hey :)

This is a rant - mostly because I feel so alone in what feels like a struggle uphill with pcos - and mostly because I have kept this in for so long that I'm about to burst at the seems - and also because I want to hear about your stories too so that I don't feel alone. I've lurked here for a little while and you seem like good people :)

Although being diagnosed just one month ago, I look back and realise that I've had this for years.

The rapid weight gain, the hair loss, the hair where I don't want it, the acne and everything else horrible that goes with the syndrome. I have it - I live with it, like you guys.

As soon as I found out, I started a low carb diet - atkins - because I realised that my weight problem is a difficult one, because most pcos sufferers have to deal with the horrible weight as well as the problem of it not coming off in a world where being thin is becoming increasingly important (as vile as that is). I'm happy to be on a diet, to struggle to see results - but unfortunately I don't see any results. One month of strict diet and exercise and I have only seen very very little of my weight come off, perhaps only a couple of kilos. I can't tell you how discouraging this is as I'm begining to think that this weight I was told to get rid of by my doctor is probably not going to come off, no matter how hard I try.

I look around me and read the stories of other women like me who have been on the weight rollercoaster for years and realise that the pcos woman who has her weight under control is close to a myth. I'm yet to come across one who started off heavy and is now compleately in the normal weight range AND has kept it off in what seems like forever. It makes me really sad and discouraged.

I recently started metformin - but am only on 500mg a day at the moment, while I wait for my body to get used to the side effects. Hopefully I'll work my way up to 1500mg within a month or so and be on my way to some semblence of normality. But even that path is wrought with peril - the side effects and the feeling like if I go off it, things will balloon backwards like a vacume that blows instead of sucks.

I know it's hard for everyone, and I feel for everyone and perhaps I'm a little depressed at the moment because I've just been told by my mother that "this problem" is "all in my mind" and that just eating less will make it all go away (even after explaining the situation and giving her literature). Although I'm 25, I feel about 13 when I hear this. I have very little to no support to see me through this horror, even my doctor has implied how easy things would be if I lost weight (though it seems to me that if losing weight were so easy then I would have done it a million years ago). I just feel so unbelievably alone and scared for the future. Some friends have sympathised with me but noone really understands how horrible it is, and just how far reaching these symptoms are.

I feel like moving away and living by myself on a rock somewhere - because the world is just too scary right now.

Does anyone else feel like this sometimes?
Has anyone had any real success with dealing with those outward symptoms of pcos?
What is your story?

when i read your story it took me back 20 years. i felt like that and at that time l-c was just not done so i lived with tweezers attatched to me, was 4 stone overweight and was eventually diagnosed with diabetes at 37.there is light at the end of the tunnel however.if i,d known about l-c at your age i would have started it straight away.i did lose the weight with low fat and a lot of exercise15 years ago but it was very hard and did not have any effect on my pcos symptoms.l-c does though. i,ve been doing it for over 2 years now and am not on any diabetes meds now, the excess hair has gone and my weight has been stableat 105 pounds.i still get the odd spot, but thats all.you,re not alone, we all feel like you do sometimes but you will get support here. don,t give up. if i can beat it, anybody can. good luck.

I thought that too seeing as there's hardly ever any positive posts in PCOS forums. But I guess when you think about it, if you were at a healthy weight and feeling great, would you be here? Probably not. This is sort of a support group, and when you're feeling great you don't need support.

You gotta stick to your diet and exercise plan for more than a month to see any results. When I started exercising and eating healthier, I didn't lose any weight for about 3 months! I've lost 21lbs. but that's since October and I've never lost more than 4lbs. in a month. Something that's helped me is not to compare my weight loss to other peoples, like how "normal" people can just cut back calories a bit and lose 2lbs a week. Our body's are different than other people so our weight loss is going to be different.

I know how you feel though. It is really depressing to have this disease, but you've gotta keep fighting. That's what I always tell myself over and over again "Don't give up"! I hope this helped

Hi Maybe

I understand how you feel, I thought I'd never lose weight with PCOS. I tried all kinds of diets and nothing really helped. Then I went on 1500mg of metformin and changed my diet drastically. I did it for health reasons, I'd pretty much given up the idea that I'd ever lose weight, but amazingly the lbs started to slowly fall off. I do a mix of the schwartzbein principle and the insulin resistance diet and am now around 144lbs from a start weight of 175.

I know it seems impossible, I used to read success stories and think they were a myth too, but there is a plan out there for you. You can be successful. I know we lose slowly, but we CAN LOSE. I promise. The met will really help you out a lot.

Here are some links to succes stories:

http://www.soulcysters.net/showthre...&threadid=33021

http://www.soulcysters.net/showthre...&threadid=43012

thanks so much for replying

I think I was in a really bad way when I made that first post. I feel a little better now.. I'll stick to my diet and I'll stick to my exercise plan and I WILL make a success of this and I will learn to live with it.

thanks again.

hi maybe,,, i am 30years old and have had PCOS since i was 15,,,, i have had IVF to have a child and since then tried again but so far all attempts have failed,,,, i have always been larger my weight sits round 125 kilo usually,,,,, but PCOS goes hand in hand with IR (insullin resistance) go to your doctor and ask for a glucose tollerence test,,,if you have this you might be put on something like diaformin that has been a god sent to me,,,for the first time in 10 years i am at my lowest weight,,now,,109 (so far with atkins and meds i have lost almost 16 kilo),,,dont give up,,,, and my family always said i was a big eater,,,, lol,,, my problem was my sugar was too high and all i needed to do was cut the sugar and carbs and i feel the weight is falling off now,,,, gonna have a ``new me`` party when i get smaller and shove it up the noses of all those ppl who thougt i was just a pig,,,lol........... stay safe and remember,,,, why look for miracles,,,instead make your own miracles happen
rachael (jordy05)