Treatment Options for PCOS

It is September which means that it is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Awareness Month!  I am hoping to bring more awareness to this syndrome and help educate you along the way.  I am not a doctor or a nutritionist.  I am a woman who was diagnosed early in life and has been learning about my diagnosis ever since.  If you have specific questions, you can, of course, ask them, and I will do my best to answer.  However, I would encourage you to take them to your doctor as well.

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Unfortunately, if you're born with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, you will have it the rest of your life.  There is no cure.  But there are treatment options.

Please note, most doctors are trained in medicine, so their first option is going to be medication.  If you want other options, you will need to see a more holistic doctor.  But we'll cover that in a future post. ;)  Basically, we just suppress our symptoms since we cannot cure them.

Let's take a look back at the symptoms of PCOS and I'll share what I know about treatment options.

• Irregular Periods:  The birth control pill will be the option to help you regulate your cycle and control the flow.  Some may choose a progesterone only pill instead of the combination pill (estrogen/progesterone).  However, as soon as you go off the pill, the irregular cycle will be back.
• High Androgens (Testosterone):  With a high testosterone level comes a whole host of other symptoms--hirsutism, male pattern baldness, thinning hair--and to help combat those, there's also a medication that can be taken.  A popular one is Spironolactone, which is a blood pressure medication, but can also lower male hormone's effect on hair.
• Insulin Resistance:  Sometimes the doctor will offer a medication used for diabetes, such as Metformin, to help control the insulin levels.  This also will help with weight loss.  This can also help decrease testosterone production.
• Infertility.  Sometimes the cause of infertility in women with PCOS is because the body doesn't naturally ovulate.  A medication (pills or shots) can be used to help "make" the body ovulate.  Another option for help in this area is seeing a fertility specialist to discuss options for conceiving.
• Weight Gain/Obesity.  The best option for this is to lose weight.  But it's kind of a catch-22 because it is HARD to lose weight with PCOS.  Ultimately, it comes down to changing your lifestyle.  Changing the way you eat and making it a habit to work out is extremely important.  I'll be sharing tomorrow what changes I've made in my life.

No matter how you choose to treat your symptoms, it is ultimately up to YOU to decide.  Make sure you know the side effects of each medication before choosing to take them.  Make sure you do your research and educate yourself.  This is extremely important.  YOU are the one that is in charge of your health...YOU get to decide.  Just because a doctor offers you a prescription doesn't mean you have to use it.

The power is in your hands.

If you know someone who could benefit from reading this blog, by all means, share it!  After all, sharing is caring and greatly appreciated!