Healing PCOS

I hear from women every day whose PCOS journeys had a very similar beginning. In their teens, they had irregular periods, acne, and/or painful PMS. Their doctor “fixed” these symptoms by prescribing the pill. Now the journeys divide. Some women tolerated the pill, but when they got off it, their symptoms returned with a vengeance and they struggled to conceive. Others could not tolerate the pill (nausea, headaches, weight gain, loss of libido) and have struggled with their symptoms and a series of drugs meant to help ever since.

There is a reason that these drugs cannot provide real, sustainable healing. At best, they are nothing more than Band-Aids, covering symptoms but not treating the root cause. At worst, they complicate your health picture with destructive side effects.

The Birth Control Pill

The pill is hands-down the go-to prescription from doctors. It has been touted as a miracle drug for everything from regulating periods to clearing up acne. In many cases, it seems to work for a while, but eventually you stop taking it and your symptoms return. Unfortunately, the pill has some serious downsides that most women are never told about.

● Blood clots. Research indicates that women on the birth control pill increase their risk of blood clots by a factor of 1.6. For those taking pills with higher levels of estrogen, that risk is twice as high. This risk throws fuel on the fire for women with PCOS who are already at higher risk for heart attacks and stroke.

● Increased insulin resistance. Studies show that with certain types of birth control pills, women suffered “unfavorable changes of insulin sensitivity.” This was certainly my experience. Researchers believe that this may have to do with the ratio of estrogen and progestin used in the various pills. Due to this concern about estrogen and insulin resistance, many doctors do not prescribe the pill for women at risk for or who already have diabetes. Whatever the reason, women with PCOS should not be taking any medications that worsen insulin resistance.

● Lower libido. The pill, by definition, alters your hormones. Unfortunately, for some women, it dampens libido (you see the irony). This happens for a couple of reasons. First, the steady stream of synthetic hormones from the pill evens out the body’s natural cycle of high (around ovulation) and low libido. Second, it suppresses testosterone levels. That’s great for taking care of androgen-induced symptoms (acne, facial hair), but is lousy for your sex drive.

● Nutrient deficiency. The pill depletes levels of valuable nutrients such as B vitamins, folic acid, vitamins C and E, magnesium, and zinc. You need sufficient levels of zinc to maintain a healthy hormone balance. Weight gain, fluid retention, mood changes, depression, and even heart disease can all arise from nutrient imbalance.

● Candida. Estrogen promotes the growth of yeast in the gut, sometimes causing a condition called Candida overgrowth. Candida is a fungus (a form of yeast) that occurs naturally in small amounts and aids in digestion. If an overgrowth occurs, symptoms like brain fog, fatigue, digestive and skin issues, mood swings, and fungal infections occur. In addition, it breaks through the intestinal wall and allows byproducts into the surrounding area, triggering systemic inflammation. Since the major ingredient in the pill is estrogen, the risk of Candida overgrowth increases; it also causes sugar and carb cravings.

Metformin

After the birth control pill, metformin is the most commonly prescribed drug to “treat” PCOS. The purpose of metformin is to decrease the amount of glucose (sugar) and insulin produced by the liver and pancreas, and increase sensitivity to insulin in muscle cells. Getting insulin resistance under control is critical to thriving with PCOS, so it makes sense to take a pill and get quick results, right? Unfortunately, according to a National Institutes of Health