Ask Dr. Andrea a question about Lesbians and PCOS
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Dr. Andrea Lee is a Naturopathic Doctor who works as a wellness consultant in South Florida where she treats a number of women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and other conditions. Previously, she operated Red Earth Natural Health in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area and prior to that Dr Lee practiced at Arizona Advanced Medicine in Scottsdale. Dr. Lee graduated from Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine in Tempe, AZ. Earlier, she worked as a senior research study associate and volunteered with a breast cancer support group in Oklahoma City. Her Bachelor’s degree is from the University of Alaska where she studied Psychology and Exercise Science. As a member of Insulite Laboratories’ Medical & Advisory team, Dr. Lee provides guidance and coaching to individuals who contact the Insulite Support Network, including those using the various Insulite Systems. She undertakes research and writes articles on health issues for the company’s PCOS Support Blog and Internet distribution. “Lesbians are an extraordinary subset of the female gender that, like all minority groups, face unique healthcare challenges. And unique challenges require creative solutions. To adjust the current medical model to begin to address the diverse needs of this group of women, in a way that is consistent with their cultural beliefs, medical providers must have at least a basic understanding of lesbian healthcare needs. “Treating the cause of PCOS means making daily choices that are consistent with the goal of enhancing your health. Making these healthy choices a part of your daily lifestyle will go a long way towards maintaining good health, hormonal balance, full function and freedom from disease for years to come.” Please leave “comments” below with your questions or feedback…. |
My partner and I are trying to conceive our first child and we recently found out that I have PCOS. We are devastated at what this means for us and our future family…is there anything Insulite can do to help us? Julie
Dear Julie,
I am glad you found our blog and decided to write in! We understand how devastating it can be to receive a diagnosis of PCOS. There is a lot of information out there and sifting through all of it can be very
frustrating.
PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) is a major cause of infertility. A symptom of the condition, also known as polycystic ovaries, can be nine or fewer menstrual cycles per year. The disorder may also cause heavier than normal bleeding during periods. These conditions are the result of the ovaries failing to produce hormones that keep the menstrual cycle regular.
Because women with PCOS don’t have regular periods, many are unable to become pregnant. To read more about PCOS and infertility please visit the following link: http://www.pcos.insulitelabs.com/PCOS-and-Infertility.php.
The underlying cause of PCOS is believed to be insulin resistance. With Insulin Resistance, the body becomes insensitive to the insulin it produces, which leads to elevated circulating levels of insulin. This in turn leads to hormonal imbalances such as increased testosterone and other androgens (masculinizing hormones). Elevated insulin also contributes to the formation of cysts in the ovaries in part due to the hormonal imbalances and also because the ovaries are highly sensitive to the influence of insulin.
All of these factors combine to complicate a woman’s chances of conceiving if she has PCOS. Women with PCOS may be able to improve their fertility by losing weight and improving the Insulin Resistance that underlies PCOS.
I understand how especially frustrating this can be for lesbian couples who are trying to conceive since the expense is so great and timing is absolutely imperative with artificial insemination. Losing weight and getting your insulin regulated will reduce ovarian cysts and additional hormone imbalances, thereby enhancing your ability to conceive.
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing customer support at Insulite Labs for our customers; we are here to help you through this healing journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other questions or concerns.
Best Wishes,
Andrea Lee, NMD
Insulite Laboratories Medical and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care provider before you undergo any treatment, take any medication, supplements or other nutritional support, or for answers to any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
I am a 26 year old woman who is also a lesbian. I have had problems with my period for as long as I can remember. My weight has been a problem as well and no matter what I do, can’t get it to come off. I also have a lot of hairs on my chin, upper lip, and neck. I don’t want to have these whisker type man hairs all over me anymore! Could I have PCOS?
What can I do? Please help!
Diane Evans, Palo Alto, CA
Dear Diane,
I am delighted that you found our blog and decided to write in! We recognize that PCOS is much more than just an issue of fertility. PCOS is a syndrome and can affect a myriad of bodily systems producing many different symptoms. We understand what a challenge it can be to find a way to manage PCOS, but there is hope and things can get better!
PCOS is notoriously difficult to diagnose. It is a diagnosis of exclusion. In other words, it is important to rule out other diseases that can cause symptoms similar to PCOS (such as Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia). To diagnose PCOS, we use a combination of clinical symptoms (what you experience as the patient, such as excess hair growth, irregular menses,
acne, skin tags, weight gain, infertility, etc.) and lab tests.
As you may have read on our website, the underlying cause of PCOS in most cases seems to be Insulin Resistance. With Insulin Resistance, the body becomes insensitive to the insulin it produces, which leads to elevated circulating levels of insulin. This in turn leads to hormonal imbalances such as increased testosterone and other androgens (male hormones).
As you may have read about on our website, http://www.pcos.insulitelabs.com, with Insulin Resistance, the body becomes insensitive to the insulin it produces, which leads to elevated circulating levels of insulin. This in turn leads to hormonal imbalances such as increased testosterone and other androgens (masculinizing hormones).
Elevated insulin and Insulin Resistance also contribute to the formation of cysts in the ovaries in part due to the hormonal imbalances and also because the ovaries are highly sensitive to the influence of insulin. In women with PCOS, the ovaries are over-sensitized to insulin’s effects.
Finally, the weight gain associated with PCOS is intricately related to Insulin Resistance. Losing weight helps to improve insulin sensitivity, and vice versa: becoming more sensitive to your insulin helps you to lose weight.
The weight gain associated with PCOS is intricately related to Insulin Resistance. Losing weight helps to improve insulin sensitivity, and vice versa: becoming more sensitive to your insulin helps you to lose weight. Unfortunately, people who have Insulin Resistance have a very difficult time losing weight, as you have experienced.
The increased testosterone is responsible for many of the symptoms of PCOS such as hair growth and abnormal menstrual cycles. Regulating your hormones will help many of the hormonally related symptoms of PCOS such as hair growth and acne.
Some of the long-term consequences of Insulin Resistance can include PCOS, diabetes, cardiovascular complications, liver disease, infertility, and more. You can read about the long-term consequences on our website:
http://www.pcos.insulitelabs.com/PCOS-Insulin-Resistance.php.
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing customer support at Insulite Labs for our customers; we are here to help you through this healing journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other questions or concerns. We are here to help.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, NMD
Insulite Laboratories Medical and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs
website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is
not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek the
advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care provider
before you undergo any treatment, take any medication, supplements or other
nutritional support, or for answers to any questions you may have regarding
a medical condition
Dear Dr. Andrea,
I’m a 31 year old lesbian. I am 4′9″ and 142lbs. I have been searching for clues as to what’s going on with me. I have had excessive weight gain (30lbs in the last 3 years) and then I got diagnosed with hypothyroid so I started the levothyroxin and got my levels to normal. My doctor checked my cholestorol and it was high at about 269. I have always watched what I ate but had to kick it up a notch. But still, I didn’t lose any weight. I stopped gaining weight but no weight loss. My doctor said I should be checked for some kind of metabolic disorder and because of my irregular mensturation, I saw an ob/gyn and was diagnosed with PCOS through blood tests and a pelvic ultrasound. The problem with me is that I don’t have the common symptoms of PCOS. I don’t have excessive hair growth, acne or elevated levels of glucose or insulin. I was hoping to get on metformin because it has helped friends of mine lose weight and feel better. It seems like my case is not the classical case of PCOS. What do you think would be the best form of treatment? My doctor mentioned getting on the pill or hormonal therapy but I don’t want to get on the pill because I might end up just gaining more weight. My question is, do I have insulin resistance or not, and would metformin help me as well?
Thanks for your help.
regina
Dear Regina,
I am so glad you found our blog and decided to write in! We understand how frightening it can be to be diagnosed with PCOS. PCOS is a syndrome with a myriad of bodily systems affected. Not every woman will have every symptom.
The mechanism of PCOS without Insulin Resistance is still not entirely understood in the medical community. As you may know, many women with PCOS do have Insulin Resistance, but some do not. Some women with PCOS hypersecrete insulin but do not yet manifest insulin resistance.
Furthermore, in many women with PCOS, their ovaries are highly sensitive to insulin, so that even if their serum insulin levels are normal, the ovaries are highly reactive to that insulin.
How did your doctors determine that you are not Insulin Resistant? I am wondering if you have ever had your fasting insulin checked.
Insulin Resistance can be verified by looking at the fasting insulin level and the insulin: glucose ratio. Some doctors hesitate to perform a fasting insulin test on their patients because the normal range (0-20) is so wide. However, we have found that a fasting insulin level of about 9 or higher is starting to indicate problems with Insulin Resistance. Other factors that would make me suspicious of Insulin Resistance include high blood pressure, difficulty losing weight, and a family history of Diabetes or Metabolic Syndrome.
I am beginning to think that there is a lot we don’t know about diagnosing Insulin Resistance and that our detection methods are not sophisticated enough to catch all of the cases of Insulin Resistance. The fact that you are unable to lose the extra weight along with having PCOS makes me hesitate to accept that you are not Insulin Resistant!
Elevated insulin and Insulin Resistance contributes to the formation of cysts in the ovaries in part due to the hormonal imbalances and also because the ovaries are highly sensitive to the influence of insulin. In women with PCOS, the ovaries are over-sensitized to insulin’s effects.
Finally, the weight gain associated with PCOS is intricately related to Insulin Resistance. Losing weight helps to improve insulin sensitivity, and vice versa: becoming more sensitive to your insulin helps you to lose weight.
Many women with PCOS are prescribed the birth control pill to regulate their menses. We do not recommend oral contraceptives as a treatment for PCOS because they are synthetic hormones that mask some of the symptoms of PCOS rather than fixing the problems. Treating absent menses or other symptoms with oral contraceptives does not treat the underlying disorder of PCOS and when the contraceptives are discontinued, the PCOS symptoms will persist.
Regarding the Metformin, Metformin isn’t a drug for PCOS. Metformin is an anti-hyperglycemic agent which improves glucose tolerance in patients with type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetic conditions, lowering both basal and postprandial plasma glucose (not insulin which is believed to be the underlying cause of PCOS). Its pharmacologic mechanisms of action are different from other classes of oral anti-hyperglycemic agents.
Metformin decreases glucose production in the liver, decreases intestinal absorption of glucose, and improves insulin sensitivity by increasing peripheral glucose uptake and utilization. With metformin therapy, insulin secretion remains unchanged and fasting plasma insulin levels and day-long plasma insulin response may or may not decrease. In short, Metformin treats only the symptom of hyperglycemia (too much sugar in the bloodstream), not the cause (insulin resistance).
Our view on the pharmaceutical treatment of PCOS is that there is no one drug on the market that will change your condition. The only way to reverse the disorder is to reduce elevations in insulin which directly affect testosterone and other hormonal changes that are responsible for causing PCOS.
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing customer support at Insulite Labs for our customers; we are here to help you through this healing journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other questions or concerns. We are here to help out and want to make sure that the Insulite System works for you.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, NMD
Insulite Laboratories Medical and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs
website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is
not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek the
advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care provider
before you undergo any treatment, take any medication, supplements or other
nutritional support, or for answers to any questions you may have regarding
a medical condition
Hello.
I am 24 year old.. I have all symptoms of PCOS..I have showed to ob/gyn.. she has asked me to do some lab test for PCOS.. and did my pelvic exam..I have not yet got my lab test back..she has put me on losetrin 24 fe.. to regulate my period..
I am planning for baby next year ending..i have really dark facial hair..
Can I get preganant on PCOS after my BCP put off ..
Can my facial hair problem be treated with losetrin 24 fe BCP..
Please help me.. i am very tense..
thanks
Supriya
Dear Supriya,
I am so glad you found our blog and decided to write in! I hope you will find our blog and website a source of great information and support.
PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) is a major cause of infertility. A symptom of the condition, also known as polycystic ovaries, can be nine or
fewer menstrual cycles per year. The disorder may also cause heavier than normal bleeding during periods. These conditions are the result of the
ovaries failing to produce hormones that keep the menstrual cycle regular.
Because women with PCOS don’t have regular periods, many are unable to become pregnant. To read more about PCOS and infertility please visit the
following link: http://www.pcos.insulitelabs.com/PCOS-and-Infertility.php.
Our view on the pharmaceutical treatment of PCOS is that there is no one drug on the market that will change your condition. The only way to
reverse the disorder is to reduce elevations in insulin which directly affect testosterone and other hormonal changes that are responsible for
causing PCOS.
Some women with PCOS are prescribed the birth control pill to help regulate their menstrual cycle. We do not recommend oral contraceptives
as a treatment for PCOS because they are synthetic hormones that mask some of the symptoms of PCOS rather than fixing the problems. Treating absent menses or other symptoms with oral contraceptives does not treat the underlying disorder of PCOS and when the contraceptives are discontinued, the PCOS symptoms will persist.
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing customer support at Insulite Labs; we are here to help you through this healing
journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other questions or concerns.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, NMD
Insulite Laboratories Medical and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs
website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is
not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek the
advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care provider
before you undergo any treatment, take any medication, supplements or other
nutritional support, or for answers to any questions you may have regarding
a medical condition
Dear Dr lee,
I am a 30 yrs old and ever since I started my periods i have had them irregular. i have visited Endocronologists to Gynocologist to sort my problem however it seems like all are momentary. SInce age 17 i have been regular on a medicine called as Aldactone 5 mg… which i stopped taking around 23 yrs.. as it was just a burden… in between I have got an ultrasound done which came out all normal in 2004 and then recently I got another ultra sound done in 2008 which diagnosed me with Multi follicular Ovaries ( are they the same as PCOS) .. my doctor had put me on birth control pills for about 5 months , and now has put me on Metformin as he feels this will help kick in the ovaries to function properly.. he said if this doesn’t work he will put me on clomid and metformin… is that normal? We are trying to get pregnant but having the MFO is not helping the process. Will I ever get ok from this disorder? Do i ovulate? Will I need to take metformin/ birth control pill for life time to avoid these multi follicular ovaries? Please advise.
Dear Nika,
I am glad you found our blog and decided to write in. We hear from women all over the world who struggle just as you do with ovarian dysfunction and infertility. We understand how frustrating this can be, but there is hope and things can get better!
I do want to let you know that MFO and PCOS are not necessarily the same thing, however MFO can be a symptom of PCOS. Do you have any other symptoms of PCOS such as irregular or completely absent periods, hirsuitism (excessive facial or body hair), ovarian cysts and Alopecia (male pattern hair loss)? Other symptoms can include obesity, acne and skin tags, Acanthosis Nigricans (brown skin patches), high cholesterol levels, exhaustion or lack of mental alertness and decreased sex drive.
PCOS is notoriously difficult to diagnose. It is a diagnosis of exclusion. In other words, it is important to rule out other diseases that can cause symptoms similar to PCOS (such as Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia). To diagnose PCOS, we use a combination of clinical symptoms (what you experience as the patient, such as excess hair growth, irregular menses, acne, skin tags, weight gain, infertility, etc.) and lab tests.
The blood tests to consider are:
- testosterone- elevated in PCOS
- DHEA-S- elevated in PCOS
- fasting insulin- elevated in PCOS. Some doctors may hesitate to order this test because the normal range (0-20) is so wide. However, we find that results greater than 9 indicate Insulin Resistance. Insulin Resistance is usually the underlying cause of PCOS, as you may have read about on our site.
- Fasting glucose or glucose tolerance test- elevated in PCOS. Using this information in combination with the fasting insulin helps to diagnose Insulin Resistance. Also, women with PCOS have a higher risk of Diabetes so it is important to screen for this early and often.
- LH: FSH- Some doctors may also look at the ratio between these two hormones. In PCOS, we would expect LH to be elevated in comparison to FSH.
- You could get an ultrasound to check for the presence of ovarian cysts. Even if the ovaries do appear normal, the absence of ovarian cysts does not mean that you don’t have PCOS. Not everyone with PCOS has ovarian cysts.
- I would also check your cholesterol levels and liver function tests, as these can also be abnormal in PCOS (as well as in many other conditions).
Lab testing is not mandatory for diagnosing PCOS, especially if you are experiencing so many of the symptoms. However, the above tests do give us numbers which, along with the improvement of your clinical symptoms, help us monitor your progress.
Regarding the Metformin and birth control pill, our view on the pharmaceutical treatment of PCOS is that there is no one drug on the market that will change your condition. The only way to reverse the
disorder is to reduce elevations in insulin which directly affect testosterone and other hormonal changes that are responsible for causing PCOS. Treating absent menses or other symptoms with oral contraceptives or other drugs does not treat the underlying disorder of PCOS and when the contraceptives/medications are discontinued, the PCOS symptoms will persist.
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing customer support at Insulite Labs for our customers; we are here to help you through this healing journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other questions or concerns.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, NMD
Insulite Laboratories Medical and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care provider before you undergo any treatment, take any medication, supplements or other nutritional support, or for answers to any questions you may have regarding a medical condition
Do you know of any research studies that are taking new partisipants right now….Every thing listed I have the whiskers no period weight gain can’t loose everything I am in oklahoma city and am sick of dr acting like I have nothing to worry about something is deff wrong
Hi Mel,
I understand that Dr. Andrea has been in touch with you directly regarding research studies.
If you have any additional questions or comments please post them.
Wishing you good health,
Catherine, Blog Editor
I’ve been told since the age of 23 by a former GYN that I have PCOS, my current Md has tested me on 2 occassions but all labs have returned as normal I have most classic symptoms darkening of the neck, hirtuism, ance vulgaris, irregular periods, weight gain that has not responded to any diet or exercise, and when I do manage to become pregnant only then do I loose weight, could I still have PCOS even though my labs keep coming back normal, my fasting glucose has been elevated and the next step is the 3 month glucose test, what could possibly be going on? I also have fibroids could this contribute to the problem?
Dear Tiffany,
Thanks for writing into the PCOS blog. This is a great question and I will do my best to address it.
Dr. Andrea is unavailable so I am happy to respond to your questions.
On to your question. The short answer is yes, you can still have PCOS. Labs are a great way to determine what is going on in your body and are important to be used along with your current symptoms. However, sometimes they do come back “normal” but based on the symptoms and if other conditions are ruled out or that it is determined that you do not have anything else going on, then PCOS can may be likely.
What we have seen is that every person with PCOS can present with different signs and symptoms. This is one of the reasons it is difficult to diagnose and to recognize.
You did not mention which tests your doctor has done to determine that PCOS may not be the current diagnosis. The tests we recommend include fasting insulin (often not done), fasting glucose, testosterone levels, DHEA-s, LH and LSH. Also other tests that can be useful are estrogen and progesterone.
Estrogen can be higher in women with PCOS and progesterone lowered. Again, these may also be relatively higher or lower depending on the other hormone levels. For example, if estrogen is high, even though progesterone levels may be within the normal range, they may be considered relatively low since estrogen is higher.
This is often what we see with testosterone. It may still be with in the normal limits but it is on the higher end and because estrogen and progesterone are not at the optimal levels, women experience excess facial hair caused by a relative increase in testosterone.
Insulin levels above 9 (normal range is 0-20) often indicate insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is the most common cause of PCOS.
Testosterone levels tend to be elevated as well but not always higher than the normal range and the effect of this can depend on estrogen and progesterone levels. Overall, tests need to be looked at as whole along with your symptoms. Also, what were the results when the other doctor diagnosed you with PCOS in the past?
As a side note, fibroids are often associated with a more estrogen dominant (increased level) picture as well. However, having fibroids does not lead to PCOS; they are separate problems although can be related to elevated estrogen levels.
I cannot say for sure that this is what you are dealing with but it sure is suspicious of PCOS or at the very least insulin resistance.
I would encourage you to discuss what your doctor thinks is going on and in the next three months focus on diet and exercise, even though you have done this and have not gotten results in the past. A lower carbohydrate diet and one that is high in vegetables, fiber, healthy protein and fat can affect your glucose and insulin levels.
Also, if other conditions such as Cushing’s disease has been ruled out you can try the Insulite PCOS System. To read more about it, please go to http://www.pcos.insulitelabs.com.
Tiffany, I hope that this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
–
Best Wishes,
Dr. Heather DeLuca, ND
Insulite Laboratories Medical & Advisory team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email
and the Insulite Labs website is for the sole purpose
of being informative. This information is not and
should not be used or relied upon as medical advice.
Always seek the advice of your physician, nurse or
other qualified health care provider before you
undergo any treatment, take any medication,
supplements or other nutritional support, or for
answers to any questions you may have regarding a
medical condition.
HI
I HAVE PCOS AND I TAKE PROGESTERONE ABOUT EVERY 4-5 MONTHS TO HAVE A PERIOD. MY PROBLEM IS I DONT WANT TO TAKE THESE. I AM LOOKING FOR SOMETHING “NATURAL”. I WAS TOLD THAT THE PROGESTERONE CAME FROM THE URINE OF PREGNANT HORSES. DO YOU KNOW OF A NATURAL HERB TO HELP REGULATE MY PERIODS. I AM NOT TRYING TO BECOME PREGNANT.
THANKS
Dear Talena,
I am glad you found our blog and decided to write in! Many women with PCOS do have lower levels of progesterone and supplementation would be helpful. I would recommend making sure what you are using is a natural, bio-identical form of progesterone. Women respond much better to this
than the synthetic forms of progesterone.
As far as herbs, there is one in particular that is very well known for increasing progesterone- Vitex Angus Castus (aka Chaste Tree Berry). http://www.positivehealth.com/permit/Articles/Herbal/atkin23.htm
“One of the most cited studies of the pharmacological effects of Vitex was carried out by Haller at the University of Gottingen in the early1960s. Female Guinea pigs were given Vitex tincture orally at normal to high dose for 90 days. At the end of this time the animals were examined for any
changes in organ structure or weight. It was concluded that at normal doses Vitex clearly demonstrated a decrease of estrogen effects and an increase of progesterone effects.”
Additionally, I wanted to let you know that we believe that PCOS is much more than just an issue of infertility. It can be a very pervasive condition and can affect may bodily systems. However, using progesterone supplements is not treating the underlying cause of PCOS, insulin resistance. The long-term consequences of PCOS and its underlying cause, insulin resistance, can be quite severe.
Insulin resistance is a serious condition and unfortunately is not widely recognized in allopathic or western medicine as such. Insulin resistance is the primary cause of the following disorders and diseases: heart disease, diabetes mellitus, polycystic ovarian syndrome, atherosclerosis,
high blood pressure, and elevated cholesterol levels. If you have been diagnosed with insulin resistance reversal of the condition is recommended.
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing support at Insulite Labs and we are here to help on this healing journey. Please feel free to contact us again should you have any further questions or concerns.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, NMD
Insulite Laboratories Medical and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care provider
before you undergo any treatment, take any medication, supplements or other nutritional support, or for answers to any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Hello,
I am a sufferer living with PCOS, my problem is this: I am quite used to missed periods. But just this month (after not having my period for almost a year) i got it. I am sure it started on the 7th of september, ending a week and a half later on the 18th. Just today the 28th I have started it again, and it is heavy, just as the one in the beginning of the month. And I had sex on the 5th and the condom broke. I do not think I am pregnant. But I have NEVER had this happen before where I had it twice in the same month. Is there any light you could shed on this situation. thank you very much
Hi Heather,
I understand that Dr. Andrea wrote back to you directly via email.
Please feel free to contact us any time you have any questions or concerns.
Sending best wishes for your improving health – Catherine, Editor, PCOS Support Blog
Hi, I am 30 years old. I have three children and have never had problems getting pregnant until 3 years ago. I was diagnosed with having PCOS and insulin resistance. I have tried Metformin which my body had a very bad reaction to. I ended up with Lactic Acidosis. I have tried Clomid to no avail. I keep gaining weight regardless of what I do or eat. I have joined Weight Watchers and followed the plan to a T. Instead of losing weight I gained 30 lbs. Is there something else I can be trying? Should I see a Endocrinologist in my area? I live in a small town and am tired of being obese. ANY information you could give me would be greatly appreciated. Also, I have gone to a dietician in my area and again followed the “diet” to no avail. Sincerely,
Christina
Dear Christina
An underlying factor in obesity is often the reversible imbalance of blood
glucose and insulin called insulin resistance, which reduces the number of
insulin receptor sites on the cell wall. These sites are required for the
efficient conversion of glucose into energy. Healthy people can have
20,000 insulin receptor sites but insulin resistance sufferers may have as
few as 5,000.
A reduced number of receptor sites causes glucose to “bounce off” off the
cell wall and be carried to the liver where it is converted to fat and
stored throughout the body. This process can lead to weight gain and
obesity.
All insulin resistance-linked conditions significantly raise the risk of a
heart attack or stroke
Diagnosing insulin resistance can sometimes be tricky because it is a
relatively “new” condition and is still growing in acceptance. Lab
testing is helpful. Some useful tests include:
- Fasting insulin- elevated. Some doctors may hesitate to order this test
because the normal range (0-20) is so wide. However, we find that results
greater than 9 indicate insulin resistance.
- Fasting glucose or glucose tolerance test- elevated. Using this
information in combination with the fasting insulin helps to diagnose
insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is a risk factor in a number of
serious conditions including diabetes, PCOS, and Syndrome X.
As you may have read on our website, the underlying cause of PCOS
(Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome- a leading cause of infertility) in most
cases seems to be insulin resistance. With insulin resistance, the body
becomes insensitive to the insulin it produces, which leads to elevated
circulating levels of insulin. This in turn leads to hormonal imbalances
such as increased testosterone and other androgens (male hormones).
The increased testosterone is responsible for many of the symptoms of PCOS
such as hair growth and abnormal menstrual cycles. Elevated insulin also
contributes to the formation of cysts in the ovaries in part due to the
hormonal imbalances and also because the ovaries are highly sensitive to
the influence of insulin.
The weight gain associated with PCOS is intricately related to insulin
resistance. Losing weight helps to improve insulin sensitivity, and vice
versa: becoming more sensitive to your insulin helps you to lose weight.
Unfortunately, people who have insulin resistance have a very difficult
time losing weight, as you have experienced. The difficulty becoming
pregnant that many women with PCOS experience is due to a number of
factors: the ovarian cysts, the hormonal imbalance, and the elevated
insulin.
Research has shown that for overweight women with PCOS, losing at least
5-10% of their weight increased the likelihood of restoration of regular
menstruation. Regular menses means that the woman is probably ovulating;
therefore losing weight can increase the chances of becoming pregnant for
these women with PCOS.
The Insulite PCOS System helps to improve insulin sensitivity with its
combination of nutrients and herbs as well as diet and exercise
guidelines. The supplements are also designed to correct the hormone
imbalance of PCOS and to help improve the symptoms of PCOS.
We advocate a slow weight loss which is healthier and more permanent. This
is not a quick fix or fad diet. We want you to be healthy for the rest of
your life by applying sensible lifestyle changes to your diet and exercise
routine.
It is safe to continue trying to get pregnant while you are using the
Insulite PCOS System. However, if you do get pregnant, we recommend that
you discontinue taking the Insulite PCOS System supplements during your
pregnancy, and then resume the supplements after you are finished
breastfeeding. The reason is that, while we know that the Insulite PCOS
System is safe and non-toxic in general, these supplements have not been
tested in any clinical trials specifically on pregnant women or infants.
We cannot promise that the PCOS System will reverse infertility although
we do know it can address several of the causative factors behind this
condition. As stated on our website, losing weight and getting your
insulin regulated will reduce ovarian cysts and additional hormonal
imbalances, thereby enhancing your ability to conceive.
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing customer
support at Insulite Labs for our customers; we are here to help you
through this healing journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if
you have any other questions or concerns.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, NMD
Insulite Laboratories Medical and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs
website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is
not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek the
advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care provider
before you undergo any treatment, take any medication, supplements or other
nutritional support, or for answers to any questions you may have regarding
a medical condition
I am 26 years old, was diagnosed with PCOS. My doctor put me on BCP, Yaz. I just started taking my 2nd consecutive month. I have had very severe abdominal pain, and quick sharp pains. The pain moves from my ovaries, to right below both my rib cage. I have had a ruptured ovarian cyst in the past, but that would come and go. My pains now are pretty consistant. I am going to a specialist in 2 weeks, and hoping to get some questions answered. Until then, I am wondering if I should go into the doctor or just wait it out.
Thanks
Dear Gina-
I am delighted that you found our blog and decided to write in! We
understand how challenging it can be to find a way to manage PCOS what
works for you and your life. Thanks for writing in!
Our view on the pharmaceutical treatment of PCOS, including the birth
control pill, is that there is no one drug on the market that will change
your condition. The only way to reverse the disorder is to reduce
elevations in insulin which directly affect testosterone and other
hormonal changes that are responsible for causing PCOS.
With PCOS, one of the most common symptoms is irregular menstruation. The
problem with using oral contraceptives to “treat” PCOS is that the Pill
does not change the underlying condition. Once women with PCOS stop
taking the birth control pill, their symptoms return unchanged. The
synthetic hormones in the pill merely suppress the symptoms of PCOS and
induce menstruation only while you continue to take the medicine.
That said, I do not know why you are experiencing these pains. Your pains
could be related to cysts on the ovaries, but (as you probably already
know) you would need an ultrasound to determine this. If the pain is very
severe and constant it makes sense to see your doctor right away as this
is not something that is typically seen with women using Yaz birth control
pill.
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing customer
support at Insulite Labs; we are here to help you through this healing
journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other
questions or concerns.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, ND
Insulite Laboratories Consulting and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs
website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is
not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek
the advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care
provider before you undergo any treatment, take any medication,
supplements or other nutritional support, or for answers to any questions
you may have regarding a medical condition.
I am 18 ad over 4 years i lost 90lbs. The only trouble is that feel horrible with pcos and i was wondering if their is any correlation between pcos and digestive problems because i feel bloated all the time.
Dear Lindsey,
I am glad you found our blog. PCOS is a very complex condition and can
affect any number of bodily systems. Thanks for writing in!
Unfortunately, there is not a lot of research specific to PCOS and
digestion/digestive enzyme production, however there has been some work
done with digestive enzyme production in the pancreas of people with Type
II diabetes.
Several studies indicated that the production of digestive
enzymes was significantly lower in the diabetic pancreas, so it is
possible that this could extrapolate to PCOS since it has a similar root
cause (insulin resistance). Decreased production of digestive enzymes can
mean that the digestive process is drastically slowed down so food sits
and ferments in the intestines thus leading to gas and bloating.
I can also tell you that clinically, I have definitely seen a correlation
between insulin resistance and poor digestion. Many of may patients
benefit from taking a digestive enzyme supplement. This supplement
provides a source of enzymes (usually from plant based sources) that help
digest fats, protein, carbohydrates, etc. Better digestion means that
there is typically less gas and bloating.
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing customer
support at Insulite Labs; we are here to help you through this healing
journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other
questions or concerns.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, ND
Insulite Laboratories Consulting and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs
website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is
not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek
the advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care
provider before you undergo any treatment, take any medication,
supplements or other nutritional support, or for answers to any questions
you may have regarding a medical condition.
hi i have been diagnosed with PCOS a gud few months ago i havnt had a natural period for about 2 years although i have been having pelvic shooting pains which i dont usually get. also my breats have been feeling tingely. i have been feeling as though i am going to be sick all of a sudden in the top of my stomach. also i have had a little diareah. i was just wondering if it sounds like i am pregnant. i am a little confused as i dont have periods and was wondering if it is possible.
Dear Kirsty,
I am glad that you found our blog. We understand how confusing sudden changes in your body can be. Thanks for writing in!
To answer your question, yes you could be pregnant even though you don’t menstruate regularly. Ovulation (release of an egg from the ovary) ideally happens about 2 weeks before your period starts. Many women have signs of ovulation such as increased vaginal mucous, changes in sex drive, and some women even have pain or cramping (called Mittleshmirtz which means “pain in the middle”) around the time of ovulation. Some women do not have any of these signs and are unaware of when ovulation happens.
To confirm pregnancy, you can either get a home pregnancy test from any drugstore or you can see your doctor for a blood test. The blood test is much more sensitive and is a more definitive way of confirming pregnancy.
Additionally, it can confirm pregnancy sooner than the over the counter home test kits can. It is important to confirm pregnancy early so that you can begin prenatal care as soon as possible. Early and adequate prenatal care is vital to a healthy pregnancy.
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing customer support at Insulite Labs; we are here to help you through this healing journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other questions or concerns.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, ND
Insulite Laboratories Consulting and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs
website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is
not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek
the advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care
provider before you undergo any treatment, take any medication,
supplements or other nutritional support, or for answers to any questions
you may have regarding a medical condition.
Hi Dr Andrea!
Ive been recently diagnosed with PCOS, and I was wondering why this disease is accompanied by a reduction in one’s sex drive, even though there is an increase in androgens? What sort of medications would help alleviate this? If Im put on BCP’s, wont it worsen this problem (sex drive, ie)?Even the other treatments aim at reducing testosterone, and wont that work again me?
Many thanks!
Dear Tina,
I am delighted you found our blog and decided to write in! PCOS is a very complex condition and can affect any number of bodily systems. Not every woman will have every symptom.
You are right that testosterone is associated with sex drive, however research shows that sex drive in women is much more complicated than just testosterone levels. Even though decreased libido is very common in PCOS, there is little research on high androgens and decreased sex drive in
women with PCOS.
Testosterone can be turned into estrogen by certain enzymes in the body. Testosterone is aromatized into estradiol (E2) by the aromatase enzyme. Aromatase is found all over the body, not just in the adipose cells. Aromatase enzymes can be found in many tissues including gonads, brain, adipose tissue, blood vessels, skin, and bone. Factors known to increase aromatase activity include age, obesity, insulin, gonadotropins, and alcohol.
Estradiol can be a real sex drive killer. Women with PCOS can have excess unopposed estrogen due to the lack of progesterone, and this can certainly have an effect on sex drive. As you can see, hormone balancing is very much about the relative amounts of one hormone to another.
Regarding the birth control pills, we do not recommend oral contraceptives as a “treatment” for PCOS because they are synthetic hormones that mask some of the symptoms of PCOS rather than fixing the problems. Treating absent menses or other symptoms with oral contraceptives does not treat the underlying disorder of PCOS and when the contraceptives are discontinued, the PCOS symptoms will persist.
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing customer support at Insulite Labs; we are here to help you through this healing journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other questions or concerns.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, ND
Insulite Laboratories Consulting and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs
website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is
not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek
the advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care
provider before you undergo any treatment, take any medication,
supplements or other nutritional support, or for answers to any questions
you may have regarding a medical condition.
I have just been diagnosed with PCOS – have many of the symptoms. I also have a constant yeast infection, strong cravings for sweet and carbs, and not easy to loss weight, although I am not terribly overweight – could these also be symptoms of PCOS?
If I am taking Yaz pill, and start on Insulite, will that be ok or will those two counteract each other?
Thanks for you help.
– HC
Dear Haylie,
I am delighted that you found our blog and decided to write in. At Insulite Labs, we recognize that PCOS affects more than just your menstrual cycle. PCOS Is a very complex condition and can affect any number of bodily systems. Thanks for writing in!
As you may have read on our website, the underlying cause of PCOS in most cases seems to be insulin resistance. With insulin resistance, the body becomes insensitive to the insulin it produces, which leads to elevated circulating levels of insulin. The cravings for sweets, chronic yeast infections and such that you describe are certainly common symptoms in many women with PCOS. This in turn leads to hormonal imbalances such as increased testosterone and other androgens (male hormones).
The increased testosterone is responsible for many of the symptoms of PCOSsuch as hair growth and abnormal menstrual cycles. Elevated insulin also contributes to the formation of cysts in the ovaries in part due to the hormonal imbalances and also because the ovaries are highly sensitive to the influence of insulin.
The weight gain associated with PCOS is intricately related to insulin resistance. Losing weight helps to improve insulin sensitivity, and vice versa: becoming more sensitive to your insulin helps you to lose weight. Unfortunately, people who have insulin resistance have a very difficult time losing weight, as you have experienced.
The Insulite PCOS System helps to improve insulin sensitivity with its combination of nutrients and herbs as well as diet and exercise guidelines. The supplements are also designed to correct the hormone imbalance of PCOS and to help improve the symptoms of PCOS.
We advocate a slow weight loss which is healthier and more permanent. This is not a quick fix or fad diet. We want you to be healthy for the rest of your life by applying sensible lifestyle changes to your diet and exercise routine.
As for the Yaz birth control pill, many women with PCOS are prescribed the birth control pill to regulate their menses. We do not generally recommend oral contraceptives because they are synthetic hormones that mask some of the symptoms of PCOS rather than fixing the problems. When the
contraceptives are discontinued, the PCOS symptoms will persist and your cycle will again be irregular.
However, you may continue to take your birth control pill while using the Insulite PCOS System- just be sure to take it separately from the GlucX supplement. GlucX is high in fiber which may theoretically interfere with the absorption of other substances taken at the same time.
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing customer support at Insulite Labs; we are here to help you through this healing journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other questions or concerns.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, ND
Insulite Laboratories Consulting and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs
website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is
not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek
the advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care
provider before you undergo any treatment, take any medication,
supplements or other nutritional support, or for answers to any questions
you may have regarding a medical condition.
Did you get my previous email?
Yes we did. It’s gone to Dr. Andrea Lee for a response.
Thanks for writing in – we are happy to help.
Catherine – Editor
I AM 21 YEARS OLD AND RECENTLY FOUND OUT I HAVE PCOS I WAS JUST WONDERING WILL I HAVE TO LIVE LIKE THIS FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE OR IS THERE A WAY IT CAN BE FIXED. I AM ON YAZ TOO THANX!!
Dear Natasha,
I am delighted that you found our blog and decided to write in! PCOS is a
very complex condition and we understand how challenging and frustrating
managing it can be. But there is hope and things can get better!
As you may have read about on our website, http://www.pcos.insulitelabs.com, the
underlying cause of PCOS is believed to be insulin resistance. Insulin
resistance is a reversible condition. With insulin resistance, the body
becomes insensitive to the insulin it produces, which leads to elevated
circulating levels of insulin. This in turn leads to hormonal imbalances
such as increased testosterone and other androgens (masculinizing
hormones).
Elevated insulin and insulin resistance also contribute to the formation
of cysts in the ovaries in part due to the hormonal imbalances and also
because the ovaries are highly sensitive to the influence of insulin.
In women with PCOS, the ovaries are over-sensitized to insulin’s effects.
Finally, the weight gain associated with PCOS is intricately related to
insulin resistance. Losing weight helps to improve insulin sensitivity,
and vice versa: becoming more sensitive to your insulin helps you to lose
weight.
PCOS can be quite serious in some women and less in others. Some of the
long-term consequences of PCOS and the underlying cause, insulin
resistance, can include diabetes, cardiovascular complications, liver
disease, infertility, and more. You can read about the long-term
consequences on our website:
http://www.pcos.insulitelabs.com/PCOS-Insulin-Resistance.php.
PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) is a major cause of infertility. A
symptom of the condition, also known as polycystic ovaries, can be nine or
fewer menstrual cycles per year. The disorder may also cause heavier than
normal bleeding during periods. These conditions are the result of the
ovaries failing to produce hormones that keep the menstrual cycle regular.
Because women with PCOS don’t have regular periods, many are unable to
become pregnant. To read more about PCOS and infertility please visit the
following link: http://www.pcos.insulitelabs.com/PCOS-and-Infertility.php.
Regarding the Yaz pill, our view on the pharmaceutical treatment of PCOS
is that there is no one drug on the market that will change your
condition. The only way to reverse the disorder is to reduce elevations in
insulin which directly affect testosterone and other hormonal changes that
are responsible for causing PCOS.
We do not recommend oral contraceptives as a treatment for PCOS because
they are synthetic hormones that mask some of the symptoms of PCOS rather
than fixing the problems. Treating absent menses or other symptoms with
oral contraceptives does not treat the underlying disorder of PCOS and
when the contraceptives are discontinued, the PCOS symptoms will persist.
Our philosophy is to treat the cause of the disorder so that there is no
longer a need for using contraceptives. Of course if you are using birth
control to prevent pregnancy, you will need to find an alternate form of
contraception (condoms, diaphragm, etc.) if you decide to discontinue the
birth control pill!
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing customer
support at Insulite Labs; we are here to help you through this healing
journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other
questions or concerns.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, ND
Insulite Laboratories Consulting and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs
website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is
not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek
the advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care
provider before you undergo any treatment, take any medication,
supplements or other nutritional support, or for answers to any questions
you may have regarding a medical condition.
hello im 24 years and have pcos. I m trying really hard to get pregnant but with pcos it isnt happening. Please help me what could i do to get pregnant as i dream for a family of my own. Can i ever get pregnant? i am putting on a lot of weight cannt resist sweets. Help me please
Dear Hira,
I am delighted you found our blog and decided to write in! We hear from
many women who, just like you, struggle with PCOS and are trying to
conceive. But there is hope and things can get better!
As you may have read on our website, the underlying cause of PCOS in most
cases seems to be insulin resistance. With insulin resistance, the body
becomes insensitive to the insulin it produces, which leads to elevated
circulating levels of insulin. This in turn leads to hormonal imbalances
such as increased testosterone and other androgens (male hormones).
The increased testosterone is responsible for many of the symptoms of PCOS
such as hair growth and abnormal menstrual cycles. Elevated insulin also
contributes to the formation of cysts in the ovaries in part due to the
hormonal imbalances and also because the ovaries are highly sensitive to
the influence of insulin. In women with PCOS, the ovaries are
over-sensitized to insulin’s effects.
The weight gain associated with PCOS is intricately related to insulin
resistance. Losing weight helps to improve insulin sensitivity, and vice
versa: becoming more sensitive to your insulin helps you to lose weight.
Unfortunately, people who have insulin resistance have a very difficult
time losing weight, as you have experienced. The difficulty becoming
pregnant that many women with PCOS experience is due to a number of
factors: the ovarian cysts, the hormonal imbalance, and the elevated
insulin.
Research has shown that for overweight women with PCOS, losing at least
5-10% of their weight increased the likelihood of restoration of regular
menstruation. Regular menses means that the woman is probably ovulating;
therefore losing weight can increase the chances of becoming pregnant for
these women with PCOS.
As for the sweet (carbohydrate) cravings, to successfully conquer
carbohydrate addiction, the key is a gradual, consistent tapering. We
don’t advocate stopping all carb intake suddenly, and switching to an
all-protein diet. Rather, we recommend that you gradually reduce your carb
intake. This will not feel like a shock to your system, and your efforts
won’t be sabotaged by strong cravings. Before long, you’ll hardly crave
carbs at all.
Remember: When you change your diet gradually, you allow your brain to
revise neural networks that support your high-carbohydrate consumption.
This yields lasting behavior change that enables you to leave unhealthy
eating habits behind permanently. When we recommend reducing your
carbohydrate intake, we want you to replace refined carbs with vegetables.
Also, it’s important to eat carbohydrates with other foods (protein and
fats). This prevents insulin spikes and keeps your blood sugar stable -
which means, among other benefits, you won’t get hunger pangs. Don’t eat
your daily portion of carbs all at once! Instead consume carbs gradually,
throughout the day, while also eating protein and/or fat. You will
probably feel better when you do this.
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing customer
support at Insulite Labs; we are here to help you through this healing
journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other
questions or concerns.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, ND
Insulite Laboratories Consulting and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs
website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is
not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek
the advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care
provider before you undergo any treatment, take any medication,
supplements or other nutritional support, or for answers to any questions
you may have regarding a medical condition.
Hi. I was wondering if I might have PCOS. I have had numerous symptoms within the last year alone. I have gained a total of about 60 pounds since I had my youngest child(3 years ago)! I have tried and tried everythng to lose weight and cant! I cry constantly and hate myself because of it. All of my weight gain is around my middle. I also have irregular periods. Sometimes I will be 3 weeks late! I have hair growth in unwanted places. PLEASE tell me if there is anything NATURAL that I can do to help me!I hate being so fat and ugly!
Hi Stephanie - Our apologies for the delay in responding to your posting; it was a technical problem and we NEVER take this long to respond.
Your concerns are very important to us and we are glad that you visited our Support Blog. Below is your response from Dr. Andrea Lee. Please don’t hesitate to contact us anytime. We promise to get back to you ASAP.
Best to you,
Catherine, Editor – PCOS Support Blog
Dear Stephanie,
We understand how upsetting it can be to be to try to experience such big
changes to your body. And how frustrating it can be to try to find what
works to help. I’m glad you found our blog and decided to write in!
As you may have read on our website, http://www.pcos.insulitelabs.com, the
underlying cause of PCOS in most cases seems to be insulin resistance.
With insulin resistance, the body becomes insensitive to the insulin
produced by the pancreas, which leads to elevated circulating levels of
insulin. This in turn leads to hormonal imbalances such as increased
testosterone and other androgens (male hormones).
The increased testosterone is responsible for many of the symptoms of PCOS
such as hair growth and abnormal menstrual cycles. Elevated insulin also
contributes to the formation of cysts in the ovaries in part due to the
hormonal imbalances and also because the ovaries are highly sensitive to
the influence of insulin. In women with PCOS, the ovaries are
over-sensitized to insulin’s effects.
The difficulty losing weight associated with PCOS is intricately related to insulin resistance. Losing weight helps to improve insulin sensitivity, and vice versa: becoming more sensitive to your insulin helps you to lose weight.
There are several potential long-term complications related to the insulin resistance, as well as the effects of not menstruating regularly over a long period of time. Women with PCOS are more susceptible to developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease due to the effects of insulin resistance and obesity.
The Insulite PCOS System consists of supplements, diet and exercise guidelines, addiction/cravings awareness and customer support. The System was designed to improve insulin sensitivity, correct the hormonal imbalance of PCOS, and improve the symptoms. You can learn more about the Insulite PCOS System by visiting http://pcos.insulitelabs.com/Insulite-PCOS-System.php
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing customer support at Insulite Labs; we are here to help you through this healing journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other questions or concerns. Again, our apologies for the delay.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, ND
Insulite Laboratories Consulting and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs
website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is
not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek
the advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care
provider before you undergo any treatment, take any medication,
supplements or other nutritional support, or for answers to any questions
you may have regarding a medical condition.
I feel lost bc i have recently been dx with PCOS after a trip to the hospital when I passed out and my bp was really low. Well actually it took months, thousands of dollars and too many incompetent doctors. I don’t fit the normal sx of PCOS. I don’t have any weight gain, hair issues, my period has always been like clock work each month…down to the hour. After the doc found PCOS they put me on Loestrin. The first mo. was ok and now it seems worse then before the bc. I have about 14 days of hell each month, the week before and after my period where i have these attacks that are either blood sugar/insulin or anxiety. The weird thing is I don’t feel anxious. They come at random times. While sleeping, laughing, not stressful moments. Since the BC i have had triple the sx. The ones mentioned above and tingling in my feet, moody, my face/ear goes numb if i sleep on that side. i wake up with my ear throbbing. I can actually feel the blood move away from it and the throbbing stops when I turn over. Is this a circulation issue. a bc issue, an isulin issue? i want to stop the BC because I don’t think it has helped at all. Should i go on Metoform(sp?
My diet is perfect, i cut out all sugars, bad carbs and I exercise 3-4 times a week. I get massages weekly (i live in CR and can afford it here)so i am confused why I am still feeling this way. The only link I see is the BC? Please help.
Dear Heather,
I am delighted you found our website and decided to write in! The endocrine system is a very complicated thing so your confusion is completely understandable. Additionally, PCOS can affect any number of bodily systems- not just the ovaries and reproductive system and not every woman will express the same symptoms.
Our view on the pharmaceutical treatment of PCOS is that there is no one drug on the market that will change your condition. The only way to reverse the disorder is to reduce elevations in insulin which directly affect testosterone and other hormonal changes that are responsible for causing PCOS.
We do not recommend oral contraceptives as a treatment for PCOS because they are synthetic hormones that mask some of the symptoms of PCOS rather than fixing the problems. Treating absent menses or other symptoms with oral contraceptives does not treat the underlying disorder of PCOS and
when the contraceptives are discontinued, the PCOS symptoms will persist.
Metformin isn’t a drug for PCOS. Metformin is an anti-hyperglycemic agent which improves glucose tolerance in patients with type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetic conditions, lowering both basal and postprandial plasma glucose (not insulin which is believed to be the underlying cause of PCOS). Its pharmacologic mechanisms of action are different from other classes of oral anti-hyperglycemic agents.
Metformin decreases glucose production in the liver, decreases intestinal absorption of glucose, and improves insulin sensitivity by increasing peripheral glucose uptake and utilization. With metformin therapy, insulin secretion remains unchanged and fasting plasma insulin levels and day-long
plasma insulin response may or may not decrease. In short, metformin treats only the symptom of hyperglycemia (too much sugar in the bloodstream), not the cause (insulin resistance).
Even though you have not experienced any recent weight gain, is your weight still an issue for you? I am wondering if you have ever had your fasting insulin checked. Insulin resistance can be verified by looking at the fasting insulin level and the insulin:glucose ratio. Some doctors hesitate to perform a fasting insulin test on their patients because the normal range (0-20) is so wide. However, we have found that a fasting insulin level of about 9 or higher is starting to indicate problems with
insulin resistance. Other factors that would make me suspicious of insulin resistance include high blood pressure, difficulty losing weight, skin tags, acanthosis nigricans (dark brown patches on the skin), and a family history of diabetes or metabolic syndrome.
I would definitely speak with your doctor again about what is going on since starting the Loestrin. Birth control pills can cause changes that can affect circulation (one of the side effects of birth control pills can be blood clots- this is especially a concern if you are a smoker) so it is worth re-visiting this with your doctor.
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing customer support at Insulite Labs; we are here to help you through this healing journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other questions or concerns.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, ND
Insulite Laboratories Consulting and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs
website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is
not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek
the advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care
provider before you undergo any treatment, take any medication,
supplements or other nutritional support, or for answers to any questions
you may have regarding a medical condition.
i was diagnosis at 21 and then i was not ready to have children and now i’m 27 and want kids so bad and i have an fiancee’ and we both want kids and the doctors keep running test but i know whats wrong and i just want to fix it so i can have kids what should i do? It’s killing me not being able to have kids everyone in my family has children expect me so i became the babysitter for everyone! now i want my own to see what the look like to hold them its very frustrating for me.
Dear Lanette,
I am so glad you contacted Insulite Laboratories. I can truly hear how much pain you must be feeling. We hear from many women who struggle just like you do with weight and who are trying to conceive.
But, there is hope and things can get better.
PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) is a major cause of infertility. A symptom of the condition, also known as polycystic ovaries, can be nine or fewer menstrual cycles per year. The disorder may also cause heavier than normal bleeding during periods. These conditions are the result of the ovaries failing to produce hormones that keep the menstrual cycle regular.
Because women with PCOS don’t have regular periods, many are unable to become pregnant. To read more about PCOS and infertility please visit the following link: http://www.pcos.insulitelabs.com/PCOS-and-Infertility.php.
As you may have read on our website, http://www.pcos.insulitelabs.com, the underlying cause of PCOS in most cases seems to be insulin resistance. With insulin resistance, the body becomes insensitive to the insulin produced by the pancreas, which leads to elevated circulating levels of insulin. This in turn leads to hormonal imbalances such as increased testosterone and other androgens (male hormones).
The increased testosterone is responsible for many of the symptoms of PCOS such as hair growth and abnormal menstrual cycles. Elevated insulin also contributes to the formation of cysts in the ovaries in part due to the hormonal imbalances and also because the ovaries are highly sensitive to the influence of insulin. In women with PCOS, the ovaries are over-sensitized to insulin’s effects.
The difficulty losing weight associated with PCOS is intricately related to insulin resistance. Losing weight helps to improve insulin sensitivity, and vice versa: becoming more sensitive to your insulin helps you to lose weight. There are several potential long-term complications related to the
insulin resistance, as well as the effects of not menstruating regularly over a long period of time. Women with PCOS are more susceptible to developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease due to the effects of insulin resistance and obesity. Research has shown that losing even just 10% of your body weight can result in more regular periods and an increase in fertility.
There is also a more recent book on what is appropriate for PCOS : The Natural Diet Solution for PCOS and Infertility by Dr. Nancy Dunne, ND. This book contains a lot of useful information as to why certain foods are better and includes some really nice recipes and shopping lists.
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing support at Insulite Labs; we are here to help you through this healing journey.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other questions or concerns.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, ND
Insulite Laboratories Consulting and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs
website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is
not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek
the advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care
provider before you undergo any treatment, take any medication,
supplements or other nutritional support, or for answers to any questions
you may have regarding a medical condition.
Dear doctor,
I am 25 yr old married female
i had irregular periods contacted gyn & had scan subserosal fibroid was there.She told me since i was willing to have child not to have it removed but now i am in mexico not in india .Now heavy bleeding with spotting has occured since 1 year.I dont know what to do here language is a problem so i consulted a homeopathic doctor here he gave me some chinese medicine & bleeding stopped then i discontinued the medicine the bleeding started again.Then i consulted him personally he has a machine with the help of which he gave me the medicine as follows:
Ignatia 12 x
ignatia 12 x
mr durrhium 20c
4 tablets morning, afternoon & night
A unique dose of thuja +Ignatia
But the bleeding didnt stop & severe lower back pain is there. i called him & he said to take the above medicine every 1 hour then i stated taking it bu also the bleeding didnt stop there was clot & the bleeding was blackish red.Then again i consulted him then with the help of the machine he gave me the medicine but the said that the above medicine was not accepted by my body now so he prescribed a new set of medicines as follows:
Rhus tox 10 mc DU ( Unique dose)
Calcarea carbonica 8x +Rhus tox 30 c
trillium pend 12x + Rhus tox 30 c
Sepia Off 200c + Rhus tox 30 c
4 tablets morning ,afternoon & night
then again i consulted him he gave me the following medicines:
arnica 10 mc + sulphur 10mc (unique dose)
coccus sativa 6x
rhus tox 12x
lachesis 30c
ustilago6x – every one hour
4 tablets morning ,afternoon &night
But also the bleeding didnt stop.Now the bleeding is dark red in colour but small clots with bleeding is there with severe lower back pain & hip pain .I dont know what to do here language is a problem pls suggest me what to do.I have hair all over my face, stomach almost all over the body .Earlier i had very regular period pls help me what to do.I am depressed of my life.I am a pure vegetarian i dont eat any outside food but also i got fibroid i dont know how .I want to have regular periods so that i can have a baby.This bleeding is driving me crazy & my in-laws r demanding for a child since 6 months i am wearing sanitary pads with heavy bleeding.One thing i forgot to tell u when i contacted gyn my prolactin level was high.Pls tell me what to do shall i continue the medicine or not because the homeopathic doc here hardly speaks English.What is wrong with me ?why is my life like this?Pls help me!!!!!!!! When will i have a normal life like other woman? Pls help me!!!! Pls reply to the mail.R the medicines ok or else pls suggest me the other medicine to stop bleeding & dissolve fibroid.
Regards,
Annanya
Dear Annaya,
It certainly sounds like you are experiencing some very distressing symptoms! We understand how frightening and frustrating these can be, but there is hope and things can get better! I am glad you found our blog and decided to write in.
As you may have read on our website, the underlying cause of PCOS in most cases seems to be insulin resistance. With insulin resistance, the body becomes insensitive to the insulin it produces, which leads to elevated circulating levels of insulin. This in turn leads to hormonal imbalances
such as increased testosterone and other androgens (male hormones).
The increased testosterone is responsible for many of the symptoms of PCOS such as hair growth and abnormal menstrual cycles. Elevated insulin also contributes to the formation of cysts in the ovaries in part due to the hormonal imbalances and also because the ovaries are highly sensitive to the influence of insulin.
The weight gain associated with PCOS is intricately related to insulin resistance. Losing weight helps to improve insulin sensitivity, and vice versa: becoming more sensitive to your insulin helps you to lose weight.
Women with PCOS may be able to improve their fertility by losing weight and improving the insulin resistance that underlies PCOS.
Elevated insulin also contributes to the formation of cysts in the ovaries in part due to the hormonal imbalances and also because the ovaries are highly sensitive to the influence of insulin.
All of these factors combine to complicate a woman’s chances of conceiving if she has PCOS.
The heavy bleeding you are experiencing can be a symptom of PCOS. However, I am not really in a position to recommend alternate treatment for a few reasons. For one thing, I am not your doctor! It is not ethical for me to recommend medications to someone who is not my patient and whom
I have never seen in person.
Also, we want to be careful that you are not bleeding so much as to become anemic. If you continue to have heavy bleeding, then you might see your doctor about a blood test to check for anemia.
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing customer support at Insulite Labs; we are here to help you through this healing journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other questions or concerns.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, ND
Insulite Laboratories Consulting and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs
website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is
not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek
the advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care
provider before you undergo any treatment, take any medication,
supplements or other nutritional support, or for answers to any questions
you may have regarding a medical condition.
hello doctor
I M ANJALI FRM INDIA OF AGE 25 I HAVE BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH PCOD LAST MONTH I M OVERWEIGHT NOT SO BUT A LITTLE BIT AND TRYING TO GET PREGNNET MY DOCTOR GAVE ME DIEVERY TABLET FOR PERIODS BUT SINCE I FELL VERY BED MY DIGESTIVE SYSTEM BECAME VERY POOR PLEASE HELP ME WHAT I HAVE TO DO TO REGAIN A NORMAL LIFE AND HEALTHY CHAILD PLEASE HELP ME OUT
THANKS
ANJALI
Dear Anjali,
I am delighted that you found our blog and decided to write in! We understand how distressing it can be to be diagnosed with PCOS, but there is hope and things can get better! Thanks for writing in.
As you may have read about on our website, http://www.pcos.insulitelabs.com, with insulin resistance, the body becomes insensitive to the insulin it produces, which leads to elevated circulating levels of insulin. This in turn leads to hormonal imbalances such as increased testosterone and other
androgens (masculinizing hormones).
Elevated insulin and insulin resistance also contribute to the formation of cysts in the ovaries in part due to the hormonal imbalances and also because the ovaries are highly sensitive to the influence of insulin. In women with PCOS, the ovaries are over-sensitized to insulin’s effects.
Finally, the weight gain associated with PCOS is intricately related to insulin resistance. Losing weight helps to improve insulin sensitivity, and vice versa: becoming more sensitive to your insulin helps you to lose weight.
All of these factors combine to complicate a woman’s chances of conceiving if she has PCOS.
The Insulite PCOS System helps to improve insulin sensitivity with its combination of nutrients and herbs as well as diet and exercise guidelines. The supplements are also designed to correct the hormone imbalance of PCOS. While we cannot guarantee that you will conceive on our program, we know that, theoretically, reducing insulin and testosterone will increase your chances of conceiving.
How long you stay on the PCOS System depends on your progress, on how much weight you need to lose, on your symptoms, etc. We certainly don’t want our customers to have to take the supplements for the rest of their lives!
We do, however, hope that you would continue the healthy lifestyle of the Insulite PCOS System with respect to the diet and exercise guidelines. Scientific research overwhelmingly confirms the fact that a truly effective change in the body at a cellular level needs to be gradual. You did not become overweight and insulin resistant overnight.
As far as how long it will take, well that depends. Each person reacts so individually to any treatment plan.As mentioned above, truly effective change in the body at a cellular level needs to be gradual. It is not realistic or safe to attempt or expect a complete reversal in a few days.
We recommend that you follow the guidelines of the System for at least six months. Then, we would like to evaluate your progress with you and make recommendations for a course of action based on
that evaluation. I believe that, by correcting the underlying cause and
modifying your lifestyle, you can lose the weight and keep it off.
It is safe to continue trying to get pregnant while you are using the Insulite PCOS System. We do recommend, however, that, if you become pregnant while using the System, you discontinue using the supplements during your pregnancy and then resume them after you finish breastfeeding. The reason
is that, while we know that the Insulite PCOS System is safe and non-toxic
in general, these supplements have not been tested in any clinical trials specifically on pregnant women or infants.
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing customer support at Insulite Labs; we are here to help you through this healing journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other questions or concerns.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, ND
Insulite Laboratories Consulting and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs
website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is
not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek
the advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care
provider before you undergo any treatment, take any medication,
supplements or other nutritional support, or for answers to any questions
you may have regarding a medical condition.
Hello.
I started your system one month ago, and just had my period for the first time without bcp’s. My hair growth has decreased to the point that i feel like i don’t have much, and i feel more balanced.
I always felt lightheaded and like ‘i’m drunk’ for the past three years. First two weeks on these pills, i felt better, and now when i exercise for 30 mins on the treadmill and i’m done, i need to stop and stand there for 1 min before i can move. I feel so dizzy. How can i improve this? What is going on with me? Thanks!
Dear Anna,
I am delighted that you decided to give the Insulite PCOS System a try and are experiencing such great results already!
I am sorry you are getting so dizzy with exercise though. I am glad you wrote in for help!
Do you only experience the dizziness after exercising or do you also have it at other times (like when you stand up from laying down, etc.)? How close to your workout do you eat? Were you having any other symptoms of low blood sugar, feeling faint, irritability, trembling? Are you taking any blood pressure or other prescription medications?
If you can write me back with the answers to these questions that will really help me to best guide you. In the meantime, I would recommend that you try having a small snack (such as a protein shake, some nuts, yogurt – but watch the sugar, etc.) before you work out. It may be that your blood sugar is dropping a bit during your exercise and that is causing the dizziness.
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing customer support at Insulite Labs; we are here to help you through this healing journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other questions or concerns. We are here to help out and want to make sure that the Insulite System works for you.
Please visit our PCOS community where you can share ideas, concerns and
issues and find additional information and support to reverse PCOS symptoms:
http://www.pcos.insulitelabs.com/blog/index.php PCOS Support Blog
http://pcos.insulitelabs.com/forums/index.php PCOS Forums
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, ND
Insulite Laboratories Consulting and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs
website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is
not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek
the advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care
provider before you undergo any treatment, take any medication,
supplements or other nutritional support, or for answers to any questions
you may have regarding a medical condition.
Could i have pcos because i am a smoker?
Dear Mashael,
I am delighted that you found our blog and decided to write in. PCOS is a
very complex condition and we are learning more and more each day about
it’s cause, symptoms, and management. Thanks for writing in!
Smoking is not known to be a cause of PCOS. However, one of the things
that PCOS can lead to is diabetes. Smoking narrows the small blood vessels
and decrease the blood flow to the extremities. This can contribute to a
host of other problems including decreased sensation and problems with
wound healing that are common in diabetes. Smoking is also bad if you
have heart disease as this is another thing that PCOS can lead to.
I am not aware of any research that has been done on smoking and PCOS
specifically although enough research has been done on cigarettes that
indicate that they are not good for you.
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing customer
support at Insulite Labs; we are here to help you through this healing
journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other
questions or concerns.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, ND
Insulite Laboratories Consulting and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs
website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is
not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek
the advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care
provider before you undergo any treatment, take any medication,
supplements or other nutritional support, or for answers to any questions
you may have regarding a medical condition.
Dr. Lee,
I exhibit textbook symptoms of PCOS. However, due to a lack of medical insurance I am unable to make it to a doctor for diagnosis. I have not had a consistent mentruation cycle from the beginning; always skipping a month, then consistent cycles, and now back to no mentruation at all. My greatest fear is that I have developed cancer due to a lack of care by a physician. I have not had a gyn visit in over a year because of healthcare issues. I am an active 23 year old lesbian who has always been very masculine. I have very masculine bone structure and physique which I have no doubt both have to do with my endocrine system. My symptoms have become more evident over the past six months: abnominal weight gain, skin tags on my neck, hair growth at the chin and upper lip, also around the upper thigh, increase in irritability and acne around my jaw line.
I am writing in hopes of gaining advice on natural sources of regulating my periods. I am vegetarian and consume a great deal of protein via soy. My diet is usually around 1500 to 2100 calories depending on the day. I have got to regulate my diet. I swim every day at least a mile and a half and am extremely active all the time. My greatest fear at this point is that I have waited too long to get a handle on these symptoms. I know that due to my age and without consistent healthcare, the risk of developing endometrial cancer is much higher; which terrifies me. Despite the dire need to seek a physician, do you have any suggestions for taking an herbal route to jump starte treatment for the above-mentioned symptoms?
I am content with my physique and muscle mass, and have seen a decrease in abdominal fat recently. I am concerned that my physique and structure will change once this is treated, which does scare me a bit. I have become confortable with my image as it is now, but must get the menstruation cycle under control.
Thank you so much for your time!
With Best Wishes,
Candler
Dear Candler,
I am so glad you found my blog! I have heard from other lesbians who are concerned that balancing out their hormones will ultimately result in a fundamental change to their personality or physical characteristics.
Personality and physical appearance are big parts of self identity, and I can certainly understand the concern. Thanks for writing in!
As you may have read about on our website, http://www.pcos.insulitelabs.com, the underlying cause of PCOS is believed in most cases to be insulin resistance. With insulin resistance, the body becomes insensitive to the insulin it produces, which leads to elevated circulating levels of insulin. This in turn leads to hormonal imbalances such as increased testosterone and other androgens (masculinizing hormones).
Elevated insulin and insulin resistance also contribute to the formation of cysts in the ovaries in part due to the hormonal imbalances and also because the ovaries are highly sensitive to the influence of insulin. In women with PCOS, the ovaries are over-sensitized to insulin’s effects.
Finally, the weight gain associated with PCOS is intricately related to insulin resistance. Losing weight helps to improve insulin sensitivity, and vice versa: becoming more sensitive to your insulin helps you to lose weight.
PCOS is a complex condition and can affect a number of bodily systems. Because of this it requires an equally dynamic solution. The Insulite PCOS System is a combination of herbs and nutrients that helps to improve insulin sensitivity and promote healthy weight loss through the use of natural supplements as well as diet and exercise guidelines. The supplements are also designed to correct the hormone imbalance of PCOS.
As for physique, simply having more testosterone does not inherently mean that there will be hypertrophic (size increase) changes in the muscles, otherwise a couch potato who used anabolic steroids or someone who used androgens for birth control would be huge (which doesn’t happen)! In
fact, studies show that extremely high levels of androgens actually cause a rapid decrease in the number of testosterone receptors on the muscles.
This is why users of anabolic steroids do so in “cycles”, to allow time for the muscles to recover their inherent sensitivity to testosterone.
Conversely, having a normal level of testosterone does not mean that muscles cannot grow. There are plenty of natural body builders who have huge muscles! Only muscles that are trained get bigger. Even those professional body builders who use steroids (and thus have HIGH levels of anabolic hormones) don’t see growth in muscles they don’t work. Think about those big guys you see walking around with huge huge arms and little bitty calves. Ultimately, muscle growth is determined by local changes caused by contractions of the muscle, not by a systemic factor.
Studies show that brief, intense training (with weights) can increase the level of testosterone in the muscles. Perhaps more importantly though, training increases the sensitivity of muscles to the effects of testosterone. This means that even normal levels of testosterone can have a more profound effect on muscles that are trained regularly. So all this goes to say that you can absolutely keep your physique AND keep your hormones in balance.
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing customer support at Insulite Labs; we are here to help you through this healing journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other questions or concerns.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, ND
Insulite Laboratories Consulting and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care provider before you undergo any treatment, take any medication, supplements or other nutritional support, or for answers to any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Please help us, our daughter has PCOS and she is 17 years old. she is on Metforman and it is not helping. She has excessive hair on her face and body. she started to wax and now she has to do it once a week on her face it is so bad what can we do?
Dear Randee,
I am sorry to hear about your daughter’s health struggles. I am delighted, however, that you found our website and hope that it proves to be a great source of information and support for you and for your daughter.
As you may have read about on our website, http://www.pcos.insulitelabs.com, the underlying cause of PCOS is believed to be insulin resistance. With insulin resistance, the body becomes insensitive to the insulin it produces, which leads to elevated circulating levels of insulin. This in turn leads to hormonal imbalances such as increased testosterone and other androgens (masculinizing hormones- responsible for much of the excess hair that can be so problematic for many women with PCOS as you and your daughter are well aware).
Elevated insulin and insulin resistance also contribute to the formation of cysts in the ovaries in part due to the hormonal imbalances and also because the ovaries are highly sensitive to the influence of insulin. In women with PCOS, the ovaries are over-sensitized to insulin’s effects.
Finally, the weight gain associated with PCOS is intricately related to insulin resistance. Losing weight helps to improve insulin sensitivity, and vice versa: becoming more sensitive to your insulin helps you to lose weight.
It is always so encouraging to hear from family members who are worried about their loved ones. With conditions like these, it is essential to include diet and lifestyle changes as part of the treatment program.
Making such changes is of course easier with the support of family members.
Our view on the pharmaceutical treatment of PCOS is that there is no one drug on the market that will change the condition. The only way to reverse the disorder is to reduce elevations in insulin which directly affect testosterone and other hormonal changes that are responsible for causing PCOS.
Regarding the Metformin, Metformin isn’t a drug for PCOS. Metformin is an anti-hyperglycemic agent which improves glucose tolerance in patients with type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetic conditions, lowering both basal and postprandial plasma glucose (not insulin which is believed to be the underlying cause of PCOS). Its pharmacologic mechanisms of action are different from other classes of oral anti-hyperglycemic agents.
Metformin decreases glucose production in the liver, decreases intestinal absorption of glucose, and improves insulin sensitivity by increasing peripheral glucose uptake and utilization. With metformin therapy, insulin secretion remains unchanged and fasting plasma insulin levels and day-long plasma insulin response may or may not decrease. In short, Metformin treats only the symptom of hyperglycemia (too much sugar in the bloodstream), not the cause (insulin resistance).
With regard to the excess hair, this is a concern I hear from many women. It can be so distressing for women to have hair where they don’t want it!
The excess/unwanted hair that currently exists may have to be removed via laser, electrolysis, etc. The follicles that have already started producing thicker, coarser hairs may continue to do so unless the follicle is destroyed. However, as your insulin resistance reverses and your hormones balance, the new hair growth should become finer, less visible.
And I do hear from many women that their need to pluck, wax, shave, etc. that decreases when their insulin resistance gets under control and their hormones begin to balance out.
I also frequently hear exactly what you said, “I’m on Metformin and it isn’t working!” I can offer you a complementary approach however with the Insulite PCOS System. It is specifically designed to help improve insulin sensitivity and promote healthy weight loss with its combination of nutrients and herbs as well as diet and exercise guidelines. The supplements are also designed to correct the hormone imbalance of PCOS.
If you have any further questions about it, I would be happy to discuss it further with you. You can email me at dralee@insulitelabs.com.
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing customer support at Insulite Labs; we are here to help you through this healing journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other questions or concerns.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, ND
Insulite Laboratories Consulting and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care provider before you undergo any treatment, take any medication, supplements or other nutritional support, or for answers to any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
I am wondering if I have PCOS and have wondered for a long time. I am 39 and lesbian. I meet some of the symptoms (facial hair, acne, skin tags) but not others as I am quite lean, have regular periods and have had diabetes tests before and I am not diabetic or overweight. I exercise often so I doubt I have insulin resistance. How do I know if I just have elevated blood levels of male hormones versus PCOS? Is it possible that the facial hair is something other than PCOS? I shave every day and sometimes by 2 pm need to shave again.
—————-
Dear Jen,
I am glad that you found our blog! PCOS is notoriously difficult to diagnose. It is a syndrome with many possible symptoms affecting any number of bodily systems. And any two women with PCOS will not necessarily display the exact same set of symptoms. We understand how frustrating this can be, but there is hope and things can get better!
The topics of lean women with PCOS, and PCOS without insulin resistance are still not entirely understood in the medical community. Many thin women with PCOS do have insulin resistance, but some do not. It is not a clear-cut distinction that thin women are not Insulin resistant. Some lean women with PCOS hyper-secrete insulin but do not yet manifest insulin resistance. And in many women with PCOS, their ovaries are highly sensitive to insulin, so that even if their serum insulin levels are normal, the ovaries are highly reactive to that insulin.
Here is a link to study that was done with lean women who have a history of PCOS:
http://www.insidepcos.com:80/articles/612/1/Lean-Women-with-Polycystic-Ovary-Syndrome-Respond-to-Insulin-Reduction.html.
PCOS is notoriously difficult to diagnose. It is a diagnosis of exclusion.
In other words, it is important to rule out other diseases that can cause symptoms similar to PCOS (such as Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia). To diagnose PCOS, we use a combination of clinical symptoms (what you experience as the patient, such as excess hair growth, irregular menses, acne, skin tags, weight gain, infertility, etc.) and lab tests. Readers’
Digest recently named PCOS to its list of “Most Frequently Diagnosed Conditions”.
Lab testing can also be a useful tool in the diagnosis, the blood tests to consider are:
- testosterone- elevated in PCOS
- DHEA-S- elevated in PCOS
- Fasting insulin- elevated in PCOS. Some doctors may hesitate to order this test because the normal range (0-20) is so wide. However, we find that results greater than 9 indicate insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is usually the underlying cause of PCOS, as you may have read about on our site.
- Fasting glucose or glucose tolerance test- elevated in PCOS. Using this information in combination with the fasting insulin helps to diagnose insulin resistance. Also, women with PCOS have a higher risk of diabetes so it is important to screen for this early and often.
- LH: FSH- Some doctors may also look at the ratio between these two hormones. In PCOS, we would expect LH to be elevated in comparison to FSH.
- You could get an ultrasound to check for the presence of ovarian cysts.
Even if the ovaries do appear normal, the absence of ovarian cysts does not mean that you don’t have PCOS. Not everyone with PCOS has ovarian cysts.
- I would also check your cholesterol levels and liver function tests, as these can also be abnormal in PCOS (as well as in many other conditions).
Lab testing is not mandatory for diagnosing PCOS, especially if you are experiencing so many of the symptoms. However, the above tests do give us numbers which, along with the improvement of your clinical symptoms, help us monitor your progress.
I do want to let you know that there is another condition called Cushing’s disease that has many symptoms of PCOS and is sometimes mistaken for PCOS.
If you did have Cushing’s disease it may exacerbate the symptoms.
Cushing’s is not very common, but I still wanted to mention it to you.
This would be something to discuss with your doctor to ensure it has been ruled out.
If you have a family history of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, if you have cravings for carbohydrates or sweets, if you have skin tags or acanthosis nigricans (dark patches on the skin, especially in the armpits) I would be more inclined to think there is a component of insulin resistance in your case.
I hope this information is helpful for you! There is amazing customer support at Insulite Labs; we are here to help you through this healing journey. Please don’t hesitate to contact us again if you have any other questions or concerns.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Andrea Lee, ND
Insulite Laboratories Consulting and Advisory Team
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care provider before you undergo any treatment, take any medication, supplements or other nutritional support, or for answers to any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Do you know if this is something that works over night or does it take a bit for it to work?
———————
We ask you give the Insulite PCOS System a fair and complete test and for that reason, we ask you to use the PCOS System for at least 30 days. The Insulite PCOS System has been designed to work together as an integrated program – the Supplements, Nutrition and Exercise. We also recommend that you follow the PCOS System guidelines for six month. Because of genetic variations and the severity of your condition, the time frame for improvement for each person will vary.
- Insulite Laboratories Customer Support
Nice blog and some interesting information, I found it really by mistake looking for something else. Have bookmarked it and will be back soon.
Hi, my name is Danielle and I am 25 years old. I’ve been trying to get pregnant for a few years now and it has not work. I’ve been to a IVF doctor and they told me I was PCOS. I didn’t understand what that was. So I went home and resarch what PCOS is. Once I got the knowledge of it, the doctor had given me metformin and clomid which neither of them work. So now I am making changes on my own to excercise and eat the right way. My question is, I read all testimonials and everyone had success. Will it work for me too? Are there any bad side affects? Do I need to speak with my doctor before I used this product? I want to know cause I think even though what I am trying to change still doesn’t work. My periods are very heavy with blood clots, gain a lot of weight around my mid-section, crave lots of sugar and carbs etc. I’m at my last straw and don’t know what to do. Can you help me. Danielle
Dear Danielle,
Thank you for writing to Insulite Labs; I’m glad you found our website!
Let me send you some basic information on PCOS, Insulin Resistance, and
the Insulite PCOS System: the underlying cause of PCOS in most cases seems
to be Insulin Resistance. With Insulin Resistance, the body becomes insensitive
to the insulin it produces, which leads to elevated circulating levels of insulin.
This in turn leads to hormonal imbalances such as increased testosterone and other
androgens (male hormones). The increased testosterone is responsible for
many of the symptoms such as hair growth and abnormal menstrual cycles.
Elevated insulin also contributes to the formation of cysts in the ovaries
in part due to the hormonal imbalances and also because the ovaries are
highly sensitive to the influence of insulin. In women with PCOS, the
ovaries are over-sensitized to insulin’s effects.
Finally, the weight gain often associated with PCOS is intricately related to
Insulin Resistance. Losing weight helps to improve insulin sensitivity,
and vice versa: becoming more sensitive to your insulin helps you to lose
weight. Other symptoms that women with PCOS suffer from are acne and excess
hair growth.
The Insulite PCOS System consists of several elements, all designed to work together to
address PCOS and its underlying cause, Insulin Resistance. The System is
comprised of supplements, diet and exercise guidelines, addiction
awareness, and customer support. We provide ample customer support because
we advocate lifestyle changes, and we know that these types of changes can
be difficult to make without some help!
The supplements are designed to improve insulin sensitivity, help you lose
weight, reduce the symptoms of PCOS, correct the hormonal imbalance of
PCOS, and help manage the deleterious consequences of having elevated
insulin. Here is a link to a page on our website that describes the
supplements in detail: http://www.pcos.insulitelabs.com/PCOS-Elements.php
The diet and exercise aspects of the Insulite PCOS System are also crucial
to your success. You can read the general information about these guidelines at the following link:
http://www.pcos.insulitelabs.com/Insulite-PCOS-System-Nutrition-and-Exercise-Plans.php.
Of course, more detailed information is provided in the Insulite Guide
that our customers receive.
You can read much more about the entire Insulite PCOS System by visiting
the following link: http://www.pcos.insulitelabs.com/.
The side effects that have been reported to Insulite Laboratories have been
minor and include gas, bloating, loose stools or other digestive disturbances.
The reason for this is that we should eat 35 grams of fiber per day but,
typically, we consume far less than this. The changes in digestion that
happen to some people starting on the Insulite PCOS System are due to being
unaccustomed to the soluble fiber in the GLUCX supplements. This fiber is an
important component in the Insulite PCOS System because it acts to decrease
a glucose (blood sugar) spike following a meal. These side effects will
improve as the person’s system gets used to this type of fiber.
A few women have also written in to report that they had spotting after
starting the Insulite PCOS System, but this too seemed to be a temporary
reaction, and is rare.
In addition, there have been a few complaints of headaches after starting
the system and we believe this is due to a detoxification reaction.
A couple of people have written in to say they experienced slight nausea but
this was resolved when they took the supplements with a little bit of food.
An extremely rare reaction (we have only heard this twice) is a skin rash
developing after beginning the system, but one of these people had a known
allergy to a substance related to one of the ingredients in the System so
there was probably a cross-reaction.
We cannot promise that the PCOS System will result in you conceiving
although we do know it can address several of the causative factors behind
this condition. As stated on our website, losing weight and getting your insulin
regulated will reduce ovarian cysts and additional hormonal imbalances, thereby
enhancing your ability to conceive. It is safe to continue trying to get pregnant
while you are using the System.
We do recommend, however, that, if you become pregnant while using the Insulite PCOS System, you discontinue using the supplements during your pregnancy and then resume them after you finish
breastfeeding. The reason is that while we know that the PCOS System is safe
and non-toxic in general, these supplements have not been tested in any clinical
trials specifically on pregnant women or infants.
I hope this information provides you with what you were looking for, feel free
to write again with any other questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Dr. Apryl Krause, ND
Insulite Coaching & Advisory teams
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this email and the Insulite Labs website is for the sole purpose of being informative. This information is not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care provider before you undergo any treatment, take any medication, supplements or other nutritional support, or for answers to any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Do you have a site feed I can save? I looked around but can not.
—————-
Hello Doloris,
Thank you for your feedback.
Our PCOS Blog does offer RSS feeds. Here is a link to a page that details how to start. If you have any questions or problems, be sure to let us know.
http://pcos.insulitelabs.com/blog/rss-feeds-help/
Best Regards,
Insulite Laboratories Customer Service
thanks !! very helpful post!
You may have not intended to do so, but I think you have managed to express the state of mind that a lot of people are in. The sense of wanting to help, but not knowing how or where, is something a lot of us are going through.