Excited to Beat PCOS

[Chynna 13]

I was diagnosed with PCOS about three years ago. I've been hospitalized twice for bursting cysts and haven't had a "regular" cycle without birth control in a very long time, if ever. Instead of never showing up, it's light and constant for like 2-3 wrote out of the month and let me tell you, that's no fun. The insulin resistance has made it super hard to loose wrought. I give it my all and still end up defeated at the scale. I've tried every version of weight watchers they've thrown at me in the last few years, going veg, and even a biggest loser program through my school. My doctor put me on Melton and phentermine which worked until i had to take a break from it.

All that being said, I am so excited to finally beat PCOS!!! I'm 22 and for a long time I've imagined myself constantly growing fatter as I got older until diabetes took over my body and I ended up so big I wasn't unable to do the things I love. I'm an opera singer and my body is my instrument. And I've been terrified that in spite of my efforts I would never be healthy enough to sing like I want to. (The whole fat opera singer idea is becoming more and more obsolete as directors are requiring more active stagings and crazy moving sets and movie theater broadcasts)

And now I begin my pre-op appointments next week and I am just so excited to finally do something that works and that I can be successful at, instead of a bunch of called diet attempts.

So I'm wondering what to expect. For those of you who are post-op, how do you think having PCOS affected your VSG journey? And how has being sleeved affected your PCOS? I get awful carb cravings. Do they go away? Or at least recede a bit? Has it affected chin hair growth? My goodness I would love not to carry tweezers with me everywhere I go!!! But either way, I can't wait to be a happier, healthier me!

[McButterpants 2,846]

Hello there, my fellow PCOS'r!

I'm almost 8 months post op...I'm much older than you (44 years old). I commend you for starting your journey now and not losing many years like I did. I went into this hoping my only regret is that I didn't go thru the surgery sooner and that is my only regret.

I was diagnosed with PCOS and metabolic syndrome a few years ago - I finally found a doctor that would listen to me and she wanted me to get better. I would only have a few periods a year - some say I was lucky, but OMG, they were bad and I would lose days to feeling bad. I, too, looked forward to a life of gaining more and more weight and feeling increasingly bad physically, not to mention the mental/emotional struggles that came along with that.

Since surgery, WOW, what a difference. Almost immediately I started feeling better. I chucked the Metformin about 2 weeks before surgery (with my doc's approval). My periods are now like clockwork and not bad or painful any more. My acne which I've had since about 13 years old is gone - my skin is clear. I feel strong and have more energy than I have had in my adult life.

As for carb cravings - I was a carboholic pre-surgery. Now, they aren't important to me. I used to love bread - good crusty artisan bread. Now, I really don't care if I have it or not. Bread actually makes my stomach feel bad. I went to Olive Garden the other night and had 1/2 a breadstick - I didn't enjoy it. I would have never thought that a year ago. Pasta no longer has it's clutches in me - I can eat a couple of bites of it, but prefer chicken, it just feels better on my stomach. I don't care if I have another potato, but I still enjoy a french fry or tater tot every once in a while. Tortilla chips are a slider for me - I can eat a lot of those, so I just keep them out of the house.

hair growth has slowed down a bit, but it's still there and I still have to tweeze. It's OK though - I'll take the good with the bad.

Best of luck to you. Again, I admire the fact you're doing this while you're young. You're going to do great!

[Chynna 13]

Thank you so much for your kind words and support! I felt such a wave of relief reading your message. I feel like I've been dieting since birth. Haha I was a big baby and was never a "healthy weight". The idea of not having to fight my body and cravings anymore is overwhelmingly hopeful for me.

Right now I'm struggling a bit because I don't have a surgery date yet and I haven't started my doctors pre-op stuff yet. That all starts Monday. And so over the last week or so, I've known that this is what I'm going to do but haven't been able to see a date it an end to all of the paper work. And got the first time since I can remember, I'm not on a diet. I left weight watchers in tears a few weeks ago when I had gained more than I had lousy since I started and I just didn't see the point of going back. That's when I decided it was time for a major change.

I'm told I could have the surgery as soon as august because my doc and I have documented so many attempts at weight loss. Bit that's not official yet. So now I'm in limbo. On one hand I'm so ready to start a healthier lifestyle. But on the other hand there's this voice in the back of my head saying that soon I'll be on a laid diet and so I should allow myself to eat "normal " and guilt free for once. So I go back and forth between fat free everything and pizza. It's this word cycle of entitlement (why shouldn't I be able to eat that pizza? It's the last pizza I'll be eating in a LONG time) and guilt (if I'm going to be healthy I should start now) and it's driving me nuts. I'm sure I'll be out on some sort of sorry next week, but for now I'm just hoping that someone out there knows what I'm talking about and has done words of wisdom because I'm not sure hope I should be dealing with this.

[Chynna 13]

Oh dear... So many typos... That's what I get for trying to post from my tablet without a keyboard

[McButterpants 2,846]

I think what you're feeling is perfectly normal - I know I did. This is a life changing decision; it's also a life-changer.

I waffled back and forth many times during the process - thinking maybe I should try to lose it on my own one more time. I even thought of backing out the morning of surgery while in admitting.

You have to be committed - committed to changing your lifestyle. Only you can determine if you are ready. Ask yourself why you want to do this. What is motivating you. Are you committed to hard work this entails? This isn't easy - it's hard work. This is a lifelong commitment.

[L-in-NJ 136]

I too suffered from PCOS pre-surgery (surgery Dec 2013). I would go sometimes years without a period if I didn't take medication and when I finally would have one it would last at least 2 months. My cycle finally started coming regularly in April of this year and I can now set my clock by it. It comes every 4 weeks as it's supposed to and last about 3-5 days. I too wish I would have done this much sooner. Best of luck to you.

Edited July 6, 2014 by L-in-NJ