Well, since my last update, I have lost another 3 pounds, so I’m down to 253 pounds. Another development is that I had a menstrual cycle. A very light one, but that is awesome considering that might last period was over a year ago… Indefinitely contribute this to my taking Pregnitude. It is making my battle with PCOS a little more bearable. ❤
Two more pounds down!
So, I got on the scale this morning just to see where I am… I couldn’t resist even though I was feeling bloated. I could not believe my eyes… 256 pounds. Two pounds may not seem like much to some people who lose weight very quickly, but to a PCOSer, this is amazing!! Slowly, but surely, this weight is coming off! Oh, and as an aside, I’ve been taking Glucorein PCOS for 2 weeks now, and I can definitely tell a difference in my energy level. I haven’t been having that afternoon lull… You know what I mean… When you would basically kill for a nap. 😉
20 Things to Start Doing
Little to no change
I’ve been on the Glucorein PCOS supplement for a little over a week now. I can’t tell a difference yet, but the rep said that I might notice more energy after a couple of weeks and have full benefits in 2-4 months. So, it is still a little early to notice changes. My only complaint so far is the taste; no matter what i put it in, the stuff is gross. Adding an extra packet of Truvia helps, and if it helps with PCOS, then I can deal with the taste once daily. I am still taking Pregnitude as well. I have lost 2 more pounds in the past couple of weeks, which is amazing because it normally takes me a month or longer to lose that much. I have been using and really like the Lose It! app to monitor what I’m eating (helps me to stay accountable with calorie intake). I am also considering investing in a Bodymedia FIT to measure how many calories I am burning throughout the day (during workouts, at rest, etc.). I think adding this device may help me to hit my targets or at least give me some encouragement!
Women with polycystic ovary syndrome have higher BPA blood levels, study finds
A recent study found that BPA, a known hormone disrupter, is elevated and associated with higher levels of male hormones in the blood of women with PCOS compared with healthy women. These findings held true for both lean and obese women with PCOS. The main researcher said, “Women with the polycystic ovary syndrome should be alert regarding this environmental contaminant’s potential adverse effects on reproductive aspects of their health problem,” she said. This new finding just shows me how little we actually know about PCOS and what it does to our bodies. It is more important than ever to be aware of what we are all putting into our bodies, especially women with PCOS.
New supplement arrived today: Glucorein PCOS
I just received my shipment of Glucorein PCOS today!! I’m so excited to get started on this new supplement, which contains chlorogenic acid and L-cysteine.
Also, Becky the PCOS health coach does a great job of going into detail about why this is a good option for women with PCOS. (Wonderful site for PCOSers in general actually)
I can’t wait to start seeing/sharing my results! ♥
The long and short of it
As promised, here’s a post about me. I suppose I should just start at the beginning, so here goes… When I was around 12 (really almost 13), I had my first menstrual period. It was very heavy and near traumatic for me… I was on a vacation at the beach with my family. Thankfully my aunt was there to take me to get some tampons because the diaper-sized maxi pads my mom gave me were just too much! After that first one, my periods were very sporadic… Sometimes months would go by and then I would completely flood myself because I had no idea when it was going to show up. I should also note that once I hit puberty, I started gaining weight very rapidly even though I was an active kid with 3 younger siblings to entertain/boss around. Then, when I was around 14-15, my period stopped altogether. My mom would occasionally ask when my last period was, but I would just shrug and tell her I wasn’t sure. This went on for a couple of years. No period. None.
At the time, I didn’t mind, but now my mind just screams “Red flag! Red flag!” A couple of times my mother did ask if I wanted to go see a doctor about it, but I would always say no and get defensive over it. Since I am a mother of a little girl now, I can’t understand why there was ever question of whether or not I should see a doctor. Of course, I needed to see a doctor. I was a child, and children don’t get to make those kinds of decisions for themselves.
Anyway, back to the story… When I was a junior in high school, I decided that I had had enough with being the fat girl. I was done with being teased. I was tired of being the only fat person in my family. Seriously, no one in my family weighed more than 135 pounds, including my father, and here I was at 255 pounds! I went on a very strict vegetarian diet. I stopped eating processed foods, soda, etc. I actually got my mother on board to help me since she was the one preparing meals. She would take out a small portion of whatever we were eating (before she put butter, etc. into it). Being from the Deep South and in my family, butter or oil or some kind of fat went into everything. If my family was having burgers and fries, I would eat a salad. I also added exercise to my regimen. I worked out at home with whatever I could find. I filled a couple of Snapple bottles with dirt to create my own free weights! I was dedicated to this plan, and I lost 90 pounds in about 6 months. Yep, you read that right. I literally worked my ass off. Oh, I should add that after I had lost about 15 pounds, my period came back and on a slightly more regular basis!! I remained a vegetarian for a few more years, and the next year, when I went to college, I joined a gym instead of working out at home. I slowly started back eating meat, first with fish, then poultry, and a couple of years after that, I was eating all meats again.
Over time, even with my exercising and diet, I gained some weight back. When I met my husband, I weighed a healthy 210. I was eating well and working out regularly, but just could not get my weight down. My husband didn’t mind. (He loves my body and thinks all women should be curvy like me. God, I love him for that.)
After we had been married for about 6 months, we decided I would get off of my birth control because I had a sneaking suspicion that getting pregnant was not going to be easy. I went to see my gynecologist for a regular check-up and mentioned that I had been off of my birth control for 6 months and had not had a period since then. I also told him my ovaries had been hurting. I had also gained 45 pounds. My doctor did an ultrasound and saw that I had cysts on my ovaries. Shortly after, he diagnosed me with PCOS, and I was started on progesterone to initiate my period and clomiphene to make me ovulate. He said I would never get pregnant without assistance because of my anovulatory status.
After about 6 months of progesterone and clomiphene (titrated up to a dose of 150mg per day on days 5-9 of my cycle) and charting, I had ovulated only once. At this point, I started on metformin for insulin resistance (as far as my bloodwork, my insulin levels were high, but glucose was normal). I took this for about 2 months, then did another round of progesterone and clomiphene. Oh, and I ovulated and got pregnant!!! I know it was the metformin that made the difference. All of the hot flashes, severe mood swings, tears and frustration, and weight gain were totally worth it. I was pregnant!! My weight at this point was 256 pounds at 6.5 weeks pregnant.
By the end of my pregnancy I weighed about 290, but I’m not sure of my exact weight because I ended up with preeclampsia and delivered by cesarean just shy of 36 weeks. My baby girl was a perfectly healthy 6 pounds. However, her mother was a complete mess. My blood pressure was still spiking even after I had her. It would go really high and then plummet back to normal.
At my 6-week checkup, I weighed in at a hefty 277 pounds, but I wasn’t too concerned because I was still breastfeeding. I should note that breastfeeding was quite a struggle, and I ended up not being able to do it after about 3.5 months. My milk supply was very hard to keep up when I was at home all day, but it was totally over once I went back to work. I just couldn’t keep it up no matter what I did, so for my sanity and my daughter’s health, I put her on formula.
She is almost 14 months old now, and I have lost and gained the same 15 pounds about 6 times. I have no trouble losing the 15 pounds and getting down to 262, but once the scale hits that point, it slowly starts creeping back up until my weight maxes out again at 277.
I started on Pregnitude last week, and for the first time in 2 years, the scale showed less than 262!! Today, I weigh 260 pounds. Maybe it is a coincidence, but maybe it is the Pregnitude helping? I don’t know, but I’m excited to see more changes, especially with mood swings. My poor husband. I wonder on a daily basis how he can stand me when I can barely stand myself most days. I hate being fat. I don’t like looking sloppy, like I’m lazy, and out of control when I know I’m not. I hate feeling like a hypocrite as a fat health care provider. I want to look the part, ya know?
Thanks for reading. I know this was long, but this really is the short version of my story.;) I will post again soon about what other vitamins and supplements I’m taking.
Myo-inositol and PCOS
I will write a post about myself soon, but for the moment just want to share a snippet of information regarding a supplement that I just started taking (Pregnitude), which contains myo-inositol and folic acid.
Women with PCOS may be particularly prone to myo-inositol deficiency. Tissue levels of d-chiro-inositol, which is made from myo-inositol in the body, have been found to be depleted after a simple three day fast. Women with PCOS are prone to using overexercising, fasting, extended detoxing, raw foodism, veganism, crash dieting, and eating disorders for weight management, all of which hold potential to chip away at muscle mass and drain the body of d-chiro-inositol. If told to lose weight to enhance fertility, these practices may intensify, and only worsen reproductive function. Much of the body’s myo-inositol is manufactured in muscle tissue, which is often compromised in PCOS…
You can read more of this particular article here, but I really related to the quote above because it sounds just like me. I have dieted and overexercised for years (to the point where these things don’t even work anymore!). I had no idea that I was jut making my struggle with PCOS more difficult while I thought I was on my way to making it better (by getting healthy).
PCOS Chronicles 