Doctor thinks I have PCOS, how could I not see it!

[EnglishDame]

I feel like I should've known, I've had acne since I was 15, I spot for days before my period starts, I have dark hairs that grow on my chin and chest. I've also had 2 miscarriages, where I googled everything I thought there was to google about hormones etc. I don't know how this hasn't come up!

I do have a little boy but bled on and off throughout my pregnancy with him.

So I had blood drawn and was told that my testosterone and progesterone levels were normal. Both of these surprised me I really thought given my symptoms my testosterone would be high and my progesterone low. But my LH levels were nearly 3 times what my FSH levels were. The doctor said this points to pcos and I've been referred to a specialist. ( I posted about this before but I got them mixed up as I thought my fsh was the high one)
The doctor asked me to get day 21 bloods too and they show my progesterone to be 48 so I have ovulated. This is great I know but I'm worried the specialist won't help. My hormone levels are off and I seem to struggle with pregnancy, so I'm scared to try again if they won't give me medication to help.

I know I'm lucky to have my little boy and lots of people with PCOS struggle to conceive at all but I feel like I'm saying goodbye to my hopes of having a daughter. I assume the fact that my testosterone levels are normal won't help me swaying pink and it's more to do with the overall hormone imbalance?

I can't talk to anyone else about this, no one else knows how desperate I am for a little girl.

Thanks, sorry this is long!

[atomic sagebrush]

We actually have great results with our PCO swayers!! You just need to tweek your diet a little and you can read more here http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gender-swaying-general-discussion/9052-swaying-under-special-circumstances-part-3-pcos.html

Please don't despair!! This is very doable and the alternate diets in the post above will help both improve your odds of conceiving and your chances of girls. :)

[purple]

I have PCOS and it should have been obvious from a young ages as I had irregular cycles and cystic acne but when I saw a specialist TTC#1 my testosterone was normal so I was told I didn't have it even though I also had polycyctic ovaries but because I was in the healthy weight range I think it got overlooked.

My symptoms got worse when ttc #3 as I had long cycles and mid-cycle bleeding so the new specialist decided that I do infact have PCOS. Long story short, I was put on metformin to see if that helped regulate my cycles, I got pregnant but miscarried so then did 2 rounds of clomid and conceived this current pregnancy. My gender scan said it is a girl so it can happen :)

[EnglishDame]

Thanks very much for the replies.
I'm confused by the pcos version of the diet, I'm such a fussy eater!
Are carrots ok? Do we still want to include alcohol too? I know that caffeine isn't as good for pcos so I've been drinking caffeine free Diet Coke. Is that ok? I drink a lot of it. Also I know vegetarian is best but can I eat chicken to get my protein up? I worked out that 200g of chicken is almost 50g of protein, can this be the main part of my days food intake? Can I eat just once or do I need eat more regularly to keep my blood sugars more level?

[skillet04]

Did you get a chance to read the pcos le diet info? When you do, you would see about 2 long carrots worth is ok per day even...and yes chicken is ok...and diet decaf cola should be ok as long as you tolerate fake sweetner (some people's bodies have difficulty with it) alcohol may be too high carb but if it fits in your daily totals and you still ovulate, should be ok. Hope that helps, and really encourage reading the post in that thread that lays out what to choose and list the veggies for unlimited consumption. ;)

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[EnglishDame]

Oops I didn't see that sorry!
I wouldn't have thought of alcohol as carb-y so that's interesting. I will read it thoroughly when LO goes to bed.
Since I have only just found out I have PCOS I really don't know what my body struggles with. I notice on here a lot of people are aware of what makes theirs worse but I really have no idea.
Apart from the spotting before my period starts mine are really regular. Every 27 days, so pcos never came into my head. I haven't ever struggled to get pregnant either. Usually first month. One thing I do know is that I eat extremely 'blue'. Lots of big meals with meat and potatoes. Lots of snacking and sugar.
We were really hoping to try in December which gives me 9 weeks till I ovulate that month. Not sure if that's even long enough I know the recommendation is 12 weeks. I plan on adding in exercising from today too.

Really appreciate the replies. I know questions from newbies must be samey!

[XXforhubby]

I would definitely add in the exercise! I think I would still TTC in December, if it were me. Diet 12 weeks or longer has been getting great results, but so has people with PCOS going on the PCOS diet and exercise.

FX and GL to you!!



[emoji170]DS1[emoji1379], DS2[emoji602], DS3[emoji577][emoji170]
[emoji166]One last pink sway in 2016[emoji166]
My Ovulation Chart (https://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/579920)

[EnglishDame]

Just keep getting worried I'm going to mess it up! I would love a little boy just like I love my ds but the thought of a little girl next time just fills my heart with so much excitement. We don't have any little girls in our family either so I know that everyone will be rooting for a baby girl. I need to know what I'm doing with diet and supps so I know I'm giving myself he best chance!
Do you know of anyone with pcos that has listed their sway by chance? I haven't seen any but I will look properly later there too.
Scared and excited like probably most people on here!

[purple]

Excersise is important for those with pcos, even if you can't manage the full amount it was recommend to me to at least do some.

Try these sways for those with pcos or pco tendencies:
http://genderdreaming.com/forum/add-your-girl-sway-/56414-purple-ttc-girl-sway-attempt.html (mine)
http://genderdreaming.com/forum/add-your-girl-sway-/53808-catie13218-ttc-girl-sway-attempt.html
http://genderdreaming.com/forum/add-your-girl-sway-/55630-beautifulrainbows-girl-sway.html?highlight=Pcos
http://genderdreaming.com/forum/add-your-girl-sway-/54942-felecia-13-ttc-girl-sway-attempt.html

So they were just the top few that came up when I search the girlsway section for pcos.

[atomic sagebrush]

English, yes, you can have carrots on the PCO diet.

The idea that caffeine is bad for PCOS/IR is largely debunked. The original studies only tested blood sugar a short time after ingesting the caff - but after a tiny elevation, coffee in particular is beneficial the rest of the whole day for your insulin response and can actually help prevent type 2 diabetes. I suggest adding in coffee since it does sway pink.

PCOS version of the diet does include chicken and fish and for anyone with full blown PCOS I urge that you do eat meat at least a few times a week.

You can't live on a small amount of chicken. That is a starvation diet. So you need to be careful to do portion control to ensure that you don't eat 60 g of protein via chicken and then have nothing to eat the rest of the day. Things like full fat dairy (no skim please) eggs, nuts are also good ways to get protein. soy and beans are also ok, but do have quite a lot of carbs so sometimes you have to keep an eye not to overeat them.

A short easy way to think of the alternate PCOS diet is that you eat the same amount of calories (most people do 1500-1800) but increase protein to 50-60 g and fat to 50-60 g (so you are effectively cutting carbs without even thinking about it) and then additionally you get your carbs from things that are better for your blood sugar - like fruit, higher carb vegetables, and then whole grains OR white rice. Some people do better on whole grains but for reasons we do not know, white rice is also well tolerated by many with PCOS (and some people need it to prevent excess weight loss) Low carb veg are free and unlimited - you can have as much as you want.

[atomic sagebrush]

Everyone with PCO must do at least SOME exercise even if it's moderate because the benefits to blood sugar are so great that it counteracts any possible risk of growing muscle with mod. exercise. Vitamin X is a must with PCOS.

[atomic sagebrush]

RE number of times to eat:

NO one should only be eating once a day.

You can have 2 or 3 meals on LE and either is fine, everyone do what works best for them. If you find you can't stick to that, go to 4 (meaning add in breakfast)

While a lot of well meaning people will tell anyone who has issues with PCO or weight as a whole to "eat small frequent meals" that is actually being proven untrue. A period of fasting really helps improve your insulin response and can really help your body to overcome insulin resistance. I urge you to go at least 12-14 hours overnight without food coming in.

[EnglishDame]

Thank you so much, your information is so so appreciated.
Tomorrow I'm going to buy fibre supps and saw palmetto. I already have vitex, am I right in thinking I can start taking that every day until the ovulation we are actually going to try on? And of course I'll take the folic acid too.

[babygirl]

The fasting isn't true for everyone. Some people's bodies dump glucose when sugars get too low or a certain level with some. In turn it gives overall higher blood sugars so be very careful with that if you have blood sugar issues. Usually the people with this trouble will already know....hopefully.

[EnglishDame]

Oh that's confusing! So might I be better having 3 meals then?

[EnglishDame]

I have been doing some research online tonight and I have found that there is an lh surge the day before ovulation, quick check to see when my bloods were taken and sure enough - day 13! Could this be the reason for it or would fsh raise in line with the lh number?
I do have the acne and excess hair though so it seems likely that I do have pcos?

[atomic sagebrush]

The fasting isn't true for everyone. Some people's bodies dump glucose when sugars get too low or a certain level with some. In turn it gives overall higher blood sugars so be very careful with that if you have blood sugar issues. Usually the people with this trouble will already know....hopefully.

That is true, but as long as you are not an insulin-dependent diabetic, over the course of time your insulin response will get better. People who are on insulin this does not apply to you. According to what I have read 12 hours is fine and should help improve PCO symptoms. Of course please do what you feel is best for you.

Both 2 and 3 meals are fine for LE Diet. I always had 3. What I would do is if you're worried about it, then have breakfast at like 8, then lunch at 2, dinner at 8 The downside of this is that many of us do find it easier to push breakfast back rather than going that long between meals, so let your appetite be your guide. Even if you can't do 3, 4 is still a lot better than eating every 30 min. all day long.

[honeybee]

I have PCOS, and conceived a girl naturally after ttc for a year with no success. My RE preformed a HSG, and I got pregnant 72 hours later when I ovulated! We are trying again for a second now.