Fighting PCOS Naturally

While on DCI, Vitex and Cinnamon/Chromium blend, I have consistently lost 1-3 pounds a week without much effort, lost most of my cystic acne, seen a drastic reduction in my hidradenitis suppurativa, and my cycle length has gone from 534 days to... 41! I'm sure if I hadn't been so extremely stressed out from our emergency move last week, it would have been shorter. My husband was threatened at gunpoint right in front of our apartment building for politely telling someone they were driving in the wrong lane. We found a new place the very next day, and got out as soon as we could. I had alot of cramping last week, so I was expecting AF. She showed up today - which explains the crappy feeling I had this morning. The only annoying thing I have been dealing with for a while is sore breasts. They don't hurt as long as I'm wearing a bra. As soon as they have no support, they hurt pretty bad. Shockingly my hubby can't tell me if they've gotten bigger, but I think they ...

A weird thing has happened to me in the last few years - I've become paranoid/skittish/pessimistic. I used to be up to trying pretty much anything. Someone wanted to go out to a new place for dinner, no problem. Concert? Sure. New medicine from the doctor? got it. But now, new things scare the crap out of me. It's pretty annoying. Let's start with locations - concert and sports venues. Superpages didn't really worry me too much because I knew that the lawn was big. I've been able to handle that. But American Airlines Center? hahaha yeah right. It was designed to have a crapload of people. So was the Ballpark. My heart races, my hands shake and my legs turn to rubber when there is any thought of going to some large place. I don't understand why. I used to go to the District Conventions (massive gathering of Jehovah's Witnesses) when I was younger, and never had a problem. There were thousands of people, and it didn't matter to me (of course I did know t...

We all know the saying, "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." I agree, but rarely can find time to eat before I have to head out to work. I much prefer getting as much sleep as I can, and I'm often getting up at the last second. I am also on a low carb diet, so my breakfast options are limited. That's where this awesome recipe comes in! Think of these as egg muffins! I make these the night before so I can grab one or two on my way out the door! Grab a muffin pan, some eggs, and any toppings you want - I used minced garlic, diced turkey bacon, salt and pepper. Preheat your oven to 350. Spray the pan with cooking spray. Crack open each egg and pour into muffin pan, taking care not to break the yolk. I usually make six eggs at a time - they are only good refrigerated for a couple of days. Sprinkle whatever toppings you choose carefully over each egg. Stick the pan in the oven and bake for at least 10 minutes. I love runny yolks, so 10 min is fine for me. I...

I am very pleased to report that after 5 weeks of DCI, my acne is almost completely gone! I have no more cycstic acne. I have a few little red spots left, but that's it! Awesome! I am very excited that I have seen results like this - because I have only had a clear face after using ProActiv, and I'm too lazy to do that entire system. I have yet to see AF, but I'm still hopeful. I wasn't expecting my acne to go away so fast, so I'm hoping that in the next month or so she'll show up. I bought a couple of infertility books last night that seemed pretty all-inclusive. I can't wait til they get here so I can start reading. Oh, and I bought a gym. It's a Weider Total Body Works 5000. It's one of those that you use your own weight to work out with. I've used one like it before and loved it. We are rearranging the dining room tonight so we have some room for it as well, so I can watch tv and work out. My new weight goal is to reach 240 (on my scale) ...

I was reading comments yesterday on a PCOS facebook fan page. I was in shock to discover that all of these women posting thought that the only thing they could do to deal with their PCOS symptoms was to take Metformin. Although Metformin does work well, it comes with some nasty side affects, like painful stomach problems and the inability to stay out of the bathroom for more than 5 minutes at a time. So I commented on the status, reassuring these women that Metformin wasn't the only option. In less than 20 minutes, I received a long message from a girl roughly my age that was heartbroken because Metformin was making her sick and the doctor told her the only way she would ever be able to have children would be through fertility drugs after she lost almost 60 pounds. Now while I do agree that losing weight makes it a little easier to have a baby, it's definitely not absolutely necessary. I know several women that are larger than me that have been able to get pregnant and have bea...

I know this week is a little late, but I wanted to wait until after I went to the doctor Wednesday to post. I had blood work done a few weeks ago, and I was very curious about the results. I had a basic metabolic panel and a liver function panel. As with most PCOSers, our liver can become a concern due to Insulin Resistance. Thankfully, I don't have to worry about that for a while. Everything came back perfect! All results were within range, and I was excited to find out that my fasting glucose level was 89. Score! Even better still was my weight. I have lost 4 pounds since I started on DCI last month! I started at 256 and I am now 252. Thats a total of 10 pounds in the last 3 months. There have been no intentional dietary changes - I'm still addicted to Chipotle and Jack in the Box's Chicken Teiyaki Bowl. However, I have been craving better foods lately. At midnight Monday, I was starving... And I didn't want junk food. I wanted a veggie plate full of broccoli, tomat...

Glossary: DH - Dear husband AF- Aunt Flo O - Ovulate ICSI - intracytoplasmic sperm injection (expensive advance reproductive therapy) In 2006 I was diagnosed with depression and bipolar II disorder. I was off my meds for several years, and just got back on them about 3.5 months ago. My psychiatrist decided that my depression wasn't bad enough to give me a second medication, so she just prescriped Equetro for my BP. It has worked fairly well, and I haven't had any intense mood swings. But... I don't think I'm happy. I sure don't feel happy. I feel, well, depressed. I can't get excited about anything. I don't want to leave the house, because it requires so much effort to get out the door. I don't want to cook because it hurts to stand for too long. I don't want to go to work because it means I have to get out of bed. All I do when I get home from work is sit on the couch and watch tv til I can force myself to go to bed. I know this isn't norm...