Effective Natural Remedies for Managing PCOS

I've always had irregular periods since puberty at 11. I grew up on junk food (90s kid) and continued to eat that way throughout early adulthood (fast food and junk food). I developed psoriasis when I was 12 and it gradually got worse over the years.

In 2010ish I had an episode where I bled very heavily. Massive blood clots, could not make it to the bathroom without my vision turning white, head pounding, heart palpitations. I eventually recovered but never tried to figure out what happened. The same episodes happened again in 2015 and 2017. In 2017, I was hospitalized twice and the second time I was sent to ICU because my hemoglobin dropped to 2.4. They put me on birth control for the first time (high dose estrogen) and my bleeding stopped.

I continued to eat bad (chips, cookies, fast food, etc.) even though I am vegan. I never ate healthy. In 2019, I went to the RE (reproductive endocrinologist) because me and my husband could not get pregnant. She diagnosed me with PCOS after running tests. Since then, I still ate bad.

Starting this year 2020, I made the change to eliminate all inflammatory foods and get my life back. I was tired of going back and forth of being anemic. I cut out gluten, artificial and all sugars, refined oils.

I have lost 48lbs! PCOS is a low grade consistent inflammation disease and symptoms get worse from insulin spikes. Unfortunately, I am still dealing with irregular periods but that just tells me that I have a long ways to go.

My journey does not end here just because I lost 48lbs. I'm going to keep going until I get my symptoms under control.

My daily routine consists of: Intermittent Fasting Hot Green Tea (I can feel a huge difference when taking this daily on my testosterone levels)

11am-VERY LOW INTENSITY Indoor Cycling

11:30am- VERY LOW INTENSITY Weights >10lbs (push, pull, legs 5x a week)

12pm- Eat My Heaviest Meal (consists of whole foods; choice of beans or pulse, big bag of steamed veggies and choice of vinegar based sauce, choice of spices), extra virgin olive oil, cooked in cast iron pan. 2-3 squares of 90% dark chocolate lemon water throughout the day drink as much water as possible 5pm-Berry Smoothie with Myo-Inositol (blueberries, almond milk, chia seeds, vanilla pea protein, banana or dates) Gingerbread Smoothie with Myo-Inositol(blackstrap molasses, ginger powder, cinnamon powder, almond milk, chia seeds)

My period schedule: Prenatal with applesauce with breakfast and inositol with lemon water 23g Chelated Iron with lunch Blackstrap Molasses shake for dinner. Ibuprofen when I'm really desperate. I don't exercise during this time. My periods are extremely heavy and prolonged.

Massive clots then drop every time I go to the bathroom and flooding of bright red blood for 3 days then I spot the rest of the month.

Focusing on anti-inflammatory foods, healthy carbs, fiber, and loads of iron rich foods really helps me! P.S. I forgot to mention above that I had to have 10 blood transfusions and platelet transfusions. That's how much I bleed! Also I drink red raspberry leaf tea in the mornings in place of green tea if I feel like it, I feel it lightens up my period a bit.

Over the years, I have tried diet (but haphazardly) Chaste Berry, and several other herbs ,some exercise, Metformin 2000mg/day for two years, synthetic progesterone to get my periods and none of that has helped. Not even the Metformin which so many people swears by.

By the time I was 27, I realized I had gluten intolerance. I had poor digestion, a large belly and developed psoriasis. Once I eliminated gluten from my diet, I instantly lost inches and my skin cleared up. Over the next several years, I had to clean up my diet even more to improve my digestion, lose more weight and get rid of estrogen dominance that's so common with PCOS.

I eliminated, gluten and most other grains including "healthy" brown rice and corn, sugars except for low GI fruit and occasional palm sugar (lower GI than agave), fruit juice, soy, dairy, processed foods (of course), hydrogenated oils, canola oil, and several other foods.

My diet is rich in green veggies, low GI fruit, green juices, lean protein, nuts, and, good fats (including unprocessed coconut oil). I make sure that 80% of my diet is raw fruits, veggies, and nuts.

Besides diet, I take supplements including kelp. Though my thyroid tests always came back normal, I may have had subclinical hyperthyroid because when I added 12mg of kelp per day, I started ovulating on CD 15 for the first time ever. I have been taking 12mg kelp daily for 8 months and my body haven't skipped a beat. When you look for kelp in the store, it usually comes in 225mcg tablets. You will have to do the conversion to get the right amount.

I went from a size 14 to a 6 in less than a year and I have kept it off. I think between diet, regular exercise, the usual suspects of supplements (omega 3, B complex, etc) and kelp has been my answer to PCOS.

I doctor did a pcos workup and all my labs were normal. I was referred to a specialist that thought all the symptoms were in my head and thought I needed a personal trainer. I had only a little facial hair, no fertility trouble, only 25 lbs overweight, and my labs were normal. After aguing with the doctor for 30 minutes he did an ultrasound to 'humor' me. I had 15 cysts on one side. I was rx'd metformin, which made me extremely ill.
I had to stopped taking it because I couldn't work on the med. Carbs!!! Thats the problem. Our bodies were not meant to eat all this processed food. If you want your symptoms to go away you need to change your lifestyle. Exercising and a low glycemic diet is the key. I lost 45 lbs in a year and a half. I weigh less now than in high school. Once you train your body to need the right foods you stop the vicious 'bad'carb craving cycle. You crave carbs because your body is not coverting them into energy, they are being stored as fat, which makes you tired and wanting to eat more 'bad' carbs.

Other than a low carb diet I am a firm believer in hollistic cures. There are herbal supp that can keep your sugar from spiking and destroys it before its stored. Which is also important with pcos.1) Fenugreek- 1 capsule 1 to 3 times daily 2)Gymnema Sylvestre-400mg, also if dissolved on your tongue can keep you form tasting sugar.
I work in the medical field and believe no one, no one knows your body better than you!!