DS cures PCOS?

[DianaCox]

I am looking for anecdotal evidence of PCOS being cured or put in remission, including:

• Facial hair
• Acne
• Fertility
• And of course, obesity

I want to link this information to someone who insists that there is no cure for PCOS, and that they should learn to live with the consequences.

Please post your results here, and get others to post as well.

 

[hilary1617]

I have PCOS and DS. Prior to DS, I had amenorrhea. I had probably only 10 or 12 natural periods in my life. The rest were medically induced - I would take progesterone periodically (no pun intended). To become pregnant required clomid. Since DS, I have had a period every month. Every dang month.

 

[Munchkin]

I was never officially diagnosed but I know I had it. You can add skin tags, thinning hair, and the buffalo or dowager's hump to your list too. Post DS, all gone!!!! Blew me away when all the ugly skin tags fell off! My whole complexion changed too and areas of hyper-pigmentation faded away~!

OK, that's a lie. I still have the thinning hair. It improved a little but I still have crap hair.

 

[bearmom]

I ha

I am looking for anecdotal evidence of PCOS being cured or put in remission, including:

• Facial hair
• Acne
• Fertility
• And of course, obesity

I want to link this information to someone who insists that there is no cure for PCOS, and that they should learn to live with the consequences.

Please post your results here, and get others to post as well.

I had roughly a 30 year history of PCOS symptoms from;

Amenorrhea with my period being extremely unpredictable
Likely fertility issues, but hubby and I never cared enough to find out
Hirsutism causing hair to grow on my chin, which of course is much darker and wirier than any other hair
Ovarian cysts which caused a fair amount of pain
Acanthosis nigricans which are dark patches on the skin which I had on the sides of my neck, armpits, under my boobs and between my thighs
Skin tags of which I had hundreds, literally multiple hundreds that I had frozen off every month mostly on my neck, but some could be in pits, on chest, and even my face.
Cystic acne which I had near my groin, but it can be in more areas

There were more that I can't think of off the top of my head, but it's late here and I already had to go look up spelling on 3 words and I need to go to bed.

Post DS, I no longer take any medications (well, not related to PCOS) and my periods became like clockwork. The hairs on my chin, which I used to have lasered regularly, quit sprouting. So, any that had already sprouted pre-DS, continued to grow until they were also lasered, but no new ones sprouted post-op.

The acanthosis nigricans just disappeared. So did the skin tags, and unlike the hairs, the existing ones I had during surgery didn't need to be frozen off later. I'm not sure if they fell off or reabsorbed, but they are completely gone and I haven't had a single one since. Cystic acne = also gone.

The list of things the DS resolved for me is much longer, but I just named the highlights that were related to my PCOS.

 

[MyNewLife]

Me

Amenorrhea never knew when I would have a cycle (in peri menopause with the Mirena, don't know if it's fixed)
Fertility issues till I didn't want to get preggers. Then I got preggers on the pill
Facial Hair (this didn't go away)
Skin tags (I've got like 3 left)
Acanthosis nigricans all gone
My hair is thinner now
ovarian cysts (I need to go have an ultrasound, last I checked I have two huge ones on each ovary)
Obesity, I was normal two days ago!!!

 

[southernlady]

Developed PCOS at 12 but not officially diagnosed until 1998 after I was diagnosed with diabetes and they figured out there was such a disease as PCOS. I read an article in one of the women's magazines, mentioned it to my PCP and he said I was already on the medication for it. It's why I remained on metformin even after moving on to insulin for my diabetes.

Very irregular...took care of that issue with a partial hysterectomy in 1994. Also took care of the endometriosis as well.
No clue if I had fertility issues because I figured out the only way I would have kids was to marry someone who had them...did that in 1996.
My Acanthosis Nigricans disappeared...had it in my groin area and under my arms.
My skin tags disappeared again (I had gotten rid of them before by having very good control of my blood sugars for a long time but they had reappeared. BTW, skin tags are part of insulin resistance but not a known common one.
AGE has a bit to do with chin hair as well and lack of estrogen as we age. Mine got better but never disappeared like I had hoped. My chin hair now is leaning toward gray more than brown. And I have just a few very stubborn ones that just won't give up.
My hair is much thinner but could it also be due to the many surgeries I have had since my DS? Does age and genetics also play a part here?

I think, like diabetes, PCOS will also not be 100% resolved. There will be some of us who won't be able to enjoy resolution of it even if under much better control.

I am over 4 years out and still have a 6.1 A1C and while that is in range for my age, it would be considered pre-diabetic in a much younger person and require medication. But having an A1C that range means I still treat myself as a diabetic.

 

[cake]

I've seen that most bariatric surgeries can have an effect on PCOS symptoms, and especially insulin resistance. It's interesting because it's kind a chicken and egg conundrum with insulin and other comorbidities. I've seen a someone with PCOS restrict and follow a ketogenic diet, as well as take metformin and not move fasting insulin. However, I've also seen this person's hyperinsulinemia resolve within a couple of months, so there certainly is a hormonal aspect.

Once I have a few more posts I can link it for you, but there's a study called "defining the role of bariatric surgery in polycystic ovarian patients"