Natural Solutions for PCOS

I have PCOS. Let me go ahead and run down what that means. PCOS means poly cystic ovarian syndrome & how do you know you have PCOS?

• You have cysts on your ovaries. (check) 
• It affects the menstrual cycle. (check) 
• It can cause infertility. (check, check) 
• It produces androgen hormones, and testosterone. (I actually have normal testosterone levels)

Symptoms: 

• Excessive hair growth - and NOT on your head! I am talking hands, fingers, toes, chest, rear end, chin, upper lip, MIDDLE OF YOUR NECK (yes, this totally applies to me). 
• Acne! I never struggled with this one thankfully. Because puberty wasn't hard enough. 
• Excessive weight gain. I'm not talking freshman 10 or 15 here, guys. I am talking I have gained 50ish pounds regardless of activity! I joined a local roller derby team and skated hard for over a year and stopped losing weight at the 220 mark. The excessive weight gain is due to the hormonal imbalance messing with the insulin resistance in your body. 
• Skin tags. And not the artful tagging that you see on streets and sides of buildings. These tags just look like little tiny flesh colored moles... or warts. 
• Finally - DEPRESSION. Could it be all the extra hair, fat, pimples, and little skin hangies?! Perhaps.

The two bonuses, or silver linings in our fat, hairy, pimply clouds are:

• Most of us don't get more than 9 (I get 4) menstrual cycles per year! I save a lot of money on feminine hygiene products... and a lot of time that could be spent doing other things! 
• Increased testosterone = increased libido.

The excessive hair growth. I'll put it out there! I grow hair everywhere! My chin, toes, arms, legs, butt chest. Seriously, everywhere. And it comes in thick and dark. I have to shave daily and wax weekly to keep it under control. Its exhausting, I'm not gonna lie. And sometimes I just let it go for a break. I dont leave the house for days so that I don't have to be embarrassed I used to wake up at 5am when I would spend the night at a boyfriend's house to clean up this mess that grows back overnight. My husband knew within a week of dating and told me he didn't care and luckily he still doesn't cos it isn't going anywhere.

The infertility. I never wanted to have children. I haven't since I was very young. That never changed up until the day I had my daughter. I had a lot of sex as a teenager. Like, a lot. It was the oppressive catholic upbringing I guess. Like 70% of this sex was unprotected. Yet, no pregnancies. Also, no STD's! Go me! I lucked out. I am a huge advocate for having sex and doing it smart. I believe birth control should be available to anyone who wants to have sex. Also condoms. Anyways, that's a different story. My baby was a miracle. I was on birth control, we were using condoms, I have PCOS and I had a faulty lap band inside of me at the time. I hadn't ovulated in months and I was pregnant! I lucked out. A lot of women with PCOS cant get pregnant. Anyways, she's here and I love her so hard. I think if my husband and I actually tried for a baby it would be hard, I would probably miscarry & yeah, the stress is freaking me out just thinking about it.

The weight gain: When I was around 11, I started rapidly gaining weight. This was a combination of many things: severe depression, lack of supervision, lack of education & I would later find out, PCOS. I was 5'6 by the time I hit 6th grade (super tall) & 180lbs. My parent tried to put me on all kinds of diets and friends and family were constantly sharing their concern for my weight. I tell you, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Depression and I have been good friends for a very long time. Paired with an alcoholic father, controlling mother, being fat, tall and hairy. Yeah, not many days went by without a crying my eyes out at my life. Wow, this sounds really depressing. Honestly though, I'm not telling you any of this so that you'll feel sorry for me. I got a lot of things figured out and while its not perfect, my life is great now! I'm telling you this just in case you think you're alone. You're not! If you think you might be a candidate for PCOS testing- go do it! Ask your health care person about it. Hopefully they'll want to look into it.

Is there a cure? Kinda. Its more like a change of pace. Metformin is a prescription that lot of cysters (get it?) use in order to control symptoms and get pregnant. Like all prescription drugs, it comes with a long list of common side effects including abdominal or stomach discomfort, cough or hoarseness, decreased appetite, diarrhea, fast or shallow breathing (wtf), fever or chills, general feeling of discomfort, lower back or side pain, muscle pain or cramping, painful or difficult urination & sleepiness. Also, a lot women find that taking this drug without first altering their lifestyle (eating and activity) just plain doesn't do anything (which is ideal compared to those side effects).

The real culprits: processed food, simple carbohydrates and sugar. Here is some science: insulin is the hormone produced in the pancreas that allows cells to use sugar (glucose) — your body's primary energy supply. If you have insulin resistance, your ability to use insulin effectively is impaired, and your pancreas has to secrete more insulin to make glucose available to cells. The excess insulin might boost androgen production by your ovaries. This causes sugar cravings like crazy, sugar causes bread cravings (simple carbohydrates) and then bread causes more sugar cravings. The very best solution is to remove sugar and simple carbs from your diet as much as possible. Combined with activity (walking 20 minutes a day)- your body can regulate itself much easier since both of these things massively normalize insulin levels. Eating well and exercising will benefit everyone but for women with PCOS it's vital. 

A lot of people have had luck with The South Beach diet (removes a lot of crap from your live and re-sets your cravings) and some have done great cutting it out cold turkey until they feel confident they can introduce these things back into their lives without going overboard. But please, don't feel guilty that you want these things so strongly. If you have PCOS, it IS harder. But not impossible.

Many people have also found great success with using essential oils to help with hormone imbalance and it's symptoms. Always remember that essential oils are legit and should be used with caution and guidance. Do not underestimate them and consult experts before application.

I continue to learn more and more about this syndrome and my symptoms all of the time. There aren't really any cures but some really awesome options and always remember, you're not alone.