Keep Smiling, But Is Exercise the Missing Ingredient?

by Samantha
(Sydney,Australia)

Hi Girls,

This isn't exactly a success story, but for me its a big step up. And I would love to share it with you guys. I was diagnosed with PCO when I was eleven, I also began my periods then as well.

At the age of 13 I went back to my specialist even worse, I had gained about 60 pounds and was in a size 18, despite my mother buying healthier foods and drinks I was finding it difficult to shift the weight, I had severe hair growth and brown patches under my armpits and around my neck etc... - with all this he decided that I now had PCOS and prescribed me Metformin 500gms, 3 times a day, at that time my body couldn't handle it and I wasn't doing too well, so I discontinued using it.

At 18 I had a full blood count done and my Testosterone levels are still high not to mention my sugar and insulin resistance levels!... I was outraged!

I am now 21 and engaged to be married in a couple of years, my partner and I are planning on starting our family in the next year or so - but obviously my health being the way it is - we need a plan of action.

I have recently gone back on to Metformin 500g, 3 times a day, for almost 3 weeks now and started to bleed at around 2 weeks into my course!.... which I am so happy about! - I have cut out most sugary foods and drinks from my diet, still no exercise (working on it though!..lol) but I feel so much better to see some difference!.

I sometimes kick myself for slacking off all these years and letting it get so bad - If I kept at it I could of possibly had 10 kids by now! But I do feel like its my time now and I won't give up! I am giving myself 6 months to see whether Metformin will work for me and get me ovulating not just bleeding - If not then my next pop will be Clomid!... Lol.

Reading your PCOS stories has really helped me - not just the success stories, all of them! I hope I will someday be as content as the new mothers on this website are!... Good on you all... Keep it up, and we can all do it!

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Editor's note: We suggest you start a consistent exercise program and push yourself a bit. All of the studies we've seen show that exercise reduces insulin resistance, which appears to be the root cause of your problems. The brown skin clearly suggests insulin resistance.

We have quite a few articles on exercise in our newsletter archive. If you will read those articles, maybe you will start to believe that exercise is a "must do", not just something to think about.

Here is the archive: www.ovarian-cysts-pcos.com/news.html

Tip #2: Be sure to take a high-potency B-vitamin, which will offset some of the side effects of metformin. You may also need extra calcium.