Walking into Menopause with PCOS

 OK, so the bullshit of PCOS is that it doesn't go away and there is no cure. You can go into remission, by essentially taking care of your insulin resistance. Which means I am back to taking a ton of supplements, reading up more again on PCOS and now menopause, and I am start the fun part of weight lifting. I've read that the weights are essential to when you get older and add in the fact that women with PCOS typically have better results in losing weight and keeping it off with that is helpful.

But damn, one would hope that menopause would help somehow? But noooo, instead I am again losing hair, losing my libido, not losing weight, feeling more and more tired. Oh and the melancholy, good gods of all that is happy in the world, just random sadness that makes your heart just hurt...and the mood swings are fucked, because you go from happy to kill mode in like 3 seconds. 

With also have this stupid Chek2 gene that causes life to be slightly more cancerous, I want to get a full hysterectomy. I know it won't fix my PCOS, I know I will need to be on hormone therapy, but I much rather not risk ovarian cancer (my grandmother had that and it spread) and that tends to get diagnosed after menopause and usually once it's found it's later on and that sucks too.

I am already getting colonoscopy's every 2 years and of course mammograms. They want me to get a breast MRI like every year and I can't afford that. I told them last time I could do it every 5 years. But I do get the 3D mammograms every year. I also need to make an appointment with my general doctor, who is new to me since I moved and my last PCP was not always the best at listening to what I was saying during our dr. appointments.

My first coloscopy was just about 2 years ago, and I already had 7 polyps. It will be interesting to see what this next one shows, hopefully nothing bad!

A week after that is my pap and mammogram. That's when I'm hoping to convince my Dr to approve the hysterectomy. Assuming that happens, it will be the first time I've had surgery and I don't dread any of that, I just worry about recovery. 

Oy, so much and still not a whole lot. 

Nioxin - For Thinning Hair

-- Moved Post to New Blog!


Ok, so I purchased some of this based on it working for others on http://www.soulcysters.net/ in the hopes that it will ACTUALLY work.

Because let me tell, thinning and male pattern balding is the most Depressing.Thing.Ever

For the last few years, my widow peaks (is that even the correct term) were noticeably going bald and I thought it was because I always kept my hair in a pony tail. So, I've been trying to do that less and even got bangs to see if it could help hide that.

Then I got diagnosed with PCOS and found that is one of the symptoms (one of many that I have and didn't realize it - so very sad) and was prescribed Metformin. Well, then my hair thinning got worse because now you can see my scalp through my bangs and front part of my head. This equals = DEPRESSION for me, because damn, I only a few assets and one of those is my pretty long brown wavy hair. UGH.

Seriously, I was pulling handfuls of hair out during my shower - gross AND depressing. Not to mention it's no fun cleaning out the drain every week :(

So, I started reading and researching (shock) and saw that some people had success with Nioxin and Biotin (a supplement) and also that Metformin can cause your B vitamins to run away from the scary med. B Vitamins are SUPER important for hair and nails.

I promptly ordered 'B-Healthy' from Answers From Nature (who has, btw, the best stuff ever!). And waited for that to come in. (which was super freaking fast!!)

I also ordered Nioxin from Amazon.com. I went to Nioxin's website (here) and was able to do a web chat and ask some questions - like:

"Does this work for women with PCOS" YES

"How long does it take for women with PCOS" 2-3 Months (as compared to about 1 month for women without PCOS)

I did their little on line questionnaire to help determine which one to pick and then headed over to Amazon.com to see what they had (btw, I LOVE shopping of Amazon because it's easy and they usually have things I want and need).

I had thought about ordering the starter kit, but like I said I have LONG hair and that usually consume more shampoo and conditioner than short (when wet it goes to my lower back). So I ordered the following:


Nioxin Cleanser, System 2 (Fine/Untreated/Noticeably Thinning) 8.5 Oz

Nioxin Scalp Therapy (this is conditioner), System 2 (Fine/Untreated/Noticeably Thinning) 8.5 Oz

Nioxin System 2 Scalp Treatment (this is a foam) 6.8 Oz














So, once these came in (this is before I started taking my new B Healthy vitamins, they came in before but I like to start off a new week with all my vitamins in order - am OCD like that!) I checked my hair and should have taken a picture - but that itself was depressing and so if I did notice changes I didn't want to be reminded of my balding head.

Well, let me tell you.

I wash my hair daily. I use the cleanser, rinse, use the conditioner and basically paste it in focusing on my front scalp and sides and then doing the rest of my scalp and hair. I leave it in for a good 3 or more minutes (I brush my teeth, then wash face and body) and then rinse it out.

I use the Scalp Treatment (the foam) using every other day. Because, damn that stuff is like super freaking hold mousse! Those days I just usually keep my hair back!

Within the first 1.5 weeks (WEEKS not MONTHS) I saw little baby hairs growing in! NO SHIT. I showed my coworker (who also has PCOS and thinning hair) and she had seen it before I started using this stuff! She saw the difference (YEAH! It was NOT my imagination!!).

My left balding spot was doing better so I made sure the next few days to focus on both more. Now my right balding spot has hairs growing in! AND my bangs area also has fine little hairs! OH MY FUCKING GOD - THIS STUFF WORKS!

Can we say ELATED!!!

So, this is working, I don't care that it's expensive as shit because THIS IS MY FUCKING HAIR!!! And Self Esteem.

I decided to buy some Biotin supplements, (also from Amazon) because one of the ingredients in Nioxin is Biotin and you know what? I think it couldn't hurt! And I am hoping that if I ever can't afford this shampoo/conditioner/foam, then at least I should have something else going on!

I have started my B-Healthy vitamins as well. Yeah!!

Life is finally starting to get a little bit better!