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Re: newly diagnosed and very confused
From: lydia (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Sun, 4 Nov 2001 17:54:11 -0600 (CST)
Thank you Sonnet - You are certainly very educated in all of this!! I
went to the bookstore today and got books on eating healthy, and
managing high insulin. As for the PCOS - I logged on to the pcos
association and learned alot. In all of this - it's wonderful to know
im not alone. I have one child that I am so grateful for. I need to
focus on getting healthy. Thank you for your insight - I printed your
reply so that I can share my illness with others as well! Best of luck
to ya, Lydia
At Sun, 4 Nov 2001, Sonnet wrote:
>
>Hi Lydia! Wow, it sounds like your doctors really haven't done a great
>job at keeping you up to date on what's going on! Let's see if we can
>fix that!
>
>First of all let me send you to http://www.pcosupport.org - it's a GREAT
>website with just so much information. You can learn a great deal about
>PCOS and how to treat it there as well as finding a lot of support.
>
>The basic version of the physiology behind PCOS is thought to be this:
>Insulin is the hormone that moves glucose from your blood into your
>cells. It also stores extra glucose as fat. With PCOS, our cells don't
>recognize a percentage of our insulin. So, in order to get energy into
>the cells and keep our blood sugar at a normal level, our bodies produce
>very high levels of insulin - like yours! The problem is that all of
>that insulin starts storing lots of glucose as fat, and it also
>interacts with the ovaries, adrenal glands, and other different parts of
>your body to overproduce testosterone. That's what causes the acne,
>facial hair, and so on.
>
>Glucophage is a medicine to help your body use its insulin better. That
>means lower insulin levels, and thus less fat storage and less
>testosterone. It will also help to get plenty of excercise (which lets
>your body use your insulin better again) and eat a diet that is well
>balanced, without too many refined sugars and carbohydrates. When we
>eat those, they cause our blood sugar to spike up, which causes our
>pancreas to produce more insulin to deal with it - which makes things
>worse! Go for a lot of complex carbs balanced with plenty of protein and
>moderate fats, which also help.
>
>The high insulin and PCOS are pretty close to the same thing. So, if
>they are treating one (hopefully!) they are treating them both. Usually
>in women with PCOS, if we can ower our insulin levels, we often start
>ovulating again on our own - allowing us to get pregnant!
>
>High insulin levels are lcosely related to diabetes but are not. Insulin
>resistance, when your cells don't recognize your insulin, is very
>similar to Type II Diabetes; but it's not. With diabetes, your blood
>sugar goes high, say over 140mg/dl or so. With PCOS, your high insulin
>keeps the blood sugar in normal limits or even low.
>
>This is long I know but I am hoping it helps. Please feel free to email
>me if I can help you further!
>
>At Sat, 3 Nov 2001, lydia wrote:
>>
>>I am very new to POS - I dont know how I can even begin to lose this
>>weight! The entire reason I went to the Dr's (over and over and over)
>>was the massive weight gain. I am on glucophage - is this supposed to
>>help me lose weight? my dr told me to wait to get pregnant until they
>>can "fix" me - are they treating pos or high insulin in me? what do my
>>insulin levels mean? If 20 or below is normal, and im at 206, do I have
>>diabetes? Please help!! I am so lost!!!
>
>--
>Sonnet Fitzgerald, PCOS Association, Online Community Liaison. Email: sonnet@pcosupport.org
>
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