any overindulgence will be deemed human and counteracted with extra kickboxing, how does that sound?

Talk to you all soon,


Jenaya

297/275/160

Hi all!! :wave:

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit. I have been sick... And other things are going on in my personal life that are driving me bananas. I am going in for surgery Friday; time for the ovaries to come out!!! He is going to try to do it laproscopic, but he can't guarantee anything due to my previous 2 surgeries and scar tissue. But he IS going to take a few photos for me of my ovaries so I can show everyone what true polycystic ovaries look like. Cool huh!!! :p

I felt good enough last night so I took the kid to the mall and gave her $100 and told her go buy whatever she wanted, since this year she is going to the grandparents for Christmas, plus I will be in no shape to decorate or tear down a tree. She and I had a ball! We got some dinner and shopped for 2 hours. I hadn't been to the mall in over a year--it's the cheapskate in me. Heck I even used my Bath & Body Works & Victorias Secrets coupons for free stuff. :smug:

Anyhow, I'll be back after surgery and post again. Hope everyone is doing good. :grouphug:

Noodles, good luck on surgery if I don't meet up with you before then! I hope you will be recovered by Christmas. If they can do it laproscopic you should be in full swing in a week. At least that is what they told me. I'll keep my fingers crossed! My sister (Amy 3FC) is having her last ovary removed tomorrow. She's also getting abdominoplasty while she's at it. I guess this is surgery weekend!


Jenaya, nice to see you back again. GERD really kicked me in the butt. I finally have overcome it, so it's nice to not think I'm having a heart attack every night.

Mrs Ladybug, look in the PCOS articles section right above this forum. There are many good articles to choose from.

Quick link here: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=125

Hello, everyone.

Just wanted to jump in the old PCOS forum and see how everyone is doing.

Noodles: GL on your surgery...what will your health be like after the ovaries are gone? Does that mean PCOS is all gone then, and no more symptoms?

I had a fasting blood screening yesterday...hdl, ldl, triglycerides, glucose, blood pressure, etc...everything came out at the optimal level and I'm so relieved. I mean, I have been having this done once a year since diagnosed with PCOS, but I was worried...especially for the glucose.

Also, my periods have been very regular - I am charting my cycles but don't have to temp any longer because I get my period exactly when I predict for the past few months. I'm really glad about this because a couple years ago, I was skipping periods and such. Apparently, I am ovulating when I should be...I guess it's just a matter of catching the egg. Yep, we're TTC. I've been exercising a lot...not great with the food choices, but I'm not really dieting right now...just working on getting stronger and trying to eat more fruits and veggies. I'm in a kickboxing class and it's kicking my butt.

A nurse told me that PCOS is very much a metabolic problem...especially with my high testosterone...and she said that it might be less stressful for me not to focus on the scale as much as focus on keeping myself heart healthy and being fit. What do you guys think about this statement?

Girlie

It was hard to explain things about PCOS to my family and husband, so I went to www.webmd.com and printed out some of the information there about symptoms, causes, treatment, etc. They found it very helpful, and so did I.

Just go to www.webmd.com and type PCOS in the search box.

Girlie

Hi, Girlie! In some way I do agree with the nurse. I lose weight at such a slow pace, it's very .... well, depressing! So yeah, I make my number one focus on eating what is healthy for my body, and secondary losing weight. Hey, when it's a difference of one pound versus two pounds a month, why get all stressed out? I have a little fun. Not much, but enough to keep me sane and my spirits up.

Hi ladies,

Jennifer, did your GERD symptoms dissipate once you lost weight? It is yucky. My father died of stomach cancer so I am always a little freaked out when my digestive system acts up. I hope weight loss will resolve the problem.

Girlie, I believe pcos is very much a metabollic problem. We are more than a number on the scale so maybe the nurse who advises to focus on heatlhy eating, exercise and caring for ones heart is very wise in her words.

Take care,

Jenaya

My symptoms got 'lesser' after about 20 pounds, but it didn't go away. I had to take Prevacid for about 6 months before I had overcome it. My husband is not overweight and he is experiencing a lot of trouble with it. No fried food, no overeating, no smoking and no laying flat on my back was my best remedy, combined with medication and weight loss. I had to do a 180 to get relief. I still get heartburn at times, but it isn't severe.

Hi girls...

I'm home. :smug:

I just went through **** and back. :(

I go in for a day surgery and I wind up staying in the hospital for 3 days. The doctor went in with the camera but didn't get far and had to slice me open because he couldn't see through all of the scar tissue and adhesions. So now I have a giant slice across my belly.

He got in there and my ovaries were the size of tennis balls!! FULL of cysts. One ovary had grown over my colon and was actually surrounding it and squeezing it. No wonder I've been sick and hadn't been able to go to the bathroom right. :dz:

The other ovary was siitting on top of my bladder and pushing on it and thats where the peeing blood came from. Anyhow, he got those *******s out and also took out some of the lesions that were causing me problems and stapled me back up.

Well, you'd think this was the end of it right. Wrong! I started to run a fever..and it was hurting to breathe. My oxygen was low. They thought I had a blood clot or pnuemonia. They did that scan where they shoot dye up your body, and I also got chest X rays.

Well, it turned out both my lungs collapsed on the bottom!! The right one worse than the left. (I didn't even feel the left.) Talk about immense pain and agony! I felt like I had a broken arm and someone took the wind out of me. They put me on some sorta breathing treatments and oxygen to try to get them to re-inflate. They came in this morning at 3 am because my monitor went off and warned me that if this last treatment didn't show improvement, I'd have to get a chest tube. I FLIPPED and started bawling. I prayed my *** off that this would work because I did NOT want a chest tube. Well, guess what it worked!! My oxygen came back up to normal and the lungs finally decided to inflate down there. YAY!! SO I begged and pleaded and they made me wait until 4 PM to make sure I stayed stable, then I got to come HOME. :cloud9: I am SOoo tired...I will probbaly sleep for 2 days. I couldn't get hardly any sleep in there as it was with people in, people out, roommate had visitors from 6 am until 10 PM, people were coding down the hall, people crying and screaming, etc... I tell ya it was awful!

Well, thats my story for now. I'm all doped up so I figured I'd better check in before the dope wears off and I sleep for 2 days. So if ya dont hear from me again for a few days, it's because I went into hibernation. ;)

:sniffle: Glad you're feeling better, Noodles. Virtual hugs only so we don't hurt you.

:mouse:

Hope you are feeling lots and lots better soon. What an ordeal!!!! xx

We're rooting for you, noodles! Keep your spirits up! (And have a good few days' sleep!)

I've had a medical issue too - sprained my ankle on Friday night. Seems trivial compared to your epic adventure, Noodles. The foot is an entertaining shade of purple now, but not a painful as it was. :) The unhappy thing is that I was really doing well with the exercise - usually six days a week, either weight training at the gym or doing a WATP tape at home for the last three weeks - and now I'm not able to do that until the end of the week, and I have to take it really slow. Knowing me, that's a "fall off the wagon" scenario if ever there was one! Sigh.

Noodles, I'm sending you "heal up easy" vibes right now! Take care of yourself,
Solarmama

Noodles:
I am glad they got those things OUT!!!
I will pray for your recovery.

Noodles, How's it going? Haven't seen you here in a while. Hope you're well.

Ciao!
Solarmama

Hello...

Sorry I haven't been around. I had complications and got full of infection and wound back up in the hospital. I'm home now..again..hopefully this time for good!! I'm SO sick of hospitals!! But thank God they were there for me this last time. I hardly get on the computer anymore because it's too painful to sit here after a while. The only good thing about this is I lost 15 pounds since last Friday. :)

I'll be back when I am up to par. Thanks for thinking of me. I appreciate it!! :smug:

:grouphug: for you Noodles! Take care!

Hi everyone..

Noodles, glad to hear your surgery is over...sorry to hear about the complications. Yuk! But, the eyes are done, the ovaries are out and it will be smooth sailing from here on it.

Hope everyone is doing well. I am busy with the Christmas preparation and trying to do well with staying healthy.

Cheers,

Jenaya

Sending good vibes your way, Ms. Noodles!

Joyous Yule, all you Pagan types - Welcome Back, Sun!

And happy holidays of all sorts to everyone!

Ciao!
Solarmama

:D Have a great time everyone!!! Hope you are all well and that you and your families have a special time! :)

Hey Ladies!! :wave:

I'm sorry if I haven't posted alot. I really went through **** and back with this surgery and the complications. I don't think I've ever been so sick in my life. That was horrible!! :( I'm still recovering, but thank goodness the icky feeling is gone. I'm just real sore and itchy now. The stitches must be dissolving inside because I got the itchies bad in there and can't scratch them. My wound finally is clearing up...Just a little red now. The antibiotic cream and pills did their trick. Thank goodness for modern medicine!! I imagine if I had these problems in the 1800s I would of wound up dead! :sp:

The estrogen patch is working too. No more hot flashes!! Those were horrible too! You can be just sitting here and all of a sudden you pour sweat, your clothes are soaked, it's awful. The things we go through...us females. Men have it easy I swear. :p

Well, I hope everyone has a great holiday!! I ordered a buncha movies online and hub and I are staying home and eating healthy TV dinners (seriously) and going to watch movies. If I feel up to it, we might go out to dinner and gamble a little at the casino. I'm not going to push it though. But I am going stir crazy in the house. Today I am going to try to walk to the mailbox. Then maybe later hub and I will go get a bite to eat. Baby steps... :D

I always say something good always comes out of something bad....in this case, I lost 18 pounds since December 10th! :hyper: I can fit into my old clothes again!! Well cept for my pants and undies. I'm still swollen belly wise so I'm wearing maternity shorts/pants, but soon that will change as the swelling goes down and I'll be able to wear my other pants. And I've been controlling my eating, **** I cant pig out even if I wanted too because if I eat too much, the food travels along and rubs against all my internal boo-boos and hurts, so my stomach is happy with small meals. My goal is to keep it this way!! I only have 10 pounds to go to my original mini goal I reached earlier this year.

Well, there ya go. There's my past 12 days of life. Take care and remember the real reason we celebrate Christmas. :smug:

Gosh Noodles, that was fast for hot flashes! I didn't get them for a few weeks. I read somewhere that it stays stored in your body for a while. Good to know that yours went away so quickly.

Have a happy holiday, everybody! We have friends in from Holland and we're having a good old fashioned American Christmas for them, so I'm kinda in and out!

Hi all,

23 yr old female, I've been having numerous cysts popping up lately, and then they started linking bad acne and weight problems to it possible being PCOS!! Anyhow had a bunch of bloodwork done last week, waiting for the results...She mentioned having to possibly go on something called glucophage?
Anyhow I was just wondering if anyone could share some personal experience with me on this, seeing that Im not at all familiar with the syndrome?
Also, could this be a big infertility concern?
Thanks
Jewels

Hi, Jewels! Yes, the glucophage is a popular diabetic medication and it is very helpful for some PCOS patients that have insulin resistance. Some patients without insulin resistance also benefit from it. Yes, it does cause fertility issues for some people. Your best chances of decreasing the symptoms is to attain a normal weight, although that doesn't help for everyone. When your test results come back, ask your doctor to recommend a weight loss plan for you. Your bloodwork may dictate what diet you need. In any case, if you do have insulin resistance, you'll need to exercise more than the average dieter to keep your insulin regulated (which is vital to weight loss).

As for the acne, mine is controlled by a retinol cream and occasional antibiotic creams. Birth control pills also helped (when I had ovaries). This is a very treatable syndrome, but it is one that needs to be taken seriously because other than the many cosmetic side effects, we're also at a higher risk for heart disease and diabetes.
Look around the PCOS Articles section right above this one. Noodles and some of the other members have added a lot of informative articles that might be helpful. Feel free to ask any questions you have along the way!

Noodles, Ma'am, it's good to hear from you!

Glad to hear both that you're doing better, and that there was a silver lining to all those clouds! I think you are right not to push yourself too hard right now - better to take it slow and get there than to run too fast and relapse.

Take care, and hello, everyone I haven't seen posted in a bit! Anonymouse, how was your holiday? I hope you're well.

Solarmama

Closing December, starting a January thread!