PCOS & WLS

I was a normal, healthy weight growing up until my mid 20's when I was diagnosed with PCOS. Slowly, I accumulated more and more weight along with acne & excess hair growth on my chin  (gross!). Talk about destroying a girl's self esteem.  One of my ovaries is completely covered in cysts & I have really long, heavy, & arbritrary menstrual cycles.  My husband & I would like to have children.  I am now 34 and just settling into the 6 months presurgery program required by Aetna.  I'm not sure if I should get the sleeve or full gastric bypass because of my PCOS.  I'm leaning towards the sleeve but wondering if the PCOS will hinder my weight loss.  Does anyone have experience or any advice regarding PCOS and WLS?  It seems to me that gaining the weight and PCOS symptoms came hand-in-hand and are cyclical.  So I'm thinking as the weight comes off, the PCOS symptoms should diminish somewhat if not subside completely.  Thanks in advance for sharing!

Omg, I am in the exact same position as you, I have severe pcos, one of my ovaries is the size of a cantaloupe! I am too starting my journey for weight loss surgery and have my 2nd of 6 dietician appointments next month.

i too want children and am praying that wls will increase my chances for a healthy family.

A cantaloupe?!  That's crazy!  I know that PCOS "never goes away", but I really think surgery will help dimini****s symptoms.  I'm in the process of doing all of the pre op stuff.  I had my EGD and a full blood panel last week and my Dr just got back to me and said I have an iron deficiency.  I looked up side effects of iron deficiency and it seriously made me LOL when I read that you should only bleed 2-3 TBSP total over the duration of your period.  Really?!?!?!  I bleed more than that in an hour & I bleed for 3-4 wks at a time!  LOL, hopefully that will change.  One of my ovaries is completely covered with cysts.  I also recently read that carbs are the worst thing for people like us because they cause your body to make more cysts and produce more testosterone.  I'm going to work on cutting them wayyyy down.  My nutrionist has me working on some other stuff atm but it can't hurt.

And finally...I don't know if you have the problem with extra hair growth, but I found a Groupon for laser ($125 for 6 treatments) and am 3 treatments in.  It's amazing how well it's working.  I went from tweezing literally more than 100 hairs from my chin a day, shaving, trying anything possible, to having nothing.  I have a couple small patches that come in about 2 weeks before my next treatment, but they should be gone soon.  My skin has improved immensely, and the only thing I regret with laser is that I waited so long to do it. 

How's your testing coming along?  We should definitely keep in touch on here & help each other out

Most of my symptoms stopped after weight loss. My highest weight was 221lbs. I was able to get down to 148lbs. My menstrual cycles became regular. I no longer needed to take my birth control to regulate it. I was on Metformin which combined with the weight loss helped with the hair growth. Good Luck!

Congratulations!!!!!  That's fantastic!  Which surgery did you have and how did your weight loss go?  Did you find that it was slower due to the PCOS?  Any other helpful info would be appreciated.

Hi I was just diagnosed with pcos today and am a bit upset about it. I have been struggling with my weight for years and now it all seems to make sense with my symptoms. I am looking at getting sleeve surgery and am wonder if anyone else here has had it and had pcos? Any information would be greatly appreciated. :)

I have/had PCOS. Similar situation. I had the sleeve and lost 80.2 pound since 1/16/14. By my third month out my period was regular. I got it every 30 days like clock work. This past month it was more like 5 weeks, so I am not as concerned. I have not gained back any weight as of yet. But I can say it definitely helped me. My gyno told me they dont know if its weight that causes the PCOS or the PCOS that causes the weight gain. In any event of "what came first", I had it, I lost weight, and Im hoping to keep it off.

Mind you - on month 2 i went back on birth control and my weight loss stopped. I have not been on anything since march 1st that regulates my cycle or anything hormonal in regard to birth control.

Hope this helps. Please feel free to private message me if you have more questions. I can only comment on my personal experience and am not a medical professional.

IMHO, it is not the weight that causes the PCOS.  I got my period for the first time when I was 13.  I was 160 lbs at the time.  I am 5'7".  By the time I was 14, I stopped getting my periods and didn't get them again unless my OB/GYN put me on birth control.  Up until I was about 23 y.o. my weight stayed in the 160 range.  After that it began to climb significantly, reaching a high of 270.  Through Herculean effort, I managed to lose 130 lbs on my own by my 35th birthday and lo and behold, guess who made an appearance?  My monthly friend.  All on it's own.  I was able to maintain that weight for 2 years, during which I got pregnant and had a healthy baby with no medical intervention.  Also during that time, I was FINALLY diagnosed with PCOS (the weight problem, acne, excess hair, too many male hormones, etc clued me in much earlier but apparently not my docs).  A short while later, my weight started to climb again, reaching a high of 294.  Needless to say, my friend disappeared and my doc put me on metformin and clomid which enabled me to have another child.  I am now 40 years old, awaiting my sleeve at 280 lbs and "friendless". 

It's like that age old question, which came first--the chicken or the egg?  My PCOS & weight gain came hand in hand, I truly couldn't tell you which caused which.  When is your sleeve scheduled?