I need your advice re: PCOS (women health issue)

[zbr5]

My wife struggles with PCOS. It is called PCOS, but poly-cystic ovary syndrom is only a symptom of some problems with hormones (her body produces too much men hormones).

They only way  mainstream medicine heals, or rather "temporarily stops" this symptoms is by prescribing some strong drugs  that my wife cant really take because we want to have a baby as soon as possible.

The biggest distress that this health condition gives to my wife is the issue of hair falling out. Because it is caused by testosterone, the hair will never regrow so she knows that every hair she loses now, she loses forever

It is very sad for me to see her suffer and be helpless about it. She already eats very good diet, is very fit, works out each day , supplements with zinc, vit B complex, folic acid and nettle&horsetail for hair.

[TylerDurden]

Is she rawpalaeo? Even a slight change in diet towards raw and/or palaeo has led people to reversing infertility and many other conditions.

[goodsamaritan]

More clues please:

- age
- weight
- number of kids
- profession
- contraceptives used (pills, iud, injectable, patches, ligation, abortion)
- drugs used
- chemicals she puts on her body: shampoo, soap, perfume, deodorant, exfoliate, etc

Has she done any cleansing / detox protocols.

What's her diet like?

Pictures?

[zbr5]

Thanks guys for your interest.

Is she rawpalaeo? Even a slight change in diet towards raw and/or palaeo has led people to reversing infertility and many other conditions.

She is not a raw paleo. She eats very low quantities of carbs  (only fruits), plenty of veggies and lightly processed meats like steamed salmon.

More clues please:

- age
- weight
- number of kids
- profession
- contraceptives used (pills, iud, injectable, patches, ligation, abortion)
- drugs used
- chemicals she puts on her body: shampoo, soap, perfume, deodorant, exfoliate, etc

Has she done any cleansing / detox protocols.

What's her diet like?

Pictures?

- age 27
- weight : I do not know, but surely normal , i will ask when she comes back
- no kids (she was pregnant this summer but she lost baby in first three weeks - 40% women with PCOS has early miscarriage   . This involved being in hospital for surgery and getting some drugs we would much prefer to avoid)
- she is a medical doctor (she is just starting - three months since she has graduated)
- contraceptives used - she was taking contraceptive pill for over one year. It was not to prevent pregnancy but to actually heal PCOS. Doctors prescribed it to her for one year and then she stopped taking it so we could have a baby. Her sister has PCOS and this method worked very well for her. It also managed the symptoms of my wife while she was taking it - she did not have problems with falling out hair etc. I know dangers of this pills and would prefer her to avoid it, but she has her own will and it felt important for her to be taking it then.
- no other drugs
- she does put chemicals on her body as most women do, but surely not too often. She does not wear make up every day and is very common sense about it.

She has not done any detox protocols besides few colon cleansings.

I have no pictures but she looks normal and healthy. She has high energy levels, often involved in many things, a busy person. You would not say she has health issues, if you did not know.

[TylerDurden]

Well, she could try going 100% rawpalaeo plus adding  lots of "high-meat" as well. It would be preferable if she got hold of raw wild game instead of raw, grassfed meats.

Other than that, she could try homeopathy or wild herbs.

[goodsamaritan]

PCOS for me are just CYSTS.
I would call for my own cancer cure protocol.
Which includes acupuncture and Emotional Freedom Techniques.
I would also explore her diet and look for GMO.
Explore her home for pollution.
Explore her work environment.
Explore her dental health, mercury, etc.
Explore electromagnetic frequencies.
Really, testosterone problems?  Get a consultation with Dr. William Wong, he's an expert on testosterone.
Check out parasites too. It's in my cure protocol.
My cancer cure protocol of course says raw paleo diet.

My old cancer cure protocol is here http://www.myhealthblog.org/2011/03/20/is-there-a-cure-for-cancer-yes-everyone-can-do-this/

You have to be very thorough, leave no stone unturned.
The only problem I see is that she is... is she a western medical doctor?  Hope she is open to expanding her knowledge like the German doctors are... I don't know the state of Polish medicine, how is it?

[raw-al]

The only thing that occurs to me is related to exercise.

What exercise does she do? Is it a light medium or strong workout?

The reason I ask is that exercise will bring on amenorrhea or other menstrual issues. Female athletes refer to the effect of strong exercise as "breaking through the wall", as it stops menstruation. If she is an MD she should know this, or at least she should know better. So she is either in denial or this is not the issue.

Basically what happens is if a woman exercises too hard, her body goes into a kind of shock in which repair cannot keep up with the damage, so the body's defences just essentially throw up their arms and say it is more important to save her than try to procreate.

Overexercise/overbusy/burning the proverbial candle at both ends, will also overuse Prana and Ojas ( http://ojas-the-staff-of-life.blogspot.ca/search?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=1) in the body (according to Ayurveda) and the body is essentially run down and it's defences are substantially weakened and illness takes over. If this is the issue, good luck at changing this in her. 

Is she slender?

As prior posters have suggested I will also preach to the choir and add that a raw diet will probably be of great help.

[William]

My wife struggles with PCOS. It is called PCOS, but poly-cystic ovary syndrom is only a symptom of some problems with hormones (her body produces too much men hormones).

http://www.breastcancerchoices.org/iodine.html
and search PCOS here:  http://curezone.org/forums/f.asp?f=815

Works on PCOS, FBD, prostate problems, normalizes hormones etc. Warning: increases IQ by at least 10 points. 

[jessica]

she needs to slow down, exercise less, eat cooked carbs and lots of healthy raw fats, espeically egg yolks, butter is helpful as well.  stress is the number one thing that will cause hormonal imbalance, she needs to look where she is more aggressive and anxious in life and learn to relax and be more subtle.  for hair loss specifically bone broths are very good, they contain gelatin, collagen and a ton of trace minerals that will help to strengthen hair and hopefully stop its loss.  tell her to stop putting anything chemical on her body! also birth  control is obviously not a solution and part of the reason she is loosing her hair now, it likely covered up the fact that she was still living an out of balance life and she has now spent that much longer not taking care of the root causes of her health issues.  many people these days "look" and "Seem" healthy, but we also have a weird idea of what true health, physically mentally habitually environmentally...etc..

[Dorothy]

What Jessica said.

If becoming a doctor where you are, is anything like it is here, that would do it! Overwork, imbalance, sleeplessness, stress. She needs a rest. She must have been pushing herself tremendously to graduate. Time for some recuperation.

Having a baby right after all that - wow. Maybe her subconscious is asking for a vacation? I know mine would.

[goodsamaritan]

Yes, a lot of women have great success healing and getting pregnant going on vacation and getting rest.

[jessica]

also have her check out paleoforwomen.com
a lot of good advice on healing from pcos

i forgot to mention make sure she is not consuming caffeine, if anyone is at all having hormonal issues caffeine is sure to amplify the effects and speed deterioration of the adrenals and other hormone regulating systems in the body

[raw-al]

I seem to reacall some issues with women related to soy consumption/estrogen but that may not be useful.

[goodsamaritan]

I seem to reacall some issues with women related to soy consumption/estrogen but that may not be useful.

Tons useful

[zbr5]

Thanks a lot everybody.

My wife does not work out too much so I do not think it is the issue. She just does some fitness exercises from DVD 3 times a week. Nothing crazy.

It is true that she might be overstressed and overworked after last year of studying (yes, it is the same or even harder than in US to graduate medical school, here in Poland).

Let us metabolize what you all wrote in this topic. We will take some time to read about all this sources you gave us and let you know how it goes for us.

Thanks!

[zbr5]

PS: What is the best way to supplement iodine?

[Dorothy]

Lex is doing an experiment with iodine and writing about it in his journal. You will find loads of information on iodine there to start with.

[TylerDurden]

Lex is doing an experiment with iodine and writing about it in his journal. You will find loads of information on iodine there to start with.

I'm amused that Lex's experiment  seems to be  working. I would normally view an iodine protocol as a form of witchcraft.

[William]

PS: What is the best way to supplement iodine?

See the guide to the iodine protocol at http://www.breastcancerchoices.org/iprotocol.html; note tat Lugol's is the only form of iodine proven by experience to cure.
The companion nutrient L-selenomethionine is essential, otherwise thyroidweirdness can happen.

The faq at: http://curezone.com/faq/c.asp?a=13,281,2962 is useful.

BTW in 1994 ascientist measured the intelligence increase resulting from iodine supplementation ; it was 13.5%.

[cherimoya_kid]

I would try experimenting with Dong Quai, a Chinese herb that is a sort of panacea for "female problems". 

Also, she might want to try fasting.  Overgrowth problems generally are reduced by restricting calories...the body has to decide between continuing the overgrowth and continuing basic life functions, and it generally chooses the latter.

Also, I'd get her off the farmed salmon.  It's bad stuff, the fatty acid profile is messed up. Have her stick to wild-caught fish only.

[jessica]

fasting is not a good idea for women who have hormonal issues, especially too much testosterone.

[Iguana]

Fasting to follow a mental decision to fast is never a good idea anyway. It's fine to fast because we are not hungry and as long as nothing is good, but otherwise it's better to eat 100% raw paleo, unprocessed and unmixed, just what smells good and is tasty.

The whole thing behind fasting is that by doing so we avoid the intake of abnormal molecules present in cooked and modern foods. But we avoid it as well with a 100% raw paleo nutrition while still providing the body with the exact nutrients it needs.

[cherimoya_kid]

fasting is not a good idea for women who have hormonal issues, especially too much testosterone.

If her body fat is too low, I agree, she probably wouldn't want to fast for more than a day or so.  I know you've had issues with letting your body fat get too low, and exhausting your glands.   She may not be too thin, though, and I think it'd be pointless to speculate further without knowing her situation better.

[Iguana]

Even if she’s not too thin, when fasting the body uses it’s own fat as a fuel – at least until there’s no more. Since this fat is packed with toxins accumulated over years of modern cooked standard diet, using it as the only fuel releases those toxins in the lymph and blood  stream at an accelerated  rate. Such a detoxination at an uncontrolled runaway speed is dangerous and can lead to severe problems.

[Adora]

     I like the iodine protocol that William mentioned too but sometimes I felt manic on it crazy and depressed. I was also limiting carbs and under lots of work/school stress so there were too many things in the bag to say for sure. In the last week I've added a little raw shellfish every day. Just a few pieces of oysters, clams, shrimp, and my favorite, scallops. I eat a large helping of sea vegs. too. They were causing unpleasant bloating and gas, except dulse never bothered me. I tried Inger's mackerel gut suggestion and my digestion of seaweeds improved dramatically. I suggest cutting the guts into chunks and bolting them. That's the only way I could get it down. I thought for sure I would be sick but, I felt the best I can remember that day. I ate the eyes and brains too, that is mild and tasty, imo. I'm getting more soon, the fish market gives me the carcass when I call ahead and he keeps the filets to sell. He would only throw it away and I make it up to them with my scallop purchases.
   the point is that I feel the iodine supplementation is more stable and beneficial with regular intake of foods rich in iodine.
   I had POCS, it was diagnosed with ultrasound 2yrs ago. I felt it too (an awareness that things were wrong/different, less female around my womb) but, I don't feel it any more. I haven't had a follow-up ultrasound but, I wouldn't opt for surgery or meds anyway. My reproductive organs feel much better since supplementing, and so on. My breasts were also full of palpable cysts, they dissolved in weeks so, iodine helped that.  I follow most of the other suggestion mentioned above too.
    I think Jack Kruse has great info on hormone related issues she should check out his website.