Fifi, I agree with what Susan said -- pick a Low Carb diet and do that. Atkins is easy to follow -- danged easy, and a great place to start. Get a book, read it, follow it. It is *VERY* important to actually read the book -- the Atkins website is now garbage. You'll likely find your recurring infections go away almost immediately.

There is nothing wrong with fat. It's the carbs that are the problem. I don't eat french fries because they are made from potato. I do eat deep fat fried green beans, cauliflower, zucchini, turnips, etc. because they taste good and are much lower in carbs.

I don't eat breaded and fried chicken, fish, etc. I do eat fried chicken lightly dusted with Carbalose flour, which adds about 1 g of carbohydrate.

what do u mean by icing, like put ice on it?

lcing low carbing

wow! i have the same problem. i remember my grandma used to scrub the back of my neck til id almost bleed and it hurt so bad. id tell her that i scrub it every time i shower! but it never came off. now i know what may make it go away

so how long do i put ice on it.

Ilove mykit:

yeah my family did me the same way. and eversince that i have been here on this site these lovely ppl have helped me. now i know what i have to do. and i am so thankful that i found this place. and i am goin to research this problem until i find everything there is on it.

I think you are getting the letter "l" mixed up with the letter "i"....

lcing = LCing = LOW CARBING

(not icing.... )

oops! my bad. im not very good with abbrevitions. i thought that it meant to put ice on it. dumb me!

I saw a show that said dark skin could be caused by high level of testosterone in women. Possibly caused by PCOS or even gall badder malfunctions (too much bile messes with adrenal gland).
Just FYI

Acanthosis nigricans!

It's a sign of insulin resistance which goes along with PCOS.

I remember my mother scrubbing my neck, as a young girl, with rubbing alcohol. Of course, she got a little dirt off that way because who doesn't have a little grime on them by the end of the day - especially a young girl who goes outside and chases rabbits through everyone's backyard. - LOL

Anyway, as you have seen, scrubbing doesn't remove the discoloration. It may lighten and possibly disappear if you can lower blood sugar levels. Losing weight will help with insulin resistance. However, here is the kicker and you may have figured this out already. How does one lose weight when their body is IR?

I can tell you - It's not the ADA diet and trust me I wish it was because I love carbs. You must remove what spikes blood sugar and that is sugar/carbs. A low carb diet is the way to go. Now - how low does one need to go? That is very individual. Some go as low as no carbs and other can go up to 60g a day and more but, rarely as high as the ADA diet unless you like to gain weight and become a diabetic. That is what happened to me!

I was just diagnosed T2/IR - diabetic. My A1c is 6.5% - not critically high but high enough to put me into the early stages of diabetes.

Here is my opinion/advice. When I was first told I was IR - I wish I was given a glucometer! It has helped me tremendously. My doctor didn't give me one when I was diagnosed diabetic. I had to ask for it! I wish I was much more aggresive in my handling of PCOS/IR. It was never presented to me as something I should be overly concerned with. I learned much from diabetics and wish I utilized their knowledge early on.

If you get a glucometer, you can find out what foods keep your blood sugar from spiking and it will help you decide how restrictive you need to be with carbs. It's worth the finger pricks - IMO.

~Danielle

Susan,

I have had high white blood counts for two years. I've just been diagnosed T2 diabetic/A1c 6.5%. Do you know if there is a connection between the two? They can't seem to find an infection. We originally thought chronic tonsilitis but, I had a T&A and 5 months later - still high white blood cell count. I think it's the diabetes (or connection to) but, my GP says no.

~Danielle

Danielle,

Many diabetics have simmering peridontal infections in their gums. I think it would be worth checking out with the dentist.

http://www.perio.org/consumer/mbc.diabetes.htm

There's quite a few diabetics here hanging out in the Bernstein/Diabetes forum.

yeah my A1C level was 6.3% and now, well the last time i checked it was 5.9% that was like 5 months ago. however i am no longer on the metformin. im on nothing because i was having digestive problems. and i was telling the doctor and they kept upping and lowering my dosage...making me sick. so i quit it all and said i am no longet taking them. i was getting headaches, i was constipated and everything. they said that was the side effects. but for a year? psssh.

I have to jump in and say that your dietitian should have known about Acanthosis Nigracans. I have a Master's degree in Nutrition and that was the first thing I thought of when I read it. I agree with others posts, go low carb, not ADA!

thankz. i dont know much about diets. especially when it comes to lowcarbs. do u think that u could give me some tips. like sample meals that are lowcarb.