polycystic ovaries

[sugarpear]

Does anyone know anything about it?

Had a scan last night looking for endometriosis and the sonographer was like 'oh you already have polycystic ovaries anyway'

First i knew of it!!!

So from what i have read on internet i have had all th esymptons but just put it down to feeling poorly with endo and being run done because of it.

Im seeing my gyni consultant friday and will obviously get informed there. But in th emeantime i have a million questions.

Mainly with treatment for this will i finally be able to lose weight?

best way to lose weight with PCOS is diet and excercise sadly . Have a look at Verity for more info. There's not very much avaialble by way of treatment for the underlying problems, but some of the symptoms can be eased.

Thats the thing i eat like a sparrow and i have 5 kids aged 2,4,6,10 & 12 to run around after so i get plenty of excercise. Yet i cannot get smaller than a 16. But to be fair im not getting bigger either.

could i have my ovaries removed? Would that help or am i being niave?

To be blunt im so so fed up with feeling so crap!

There's drugs like Metformin which can help (I took metformin for about a year with no side effects, but then I didn't have most of the symptoms of PCOS either).

I believe they can remove some of the biggest cysts with ultrasound - not sure, mine weren't big enough.

Keeping a stable weight is always a good thing.

PCOS is actually misnamed - it's not cysts in the ovaries at all, it's follicles which haven't produced eggs, but which haven't shrunk away as they are supposed to (every so often amongst PCOS medical people there's a whinge about renaming it).

But the "cysts" are a symptom as well of the underlying hormonal imbalance, which is either insulin resistance (leadinto weight problems) and/or excess testosterone (skin and hair problems). But they don't really know how each imbalance affects the others, and if there's anything else whcih affects it.

Metformin can help with insulin resistance (it's a diabetic drug), but by itself doesn't help weight loss; it can make it easier (with diet and excercise blah blah blah), although a really big study a couple of years ago said that it made no difference.
Removing the ovaries would have no effect on the symptoms as it's a hormonal thing, but some treatments can help trigger ovulation (I think anyway, it's been a while since I needed to know when I was ovulating).

The most effective diet for PCOSers is a low GI one (plenty of veg, lean protein and complex carbohydrates) so the amount you're eating may not be particulary relevant, if it's stuff which hits the blood really quickly (like say white bread).

The diet part makes sense actually. I had gestational diabetes in both my last pregnancies. And i followed a diabetic diet and lost weighht all through the pregnancy. It was fab! All gone back on now though

I already have an underactive thyroid. And my body hates a lot of foods as i have no gallbladder.

Dh says i was an alien experiment gone wrong!!

Hi. If you have a look in the archives you will find loads of threads on PCOS. Mostly they are related to ttc but there are a few about losing weight, too.

It's a complete pain of a condition to have - whether you are ttc or not - and the worst thing is that a lot of GPs don't seem to know anything about it At least you are already under a gyn so you should get some decent advice. Don't be fobbed off.

If you are not ttc then, AFAIK, the contraceptive pill Dianet is a good treatment as it helps to balance out some of the hormones. Metformin also helps a lot of people as it helps to combat the insulin side of things.

The problem is, as it is a 'syndrome', everyone has different symptoms and different reactions to them. This means that there is no 'cure-all', unfortunately.

Good luck with your gyn and check out the other threads, it often helps to know that you're not alone

Meant to add, I lost weight when I was pg but I was lead to believe that it was because the pregnancy hormones affect the PCOS ones and therefore your symptoms change (sometime for better, sometimes not - I lost weight but my acne became terrible) ... but this could be wrong.

Hi tiger,

I have not suffered the acne part. I was a lucky kid who rarely had spots. But i have been for 2 blood tests for diabetes that were high so im meant to be going for a 2hr gtt. But i guess if pcos affects the insulin then that would explain it to.

I didnt tell gyni half my problems last time incase he thought i was a hypercondriac whinge bag! But i will be totally honest on friday.

I am definately not ttc. I was sterilised with my last dd. Im 35 but feel 90 somedays.

Never been through the archives but i'll try and find the old threads.

Thankyou.