Thanks Dr. Phil for that NOT informative bit on PCOS

Anyone else catch Dr. Phil this afternoon? I never would have except I'm home recovering and it's all that's on. Ironically, he is talking with a young woman who's obsessed with getting pregnant but has PCOS and hasn't been able to. They gave a 30 second explanation of what PCOS is that didn't even explain anything. Sigh... It also didn't mention IR at all but said some people with PCOS may be type 2 diabetic. Really? Come on! Give some decent facts (IR and Diabetes are not the same thing - not that some people with PCOS aren't diabetic but it's IR that's really associated with it.)

I did not get to see it, but I understand the frustration. There REALLY needs to be more awareness of PCOS. It's one of the leading causes of infertility and nobody knows what it is. I think Doctors know more about impotence then they do about PCOS, and that...ANGERS me!!

Of course they do!

A 60 year old man can't get a boner? They put years and millions into researching it. A 20 year old woman can't get pregnant, they tell her to lose weight.

Life is so unfair.

Okay, so thank god some people know that IR and Diabetes are NOT the same thing! I was in the hospital and in fact the first surgeon I saw for WLS none of them knew. I would say I have IR and PCOS they would say " So your Diabetic? " I'm like Nooo! Its very annoying. I had to drive 3 hours to another surgeon who knows what IR and PCOS is. Thank goodness. I feel uncomfortable when my doctor has no clue what I am talking about. 

In the hospital it was sooo annoying I was in for an infection every 4 hours they would come and ***** my finger to check my blood sugar, they would come in and be like your A1C is GREAT! I'm like Duh, I'm not diabetic.  okay so I'm done ranting! I just am so glad to see someone who knows better.  :)

Part of that is due to the fact that PCOS can be a precursor to diabetes.
Insulin Resistance
People with the metabolic syndrome have a 5-fold increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Most of the people I've talked to MY age who have PCOS ARE diabetic.

I'm 55 and way beyond childbearing years, I still have PCOS and diabetes. I've had PCOS since I was 12 but we didn't diagnose it until 2000 based on clinical presentation of symptoms. By then I was already on metformin for my diabetes. The reason I can pinpoint when I developed PCOS is the development of my symptoms. And I had about 80% of the classic ones. The only one I can't say I had was infertility because I never tried to get pregnant.

PCOS is a lifelong disease and one of the reasons I am having WLS is to attempt to "cure" it so that I can go into the rest of my life and not worry about heart disease and all the other issues we face with PCOS as we age.

But if I have to remain on metformin after the surgery, so be it.

Liz