[Laifierr]

I have PCOS and I feel a bit out of place...

I don't have medical insurance anymore which means I can't get prescription meds -- (I have tried various and saw no results). And I am also not trying to conceive, which I know a lot of PCOS women are.

I have never had a period (except for the 3-4 times I was on birth control).

I am hoping that since an awful diet caused my PCOS, that a healthy one will reverse it. I have cut out all processed foods -- refined sugar, fast food, bread, cookies, cake, pie, crackers, cheese, meat, oils, rice, and grains from my diet. Now I only eat veggies, fruits, beans/legumes, and nuts/seeds.

I don't want to rely on medications to attempt to reverse what bad eating has done to my body. Instead my only medication will be healthy food and a few vitamins (D3 and B12).

Since the change in my diet about three weeks ago, I have lost all cravings for the foods I removed and I have also lost 11 pounds.

[astrophe]

I was you in my early 20's -- no insurance, no full dx, not sure what to do, so decided to do what I COULD do. And that was walk more and clean up my diet.

Low carb and exercise are 5 star treatments on Mary's PCOS FAQ -- anyone can try for that.

http://pcosfaq.com/

And in the 4 star category -- fish oil, calcium with D3, etc are also low cost and accessible without prescription.

Go for it! Just do what you can from where you are at.

GL!

A.

[Cemommster]

Your not out of place. i have pcos, and am done ttc. In fact I have no uterus. I too try the natural, no processed food, diet. it has worked for me, with exercise, and diet.

[Laifierr]

I will go as low carb as by eliminating breads, crackers, etc. But the body still needs carbohydrates to function so I'm not going to eliminate natural carbs found in vegetables and fruits.

I also have a box full of supplements that I have tried over the years... I just got tired of taking pills and pills and pills. Some I had to take an hour before eating, others with eating, some at night, midday. I was taking 15-20 pills a day and not seeing any results. I did this for months and it got pretty costly.

When I switched to being a vegetarian/vegan/nutritarian, I wanted to limit how much outside chemicals I was inducing. So I take Vitamin D3 since I don't eat mushrooms every day, and I take B12 since I don't eat meat. But I do get my daily amount of Omega 3 from flax seeds each day I just put them in my smoothie in the morning. Both of my supplements are chewables and I take them right when I get up (they sit on my alarm clock). I do want to add a multivitamin, I just need to find a good one that fits my eating style.

Since I changed what I eat three weeks ago, I haven't had any "hypoglycemic" episodes like hot flashes/sweats, shaking, or dizziness like I sometimes had if ate 1-2 hours passed my regular mealtime. With this diet, I can eat a lot, feel full, and not have cravings.

I also hardly ever have processed sugar be it real or artificial. I cut out soda and caffeine as well.

I'm really hoping that the current way I eat can help undo the damage I did to my body.

Only time will tell =)

One day I'd love to TTC, but I don't want to have to rely on pills or costly procedures to do so.