Well, I'd like to be really definitive and say "Oh my gosh, Paleo has cured my PCOS and changed my life." Unfortunately, it either hasn't had a chance to really work yet, or it's not going to cure my PCOS.
First, let's look at the positives. To date, I have lost 34 pounds and kept it off. That's good news. I can't remember the last time I was 174 (although I am pounds away from my wedding weight). It's so nice to not have to limit myself to the two pairs of fat jeans I have. Rather, I have a closet full of clothes that fit easily and are comfortable.
I feel better. I simply do not have the aches and pains that have crept up the more into my 40's I get. It's clearly the paleo because when I cheat (i.e. shore trips, Disney World etc...) the pain comes back. To that measure when I go clean again, the pain disappears.
When I am "eating clean", food does not control me, I control it. The constant hunger associated with traditional dieting simply does not exist. I can eat until I am full and I stay full. What's more, I actually recognize that I am full and not hungry ( a big problem with insulin resistance).
I may or may not be ovulating (I need a couple of more months on non-medicated cycles to see), and ovulating at the proper time. In the past, regardless of how much clomid the RE's have prescribed, I never O'ed earlier than cd 23. That's not good really. It's harder to get *and stay* pregnant. Miscarriage rates are much higher with a late ovulation. Since going Paleo, my O date has moved from cd 23 to cd 17 to Cd 14. This month, being on a lesser dosage of soy instead of clomid ( I took 80 mg soy cd 3-7 which is the equivalent of 100 mg clomid instead of the 150 for 8 days which is what I've been taking).....I may have ovulated on cd 16 which would be amazing. I'll know my Sat if my temperature stays sustained.
All really good points in the positive column for Paleo. So what's in the negative side?
Well, I'm not pregnant. But I did appear to have a chemical pregnancy on a non-medicated cycle...kinda. The clomid really can stay in your system so it *might* have been that. But really, I've always needed a truck load to have a strong enough ovulation to conceive. That month was just left overs, yet my 7 dpo progesterone was a strong healthy 20. That's just a huge success despite a bfn in the end.
The other disappointing news was that while all bloodwork came back healthy (A1C of 5, TSH of 1.2, blood pressure, 120/80) my high triglycerides remained just that - very high at 358. This is where I go AAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!
In the past, usually when I walk regulary, it seems to control the triglycerides. Well, I've been walking, very regularly and it didn't seem to matter. Should the Paleo have nixed this? I dunno. But's it frustrating. My "good" cholesterol was 47 - I touch low, and my "bad" cholesterol was fine - around 148 I think. So the dr prescribed 4000 mg of fish oil a day and a repeat of bloodowrk in 3 months to see if it's helping.
So what do I think? I really don't know, but my gut tells me to give the Paleo longer to work. If it's one thing that *is* predictable about my body it's that it doesn't work the way it should, and a lifetime of insulin resistance has wreaked havoc with it. It was a mess when I started and the more I think of it, the more I think it was a miracle I was ever able to get pregnant successfully once, let alone twice.
I wish I could have a more definitive answer for you PCOS'ers out there searching for answers. But that is the kicker behind PCOS, isn't it, there are no clear cut answers. What it does to one of us, it does something completely different to the next gal. And what wonder drug might be a miracle for one, doesn't work at all on the next.
So the end result is, my goal to get to 160 remains and I will continue on paleo for at least 3 more months *but I suspect longer).
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