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I cured my PCOS!From: Claire (anonymous@obgyn.net)Mon, 4 Aug 2003 10:07:21 -0500 (CDT)
To anyone interested in curing their PCOS and insulin resistance, A little background on me My name is Claire Oosthuizen, I am twenty years old and I am currently a student at Rhodes University in South Africa. I understand that a huge percentage of the American population has PCOS (I believe about 10 percent of women), but only a tiny percentage of people are ever cured. Hopefully, reading this will inspire women with this disorder to take their health into their own hands. I am proud to say that I USED to have Polyciystic Ovary Syndrome. Today, my hormones are completely normal, I am ovulating normally, my weight is normal (although I would still like to lose a bit more), my skin isn’t perfect but I’m only twenty and it’s a huge improvement on what my skin used to look like! Two years ago, I was overweight, I had terrible acne - the crater causing kind on my cheeks that usually only boys get- and I started to notice an increase in facial and body hair. (You are supposed to be at least somebody’s mother before you have to worry about hairs on your chinny-chin-chin!) I went to my GP to speak to him about referring me to a dermatologist about my skin. I thought the weight was just due to my lack of will power, and the extra hair was just due to an unfair serving of bad genes! My GP was clever enough to perform the correct tests and sent me off to a Gynecologist who diagnosed me with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and Insulin resistance (which is apparently the main cause of PCOS). I was put onto a contraceptive pill (Diane-35 and Androcure) to treat the PCOS as well as Metformin to treat the Insulin Resistance, however, my understanding of these medicines is that they subdue the symptoms of the disorder so that no more damage is done to the ovaries, but as soon as you come off these medicines you are back to square one: the symptoms reappear! So for me this solution was not a treatment, it was a way to protect my ovaries while we tried to find a cure. By “we” I mean mainly my mother who tirelessly searched the Internet for possible cures. The only case studies we found where the women successfully began ovulating again, were where the drugs were kicked out the window and huge lifestyle changes were made. I found one diet that was formulated by a gynecologist that consisted of eating plenty of phytoestrins such as soya and chickpeas as well as a whole concoction of herbs and supplements. But the main course of action that seems to be successful is converting to a low carbohydrate diet! Simple as that! I had read over and over that a low carbohydrate diet was the way to go! I resisted this option for months as I love my bread and rice and deserts and chocolate etc. I was also concerned about picking up weight if I ever went off the diet. Dr. Leslie Pleass, an Osteopath and Naturopath in Johannesburg, who I admire very much, advised me to avoid carbohydrates and prescribed various supplements. Eventually, the fears of possibly never having children kicked me into action. The decision to eat that way is big because it means that this is how you’ll eat for the rest of your life, it is not a quick fix, but it works. So I weighed up all my options: I could either be fat, pimply, hairy, have heart disease, thrombosis, eventual diabetes, infertility (the list goes on) while taking strong drugs every day, or I could give up carbohydrates! So I gave up carbohydrates and it’s really a lovely way to eat – very luxurious! Even if you love all of those unhealthy breads and deserts, trust me you get used to anything! Here is what I did to cure myself step-by-step: - I don’t think that being on the Pill for a short period is a bad idea as it is a quick way to fix acne, hirsutism, as well as protect your ovaries until your hormones are correct – as long as when you come off the Pill you are already doing the right thing so you don’t backtrack!!!!! I was on the Pill for about a year but I came off Metformin very quickly since it made me feel terrible and I don’t believe it is a cure anyway. - When I came off the Pill I started to take natural progesterone for two weeks out of the month - I stopped this after six months. - I took a range of supplements, here is a list: GTF chromium, zinc, calcium, magnesium, selenium, essential fatty acids, vitamin C and E, vitamin B comlex and Alpha lipoic-acid (I found that I felt best on FoodStateTM products). I also took a herb called Milk Thistle to aid liver function as the liver needs to get rid of all old hormones effectively. - I react badly to stress and I’m no doctor but I’m sure I gave myself a cyst from stress once. One thing I know is that your body can’t heal itself properly if you are very stressed – the best way to put natural sedatives into your body is via endorphins i.e. exercise is very important! - I had my amino acids checked out and I was found to be hugely lacking in fifteen out of twenty of the essential amino acids. The doctor who interpreted my results said that I couldn’t possibly be producing proper insulin which is a protein and that my body was probably producing a “pseudo-insulin” which is why it couldn’t be recognized by my cells and hence the insulin resistance. A possible cause of the whole mess? Anyway I also took an amino acid replacement supplement. - But the main thing that I did was follow the Dr. Atkins low carbohydrate diet and I’m positive that even if you didn’t do all the other things I did this would do the trick! My two cents about Low Fat diets It makes so much sense to me that a high carbohydrate/low fat diet is so dangerous! If you think about the whole hunter-gatherer theory, our bodies have evolved to deal with foods you can find on the ground or things that you could hunt so theoretically, we should only eat vegetables and meat. Processed, massed produced food is a relatively new concept. It is only recently that most people believe that overloading your body with sugar (via fat free bread and pasta and rice etc.) is healthy is it also recently that diabetes and insulin resistance and such have reached epidemic proportions, coincidence? Also, your cells need fats and oils to survive and in particular, you need to have plenty of good oils to produce hormones. If you have a hormone imbalance and you are following a low fat diet , from what I’ve learned this is a really bad idea! Again, I’m no doctor and any academics would find many gaps in my research, this is all just my two cents worth! Conclusion I have no medical qualifications and I all I know is what I have read and experienced, however, I have cured myself from PCOS and insulin resistance and as far as I’m concerned I deserve a medal! After I converted to the Dr. Atkins diet my hormones were completely normal after four months! I wish I could have been cured earlier so that I could address this to Dr. Atkins himself to tell him how grateful I am, I was very grieved to find out about his death – he was a truly great man and I owe my life to him! Good luck!! Regards, Claire Oosthuizen
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