I might be a little bit late to answer this but..hehe I wanna.

Who's here this month?
I am new to this forum. I am a 22 year old girl from europe. I am a musician. I play guitar and sing. I was diagnosed with PCOS not too long ago.

How are you?
I am not so bad. Currently on a weightloss journey for the millionth time, but this is my time to do it. Feeling very healthy now a days.

What are you working on?
I have vacation right now but I've lately been working on my debut album which is planned to be released in october if everything goes as planned.

How's your PCOS management going?
My doctor told me that it might help to lose weight and live like I had diabetes. So I'm trying that. I think I have 40 pounds to lose to be at my normal weight. I have a little mustach (sorry if that is spelled wrong) on my upper lip that I wax..hehe. temporarely managing I know but it's at least gone for a little while.

Hey Nile1988! Glad to have you here

I know your feeling...but your doc had good advice about eating like you have diabetes. I could never lose weight to save my life before my diagnosis, but after the diagnosis and some research on my part, I discovered how exactly PCOS/IR works.

I'm currently on Phase 1 of the South Beach diet, which is a Glycemic Index diet (meaning that you don't cut all carbs, but you cut bad carbs that raise your blood sugar really high because it worsens insulin resistance and causes your body to store extra amounts of fat). I've been on it before and managed to lose 10 pounds before falling off the wagon a bit. You might want to look into it to help you out.

Good luck on your album!

Morning everyone, for the facial hair, I wax every 2 weeks, but ugh I hate looking at myself in the mirror sometimes

My hair has been thinning consistently for years but I tried Numax vitamins I think that's what they are called and they seem to help.
One of the biggest issues I have with PCOS is the heavy bleeding, it hinders my sex life, and it makes me anemic and overall I feel crappy.

Thanks.
Yeah. I've heard about the south beach diet. Never really taken the time to see what it was about. Thanks for the advice though. I'll check it out
I still don't understand how it works.. I mean..I know the symptoms and that it has to do with lack of hormones or too much of it...but other than that...nothing. Might have to check that out too.

@ghlover Do you have a cosmetology school in your area? One here does electrolysis at $16 an hour, and offers laser once a month. My laser treatments were about $65. I had a LOT of hair on my chin and neck, and between the two I'm down to only having to shave/tweeze once a week. Definitely worth saving my pennies for, and a ton cheaper than going to a regular salon.

first, forgive me if this posts in the wrong spot bc i have absolutely no idea how to navigate a forum haha! i just found this page and wanted to introduce myself. i've read through a few threads and am totally relieved to see a whole group of people going through the same thing as me!

so, here's the [not so] skinny: i'm 23 and have been obese & period-less for as long as i can remember. i was averaging a period about once every year and a half, but never went to a doc bc i thought it was AWESOME. who wants a period? as i got older, i realized it miiiiight come in handy later on in life, lol, so i finally went and got checked out. the gyno realized i was a hot mess and referred me to my endocrinologist in nov 2009, who diagnosed me with insulin resistant pcos, hypothyroidism, nodules on my thyroid, hyperandrogen syndrome, and some other syndrome that pertains to my adrenals attacking my ovaries that i can never recall.

i'm currently on 75mcg levothyroxine, 100mg spironolactone, 1000mg metformin er, apri (birth control), and .5mg dexomethasone daily. i started out on the seemingly default dose of 2000mg regular metformin, but it destroyed my stomach. i switched to the extended release version, and we cut the dosage until the nausea subsided.

the good news: in the 8ish months since i started this adventure in november, i've gone from 321lbs to 247lbs. my insulin(?) levels have gone from over 30 to 13 (my endo only needed me to make it down to 17!) and my period is back (although we compromised.. i only take the inactive pills 4x a year). we're still trying to figure out the thyroid nodules situation, but so far she's not concerned enough to order the fine needle aspiration so i'm counting that as a win

Who's here this month?
N1kk1

How are you?
I am running around trying to find a job, but other than that life is good!

What are you working on?
I am working on loosing as much weight as possible by Christmas! My family is going to go down to Disney World and at my weight I am afraid that I will be unable to ride the roller coasters. I go to the gym every morning at 6am and stay for an hour or so.
I am also working on finding a full time job while I am trying to start teaching private music lessons at night.

How's your PCOS management going?
I think its going well. I am doing a restricted calorie diet with low carb intake. Between that and the gym every morning, I think I am going to feel pretty good in a few months or so.

Nile1988: The doc is spot on about eating like you have diabetes since a lot of PCOS patients are insulin resistant (prediabetes). Those that aren't? Well, it won't hurt!

The easiest to read PCOS faq that I've found is geared toward teens but still quite useful:

http://www.youngwomenshealth.org/pcosinfo.html

Of course, inciid faq is classic:

http://www.inciid.org/faq.php?cat=complementarymed&id=2

GL on the debut album! It sounds exciting!

ghlover: Aw... sorry to hear about the heavy bleeding. I know how you feel... It didn't happen to me in my teen or 20's but when it started in my 30's I found being in BCP helped a lot. When I'm not on it, it feels like someone beat me up or something. I take a prenatal multivitamin for the extra iron and that helps.

slbxo33: Howdy! Sounds like you are under good endoc. care and things with your meds are chugging along nicely! Awesome!

N1kk1: Hi there! Glad your PCOS is under control. Hope you get the job you want/like! Try not too fret too much about Disney... AllEars has the WDW at Large articles. It tells you what to expect at each park. I'm pretty heavy but I can pretty much do all of it if that helps any.

MY CHECK IN:

I was so tired today I conked out accidentally after dinner on the couch and just now woke up! I have to get some few chores done and then I'm going back to bed.

A.

astrophe: Thank you so much. I was so happy to see this I almost cryed! There is nothing more embarrassing than not being able to fit in a ride when I am off trying to enjoy my self with family and friends. I have been too fat to ride in the past and I don't think I have ever been more embarrassed in my whole life! This article gives me hope Now I truely believe if I continue doing what I am supposed to then I will be able to ride almost all the rides Thanks a million

@astrophe Thank you so very much for the link . I've read through a lot of useful information on there. Awesome. I've seen so much online about it being almost impossible for people with PCOS to lose weight (at least very difficult) and that has earlier times just crushed my hopes and efforts...but it IS possible. It just has to be done the right way. I can do this. We can ALL do this!

WELCOME to all the new people!!

Happy Friday.. really. I've lost a pound. Whos happy? This chick*points at myself* Have an excellent weekend everyone!! I'm going to PUSH myself for some kind of movement today i want that pound to stay GONE!

<3

Check out this website support group:
http://www.pcosupport.org/

It's where I did a bunch of my research on PCOS when I was diagnosed. They have a forum there was well.

chouchoubou yay on the pound. i'm also struggling on the plateau...however, today I found myself 2 pounds lighter!

Talking about the weekend... can someone tell me the rules about alcohol and PCOS? How much white wine is ok? I know the cocktails are bad cause of the sugar.. and the sodas are a no-no. So that leaves one with what options an how much is ok?!

Hi everyone!

Go Chou! Make that -1 lbs really STICK!

museumchick -- nice to see you!

pgh -- I only drink few and far between. Like New Year in Jan and then my bday in Sept. I'm not on the Metformin any more but that has some precautions because of the lactic acidosis risk.

The guidelines in "The PCOS Diet Book" by Colette Harris suggests avoiding it entirely or keeping it to less than 5 drinks a week, and "low risk" as 1-2 drinks in a day. In other words -- keep it to special times and don't be drinking your 5 max all in one sitting in one day. Have a nice time this weekend though!

MY CHECK IN:

Exhausted! I can't wait for school to start. My kid is running me ragged. We cleaned house and then we had a break in the afternoon and I did some email and came to find she's used fingerpaint to put handprint trails all over the living room, kitchen, and bathroom floors.

So much for clean house!

Food log on track for today, exercise nil. Sigh.

A.

@chouchoubou Congratulations on losing a pound! That is absolutely awesome and so deserved! Keep going strong.

@museumchick Thank you so much for the link. I really appreciate. Any information I can get on PCOS is beneficial.