New ..with lots of questions

Hi everyone, My name is Katie I'm 28, married with 2 kids (with the help of chlomid) and was diagnosed in 2005 with PCOS with insulin resistance. I have been trying to lose weight now for years I weigh about 220lbs I exercise and watch what I eat. I have tried every diet imaginable along with otc weightloss pills. Nothing seems to work I just keep getting bigger. I have depression due to my weight and the dark patches of skin  from the insulin resistance. I not only have the dark lines across the back of my neck but I have them across my nose and on my breasts which make me very self conscience. Does anyone know how to get rid of them? IAnyway I am new to this bariactric thing....do doctors perfom this surgery on very many patients with PCOS? Does anyone else have any problems with losing weight? I was placed on glucophage which did nothing and was taken back off of it after 3 months. As for birth control pills I have been on so many that I can't count anymore they all have worked for roughly 2-4 months then back to not having a cycle again to the point my gyno told me to just not worry about it becuase my body adapts to medication quickly and becomes resistant to it. Has anyone else had that problem? I just feel kinda stuck nothing seems to work for me and I am thinking surgery may be an option. If anyone can give me some advice I'd appreciate it. Thank you.

Hi there. Im 29 and I had rny on 1/31/07.  I have pcos.  Since surgery i have had 2 periods.  Thats more than  i have had in the past 3 years.  I dont have any dark lines... so i cant help ya with that.  I have lost 59 pds since surgery and i keep on losing.  Lots of surgeons if not all of them will operate on you with having this.  The surgery is a huge lifestyle change.  Dont have it just to have a regular period.  Do it because you want to be healthier.  Having pcos sucks i have delt with it since im 14. I was lucky enough to conceive my two beautiful daughters without the help of fertility drugs.  I did try for a third with my ex and i used chlomid.  I gave it three months and to no avail..... i did not get pregnant.  Life goes on... I personally made this decision to have surgery to get healthy and to live a long healthy life with my new hubby and my daughters.  Hope this helps ya.... take care and good luck.

Congrats on your kids!  I tried Clomid many times and failed.  I had to have RNY surgery to get pregnant!  Anyway...the dark patches & lines on your skin are from the excess insulin in your body and will only go away as your insulin levels normalize.  How tall are you?  Just trying to get an idea of what your BMI is.  I'm finding that a lot of women out there have PCOS & are having surgery.  I couldn't loose weight for the life of me before I had surgery.  I'd done it all too...diet pills, weigh****chers, the pcos diet, the IR diet, other fad diets...and the most I was able to loose was about 30 lbs.  Anyway...once I had surgery I lost weight quickly...loosing 100 of 114 lbs in 6 months but then the weight came off slowly & it took me another 6 months to loose the other 14 lbs.  Anyway...I'm almost 3 years post op RNY now and maintaining a weight loss of 106-108 lbs.  I'd love to get back down to my pre pregnancy weight...but I'm still a carb addict.  About your BC issue...I haven't had any issues with that so I'm no help...but if you do opt for surgery...make the decision to do it for you and no one else.  If you have questions...this is a great place to ask them...also...there's another great support website for women with PCOS called www.soulcyster.com . On there I'm on a thread under the Diet & Exercise forum called WLS DIVAS.  We all have PCOS & all have had or going to have some type of surgery.  Feel free to drop by there as well.  Good luck to you! Kristy

Hi~ I just map quested Ellewood city and saw that you live near Pittsburgh.  I live in Harrisburg and see one of the leading reseachers for PCOS at Hershey Med Center.  He is really great!  I just saw him today and he is always full of excellent information!  He was all for me having WLS, and said that most of the symptoms will be alleviated.  Research is just being done on this very subject but is not published yet.   I was surprised to read that you were taken off of your glucophage b.c  that is the one drug that actually treats the cause of PCOS which is insulin resistance.  Why did they take you off???  Did you have or have you had a glucose tolerance test????  My insulin levles were off the charts (normal is 80-100 units mine was 842!!!! on glucophage it is in the 200s)  I don't want to live without my glucophage I can really tell the difference when I am not on it!!!!!! I would look into that if I were you!!  Good luck~

Hi Katie. I don't know so much about giving you advice, but I can share with you my experience. I've had PCOS for at least 15 years, but only diagnosed roughly 4.5 years ago. My original gyno had "tested me" but determined I didn't have it, regardless of all the symptoms. 10 years later and now weighing 265 lbs, my pcp suggested I may have PCOS and to check with my gyno. When I showed up for my appt and relayed the message from my PCP, gyno said..."oh, yeah, that's probably all it is." Probably ALL it is?? When I first went to him, I had gained only 40 lbs in a short time and was well under 200lbs. Needless to say, I found a new gyno and she said absolutely PCOS. I also have insulin resistance and was put on glucophage (metformin) and was given an eating plan. I lost 50 lbs within a few short months. I maintained that for awhile and then started to climb up again. That's when I decided on surgery as my last option. I'd already been researching it for 2 years, but decided I needed to give it one more shot on my own. That was of course until I gained that 30 lbs back. I needed a permanent solution and WLS was it. Fast forward to today. I am six months post op...I've lost 60lbs. My acne for the most part has disappeared. My periods have not only been regular and like clockwork, they only last 4-5 days and are considerably lighter than before. I would have such painful, HEAVY periods that would last at least 10 days. My "beard", while still there, is much lighter than it was and doesn't grow back as fast. The dark, leathery patch that were between my breasts is gone, as is the dark leathery patch around my neck. While I do still have skin tags, I've not developed any new ones, and some have even dried up and fallen off. I know that sounds weird, but they have. I'm no longer on any birth control to regulate periods (I've had a few occasions where they've lasted 2-3 months, heavily) nor am I taking the metformin. My elevated blood pressure is also down. As for doctors performing this surgery on very many patients with PCOS...my surgeon says a great deal of his patients have it, and when I've gone to meetings and support groups, at least half the women there have had it. I can't tell you to go ahead and have the surgery, you have to decide that on your own. All I can tell you is that I'm happy I did it...I have TONS of energy and can do so many things that I haven't done in so long...things most people take for granted. Pain free grocery shopping, cleaning house, cooking dinner, playing with the kids, riding a bike. I still have 60lbs to go, but I can feel the old me coming back everyday. Good luck with your decision, I wish you the best!!

Hi. I am 24, married and one daughter without fertility drugs. I have insulin resistent PCOS and I had my surgery on 03/15/2007. One of the reasons for getting my surgery was having PCOS...but there were many others as well. Back, knees, hips, family history of heart disease and diabetes. I have always been big but over the last few years my weight just sky rocketed. I always said I would never hit 300 lbs but I did. I have lost around 70 lbs in 3 months and I feel awesome! It's hard at first but gets easier as time goes on. It is a MAJOR life transformation and should only be done to save your life. Good luck with everything!