Question:
Will PCOS symptoms improve with wls?

I have PCOS and I think that weight loss surgery is right for me. My question is: Will my PCOS symptoms improve after wls?    — Trisch B. (posted on October 17, 2000)

October 17, 2000
I have had pcos all my life and I can tell you when I have lost weight in the past all my symptoms improved and I was able to conceive my daughter. I don't understand why the weight has so much to do with it but it does help.
   — [Anonymous]

October 17, 2000
The reason weight loss eases the symptons of PCOS is probably because excess estrogen is easily absorbed and stored in fat cells.
   — Nanette T.

October 17, 2000
It is what my Endo felt would happen, it is why he suggested the surgery to me. And some of the other PCOS sufferers post-op have described to me their sucesses. I am only three months out, and I got my period regularly since surgery, that was a big enough sign for me. I figure it will take 6 mos- 1 year for the other symptoms to alieviate (acne, hirsutism, depression- since they all seem hormonal).
   — Karen R.

October 19, 2000
In theory, PCOS symptoms should be improved because of the change in your diet. You will be cutting way back on your carbohydrate intake. PCOS is caused by IR (insulin resistance). This is because the body does not metabolize the insulin in the body to utilize what you eat correctly, so the body stores up the unused stuff as fat, causing you to gain weight that you cannot lose. The IR also increases your testosterone levels (yes, women have small traces of testosterone, too!!!) and that is what causes the formation of cysts in the ovaries because the egg follicles do not mature and leave the ovary. They just sit there and become a little cyst. So the answer is, yes, through the change in your diet by reducing your carbohydrate intake, your PCOS symptoms should improve. Good luck!!!
   — SnowWhiteDove459