It sounds like along with PCOS you may be starting peri-menopause. You are definitely in the right age group. This usually means progesterone levels start to drop, then your estrogen can go up and down. All the hormone shifts can cause the problems you are discussing. Have you talked with you doctor about all of this? There is a lot of controversy around the bio-identical hormones mainly because they are still hormones and nothing else. In your case, birth control pills are hormones, progesterone is often in birth control pills and even if you get specially compounded bio-identical hormones you still have the exact same risks that you have with taking any other progesterone product. The main difference is the name and where you get them.
This means you could have clots again if you take bio-identical hormones. You have a lot of factors here. Your doctor can test your hormone levels and see where you are, what is high and what is low. It is a simple blood draw. Then you can discuss what to do about it. Maybe you can take a very low dose of something along with aspirin every day or something similar.
There are dietary interventions that some people use, but the changes are usually pretty subtle unless you are extremely strict. For the amount of weight you want to lose, you will need daily exercise and an adjustment in your diet.
I suggest you take all these questions with you to your appointment, and go over all of them with the gynecologist. Once you have a diagnosis and know for sure what is going on with your body, then you can talk about what to do about it. Much of what you are going through is normal for peri-menopause. It is natural even though it can be frustrating.
I do want to mention that I had an endometrial ablation a year ago. That is basically a laser D&C. It improved my quality of life tremendously. I do not have PCOS, but I had the common peri-menopausal bleeding issues for years and was quite anemic, miserable and everything else. That 10 minute procedure changed my life. So you might want to consider it even though it won't cure PCOS. There is no real cure for PCOS, so if you can do things to improve your symptoms and the way you feel, it's worth looking into.
We have a video on estrogen dominance: https://www.empowher.com/community/herstory/gina-shares-her-estrogen-dominance-symptoms-video and a very large peri-menopause section: https://www.empowher.com/condition/perimenopause as well as information on PCOS: https://www.empowher.com/media/video/what-pcos-dr-cobin-video
Please be very direct with your doctor about what you are hoping to get out of treatment, and listen to all your alternatives so you can make an informed decision. Good luck.
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Hi Jennright7772-
It sounds like along with PCOS you may be starting peri-menopause. You are definitely in the right age group. This usually means progesterone levels start to drop, then your estrogen can go up and down. All the hormone shifts can cause the problems you are discussing. Have you talked with you doctor about all of this? There is a lot of controversy around the bio-identical hormones mainly because they are still hormones and nothing else. In your case, birth control pills are hormones, progesterone is often in birth control pills and even if you get specially compounded bio-identical hormones you still have the exact same risks that you have with taking any other progesterone product. The main difference is the name and where you get them.
This means you could have clots again if you take bio-identical hormones. You have a lot of factors here. Your doctor can test your hormone levels and see where you are, what is high and what is low. It is a simple blood draw. Then you can discuss what to do about it. Maybe you can take a very low dose of something along with aspirin every day or something similar.
There are dietary interventions that some people use, but the changes are usually pretty subtle unless you are extremely strict. For the amount of weight you want to lose, you will need daily exercise and an adjustment in your diet.
I suggest you take all these questions with you to your appointment, and go over all of them with the gynecologist. Once you have a diagnosis and know for sure what is going on with your body, then you can talk about what to do about it. Much of what you are going through is normal for peri-menopause. It is natural even though it can be frustrating.
I do want to mention that I had an endometrial ablation a year ago. That is basically a laser D&C. It improved my quality of life tremendously. I do not have PCOS, but I had the common peri-menopausal bleeding issues for years and was quite anemic, miserable and everything else. That 10 minute procedure changed my life. So you might want to consider it even though it won't cure PCOS. There is no real cure for PCOS, so if you can do things to improve your symptoms and the way you feel, it's worth looking into.
We have a video on estrogen dominance: https://www.empowher.com/community/herstory/gina-shares-her-estrogen-dominance-symptoms-video and a very large peri-menopause section: https://www.empowher.com/condition/perimenopause as well as information on PCOS: https://www.empowher.com/media/video/what-pcos-dr-cobin-video
Please be very direct with your doctor about what you are hoping to get out of treatment, and listen to all your alternatives so you can make an informed decision. Good luck.
April 15, 2010 - 6:32amThis Comment
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