Treatment News!

The main symptoms of PCOS are irregular periods and hair growth, in plain English. Termed, respectively, annovulation which in a way refers to the lack of ovulation resulting in no periods, and hyperandrogenism, which probably refers to too much male hormone. I'm no doctor, all I know is I have this problem, you may if you are reading this or someone you love may, let's figure out how to fix it. That's our main concern, right? Here's what I dug up on the options available for treatment. Feel free to tell me if these are incorrect or outdated, as I try to keep the info up to date. Like I said, I'm no doctor, and I don't frequent medical seminars. I do research the problem of PCOS, and I provide the info I find here. So read on!
Great News!

We are tired of our symptoms and tired of our symtoms being treated seperately. Let's treat the root cause. Traditionally, our options have been to treat acne with medication like Accutane (not nice on the skin...). One drawback is that it is recommended to avoid waxing excess hair when on this medication! Where does that leave us?! We are told to treat the lack of periods with birth control pills, and we are also told these birth control pills will control hair growth. Tell that to a beautiful woman who has to get up and shave every morning. Birth control pills are NOT CONTROLLING it! Thank God that doctor's are listening! Many many Doctor's and Endocrinologists are working on finding a treatment for PCOS through the study and blind tests of medications used to treat other diseases ie: diabetes. Here's what they have come up with, (according to my research!). It has been found that lowering insulin levels in us, stops the negative activity occuring with our hormones which causes the rise in male hormones. Which means in english that we get to stop it where it starts! The two drugs I hear of most are Metformin and Troglitazone. Ask your doctor about it! Excitingly enough, the use of this medication is showing to be particularly successful in the treatment of those trying to have babies!! Within a few months! That sure sounds better than taking the pill to try and get pregnant doesn't it? These medications are showing to reduce the hormone level problem all around, resulting in the reduction of all the terrible symptoms we suffer, the hair growth, the acne and best of all the infertility! Even...dare I say it...helping us to LOSE THE WEIGHT! These medications were made for use by diabetics, but they are showing that they don't cause problems with our blood sugar as non diabetics. Which I guess is a good thing...but, once again..I'm no doctor. Woah, I can hear you all clicking off and dialing up the doctor's office..... Good luck girls!! Sign my guestbook and let me know how things are!
Keep Yourself Sane!

This syndrome is trying. Here's some other options to let you deal with the symptoms we suffer:

* Try to be as gentle as possible in your hair removal options. Use shaving as a last resort.

* Use complete and specialised skin care! The day I spent $100 on my Mary Kay Basic Skin Care set me free. You have to know how toclean your face. It helps, big time. You need to clean, tone, mask and moisture balance. You need to. Use what's right for you, but use these four steps religiously.

* As tempting as it is, don't bake too much in the sun or tanning bed. This helps a lot with the skin problems, but can result in worse problems, even life threatening skin cancer problems. I'd rather have a zit.

* If you feel depressed, seek help for that as well. I'm convinced there is a link between this disease and depression. Who wouldn't be depressed dealing with such symptoms? If you feel down, tell your doctor, be medicated for it and talk to a counsellor. You do not need the extra problem of depression while treating PCOS.

* Be beautiful! Dress nice, keep your hair done, cut and coloured. Keep your nails done. Despite the problems I suffer with like hair growth and pimples there are men in this world (yes more than one..) who think I'm gorgeous! It's an attitude!

* Rally your family! Probably your mother is the only one who knows about your problem in it's entirety right? Just let the rest of the family know about how things are going. Don't avoid anyone. Most likely, they may have noticed the symptoms and want to know if you do have options to fix them.

* And of course, visit here often! I hope to have message boards, and a buddy system email list soon! And you are all BEAUTIFUL!