Can anyone HELP or shed some insight?

Color me ignorant! Please explain to me exactly what PCOS is, symptoms, etc. I will be a year out from RNY WLS in exactly 3 days. Here is a brief scenario of my history (well maybe not so brief-sorry)...can anyone tell me if this is PCOS? I had gestational diabetes in my 4th trimester (with my 2nd child). I was put on insulin until birth of baby. GD went away but I was told that 90% will get Diabetes back later down the road. About 2 yrs later I did...and the weight just kept increasing. I never went back on insulin but did require various oral meds for the diabetes II. Since the birth of my child in 91 (and at the age of 37) I have had very irregular periods, ovarian fibroids, and a huge weight gain (although I have always been heavy since I was around 10 yrs old). When I was around 5 yrs old the doctors gave my parents a "tonic" for me to take because I was underweight...Oh lucky me!!! Good God what is wrong with some of these MD's? Anyway...of recent I have had a vaginal sono to see if my "fibroid cysts" have gotten larger in size. They have not. I had all bloodwork done and my levels are all good. Even my sugar levels. But...since July of this year I have not lost any "extra" weight. I keep losing and gaining the same 6-9 pounds over and over again. Is my body telling me that It just does not want to lose anymore...that this is where I am doomed to be for the rest of my life even after WLS? Yes, I have lost aprox. 160 Lbs (remember those 6-9 that I have been dealing with for months) in 12 months, but I want to lose at the very least another 50. I can't see this happening since what I have been experiencing the past 4 months. Here is a post I put up two nights ago...maybe this will help, and someone MAY have an answer for me...thanks for anyone *****ads this and can shed some light. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ have come to a complete halt now for over 3 months. I have gained and lost the same 6-9 lbs for the past 3 months. Where I was down 160 lbs, I am now (back up to) down only 156lbs. I tend to retain a lot of fluid. No matter if I weighed 90 lbs or 590 lbs, I retain fluid. I do take a fluid pill every day (prescribed, of course). When I ran out of my diuretics, boy did THAT show on the scale. I was without them for nearly 3 weeks and now I am really paying for it. I exercise, eat my protein, never missed not one day of vitamins or H2o...I do not take the B-12, caltrate or whatever that others say we need, but my labs all turned out fine. In 6 days I will be at my 1 year anniversary from WLS. I have not lost one (extra) pound in over 3 months...I hope this isn't the last of my losing any more weight. Before WLS I was a Type II diabetic on glucaphage @ 2000mg daily. This had increased over the years to the 2000mg per day. I now no longer need any diabetic meds nor high blood pressure pills. Thank God! BUT...my question is this. I guess you could say I am in what???---remission??? from the diabetes since WLS? Anyway, since I WAS a diabetic, does that mean that for the rest of my life I will produce carbs, sugar, etc. in a different way then a non (ever) diabetic would? Any info here might help me to get a handle on what to totally eliminate from my diet for the long haul---LIFE! Thanks in advance for your help. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thank you for reading, Audrey

Audrey, I feel your pain! I was diagnosed with PCOS about 2 years ago. I desperately wanted to get pregnant and was seeing an endocrinologist to see if he could get my levels under control and my weight down enough to concieve. We did that for about a year, it didn't work. I finally decided to go see a reproductive endocinologist (a doctor who could help my husband and I get pregnant) After about three months of treatment (3 inseminations) we got pregnant and I was on my way. This is what I learned about PCOS in the process. There are about 20 or so symtoms that you can have in any combination. Some of the symtoms I have are: insulin resistance (which keeps you from losing weight), excess facial hair, dark/tough skin on certain areas of the body, irregular menses, acne, infertility and there are a few others. I took 1500mg of glucophage daily, sometimes in combination with other insulin lowering and anti-depressant medications -- to create a kind of "****tail" to help combat the syndrome symtoms. It just didn't work or it worked for a short period of time and then we were back to square one and it didn't work anymore. I didn't really understand it until I read "Syndrome X". There are several websites out there devoted to this topic, but not all have good, accurate information. I like centerforpcos.bsd.uchicago.edu. I didn't take notice of where you are from, but I know the University of Pennsylvania has a PCOS program, as does Hahnemann University Hospital, both in Philadelphia. I believe Lenox Hill Hospital in New York also has a program. My Ob/GYN was very helpful in providing me with reading material and directing me to resources that could assist. I know this is a lot of information. I hope it is helpful. If you would like to chat more, please feel free to e-mail me. Good Luck!!! Christine