I've been diagnosed with PCOS since I was 13.
I'm 25 years old now and in desperate need of some guidance.

I've tried both Estrogen and Progesteron birth control pills which made my Acne and wieght gain worse. I was misdiagnosed with Adrenal Hyperlasia and given Dexamethazone in my late teens which made my syptoms much worse. I was given spironalactone (which did greatly improve my hair problems and water retintion) and metformin which regulates my period without birth control pills and reduces diabetes like syptoms. I've heard that spironalactone can stop working after a while and cause metabolic resistance but when I've tried to go off it my edema gets so bad I look like the michelin man. I've tried taurine and some other herbal diuretics but they don't really work. I'm also not conviced that the herbal alternatives are better than these medications- I went without for many years and my cysts were so bad I was in constant pain-- and it's the only thing that's made me feel normal.

All the literature says if you can just lose weight you're syptoms will improve but I CAN'T lose weight.

Four years ago my doctors told me to go on a very carb restricted diet- so I chose Atkins. I was on the induction phase for 2 years and never managed to lose more than I couple pounds which slowly crept back. No matter what you think about the safety or validity of the diet there's no doubt that it works for weight loss for almost everyone but me. I even tried a fat fast and took fermented foods out of my diet in case it was Candida- which it wasn't. I've since found out that very low carb diets aren't good for women with PCOS and can cause metabolic resistance. After that I tried a low calorie diet with mostly fish and sea food. My weight loss came to a stand still. I went to a nutritionist who said she knew a lot about PCOS and put me on a food pyramid diet that was good in theory but made me gain 10 more pounds!
I was thin when I started to have syptoms and now I'm 50 pounds overweight. The low calorie diet had made me even more resistant to weight loss.

My boyfriend suggested I go on the Zone because it was a good diet for people that were insulin-resistant. I've been on it for several months and I haven't lost any weight --- AND I'M STILL GAINING a bit at a time.

I eat a very balanced low-GI insulin reducing diet appropriate for my wieght and percentage of body fat. I'm also not eating too many calories for my energy expenditure-- or too few-- which I was guilty of before. I do an hour and 1/2 of strenuos Ballet 5 nights a week. For a year prior to that I had been doing an hour with a personal trainer 3 days a week.

I also take a huge amount of fiber and my total EFA's everyday-- I'm removing plastics and aluminum from my diet and of course I only eat organic food. I use organic soaps and toothpaste. I also drink a huge amount of water, and no cafeein or alcohol. Chromium also didn't work. I don't have a thyroid condition and I'm not anemic.

According to all the literature I've read you only need eat right and exercise 3 days a week for a half hour. Everything I read makes it sound that easy.

You can reduce your syptoms by just losing weight-- but I can't lose weight. Despite the fact I eat right, my blood pressure and cholesteral are high. If I can't lose weight I'm going to die young and I'm so miserable lugging around all this extra fat- even clothes I fit in a couple months ago aren't fitting anymore. I don't know what to do.

What disturbes me is that I'm already doing all the things that are prescibed to do for such a condition. I won't do fast as that will make my metabolism even slower by putting my deeper into "starvation" mode than I already am. I know PCOS women are isulin resistant and metabolically challenged but this is ridiculous.

please. please. can anyone help. I'm at the end of my rope.