Hi!

I am new to this site but a long time PCOS sufferer--20 years. The only answer I've ever gotten from Dr.'s is take and stay on the b/c pill. But they also put me on Metformin years ago.

I've really kind of let this disease go on the back burner and haven't followed up with any new treatments. So I have a few questions that maybe one of you can answer.

Didn't I read that birth control pills counteract the Meformin? That b/c pills actually raise your insulin levels, so if you're taking Met that it's not doing the job it should?

Also---what happens when you go into menopause and your ovaries slowly start shrinking as you get older. Does your PCOS get better?

I was on Atkins starting last June and went for 7 months on it and only lost 10 pounds. Is that crazy or what? Most people lose that in a week. I am very discouraged and pretty much have tried everything to lose weight. I'm not morbidly obese, but need to lose about 30-40 pounds and that would still be on the high end of the Dr's scales.

I've seen 2 dieticians and they push the ADA pyramid diet. WRONG. I lost 1/2 pound in 3 months on that diet.

My next step is to go off the b/c pill and stay on the Met and see if that is my miracle to giving me back my periods (I have NO periods when off the pill) and to lose some weight.

I look forward to coming here and reading other peoples stories.

Thanks a lot for your help and for listening.

"T"

Hi there! I certainly can't answer all your questions, and our esteemed moderator Noodles is recuperating from an eye operation, but I'll tell you my experiences.
I've had PCOS all my life, but in the past few years the symptoms do seem to have lessened. For example, my periods have become as regular as clockwork, almost pain free (no more mittelschmerz when the ovary tries to "lay an egg") and moderate in flow. When I was younger they were either absent, or many months apart, and then, for no reason at all, I'd get a couple very heavy only 20 days apart. Who knows why. Now that I've gotten into better shape, and solved the hair-loss problem with Spiro, even my hot flashes have disappeared, and sometimes I think my skin is better. But that's just me-- YMMV. I haven't found a lot of data on PCOS and menopause, except for the stickies talking about the heart disease risk.

I've had success with a moderate carb, fairly low-G.I. diet, that's about 50% carbs, 25% protein, 25% fat. Lately I've been working on lowering the saturated fat content, eating more beans and white fish. Lots and lots of exercise really helped-- I can't possibly emphasize that enough.

The pill was a complete horror story for me. I refuse to go near any estrogen/progesterone combination of any kind. The Spiro lowers my testosterone, but that's the only med I'm taking. I don't think I have insulin resistance, as I lost the first 30 pounds in the first 2 years with exercise alone, and the next 20-odd pounds since Jan. 1, 2004, eating as outlined above. I recently hit a mild plateau, as I have about 15 pounds of fat to go, but just in the last couple of days the scales have started to move again. A lot of other PCOS women have a much harder time losing than I do, and some swear by Metformin/Glucophage-- I'd read the threads and stickies on that FYI.

Nice to "meet" you, hope this helps!

Wow, you've really done well----congrats!!

As far as exercise, I've started walk aerobics the past 3 weeks and have done it daily (except Sundays). Actually gained 3 pounds. I'm 5'3" 185 right now.

I'm definitely IR--my levels are triple what they should be. My GTT's show borderline Diabetes II (2 numbers over 200).

I've been on the pill since I was 17 (am 37 now)--only off it a short time when I got pregnant with my son. Glucophage I believe is what made me pregnant (I mean along with my hubby's help)

I was just curious as to the menopause question--wondering if it takes all the PCOS symptoms away since the ovaries don't function anymore.

I had asked my gynee how will I know if I'm in menopause if I never have periods off the pill? She says to wait 10 years then she'll test. Uh, I don't think so. I'm not staying on this pill another 10 years. I believe it's the root of all my problems.

I just hope it doesn't cause me to GAIN weight when I go off.

Nice to meet you also. Thanks for replying.

I just had surgery too---Lasik surgery to my eyes. I think a lot of my weight gain lately is stress eating from the surgery. It's been a little over a month and I am just finally able to see half decent.

Good luck to anyone out there that has it done.

Hope you're feeling better Noodles.

Welcome, TRW!!

We're glad you're here!!

Thanks! Lazik is hopefully my next step. I had double eye muscle surgery to re-align the eyes so I could can the double visiion and prism out of my glasses and hopefully get contacts. The Dr. did such a good job that I can after June 29th! YAY!!!

Did Lasik hurt? I know they don't knock ya out so..what do they do exactly? Curious eyes want to know for future reference.

Well this morning I just got back from ANOTHER appointment with the eye Dr. (this is my follow up Dr, not the one that actually did the surgery). I've seen her every week (sometimes twice a week) since March 9th when I had the surgery.

I wish you the best of luck if you decide to have it done. My eyes were almost legally blind, so I'm having a pretty rough time as far as dry eyes and vision. I now have all tear ducts plugged with silicone plugs so that when my eyes tear, the tears stay in my eyes instead of draining down my nose.

I wore contacts for 26 years and glasses for 30. But having this surgery hasn't sold me on it yet. I'm not to the selling stage of it yet.

What they do is put numbing drops in your eyes (you are awake for the procedure), then they have you stare at a red dot (you're lying down on a table) then your vision goes black (while they cut your cornea) then the laser comes on (smells like a burning hair dryer) then you see them slide the cornea back over, run a squeegee over it then they squirt some antibiotics in
your eyes and that's it. It took all of 2 minutes for a nice price of $3,300.

Complications can vary---but if you have dry eyes to begin with, I'd really think hard before you decide to have it done. In fact they might not even do it if you do. Also, it's not the prescription of your eyes that they decide on whether you can have it done, it's the thickness of your cornea.

Good luck!
"T"

I just had to chime in....I had lasik surgery done in Jan. and will have round 2 next week. I was 20/900 something, so WAY legally blind. I was to the point where contacts were almost not an option.

Surgery was so easy--dry eyes was a problem, but the climate here is very dry. Lots of eye drops and it got better after a few weeks.

I laughed at your burning eye description. I was so freaked out going into this and lying there I realized that the smell was the only thing bugging me. I asked my doc what his wife thought of that smell in his clothes....but to sit up and SEE the clock on the wall was amazing! Well worth the $2000.00 and the eye drops.

Kelleyincolorado