What are the symptoms of PCOS?

What are the symptoms of PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome)?

The most common symptoms are:

• Abdominal obesity
• Acne, oily skin
• Dandruff
• Irregular, few, or absent periods
• Infertility
• Increased body hair
• Hair loss (on your head)
• Depression
• Deeper voice
• Weight gain/difficulty losing weight
• Snoring or sleep apnea

Feel free to leave questions in the comments.

How do I lose weight if I have PCOS?

How do I lose weight if I have PCOS?  How can I manage my PCOS?  What should I eat?

PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) is usually a combination of 2 hormone problems – insulin resistance and too much androgen (which means the ovaries make too much testosterone). No one really knows which one comes first. But you can also have it and not have either of those problems; we don’t have that much information on it yet.

When you get tested for PCOS, they test a bunch of hormones, including your thyroid hormones – and yes, your thyroid hormones can be messed up by an eating disorder. So PCOS could be caused by an eating disorder. PCOS isn’t curable, but it’s definitely manageable.

You’ll want to watch your blood sugar and try to focus on higher-protein meals and snacks, and fewer carbs (not no carbs, just the good ones! like whole grains, veggies, and fruit).

You’ll also want to do moderate exercise, because this will help your insulin sensitivity… be careful not to overexercise because this can actually mess up your hormones and cause you to *store* fat, which you probably don’t want. And when stress hormones make you store fat, it goes mostly to your stomach.

If you smoke, quit. It’s terrible for PCOS because it messes with your insulin and your ovarian function – it basically makes PCOS a lot worse.

One more thing that you should be careful with is dairy/meat. Stick to organic because non-organic meat and dairy have growth hormones (they give the animals extra growth hormones so that they’ll grow faster and produce more milk, so they can make more money quicker). Non-organic dairy/meat can also cause acne (another symptom of PCOS).

You might want to consider taking a multivitamin that has magnesium, zinc, selenium, and potassium. I take one called “weight smart” or something like that. I forget the exact brand. I got it at Target. (I don’t have PCOS, but I do have a majorly messed up metabolism because of ED.) Any of the multi-vitamins that have something to do with weight should have those vitamins – they’re all good for the hormones that regulate your metabolism.

Again, PCOS isn’t a well researched disease (but hopefully we’ll know more in the near future)… the best way to manage it is by managing your blood sugar and insulin. So try not to have fast carbs (sugars) and stick to the slow ones (starch, fiber).

I hope this helps! Don’t hesitate to contact me with more questions…