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  #1   ^
Old Fri, Jul-27-01, 17:55
tmve tmve is offline
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Posts: 1
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 180/168/126
BF:
Progress:
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Well, I guess I am pretty lucky, having read some of these posts. Since we're sharing life stories...

I have never in my life been regular. My mother was concerned when I was a teen-ager, but my doctor explained that most girls don't become regular until later in life. For about 18 months after I started, I weighed a precise 126 lbs (on a 5'3" frame).

When I was 18, I enlisted in the US Army Nat'l Guard. I almost immediately experience problems with my knees, and I was told to "run it off." The problem, I was told, was exacerbated by the fact that I was roughly 20+ lbs. overweight: lose the weight, and I would be OK. All right, I was in the military, exercising for the first time in my life and I GAINED 30 POUNDS. Within two years, I weighed 155, and my knees were in terrible shape. I had also ceased having periods, and I was told that was due to the amount of exercise.

Well, after I was out of the regular military (I was just turned 21), I finally decided to go see a civilian OB/GYN about it. The OB/GYN run a blood test, and sent me to an endocrinologist. This is where I was lucky: The OB/GYN noticed I had a high level of testosterone, and the endo knew about PCOS. Within 2 months (of non-intrusive testing) I had a diagnosis. I was put on BCPs, and told that I would likely never get pregnant.

My doctor told me to quit smoking for 30 days prior to starting the pill. At this time, my sister told me about the Atkins' diet, and I started it. Would you believe that the diet alone started me ovulating - Regularly? I couldn't believe it. I took the BCPs anyway (my boyfriend and I agreed the protection couldn't hurt), and immediately lost 25 lbs - within 4 months. So I was down to 145, and feeling great.

Then I fell off the wagon (for about a year), and didn't take the BCPs regularly. I became extremely irregular again, so I didn't know until it was almost too late that I was 4 months pregnant. You can imagine my shock: just two years earlier I was told not to expect to ever have kids. What I found out is that the BCPs can help shrink the cysts...So, good news: I can get pregnant (as long as I carefully monitor my diet).

But I have found that BCPs are definitely not my "cure-all." I hate taking pills (a necessary evil) and haven't tried metformin. On Atkins alone, I can easily maintain my weight (I'm down another 15 lbs again: only 40 more to go!), and I have found that my periods are even more regular (if a little on the heavy side).

My endo is now recommending to other patients that they go low-carb, and see how that works for them.

I guess I just consider myself extremely lucky to have such wonderful doctors: they diagnosed me, I didn't have to diagnose myself.
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  #2   ^
Old Sat, Jul-28-01, 21:44
BaileyWS's Avatar
BaileyWS BaileyWS is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 232
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 292/271/160
BF:
Progress: 16%
Location: Baytown, Texas
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Hi, I'm also new here. Just joined this forum yesterday. And started the Atkins diet yesterday, too, for the first time.

I was diagnosed PCOS almost 14 years ago by an infertility specialist/endocrinologist. I don't think I ever had a normal period ... HAd my first spotting when I was almost 12, but would bleed only every 4-6 months. When I was 17 I started hemoraging, and that's when the dr. recommended I go on birth control ... that was 1977.

I got married in 1979 (18 years old) and about a year later went off the pill. 10 years of infertility ... doing only what the insurance company would pay for ... taking temps, marking charts, etc. And I tried clomid, nothing worked ... all of this while I continued college and graduate school.

I started gaining weight at puberty and it just kept coming. At one point I reached 240 and decided to diet using a low-cal and excercise approach. I lost 60 pounds -- I was about 25 at the time. Then I lost my inertia. I went off the diet, back to the sweets, and the weight started coming back.

The infertility specialist who finally diagnosed the PCOS in 1988 suggested fertility shots (pergonal and metrodin) and I was pregant twice (miscarried the first time). Our daughter is now almost twelve years old! After she was born, I went back on the pill, because it was the only way to have any semblance of normalcy.

The infertility route was difficult and emotionally draining ... we decided not to try again because the stress was more than we wanted to put ourselves and our new family through.

It was only a couple of years ago that I first heard (on the news) of the correlation between PCOS and insulin resistance. I was diabetic during the pregnancy and figured with my weight (which went back up to nearly 300 pounds) diabetes was an inevitable reality. The insulin connection made sense to me ...

I spoke to a gyn about it when I turned 39 and she didn't seem to think there was any reason for me to do anything but stay on the pill -- which seemed to be working (at least as far as my periods were concerned).

A year later I saw a new family doctor, who happened to be "up" on PCOS. She told me everything about insulin resistance and thought that if I started with Glucophage now I might relieve my other other symptoms -- like weight gain -- and I might avoid or postpone things like diabetes and heart disease. OR she said I might try a low-carb diet ... at the time I knew nothing about them, they sounded too "trendy" to me to be any good, and I didn't have the will power or stamina to try another diet.

So I went on the medication. I didn't notice much difference, but at the same time I was developing thyroid disease (hashimotos). Now I'm also taking thyroid medication and that has made a big difference for me ... I'm feeling more energetic.

So, I've done my homework now and decided to start Atkins. So far so good, but it's only my second day. :-)
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