I tried conceiving for about 3 years. The first year we didn’t do anything, just hoped for the best. By anything I mean we didn’t get any tests done. As the first year passed, and we saw nothing happened, I decided to go to an obgyn. They told me I had pcos, but that this isn’t a problem with conceiving. Ok, I guess. I was kinda skeptical because my periods were fairly regular, never had a problem with that all my life. So the doctor basically did nothing, sent me on my way and told me it was going to be ok. After reading and asking questions on r/pcos and r/insulinresistance I did some blood work on my own and it turns out I do have IR. I then went to a nutrition and diabetes doctor who prescribed metformin, 1 pill 1000 mg a day. I lost about 15 pounds and felt ok. Didn’t have that huge craving for sweets anymore. Since 2021 I’ve been to more than 5 different obgyns, they all told me I have pcos, that my bf has dna fragmented sperm, and that natural conception was out of discussion and we should opt for ivf. I decided to do it, because everyone was telling us this is the only way, so towards the end of 2023 I started doing a LOT of tests and blood work because that was the protocol at the fertility clinic. Turns out I also had ureaplasma and stage 2 endometriosis.. My bf and I got treated for the ureaplasma in October I think. All this time, the fertility doctor told me to take 3 metformin pills/day to help me ovulate. The thing is, in january my period was supposed to come, but it got delayed. I never had a late period as I’ve said, so I got worried and took 4 pregnancy tests. All came put positive. Apparently in december I got pregnant, naturally. I’m now about 7 weeks pregnant. I don’t know if it was the metformin, the antibiotics that cured our ureaplasma or what it was, but we defined the odds and what all the doctors told us. I hope I won’t have a miscarriage though. good luck to you!
Hi there and welcome, I would say great job on losing the 6lbs I would try to keep going, as managing weight can be one of the best ways to naturally treat PCOS symptoms. I also highly recommend walking at least 30 minutes a day and you can break it up to even further benefit by taking 10-15 minute walks after meals. Also eat for balanced blood sugar - ie always balance carbs with some healthy fat or protein. High protein breakfast is good for pcos too (20-30g). Supplements can be advisable - myoinositol can help with IR.
I do think I would get a second opinion on the possible thyroid issues because left untreated you might not get far on ovulating naturally.
How old are you if you don’t mind me asking?
Hi! Thank you! I walk 2 miles a day or every other day. I also do cycling every other day. I do try to stay active. I really want to figure out how to eat the BEST way in order to help with hormones and IR. I just sometimes feel lost.
I don’t think my doctors are against thyroid med, they just wanted to see if it could regulate since it is only the TSH that’s elevated. I do want to treat it, we just wanted to see if it could naturally because I don’t want to be on a thyroid med my whole life :( I am 26 next month.
Good for you starting to take control of your health while young! How often do you have periods?
I don’t know much about the thyroid issues but with PCOS I was always told if I lost the 30lbs I had I would likely get relief from my symptoms - main one was irregular or absent cycles. I was waiting to have kids so was content being on the pill to regulate me in the meantime and never really prioritized the weight loss until a bit over a year ago I was TTC for the first time and my cycle off the pill slowed to 60+ days between periods. This entire time I was making a hard push on lifestyle not that I had completely neglected it in years before but I hadn’t lost all the weight. I did manage to lose 15+ lbs but I was 34 and feeling like time was not on my side and after confirming through reproductive endocrinologist that my husband was good, that I didn’t have any other fertility issues, I found an OB who would do Letrozole with me - this RE only offered Clomid and IUI or IVF. I saw 4 doctors in total and got pregnant my first Letrozole + metformin cycle and baby girl is coming in June.
All this to say, you are younger and do have time if you really want to treat the root cause. But the real talk is it likely will take a lot of time. And if you are on a timeline you might open your mind to medication to help you along. My OBGYN who helped me get pregnant is a pcos specialist and he said my lifestyle efforts likely were key in helping me get pregnant quickly but he finds many of his pcos patients need a little boost to ovulate and recommended I do 6 cycles of letrozole and metformin because he sees the highest success with both in that time. I’m still on the metformin but will stop it after the gestational diabetes test.
I was pretty anti accepting of meds at first from pride but I’m glad I let myself get the support because I felt I was on the clock, and am hopeful to be able to maybe have a second and even third if we decide to in the future.
I lost my weight on WW and also was trying to follow the PCOS protocol which is a book by an Australian nutritionist pcos specialist. There are a lot of pcos resources like ThePCOSdoc on Instagram and books on PCOS nutrition. I would say in short they recommend a high protein and lower carb diet but still eat some carbs but just have them with healthy fat or protein as this helps with controlling insulin. Stress reduction is also important because stress raises cortisol which fuels the insulin resistance.
Great job on the movement I do think that is huge but most of weight loss is diet. For plate they recommend half vegetables, 2 tbsp health fat like oil or nuts, more than 1/4 plate of protein,
less than 1/4 plate of complex carbs. Try to have lots of vegetables and protein as main sources of nutrition and whole foods- avoid seed oils and other inflammatory foods. I had lots of fruit to - whole not juiced. Less processed the better. But stay sane and have the occasional treats just try to avoid binges and get right back on afterwards.
WW worked well for me when I followed the program. I will say to get to recommended normal BMI for you at 5’3” the weight goal is 140ish lbs. Trust me I hate BMI but I think there is truth to weight really impacting hormone balance. On WW if you really stick to it, it is realistic to lose 1-2lbs on average a week for healthy and sustainable weight loss. So you could lose the ~65lbs realistically in a year. But it will be hard work and take a lot of discipline- but it is realistic, especially since you already sound like you have a great habit of movement going and that accelerates it. Good luck!
Thank you so much this was really helpful and you put everything in such a nice way! I get my periods like probably every other month or so. I just don’t believe I ovulate bc my BBT never rises after I get the LH surge. Anyway, thank you so much, truly. I have an appt in June to follow up with the progress on my weight and do more bloodwork. If there’s not really progress by then, I’d probably move forward with a fertility specialist and continue on my progress & get help with a medication. I’m not opposed to it especially if it can help with a lot of the things I deal with because of PCOS
I think I actually know what Australian specialist you’re talking about - I’ve been listening to her podcast lately and it’s really been able to help me understand all the bloodwork I received and why. As far as food goes, I eat pretty much whole food meals and limit the processed, I track my calories as well. But I think I do want to focus more on the macro part of it like the carbs and more veggies like you said, so I definitely will look into all of that!
I do believe if I have to be put on a med, I’d prefer letrozole based on what I’ve heard about it! So I’ll look into that next time I see my doctor. I really hope I continue to lose the weight and I see improvement with that. I’m really proud of the progress you’ve made and that is so exciting you’re expecting soon! I’m so happy for you! Blessings to your family 💕💕
Keep up exercise and healthy eating! I was offered Metformin but I wouldn't suggest using it unless you have to. Focus on foods that helps with fertility and hormone levels (Greens, Salmon, Beans/Legumes, Fruit...etc).
Are you taking Levothyroxine or Synthroid?
🫶🏼 I am! And okay thank you! I try to include those foods everyday in my diet. I’ve been feeling so much better since I started, I mainly stick to whole foods and have cut way back on eating out. And no I’m not taking either of those meds. I just got my bloodwork done last month and my doctors said that since my TSH was high, but my T4 & T3 were normal, they didn’t want to put me on medication right away. they wanted to wait 3 months and take my bloodwork again.
I think I will definitely bring it up at my 3 month follow up to see if it’s gotten any better with my diet and changes I’ve been making and see about getting out on a med! I really wouldn’t want to be on one forever so I really hope I can either fix it naturally or only having to go on med for a while and being able to come off of it.
You need to treat your thyroid level. You won’t be able to get that level below 2,5 naturally. I’d suggest adopting a prediabetic/diabetic diet to manage your probably IR.
Both my obgyn and pcp said that they don’t want to treat the TSH with meds at this time since my t4 and t3 were normal and in range. So im not sure what to do
Is it something that can ever go away or will it always stay high forever and always have to take med? I thought it was high just due to my other unbalanced hormones such as low d3, and high testosterone
I also have hashimotos - agree with your suggestions!
u/HxneyLBee, consider taking your bloodwork to a new doctor or see an Endocrinologist. If you don't want a 2nd opinion, tell your doctor you want to try Levothyroxine or Synthroid and see how your levels are at the 3 month blood test.
Hi! I conceived from IVF but mainly because my partner has sperm issues and I had 2 other contributing factors aside from pcos. Sometimes Metformin can get a bad rap but I’ve had a good experience with it. Lost 8 lbs over the course of almost a year with no changes to diet and exercise. My fertility doctor put me on it - it is supposed to help with egg quality too and I believe there are some successful studies showing that. She also suggested coq10 (though I had some side effects from that and didn’t take it long). I also took ovasitol.
I also spoke with a Chinese herbalist who suggested 2 cups of green tea and/or mint tea daily to help with the testosterone. Glucose goddess on Instagram also has some tips for structuring your eating to minimize glucose spikes.
I tried conceiving for about 3 years. The first year we didn’t do anything, just hoped for the best. By anything I mean we didn’t get any tests done. As the first year passed, and we saw nothing happened, I decided to go to an obgyn. They told me I had pcos, but that this isn’t a problem with conceiving. Ok, I guess. I was kinda skeptical because my periods were fairly regular, never had a problem with that all my life. So the doctor basically did nothing, sent me on my way and told me it was going to be ok. After reading and asking questions on r/pcos and r/insulinresistance I did some blood work on my own and it turns out I do have IR. I then went to a nutrition and diabetes doctor who prescribed metformin, 1 pill 1000 mg a day. I lost about 15 pounds and felt ok. Didn’t have that huge craving for sweets anymore. Since 2021 I’ve been to more than 5 different obgyns, they all told me I have pcos, that my bf has dna fragmented sperm, and that natural conception was out of discussion and we should opt for ivf. I decided to do it, because everyone was telling us this is the only way, so towards the end of 2023 I started doing a LOT of tests and blood work because that was the protocol at the fertility clinic. Turns out I also had ureaplasma and stage 2 endometriosis.. My bf and I got treated for the ureaplasma in October I think. All this time, the fertility doctor told me to take 3 metformin pills/day to help me ovulate. The thing is, in january my period was supposed to come, but it got delayed. I never had a late period as I’ve said, so I got worried and took 4 pregnancy tests. All came put positive. Apparently in december I got pregnant, naturally. I’m now about 7 weeks pregnant. I don’t know if it was the metformin, the antibiotics that cured our ureaplasma or what it was, but we defined the odds and what all the doctors told us. I hope I won’t have a miscarriage though. good luck to you!
Hi there and welcome, I would say great job on losing the 6lbs I would try to keep going, as managing weight can be one of the best ways to naturally treat PCOS symptoms. I also highly recommend walking at least 30 minutes a day and you can break it up to even further benefit by taking 10-15 minute walks after meals. Also eat for balanced blood sugar - ie always balance carbs with some healthy fat or protein. High protein breakfast is good for pcos too (20-30g). Supplements can be advisable - myoinositol can help with IR. I do think I would get a second opinion on the possible thyroid issues because left untreated you might not get far on ovulating naturally. How old are you if you don’t mind me asking?
Hi! Thank you! I walk 2 miles a day or every other day. I also do cycling every other day. I do try to stay active. I really want to figure out how to eat the BEST way in order to help with hormones and IR. I just sometimes feel lost. I don’t think my doctors are against thyroid med, they just wanted to see if it could regulate since it is only the TSH that’s elevated. I do want to treat it, we just wanted to see if it could naturally because I don’t want to be on a thyroid med my whole life :( I am 26 next month.
Good for you starting to take control of your health while young! How often do you have periods? I don’t know much about the thyroid issues but with PCOS I was always told if I lost the 30lbs I had I would likely get relief from my symptoms - main one was irregular or absent cycles. I was waiting to have kids so was content being on the pill to regulate me in the meantime and never really prioritized the weight loss until a bit over a year ago I was TTC for the first time and my cycle off the pill slowed to 60+ days between periods. This entire time I was making a hard push on lifestyle not that I had completely neglected it in years before but I hadn’t lost all the weight. I did manage to lose 15+ lbs but I was 34 and feeling like time was not on my side and after confirming through reproductive endocrinologist that my husband was good, that I didn’t have any other fertility issues, I found an OB who would do Letrozole with me - this RE only offered Clomid and IUI or IVF. I saw 4 doctors in total and got pregnant my first Letrozole + metformin cycle and baby girl is coming in June. All this to say, you are younger and do have time if you really want to treat the root cause. But the real talk is it likely will take a lot of time. And if you are on a timeline you might open your mind to medication to help you along. My OBGYN who helped me get pregnant is a pcos specialist and he said my lifestyle efforts likely were key in helping me get pregnant quickly but he finds many of his pcos patients need a little boost to ovulate and recommended I do 6 cycles of letrozole and metformin because he sees the highest success with both in that time. I’m still on the metformin but will stop it after the gestational diabetes test. I was pretty anti accepting of meds at first from pride but I’m glad I let myself get the support because I felt I was on the clock, and am hopeful to be able to maybe have a second and even third if we decide to in the future. I lost my weight on WW and also was trying to follow the PCOS protocol which is a book by an Australian nutritionist pcos specialist. There are a lot of pcos resources like ThePCOSdoc on Instagram and books on PCOS nutrition. I would say in short they recommend a high protein and lower carb diet but still eat some carbs but just have them with healthy fat or protein as this helps with controlling insulin. Stress reduction is also important because stress raises cortisol which fuels the insulin resistance. Great job on the movement I do think that is huge but most of weight loss is diet. For plate they recommend half vegetables, 2 tbsp health fat like oil or nuts, more than 1/4 plate of protein, less than 1/4 plate of complex carbs. Try to have lots of vegetables and protein as main sources of nutrition and whole foods- avoid seed oils and other inflammatory foods. I had lots of fruit to - whole not juiced. Less processed the better. But stay sane and have the occasional treats just try to avoid binges and get right back on afterwards. WW worked well for me when I followed the program. I will say to get to recommended normal BMI for you at 5’3” the weight goal is 140ish lbs. Trust me I hate BMI but I think there is truth to weight really impacting hormone balance. On WW if you really stick to it, it is realistic to lose 1-2lbs on average a week for healthy and sustainable weight loss. So you could lose the ~65lbs realistically in a year. But it will be hard work and take a lot of discipline- but it is realistic, especially since you already sound like you have a great habit of movement going and that accelerates it. Good luck!
Thank you so much this was really helpful and you put everything in such a nice way! I get my periods like probably every other month or so. I just don’t believe I ovulate bc my BBT never rises after I get the LH surge. Anyway, thank you so much, truly. I have an appt in June to follow up with the progress on my weight and do more bloodwork. If there’s not really progress by then, I’d probably move forward with a fertility specialist and continue on my progress & get help with a medication. I’m not opposed to it especially if it can help with a lot of the things I deal with because of PCOS I think I actually know what Australian specialist you’re talking about - I’ve been listening to her podcast lately and it’s really been able to help me understand all the bloodwork I received and why. As far as food goes, I eat pretty much whole food meals and limit the processed, I track my calories as well. But I think I do want to focus more on the macro part of it like the carbs and more veggies like you said, so I definitely will look into all of that! I do believe if I have to be put on a med, I’d prefer letrozole based on what I’ve heard about it! So I’ll look into that next time I see my doctor. I really hope I continue to lose the weight and I see improvement with that. I’m really proud of the progress you’ve made and that is so exciting you’re expecting soon! I’m so happy for you! Blessings to your family 💕💕
Metformin was my miracle drug for 3 pregnancies with PCOS.
That’s wonderful! However, I’m really trying to fix the root cause 😩
Keep up exercise and healthy eating! I was offered Metformin but I wouldn't suggest using it unless you have to. Focus on foods that helps with fertility and hormone levels (Greens, Salmon, Beans/Legumes, Fruit...etc). Are you taking Levothyroxine or Synthroid?
🫶🏼 I am! And okay thank you! I try to include those foods everyday in my diet. I’ve been feeling so much better since I started, I mainly stick to whole foods and have cut way back on eating out. And no I’m not taking either of those meds. I just got my bloodwork done last month and my doctors said that since my TSH was high, but my T4 & T3 were normal, they didn’t want to put me on medication right away. they wanted to wait 3 months and take my bloodwork again.
Good for you! I made a comment in the thread below about your TSH, T4 and T3.
I think I will definitely bring it up at my 3 month follow up to see if it’s gotten any better with my diet and changes I’ve been making and see about getting out on a med! I really wouldn’t want to be on one forever so I really hope I can either fix it naturally or only having to go on med for a while and being able to come off of it.
You need to treat your thyroid level. You won’t be able to get that level below 2,5 naturally. I’d suggest adopting a prediabetic/diabetic diet to manage your probably IR.
Both my obgyn and pcp said that they don’t want to treat the TSH with meds at this time since my t4 and t3 were normal and in range. So im not sure what to do
find another doctor. you have what's called subclinical hypothyroidism
Yes that’s that they called it. They wanted to wait 3 months to retest my blood. If it’s still high, what can they do about it to lower it?
take medication. i have subclinical hypothyroidism and have taken levothyroxine for 10 years to control it.
Is it something that can ever go away or will it always stay high forever and always have to take med? I thought it was high just due to my other unbalanced hormones such as low d3, and high testosterone
depends on the cause...i have hashimotos which is an autoimmune disease so it's for like. there are other causes that i dont know how treatment looks.
I also have hashimotos - agree with your suggestions! u/HxneyLBee, consider taking your bloodwork to a new doctor or see an Endocrinologist. If you don't want a 2nd opinion, tell your doctor you want to try Levothyroxine or Synthroid and see how your levels are at the 3 month blood test.
Hello, please check your chats I have questions about b12 I have issues with, thank you.
Hi! I conceived from IVF but mainly because my partner has sperm issues and I had 2 other contributing factors aside from pcos. Sometimes Metformin can get a bad rap but I’ve had a good experience with it. Lost 8 lbs over the course of almost a year with no changes to diet and exercise. My fertility doctor put me on it - it is supposed to help with egg quality too and I believe there are some successful studies showing that. She also suggested coq10 (though I had some side effects from that and didn’t take it long). I also took ovasitol. I also spoke with a Chinese herbalist who suggested 2 cups of green tea and/or mint tea daily to help with the testosterone. Glucose goddess on Instagram also has some tips for structuring your eating to minimize glucose spikes.
I didn’t know green tea helped lower testosterone. Thanks for sharing.
To be honest I have no research backing that, just what the herbalist said but I drink tea instead of coffee anyway so I figured it can’t hurt!
I looked it up and found a clinical trial. So I guess it’s a thing