I started gaining weight 6-7 years ago due to PCOS. I was 140, muscular, healthy and loving life...and its become harder and harder for me to remember those days...Now I'm 28 and 215 and literally have tried EVERYTHING like everyone else to lose weight, and all I've done is gain! I am in the process of getting approval for banding, but I find myself laying in bed thinking "why is this time going to be any different than every other time I've tried to lose weight." So I am finding myself feeling really sad and down, and I am hoping to get some encouragement, and some hope. I just feel really alone....

Hi, I just found this site because I am considering lap band surgery and have been diagnosed as PCOS. I hear your story and sounds too much like mine. I battled weight problems as a child and around age 18 I became very athletic and muscular- weight was 140 for a little while. After college the ability to exercise 2 hours a day slowly diminished and the weight crept back up. After a rough time with work and a feeling of depression I settled on taking an antidepressant. Within 4 months I gained 40 lbs and the weight has slowly crept higher and higher to my current 235 lbs. It took only about 2 years or less to make it to 220 and then the 235 in the last couple years. I have been off the medication a few years now- fearing it caused the weight gains. But haven't lost any weight since being off it.

I was diagnosed last year with PCOS only after bringing it to my OBGYN's attention because I could not understand why- no matter what I tried- I could not lose weight. I knew there was a problem when I trained for (5 months) and completed a century ride in 2000 - among several bike rides that were 50+ miles. Then in 2007 I trained (5 months) for and completed a 1/2 marathon (walking). My clothes actually felt tighter! I was going out of my mind!!! Why didn't I lose ANY weight??

I think we have all felt the devastation of saying "this is the last time I am trying another new thing to try to lose the weight." And if you're like me you keep doing more and different things just to see if it will change life because you really can't give up. I still haven't given up exercising because that is the one thing that keeps me from laying in my bed and feeling sad. Not that I don't feel it some days.

It's also hard because alot of friends and family really just want to believe "if only you ate this way" or "you just have to keep up with the exercise." They don't understand and I've worked harder than they have- only to feel like I achieved nothing in batttling the weight problem. Alot of people see it as willpower- I only can smile at them and say "thanks for your advice." I still have a hard time believing that all my efforts resulted in almost zero weight loss.

Today is a good day for me and I feel okay about my weight- tomorrow might not be so happy- but I at least hope you see that you are not alone. There are a generous number of women out there battling the same problem- It sounds like you will find a good handful of them- with support- if you need it on this site. I'm hoping I can get alot of support as well because I have tons of questions!!!

I do hope you feel better- sorry for the long post, I just didn't want you to feel alone in this battle- I'm right next to ya! :ohmy:

Hi, thank you guys for posting. You can't imagine how good it feels to know that someone else knows EXACTLY how I feel and has experienced EXACTLY what I've experienced. Minervous, your story is my story. There is just no way to explain what PCOS does to a woman unless that person has actually experienced it.

I should be getting my last approval before the insurance is sent in, next week. I want this surgery so bad. Good luck to you guys.

Marie715

srsmith,

I know exactly what you are going through. I was 22 when I was diagnosed with PCOS and told my chance of every having a child was slim. I'm 41 and still have no child.

I've tried every diet, even made up a few. I'd lose some then hit a wall and it'd all come back and bring a few friends! It wears you down because you do everything the books say you should and you don't get the results. On top of that is attitudes of people in the street who think you are stupid cause you can't lose the weight! And that doesn't include family and friends who haven't got the slightest idea.

So, why is this time different? Well, there's a couple of reasons, I don't think they really know all the reasons yet, but basically I know of 2.

1. The stomach doesn't really have any nerve endings, most of them are around the top part of the stomach where the band sits. They let the brain know when to signal you are full. The current theory is food moves too fast past these in some people and they don't get enough stimulation to trigger the brain, so we may eat more than we need or we get hungry again really quickly. The band puts a constant pressure on these nerves so they are constantly stimulated and tell the brain we have enough in our tummy.

2. It actually constricts the size of the opening the food can go through. If you eat solid foods after the first month, they are too bulky to just slip through so the band causes a sort of blockage or dam wall to hold it all there. While its there you feel full. Slowly it will slip through - like a couple of hours later - and the sensation of needing something in your tummy will disappear.

3. So many women with PCOS have been through this and it has worked in every case where the person has done their part of the programme. Its not a case of get it and forget it. You still have to do the hard work, you still have to watch what you eat and exercise, the difference this time is you have a buddy, a partner to help, who will do its share of the work if you do yours and together you WILL SUCCEED.

I've been through the dispair of trying all sorts of things and seeing them fail time and time again. I've been where you are. I was actually where you are when I first heard about this, why would it work for me. Nothing else has, but I turned that around. What is so special about me that it wouldn't work for me where it has for thousands of other women in my exact same position? See, I've seen the evidence in others. I know it works and I know my body is just a body. Its not defective in some special way that nobody else has. It has an hormonal imbalance sure, but so do many of these other people and its worked for them. So, logic tells me it will work for me. I've decided to accept it is a fait accompli this time. As long as I play my part, I will lose the weight - and I will definitely play my part.

So, I've gone to ebay and bought myself some very nice clothes in a size 12 (about a US size 10). I would never have dared to do this before, but I am so convinced this time it will work that I've done this as my further incentive. I was exactly like you this time last year, "that'll never work for me" and now I am 180 degrees opposite. I KNOW it will work. I've decided to accept the evidence of countless people in many countries who have had success. I simply will not accept anything less than reaching my goal weight within 18 months and also getting pregnant along the way!

And you know what? I KNOW it will work for you too.

Thank you for sharing your story.

I was diagnosed with PCOS in 1990. I was 22 and madly in love with someone who wanted a large family. Obviously we didn't marry... I'd always been a very active person. I was on the soccer and softball teams, swam anchor on the swim team. I rode, biked, hiked, rappelled. In college I was on the crew and fencing teams. I was healthy and fit.

I remember my senior year of high school through my senior year of college I was constantly in a panic that I was pregnant -- even though I was a 'safety girl' -- because my period was suddenly always late. And it got later and later. My skin got oiler and a bit coarser-- it didn't feel to me as soft as it once was. And I gained 20# in a year, even though I hadn't changed anything about my activity level or eating habits.

Then, around age 25, the hair growth on my face started...chin and neck... and then 5 years later, the hair thinning on my head. I once had what my sisters called 'fairy-tale princess hair' long thick hair that grew in spiral ringlets that most people paid a fortune to get, and I lost most of it.

I tried dieting, I tried exercising, I tried medications. I would lose about 35# and then I would get stuck. Each time I would stick it out a little longer, promised myself that I would break through that concrete floor, but it wouldn't happen. I'd get discouraged and give up, and the weight would bounce back up. It sucked. It still sucks.

When I was 35, I resigned myself to being fat. I told myself if I could not lose the weight myself and keep it off, then I deserved to be fat. But that was negative self-talk, and it kept me in a defeated frame of mind for 4 years. Then one day I told a friend that it was ok to ask for help, that she didn't have to do it all herself. And I realized that I needed to take that to heart, too, and ask for help. And I did.

Weight loss surgery has been prominent in my life for a dozen years... my younger sister who had PCOS also had the surgery and her life completely changed as a result. My doc said that bariatric surgery is the only real way to deal with weight for PCOS patients, but I didn't want it. I had serious concerns about the long-term nutritional consequences of the Gastric Bypass, and so I refused to have it. Years passed, and then my sister brought the LapBand to my attention and I read about it with a real sense of hope for the first time in a very long time.

I am 4 weeks out from surgery. I feel like someone who has been trying to dig a hole finally being given a shovel. I will still have to do the work of digging, but I'll be far more efficient and less likely to be discouraged. Right now, I am flailing around in the throes of a syndrome no one really understands except that it 'involves insulin resistance and ovaries somehow', but with the Band I expect to be able to deal with the symptoms much more effectively while the medical establishment looks for the answer to the PCOS riddle.

Have hope, and be determined. Be unstoppable. Things will happen that cause delays, but if you are really committed to being at a healthy weight and fitness level, then fight for it. It is a fight for your life-- because, let me tell you, I'm 40 and the long-term effects of obesity on PCOS patients is not pleasant.

Good luck to you.

Thank you, Kegra, for taking the time to share your story. Your words are so inspiring to me and other PCOS sufferers.

I have not been over weight my whole life. In high school i was 110 pounds .

As a young adult i was 130-150 pds .

My weight issues started about 10 yrs ago when I got married , became a stay at home mom and got pregnant the same YEAR !! Not a real good combo for someone's weight.

When i got married in 2000 i was about 140-150 pds. More than I had ever weight in my life.

In 2001 i became pregnant w/ my second son and my weight just came on and on and on ( I GOT HUGE ) . After I had him , the weight did not come off. Would not come off.

I'll be honest though I did not and have not tried every diet under the sun.

I tried Atkins , I tried weight watchers , working out a curves and eating better over the last 7 or so yrs. So did i try EVERYTHING ? Probably not .

I also have PCOS I was diagnosed about 15 yrs ago But im sure I have had it a lot longer than that .

It became very obvious to me that my weight was not going to come off. Over about 7 yrs I lost 25 pds and that was IT !! So I gave up . I wont lie I did !

A few yrs ago WLS started to be in the press more and more , people were talking about it ect.

Gastric Bypass came up , I knew that was not for me , just did not feel i need anything that drastic ... OH Yeah BTW I was 250 PLUS pounds by now !!

So i waited . Then Lap Band Surgery started to come to light . I checked into it and thought " humm" this might be for me "

Being self employed at this time I knew we could not afford it at that point. So I researched more, spent lots of time on message boards and realized THIS WAS FOR ME .

Talked to my hubby about it and he agreed to the surgery .

I had my surgery on July 16 2007 and I am down 100pds ( it was 105 but I gained some weight from a recent total unfill and vacation )

I dont knwo what i woudl have done w/ out my band.

I would have continued down a dark spiral of depression and i would have been miserable ! I feel like every day my doc saved my life.

My husband tells me now he has his wife back . My kids like having me around more ( I think )

The band is a tool that works for those who have PCOS !!!

Love

Mindy

Yeah, Mindy!! I am going to print your post out and keep it with me. You have PCOS and you lost 100 pounds with the lap band!! So take that, PCOS. You don't have Mindy to kick around anymore. And soon, you won't have me to kick around either. PCOS, this fight between me and you has been going on way too long and you've won every round so far. Not for long. My KO with PCOS is coming soon.

Congratulations, Mindy.

Marie

Yeah, Mindy!! I am going to print your post out and keep it with me. You have PCOS and you lost 100 pounds with the lap band!! So take that, PCOS. You don't have Mindy to kick around anymore. And soon, you won't have me to kick around either. PCOS, this fight between me and you has been going on way too long and you've won every round so far. Not for long. My KO with PCOS is coming soon.

Congratulations, Mindy.

Marie

LOL Marie your too funny !!

My PCOS bought has been tough . Some "normal" treatments for it like the pill and metformin didnt work for me . They give me migraines. So I could not take any of them . You can do it too so can everyone. IF I CAN YOU CAN !!