Good Saturday morning to all ...

Just wondering if anyone that was previously diagnosed with PCOS and since had the lap band has noticed if the symptoms of PCOS is pretty much gone for good. When ever i go to the OBGYN they say its because of my weight, i have always been overweight and my periods were rather normal up until i got married. Since being married i now have an intimate life and that was non exsistant before. I am wondering if those 10 lbs that were put on after marriage really made the PCOS come out or if it is an under lying problem. If anyone can offer any advice on if Losing the weight made the symptoms disappear it would be greatly appreciated.

Becca

Don't want to sound dumb... what is PCOS?

Polycystic ovarian syndrome -- basically your ovaries have a bunch of little cysts in them. When they do a sonogram they look like a string of pearls.

Often folks with PCOS don't have regular menses... and rarely ovulate without outside assistance. There's a huge list of symptoms & not everyone has all of them. The definitive diagnosis is the sonogram. It does seem to be tied to insulin resistance... which of course is related to weight.

I have PCOS & am hoping losing weight will help... but I'm still at the beginning of my journey, so I don't have results yet.

I'm PCOS but I'm not banded yet. I'll have to wait and see!

Polycystic ovarian syndrome -- basically your ovaries have a bunch of little cysts in them. When they do a sonogram they look like a string of pearls.

Often folks with PCOS don't have regular menses... and rarely ovulate without outside assistance. There's a huge list of symptoms & not everyone has all of them. The definitive diagnosis is the sonogram. It does seem to be tied to insulin resistance... which of course is related to weight.

I have PCOS & am hoping losing weight will help... but I'm still at the beginning of my journey, so I don't have results yet.

Janet has pointed out some very good things about PCOS; however, not everyone that has PCOS has cysts on their ovaries. My sonogram ruled out cysts. I have a few of the other symptoms though, primarily obesity from the age of 11 or 12, which prompted my doctor to have me tested for it. I had to take a pill one evening that is supposed to shut down a particular gland and then fast until blood was drawn for testing the next morning. If the blood test showed that the particular gland was still at normal production, it confirmed that I had PCOS. My particular experience with PCOS has proven that I'm unable to lose weight without the help of the band. I've tried and tried, only to lose 30 or so pounds, stall for months on end, then get discouraged and gain it all back (and then some). Unfortunately, this is the case for some with PCOS. Being banded has helped me lose weight consistently and without stalling. I wish you the best!

Wow, I didn't know about the blood test, that's cool!

I didn't know I had it until we were trying to get pregnant. The doctor popped the wand in & said, "Oh. Well there ya go. You have PCOS." I said, "What? What's that?" Hehe.

Wow, I didn't know about the blood test, that's cool!

I didn't know I had it until we were trying to get pregnant. The doctor popped the wand in & said, "Oh. Well there ya go. You have PCOS." I said, "What? What's that?" Hehe.

Yeah, it's a pretty easy test except that, prior to banding, if I fasted too long, I would get horrible migraines. This was one of those times. Ugh!!

JanetC,

So have you gotten pregnant yet? I am reaaly wanting to get pregnant and also have PCOS. I have tried Clomid with my OBGYN and my ovaries are not responding. I was banded on June 23, 2006. I have lost 14 pounds so far. I really hope losing a lot of the excess weight is the key. I so long to be a mother. I am getting really depressed. My husband and I have been trying for two years now. I guess if the weight lose doesn't assist with pregnancy we'll have to pay big bucks for in-vitro.

Thanks for any info you can give,

Jenn

I have PCOS, I was diag with it at 16 (although had no idea what it meant then). I am now 37, ok 38 in 2 weeks, and I have 2 beautiful kids. It took 12 yrs to have them. I fell preg at 8yrs ttc only to lose that bub. The conceive my 2nd child everything that worked for my 1st child failed, I turned to chinese medicines and conceived in 2 mths. I was also taking Clomid and Met at the same time. Both Dr's knew about each other.

My PCOS is pretty bad, I had 35 large cycst on one ov and the other side they couldnt see at all. I am overweight, hormal hair, etc.

I realise this thread is now old, but hope this helps someone.

Regards,

Hi ladies, I am 29 and was diagnosed with PCOS at 18. There is a great website for PCOS www.soulcysters.com

They even have a thread for WLS called "wls divas". As an adult I have been thin and heavy. When I was thin I noticed my PCOS at a minimum ie: periods were normal, mimimal facial hair, etc. As soon as I gained my weight back all the symptoms came back as well. My GYNO gave me Fortamet which is a diabetic med. to help with symptoms, but i did not find it helped. Many women with PCOS are insulin resistant, so they treat it like you are diabetic. I have been banded for almost one month and have only lost 9 pounds, but I am hoping to be back to my thin self some day.

I have found that weight loss does help with PCOS. Good luck to you all!

Good to know your symptoms got better after your banding. I have PCOS and am being banded next week. I just had a Endometrial Abliation last week and that is supposed to help my period situation. But I am hoping this helps too.

Every year after I turned 19 my PCOS showed it's head a little more. When I was 20 my periods got further appart. When I was 21 I had a hard time getting pregnant. When I was 23 finally had first child. By this time my periods were every 45=75 days. 27 got preg with second child. 28 periods every 75-135 days. Now I have diabetes which is common with PCOS women. I only had this procedure done because I was told I had to take hormones to have a period because building up of the endometrium is what increases risk of cancer. So this way I have no linning anymore and dont have to make myself have a period.

Sorry if that was too much personal info.....

Actually the cyst is a myth....

What I mean is just like every women have all or just a few of the symptoms, a women may or may not have cyst.

The diagnosis is based on a women's history, blood work looking at LH and FSH hormones which trigger ovulation. Also physical findings like excess facial or body hair, acne, irregular periods along with cyst or blood work can be used to diagnosed.

I was diagnosed on history, My LH was almost non existant and my FSH was thru the roof. Or maybe it was the other way around, whatever it was it was opposit of what it was supposed to be. Plus I was insulin resistant at the time of diagnosis and now am diabetic. I had extra hair on my belly which I always shave because it make me feel embaressed. My periods where also a part of my diagnosis. I was having period anywhere from 35-45 days when I started periods at 14 then they gradually got further apart to the point where I will only have one if I take hormones. The hormones increase PMS, ACNE, Pain and bleeding 100%.

I dont have cyst but I have all the other symptoms of PCOS.

Also most women with PCOS are heavy and it may be they are heavy because of the PCOS and it hormonal effects on their matabolism or they may be heavy because of what they eat and it triggers they PCOS symptoms. Either way it makes trying to loose weight impossible unless you can eat like a bird....

Janet has pointed out some very good things about PCOS; however, not everyone that has PCOS has cysts on their ovaries. My sonogram ruled out cysts. I have a few of the other symptoms though, primarily obesity from the age of 11 or 12, which prompted my doctor to have me tested for it. I had to take a pill one evening that is supposed to shut down a particular gland and then fast until blood was drawn for testing the next morning. If the blood test showed that the particular gland was still at normal production, it confirmed that I had PCOS. My particular experience with PCOS has proven that I'm unable to lose weight without the help of the band. I've tried and tried, only to lose 30 or so pounds, stall for months on end, then get discouraged and gain it all back (and then some). Unfortunately, this is the case for some with PCOS. Being banded has helped me lose weight consistently and without stalling. I wish you the best!

I am so glad to read this....

I have PCOS and have been over weight since about 9. I have never been able to loose more then 20lbs unless I was preg then I could not gain weight and would end up 20lbs light then pre preg weight, It was crazy...

Anyways I was worried what effect the PCOS would have on my weight loss and I am glad to see someone lossing weight with PCOS .

This is a long shot but it might work....

I was unable to have a period on my own for over 3 yrs and then my DR put me on Actos (it is for diabetes) and all of the sudden I was have a period. NOt all the time but every 65days or so and for me that was alot. Anyways one of the things the diabetes nurse warned me of is that Actos has been know to get a women going thru menopause or in menopause to have periods and start ovulation again. She said they had heard of women getting preg on it when they thought they were thru their child having days.

On Web MD they have a PCOS board and on it they discuss TTC meds. One girl asked what we new about Actos because her Dr said they wanted to try it because the other meds were not working to get her ovulating again. Anyways it might be worth going to the WEB MD message board and Posting.

My husband and I tried for over 2 yrs and on the 3 yr mark we finally had our first child. Our second one came 4 yrs later but that was only because I was in nursing school and not TTC. 1 yrs after my second child was born my hormone levels went crazy and my OB=GYN told me it was a good thing I had my youngest when I did because I would not have been able to conceive on my own. Like I said I now only have periods if I take hormones to have one or if I was on ACTOS....

Good luck and dont give up....

I also have PCOS and looking back have had it since a teenager (although not diagnosed until 7 years ago).

When I was younger (late teens and twenties) I used to live on 1 meal a day, black coffee and cigarettes to keep my weight down then when I gave up smoking ,had my children and started to actaully eat I blew up like a balloon, grew facial hair and my periods became irregular (anything from 45-65 day cycle).

I had my surgery 8 weeks ago and on my last dietician visit (3 weeks ago) had officially lost 25lbs and guess what.....I had my first 28day cycle in almost 10 years!

I figured I had PCOS about 8 years ago and went through all the testing with this specialist that was in my Gyn group--guess what, after all the ultrasounds, blood work, glucose tests, etc, etc he told me I don't have it. I should take birth control pills if I wanted normal cycles. I had asked about it because I was thinking of getting married and we had talked about kids. At the time, I would have a period on my own about every 5 months or so and it would last 7-10 days and was painful and very heavy. So I started on birth control pills, gained some more weight, but had light cycles every 28 days. I then noticed the hair on my abdomen getting fuller, my "beard" was coming in nicely, my moustache also got darker, skin got very dry, my hair on my head was falling out- I was a mess. Well 2 years later we were in a Natural Family planning (NFP) class that was required before getting married in our church and then and there we decided to stop the BCs. I still had all my symptoms. Nine months later we got married and I had started a new job. They were doing a Weight Watchers thing so I joined in. Lost 30 pounds and started having cycles about 35 days apart. We conceived our first baby without trying but looking back on the NFP charts I can tell you which day it was. After our first, I only lost 11 of the 35 pounds I had gained and was heavier then ever.

So 2 more years go by-I had seen a fertility specialist when my daughter was 18 months old. My cycles had not restarted after she was born. I had 3 cycles in 18 months and when I saw him it had been 5 months since my last cycle. At my visit he got me in the ultrasound room and what do you know-I saw my both of my ovaries and they looked like swiss cheese. He said you have PCOS-and it must have really kicked in after your baby. I got started on Glucophage and my cycles came back to every 35-60 days but the side effects were terrible and I was not losing any weight. I tried Clomid on 4 different cycles with no success. I did get pregnant once on my own and then miscarried at 9 weeks, that occured Aug 30, 2005. I was miserable.

I then started looking at lap-band surgery. I was banded on August 17 2006, also the first day of my last cycle. I am now down to what my fertility doc says is my set limit to conceive. My fertility doc said that most women with diagnosed PCOS have an internal set limit above which they can't get pregnant no matter what interventions they try. I know what mine is because I am the same weight that I was when I conceived her and now my period is late............I have not been brave enough to see a pregnancy test yet.