26 replies to this topic

[mynameisjulia]

Julia....what milg of metf are you on? have you tried maybe taking half in the moring and half later in the day? i havent had any problems, but everyone is idff on meds. Maybe your Dr needs to lower your milg are you eating when you are taking them?
[/quote]

hey jen, when i first started my endo told me to take half of one pill in the morning and half of one pill at night. then when my body felt OK she told me to take one pill in the morning. THEN she wanted me to take one in the morning and one and night.
but here is what trips me up: she said i have to take it with food (and it takes me FOREVER to get hungry in the morning) and she said that i couldn't take any other pills until an hour after i had taken the metform.
so i'm a college student with a crazy schedule and sleep pattern and it's so difficult to balance all that. i never know when i'm going to eat, i never wake up on a normal sleep cycle. i mean, i guess i should start or something... metform. makes me feel so gross, it makes me bloated as all get out, and it makes my stomach cramp and gives me intestinal problems. the scarier thing is that my doctor wanted me to up my thing to like 1000mg. (oh i'm taking 500 mg twice a day right now). i just feel like that's kind of excessive, but what do i know, right?
i am quite overweight, for a lot of reasons (depression being the biggest one). i shot up to 240 and i'm on a diet and exercise regimen right now. i'm 5'7" and pretty athletic. so.... anyway, that's that!

[happyexceptforacne]

I too have PCOS, and it's probably the reason nothing works for me -- not even Accutane as I've been on it twice (my skin is great for a year then goes back to horrific). My derm has recommended a third time on Accutane but I'm scared because we are thinking about kids in the next year or so, and I don't know how hard it will be for me to get pregnant with PCOS. Don't really feel like spending nine months on Accutane and THEN worrying about it being out of my system before trying for a baby (assuming I'm even ovulating...with PCOS you never know).

My skin rules my life and I have tried absolutely everything. I feel like I've been forced to choose between waiting two years to start our family...and having my life back with clear skin. It doesn't seem worth it, but meanwhile knowing I will never clear up unless I'm on Accutane again is the worst feeling ever.

Sorry for the rant. Anyone who'd been in this situation...your advice would be greatly appreciated!

Sarah

((**My math: Assuming I start Accutane in six weeks (after tests and gov't clearance, call it Sept. 1) + eight months on it (my norm, which puts us to April 2012) + try for baby (May 2012, earliest). So if I can get pregnant right away, which is highly unlikely due to PCOS, we're looking at a Feb 2013 baby at the absolute soonest. I'll be 32 by then!))

Edited by happyexceptforacne, 11 July 2011 - 01:54 PM.

[Dana1234]

Hello!!

So I am 30 years old and just found out I have PCOS =(. I cannot believe all of these doctors and all this time and no one ever cared to tell me this before. I had acne since I was 12. I am so depressed about this. Between the acne and the hair in all of these weird places I have just had it. And my dad is dying so now with all of this I am even more depressed. If someone has any advice, please let me know cause I had it.

My acne always went in stages from really bad to not at all. I was on birth control for 6 years so I guess that is why I never had as bad of problems with it. But I decided to go off of birth control pills to get pregnat and I didnt get my period for over a year. Thisw is what sparked finding out this problem. I have appointments now to go to the doctore to talk about treatments for PCOS. I was curious to know what treatment has worked the best for everyone with PCO as far as treating acne, slowing down hair growth and getting pregnat?? Please if anyone has something that doc put them on that worked please share cause I want to go in there knowing what has good success rather than just taking the doctors word for it?? Any help/advice will be so appreciated. Did anything doc ever put u on totally clear u?

On another not, I have noticed that some of you just finished a round of accutane. I do wish you the best of luck. But I have been on accutane twice and it did clear me for a couple of years but always came back and came back bad. My opinion of accutane is for people like us it is a short term solution and with all the side effects it is a short term solution that can lead to long term problems. I swear that accutane was the cause of my GERD. No saying I would have never taken it but just dont think of it as a long term solution.

Also I have extremely oily skin lately, so bad that i can wipe off the oil and it is back in 5 min, does this happen to anyone else??? Also my worst area is my back, it is full of acne lately and I am so embarrased to go out with it. I wont wear a tank top or bathing suite. Anyone know of anything I can use?

Thanks for your time!! And hopefully we can compare together to find a fix for our problems =)

[beanfriday]

There's a lot of good info here! I'm glad to find that I'm not alone on this website. I posted yesterday hoping to get some advice/info on gals with PCOS and accutane experience. I should be going off soon and want advice on what regime to use post-accutane to control the hormonal acne... no one is replying to my post

[uglies]

quick reply now as I'm aboutt o leave for work. Will reply properly later.
Just to say to sunnicali; thank you for starting this thread, and to jenstanford78; I have PCOS and endo too!
So relieved to find I'm not alone!

[playsomebeat]

I think that next week, along with getting a hormone panel done, I might get tested for this PCOS too.

I am set to start Accutane in about 3 weeks. I have always had really annoying acne, but this year, it went nuts and it's practically all been deep and cystic.

Which screams HORMONES. At the same time as my acne went through the roof, I started shedding a lot of hair, and it is has not stopped. My dermatologist says telogen effluvium, but I don't think so. This has gone on for about 9 months. My hairline is receding at the temples. My hair's not terribly thin, but I used to have extremely thick hair.

That the hair thinning and the bad acne all started AT THE SAME TIME has to be indicative of something. I'm also greasier than I've ever been in my life. I've had more scalp buildup, and I actually have some scabs on my scalp now.

I can't go on like this, I am miserable, so I am doing Accutane - which I never ever wanted to do.

And since I think I may have something going on with my androgens, I'm not sure Accutane will fix it forever. Granted, I have to determine definitively that my hormones are out of whack. But I know they are....!

Anyway, my periods are regular, and since irregular menstrual cycles are a hallmark of PCOS, who knows if I have it. But I might as well get tested I figure.

[WishClean28]

Hi everyone! I just typed a detailed description of my struggles with PCOS and acne, but I accidentally refreshed the page. Anyway, ask me if you have any questions or want more details about my current and past regiments. This is my first post. I usually just read the posts for advice (so grateful for the forum!!!), but I felt inclined to contribute something to this thread because it affects me personally. Hopefully others will benefit from my trials and errors! In the past couple of years I have been avoiding birth control pills, and trying out natural and homeopathic remedies, with some positive results.
Here are the things that worked for me in the past with minor side effects:

• agnus castus (chaste berry/ vitex in the US) & Evening primrose combination [but I took agnus castus for longer than recommended and when I eventually stopped my acne returned]. I also experienced increased facial hair growth, not sure if it was a side effect of the agnus castus/ primrose. Has anyone had increased facial hair as a side effect of any regiments??? I also had some hair LOSS on my head. So, basically, I grew hair in places I didn't need to!
  
• AVOID products with sodium laureth sulfate! Most of my redness was gone after changing my toothpaste, mouthwash, and shampoos to products that didn't have SLS...it's hard to avoid, though! Many facial washes have it. Also, some hair products have SLS byproducts, and many shampoos that don't just make my skull flaky because they do not have the foaming agent provided by SLS.
  
• Earth source multivitamins & acai berry supplements
  
• I have recently replaced acai with goji berry - anyone had success with that?
  
• Recently, I started washing my face with deionized water instead of tap water. Actually, someone who works for the water company recommended this, and said that it is a better alternative to harsh tap water. It's too early to tell, but my face does feel better when I use bottled water (no spring water, though! ).
  
• Avoid stress as much as you can! Easier said than done.
  
• Avoid smoking, especially if you have PCOS. I thought smoking would help me lose weight, but my metabolism actually sped up once I quit smoking.
  
• Drink tea instead of coffee if you can, and try to use almond milk. I switched to almond milk from soy milk because I had some hair loss (on my head) and increased hair on my face. Not sure what is causing that, but the hair on my head seems thicker now that I cut down on soy products.
  
• Try acupuncture - it will help you relax and will help balance you out.

I'm not sure what else I can do to get clearer skin...right now I have some blemishes on my face, and some bumps/ millet acne under the surface. Most of my spots look hormonal. Considering that I have hormones against me, my acne is under control. Hopefully these tips will help others deal with PCOS like they helped me.
Do you have any other herbal or natural remedies I could try (or nutritional supplements etc)?
Also, does anyone else have excess facial hair, and have you had any success with herbal remedies?