Some thoughts and discussions from me.

A little back story: I was diagnosed with PCOS in October. You can read all about that story HERE and HERE.

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My last update was about 2 months ago. That, coupled with some new plans o’ action I’m taking after seeing a naturopathic doctor in Boulder compelled me to post another update.

Meeting my Naturopath

Last Tuesday, I spent about two hours with Dr. Neal. After being greeted with hot tea and a cozy office room, I opened up to her. I told her about my history and backstory. I told her everything I’ve researched so far. I told her probably way more than I needed to know.

She told me her dad was from Normal. It’s a small, small world! Don’t worry, she told me more than that Winking smile

Diagnosis

Dr. Neal specializes in female hormone issues and PCOS, and after processing all of my verbal verbal vomit, she immediately came up with a plan of attack. However, I was elated and relieved to hear her say this:

Yes, you have PCOS (for all of those who have emailed me saying it’s something else – I promise it’s PCOS.) But you don’t have severe PCOS. You don’t have any of the external (facial hair, deep voice, hair loss, acne etc) symptoms, and your hormone panels don’t look that out of balance. We just need to flush out some of those extra hormones and get your cycle back in order. And I am confident that we can get you there.

Yes, I already knew I had PCOS, but I had absolutely no idea how bad my case of it was. I’m so relieved to know it’s not that bad.

Plan of Attack

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With that, we went over my prognosis. With PCOS and the endocrine system, Dr. Neal explained that three different components can be out of wack: the thyroid, adrenals, and the hormones. We left my thyroid out of the equation entirely. My thyroid is golden. The problem lies within my adrenals and hormones. She said that she thinks my adrenals are a little stressed, thusly, my hormones aren’t getting detoxified in the manner they should.

Thusly, I now have a whole new regimen of pills and practices to partake:

Food Supplements

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Dr. Neal has me on a 30 day cycle where I alternate different seeds. Right now I’m on pumpkin seeds, but the others I alternate on different times of the month include flax seeds, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds. This has to do with hormones during certain times throughout the cycle and the omega 3 and 6 content in the specific seeds.

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Sure, I’ll play.

Oils

Additionally, I also will be taking two different oils – cod liver oil and primrose oil. I’ll take one one half of the month, and the other the second half.

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This stuff tastes nast, but is apparently magical.

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I haven’t tried the primrose oil yet, but they’re capsules.

Vitamins

Along with the supplements above, I’ll be taking two vitamins: a B complex and Biotone EFA, which heals the adrenals and is supposed to help give me better sleep quality.

And of course– the potion I mentioned in last week’s post:

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This is eleuthero/siberian ginseing, which I’m supposed to mix in warm water and drink as a tea every morning. It supports the adrenal glands as well. I actually like the taste of this one – it tastes like licorice!

Homeopathies

She’s also having me take 3 different homeopathics before brushing my teeth. I already forgot exactly what they are, but I’m putting drops of each beneath my tongue before brushing my teeth, and they taste horrible. They support liver, adrenals, and female hormones…I think.

Diet/Lifestyle

When Dr. Neal asked about my current diet, she said it was perfect for PCOS, and she said, “so you eat paleo?”

Well, not exactly. I eat paleo for the most part, but I also eat dairy when I want, drink alcohol when I want, and eat some gluten free stuff that’s not really paleo, I said. I told her being strictly paleo would stress me out too much.

Luckily, Dr. Neal said that’s fine. She’d rather keep my stress as low as possible, and that as long as I stuck with gluten free, that’d be fine. Sounds good to me!

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But here’s where I made a face. When she then said:

“However, I do want you to decrease your alcohol to 1-2 times per week and your coffee to 1 small cup a day.”

I’m not an alki, but I do like to have a glass of wine or a gluten free beer most nights. I can definitely live with 1-2 nights per week, though, if it’s going to help my progress.

As for the coffee thing, she actually would rather have me eliminate it, but we settled on one small cup a day. Note that my tea consumption has increased dramatically Winking smile

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I love it all – especially this Twinnings Orange & Cinnamon Spice as well as basically any flavor by Yogi. Gimme gimme.

Other notes:

-drink half my body weight in water, with electrolytes

-don’t let myself get way too hungry in between meals

-don’t add any exercise to my current routine (strength and cardio 3 days/week, yoga 2-3 days/week, dog walking)

Other

The last thing Dr. Neal is having me do is Castor Oil Packs:

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Basically, every night (every week night is fine) I put castor oil on the skin directly over my liver and place heat over it while I read before bed – about 30 minutes. It’s supposed to help to flush out the liver.

Prayer

Ok, maybe Dr. Neal didn’t prescribe this method of treatment, but it’s actually my # 1 method. I’ve got several people praying for me, and I know in the end it’s in God’s hands, so I’ll be juuuuust fine Smile

So there you have it! My plan of attack for healing PCOS.

Any questions?

Have you ever tried naturopathic medicine or remedies for any health issues of your own?