I'm in the club, too.

[Lulubell]

official dx was in 7/2005. i don't have all the symptoms (thank God!), but i am overweight and do not ovulate/menstruate properly. last time i did atkins, that all straightened out, of course, since we know that other hormnones are suppressed by insulin. this is my second time out at lo-carbing it, and i am committed to it for a multitude of reasons: weight loss, reversal of PCOD symptoms, pregnancy, general good health.

[Adivineebony]

Lulubell,
I was just like you. This is my 2nd time around. I was diagnosed about a year and a half ago after being told I wasn't working out enough and one Dr. trying to put me on high blood pressure and possible insulin and saying to follow up with him after 6 months! I have been on countless birthcontrol pills and they always stopped working, but when I was on Atkins, the weight started to come off, and my symptoms started going away. That's one of the main reasons I decided that this time it has to be a way of life.
Diedra

[Lulubell]

at the moment, i am on some fertility drugs to try and get pregnant, and of course, PCOS is like the leading cause of infertility.

yes, this WOE really helps. in fact, the last time i did it, it actually reversed the annovulation and ammenorrhea, which is what i need to happen to me now. i need to ovulate.

there's also a PCOS forum that i belong to and it's sadly reported over and over again that BC's are not working. well, i think they have abetter shot at working when insulin is not the master hormone in the blood stream 24/7. stick with the diet! PCOS symptoms are reversible you know!

[Adivineebony]

Well I'm not in a relationship at the moment and even if I was we couldn't do anything until marriage(Christian kid ) so I'm not sure of my fertility issues yet, but I hope to try to change anything I might have way before it's time for me to try. I intend to try as much as I can to get rid of theses sypmtoms. I was plucking the lovely hair on my chin last night and was thinking, when I was on Atkins before this went away....yeah I must stay on it this time. It's the only way. I was just listening to the news and they were saying how living a low carb diet may lead to birth defects and I felt like saying have you talked to all the women who can now have babies due to going on it. I'm telling you they are always talking about low-carb with no back up. Well I'm with ya lulabell. We can both do this!!!

[maribelle]

Did your hair growth really clear up? That's one thing that hasn't changed for me, and I'm pretty frustrated. I'm still having to shave my chin once a day, and that's only one place...
I'm currently pregnant after 8 years of being unable to conceive due to PCOS, but I went off Atkins during my first trimester. Part of the reason was fear of harming my baby. The other was a little too hard to try to figure out how many carbs I needed to maintain. I tried 60 carbs, and went back into keto, which of course probably scared me more than necessary, and started dropping weight fast. Last time I went to the doctor, my BP was up, and my weight started to sky rocket. I had this problem with my first child, and ended up with a seriously dangerous pregnancy, and very premature baby. Anyway, my doc said to get back on Atkins! I was surprised, until he told me not less than 100 carbs to start. Its a struggle, cravings are murder. But its worth it to have a healthy little one. Lulu, I hope your dreams come true! Baby's are definitly possible with PCOS and Atkins. Adivineebony...GOOD for you for taking your health into hand now before you meet your future love! It will make your marraige so much less stressed not to have to deal with fertility issues! I wish I knew back then what I know now...I was doing Lo Fat, and my symptoms were out of this world! I was 170 when I started dating my husband, 275 when I had my son, and 380 when I started Atkins 2 1/2 years ago!

Sorry for the ramble... Welcome to both of you!

[Lulubell]

i am fortunate enough to not have too much of the facial hair problem. i did have a bit, but then went for several sessions of electrolysis to clear it up. with my recent weight gain, i've noticed some of it creeping back, so i tweeze when i need to.

the one problem i do have is with acne breakouts on the chin area and wounds not healing quickly enough. these are both related to the hyperinsulinism. here's hoping that this WOE will clear that up, too.

[maribelle]

It should. I had the wound problem on my legs as well as wounds on my legs bleeding really heavy, and it has improved. I want to try electrolosis...but I've been shaving for 12 years, and in order to let my chin hair grow long enough, I would have to rent a hotel room and hide for a week from the human race, or they might kidnap me to join a circus as the bearded lady! As for the acne. I had the problem REALLY bad before Atkins, back when I started 2 1/2 years ago. Within two months, the gals I worked with were commenting on my beautiful skin...it only took that long, and it cleared up completely, after looking gross for 5 years. Wishing you the same! How long were you on Atkins the first time?

[Lulubell]

oh, the first time on atkins, i think was about 4 months. i lost a good amount of weight (it was before my wedding), and then managed to maintain for a year or so, but then you know... selling a house, buying a house, changing jobs, etc. all those "life" things made me a crazy person and my health was like the last thing i considered on a daily basis.

my husband also underwent surgery and then chemotherapy from xmas 2005 through the summer of 2006, so we had all kinds of junk in the house... basically, anything he wanted to eat. if he ate ice cream, i ate ice cream. you know how that goes.

c'est la vie... i am back and completely comitted this time.

[Adivineebony]

Hey Maribelle,
First off congrats for the baby!!!! I don't have an abundance of facial hair, but enough to tweeze. I've always had bad acne and nothing seemed to work, but as soon as I went on Atkins it started to clear up and after a few months, my face also started looking so much better. I had went to my DR. about all the bad stuff I had heard about Atkins after starting it the first time and he told me also to just stay on it and that my labs never looked better. I could definetly tell how my body changed up once I stopped doing Atkins.It feels good to be back on it.

[maribelle]

Lulu...with all you went through, no wonder you needed a break from the stress of dieting too! I'm glad your husband is better, and that you are taking care of you, too!

Adivineebony, thank you for the congrats...still very excited. You have a wonderful doctor! So many will just count Atkins out without really looking at the results. My doctor never said much, except once he said "Atkins is hard to do long term"...I just smiled, and kept doing it as best as I could. Now he tells me to get back on it...tehehe. Glad you're feeling better too!