Fighting PCOS Naturally

I was recently sitting outside with a neighbor, discussing life. I was explaining how RA and fibromyalgia have put a major damper on my life. Last year at this time I was making a killer salary, doing what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it. When you lose the ability to normal things like write or hold a cup of coffee, it really sucks. When you realize that you spent an ungodly amount of money in college learning how to write computer code, then lose the ability to type, it's gut wrenching. When you love to cook, but can no longer stand up long enough to do it, it's devastating. I didn't get a moment to explain my situation to this neighbor. Instead - she felt the need to berate me for feeling down and useless. She had breast cancer and to quote her, "I was puking every morning from chemo and I was still waiting tables every night. I had cancer and I was alone. Suck it up and go back to work." I left the table as soon as the opportunity allowed. All I coul...

I've been silently contemplating a lot lately. I'm sure it has to do with getting back on my anti-depressants and I've been taking my fish oil. I've made the decision to put children off for a while. We already know that our options are limited and financially draining. We know we don't have the capability to pursue adoption, and I'm not physically prepared to use donor sperm. So the logical option is to put kids off for a while. It's really been more of an emotional decision because we knew we couldn't in reality make our dreams come true. I needed to think about how my emotions were hurting me. The self-destructiveness of my thoughts, has really been, well, destructive. When I eat I think, "What's the point in eating healthy if I still can't get pregnant?" "Why should I lose weight? I can't afford new clothes and I still can't have a baby." The baby thoughts have been ruining my life. So I'm going to change all...

Name D-Chiro Inositol, DCI Typical Dosage 600-1800mg daily Usage DCI is a member of the inositol family. It is known to be an important secondary messenger in insulin signal transduction. It can be found in buckwheat farinetta and carob. In double-blind studies, women with PCOS who received DCI experienced the following statistically significant benefits when compared with a control group: lowered free and total testosterone, lowered blood pressure, increased insulin sensitivity and a corresponding improvement in glucose disposal, and increased frequency of ovulation.( Wikipedia ) It has also been shown to decrease circulating insulin and serum androgens in lean women with PCOS. ( Published study by MJ Iuorno ) Chiral Balance, the leading US provider of DCI, offers this great video that explains DCI's effect. My experience I took 1800mg of Chiral Balance brand DCI for several months. I noticed a great reduction in the painful cystic acne on my face and better hair con...

I realized that I don't believe in myself. I was trying to write motivational lines to help psych myself up for a crazy amount of work in the next few days/weeks. Eight lines through, it hit me - "can" is not as powerful as "will". My mom likes to say "The difference between tactful and tactless is less than a word." That resonated with me tonight. Anyone can say they can do something, but it takes more gusto to say they will do something. I should be writing "I WILL SUCCEED", not "I can succeed". That one little word changes EVERYTHING. Instead of believing in myself, I'm giving myself a way out; a way that I can say "I tried" after failing. "WILL" is definite, final, certain, sure. At this point I don't have the luxury of failure. I have to get better. I can't drain my grandparents' retirement savings. I can't continue hoping my husband will get a job. I have to take control. I have no o...

Name N-acetyl cysteine, NAC Typical Dosage 250mg - 1800mg Usage NAC is a form of the amino acid l-cysteine. Homo-cysteine is an amino acid in the blood. An elevated level means that your metabolic processes are not working properly. Elevated homo-cysteine is associated with coronary artery disease, heart attack, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, cognitive impairment, and cervical cancer. Metformin has been shown to increase homo-cysteine levels, and, in general, women with PCOS have higher homo-cysteine levels. A medical study showed that people taking NAC for two months had a significant decrease in homocysteine levels. ( Ovarian-cysts-pcos.com ) A study in Turkey comparing the usage of 1500mg of metformin daily to 1600 mg of NAC daily showed significant results - both treatments show decrease in BMI, fasting insulin, free testosterone and menstrual irregularity, and hirsutism, as well as lower cholesterol levels. ( Published study by G. Oner ) The beauty of NAC is the lack of...

Name Vitex, chasteberry, agnus castus, chaste tree, Abraham's balm, monk's pepper Typical dosage Capsule Form: Capsule form is the most widely used and studied form of Vitex. Nature's Way brand suggests 400mg 2x daily for 8-12 weeks, then once daily for continued maintenance. (This worked for me) Natural-Fertility-Info.com suggests 1000mg daily, except during menstruation. Tincture Form: 10-15 drops daily. **I often see questions about taking Vitex during menstruation. Some bottles of Vitex say not to, while others don't mention it at all. I have been unable to find any substantial evidence pointing one way or another. Dalene Barton from Natural-fertility-info.com says "It is not going to hurt you to use Vitex during your period, we just feel it is best to let your body naturally cleanse and work on its own during the female bleeding time. Some herbalists feel it is fine to use Vitex during the female bleeding time." If it is easier for you to re...

After staying up til 5am yesterday morning, I have finally prepared the first few posts in my new PCOS supplement series, What's That Pill? The goal of this series is to introduce you to natural supplements that can assist in the treatment of PCOS symptoms. Our society as a whole is beginning to realize that there is validity to natural, holistic treatments. I want to do my part to help spread awareness. So barring no internet disasters, you should see these soon: Vitex - Tuesday, 4/10 N-Acetyl Cysteine - Thursday, 4/12 D-Chiro Inositol - Tuesday, 4/17 Hopefully I can get another few posts knocked out this week and be able to continue this series for a while! If you have any supplements you want me to discuss, or you would like to share your experiences with any supplement, please email me - courtneylwallace(at)gmail(dot)com with the subject 'What's That Pill?'