Could your weight gain and acne be caused by PCOS?
Do you struggle with acne, irregular periods, and weight gain?
These are some of the symptoms that plague teenage girls. They are often told, “It’s just puberty, you’ll grow out of it” or “All the women in our family have this problem.” They are basically led to believe that there is nothing they can do about it, so there is no point in speaking up or asking questions. These girls may get relief from their symptoms as they get a little older and their hormones find a more natural balance, but often these symptoms continue into adulthood. In addition to acne scars, women are left emotionally scarred by body shaming. They blame themselves for their acne and weight gain and lose themselves in an endless cycle of dieting fads and facial creams that never seem to work.
Don’t blame yourself, blame your hormones.
What you are experiencing could be PCOS. Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, or PCOS for short, is the most common hormone disorder among women of reproductive age. [1]
PCOS impacts up to 20% of women, yet most people have never heard of it!
Let’s face it, hormones are a taboo subject. They aren’t talked about nearly enough. As women, we don’t really know what is going on in our bodies and what the difference between normal and abnormal is. When I was a teenager, I remember getting a 5-minute talk from my mom about my period and watching some videos at school that were introduced at an age when everything was embarrassing. I was woefully under-educated on hormones until I started studying as a Health Coach.
What to Look For
Hormones are complicated. There’s a lot to know and understand. PCOS is no exception. It’s a complicated disorder that you’ll need to talk to your doctor or an expert about if what I’m saying here resonates with you, but it’s important to know what to look for. There are several types of PCOS, so it’s unlikely that you will have all of these symptoms, but look for a combination of any of these concerns:
Weight gain, especially in the abdomen
Unstable blood sugar or high blood sugar
Need to urinate more frequently
Menstrual cycles that are longer than 35 days
No menstrual cycle or skipped periods
Irregular periods
Mid-cycle pain
Acne
Oily skin
Hair growth on the face
Excess body hair
Hair loss on the head
High cholesterol
High blood pressure
Infertility
Mood swings
Multiple cysts on the ovaries
Getting a Diagnosis
If you are starting to question whether you may have PCOS, you’ll want to talk to your OBGYN to find out for sure. A clinical diagnosis of PCOS is made when 2 out of 3 of the following criteria are met:
There is menstrual dysfunction (your periods are irregular; you have cycles that are longer than 35 days or you aren’t getting a period).
There are high levels of androgens in the blood (symptoms of this include acne, excess facial or body hair, or hair loss on the head).
The ovaries are polycystic (your doctor will need to determine this with an ultrasound).
Androgens are a group of hormones that include testosterone. Women need testosterone. It’s important for having a healthy sex drive and for maintaining bone density and muscle mass. Too much testosterone, however, can cause acne, facial hair, excess body hair, or hair loss on the scalp. High levels of androgens also go hand-in-hand with high levels of blood sugar.
The other key factor that isn’t included in this official checklist but is a big red flag for PCOS is high blood sugar or unstable blood sugar. Not all women have this issue, but most do, so consider blood sugar problems #4 on the list of criteria.
Your OBGYN can test your blood for excess androgens and do a pelvic ultrasound to look for cysts on your ovaries. These cysts are really just immature ovarian follicles. Normally these follicles contain eggs that are released during ovulation. Abnormal hormone levels can prevent the follicles from maturing however, and they end up accumulating in the ovaries. Most women never know they have this issue until an ultrasound is performed.
The good news in all of this is that there is a lot you can do to take control of PCOS if you have it.
What Can You Do if You Have PCOS
Having a healthy diet and lifestyle can help your body reduce excess androgens, get your blood sugar under control, and improve your menstrual cycle. Here are the key areas I focus on when I’m working with women to help them manage PCOS.
Improve Your Gut Health
Unfriendly bacteria in the gut can cause a domino effect that leads to hormone imbalances. This includes an increase in insulin levels that can cause the ovaries to produce more androgens and interfere with follicle development. This process causes menstrual irregularity, acne, facial hair, and the development of polycystic ovaries.
Healing the gut takes time and a concerted effort, but it can make a huge difference in reducing your PCOS symptoms. We take this step-by-step and start with simple changes that fit into your lifestyle. Incorporating bone broth or mineral broth can help the gut lining start to heal so you can introduce healthy probiotics.
Reduce Sugar
You can’t manage your blood sugar, which we’ve already established is important for controlling PCOS, without reducing your sugar intake. Our food system that relies so heavily on convenience foods has many Americans addicted to sugar. Reducing your dependence on sugar and white flour is important to improving your body’s ability to balance insulin and leptin hormones, so you can lose weight, decrease androgens, and reduce your risk of metabolic syndrome and diabetes.
Reduce Stress
Stress is always a factor to consider when it comes to hormones. Cortisol, which is our stress response hormone, causes you to crave sugar, which we’ve already discussed is a problem for women with PCOS. Studies also show that women with PCOS tend to have higher levels of circulating cortisol. [3] This increase in cortisol can lead to a number of different hormone imbalances that factor into their menstrual irregularity and overall health. Relaxation techniques have been shown to help women reduce their stress and improve their insulin balance.
Break the Cycle
It’s important to talk about your hormones and ask questions if you have concerns. Don’t let talking about your period and your hormones be taboo. Speak up and take control of your health. If you’d like to talk about your hormone concerns, reach out. If you’d like to learn more about PCOS and what you can do to break the vicious cycle of hormone imbalances consider the HOPE for PCOS online course. There is hope for having healthy hormones!
References
1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21562798/
2. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306987712001703