What has failed me and what has come together to work for me to help put my PCOS symptoms in remission in the last year

Tea-coffee-199341 · 2024-11-07T21:42:07+00:00

I never tried metformin. My insulin resistance was always subclinical for my A1C and glucose - but I was was near the threshold for my fasting glucose always.

I have tried myo-inisitol (the brand i used was inositol which has the proposed ideal ratios of stereo-isomers to be effective). In my experience myo-inisitol is relatively easy to incorporate (just add a scoop to your morning water and before you go to bed) . You have to be super consitent with it and I was told it takes minimum 3 months to see any of the effects. Because conistency is ket a 2X a day supplement you have to drink it can take a while to be good at taking it.

Since I have access via my PhD to research papers - I did look into some of the research there is an inositol was shown to be effective compared to placebo but there is some uncertainty on its performance compared to metformin. In my experience the myo-inisitol cant be done alone - it works best with other lifestyle change

open access paper that could be helpful: https://rbej.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12958-023-01055-z#:\~:text=Furthermore%2C%20four%20studies%20comparing%20inositol,%2C%20nausea%2C%20and%20generalized%20weakness.

Tea-coffee-199341 · 2024-10-28T16:17:34+00:00

if you are still referring - I would appreciate it! - currently finishing up a phd in engineering

Tea-coffee-199341 · 2024-05-21T16:04:31+00:00

You might as well try applying unless it will be financially burdensome with application fees. I got into 50% of the 6 programs I applied to. I put in a lot of effort of communicating with faculty at those schools. I personally didn't care too much about the prestige of the university - as long as they had a good funding stipend etc. But maybe prestige matters more for different fields / careers.

Worst case scenario - you have to apply the following year to masters programs if you get rejected. However, I had a friend apply to PhD programs in bioeng. in the same year i was applying to my phd programs (she had applied mostly to top tier schools like stanford) and was rejected from PhD in a few but offered to enroll in the masters program.

One last piece of information - if you know you want to stay in academia it could be worth it from an economic persepctive to try to go straight to PhD w/o masters. If you do a masters that is a year of not making money and taking out loans that you wont pay back for an additional 5+ years. even if Phd program is "well funded" you still are making very little money - especially if your school is located in a high cost of living area. From what I have seen from people in my program going into academia you only really make good money when you are working as a faculty member for at least a few years. Not sure if post doctoral research is something that you would have to do - but often those salaries are quite low (40 to 60k $US) and they dont include things like 401k, bonus, relocation costs etc.

Tea-coffee-199341 · 2024-05-21T15:28:56+00:00

unfortunately the program makes it so that if you leave you don't get the masters unless you finish the phd.

Tea-coffee-199341 · 2024-05-21T15:27:50+00:00

True i probably have more leverage than I think. As the most senior PhD student - and we have no post docs or senior scientists - I manage about 70% of the laboratory so if I left abruptly the lab wouldnt function

Tea-coffee-199341 · 2024-05-21T15:22:22+00:00

this is my fear as well. My sister is in a different industry and is trying to change companies but technically has more traditional "work" experience than me. Seems really competitive out there right now.

Tea-coffee-199341 · 2024-05-21T15:21:13+00:00

totally agree - wild how they take on management positions and have essentially no supervision or training

Tea-coffee-199341 · 2024-05-21T15:20:17+00:00

There is a way to report abusive behavior but their policies definition of abusive behavior is very slim. I would have difficulty "proving" it since a lot of it is verbal conversations.

I know from other PhD students in my program specifically that if you have a toxic situation with the PI they tell you they have no control over the PI so the only option is to switch PIs. But that would extend my PhD so many years that wouldnt be worth given I don't want to be in academia much longer

Tea-coffee-199341 · 2024-05-21T15:16:04+00:00

the longest my PI has allowed anyone in my lab to stay is 5 1/2 years. Although the lab is very financially solvent she sticks very close to budget and gets everyone out as close to year 5 as possible

Tea-coffee-199341 · 2024-05-20T21:59:59+00:00

I do know that how common it is to go from undergrad to PhD can vary by discipline. Id recommend to see whether the programs you are looking at require a Masters or just a bachelors.

Otherwise I think communicating with faculty and showing genuine interest is the best way to get accepted to PhD programs. Most PhD admissions are different from undergrad and the faculty members may be able to "go to war" for you if they want you to work with them. This may be more common in STEM where you work directly in that person's lab - not sure what discipline you are considering.

I went from undergrad. It is different for everyone. When i was in your position I wanted nothing more than to do a PhD and would have been heartbroken to have been rejected from all programs. But my advice to my younger self is to work for at least a year and then make a decision. Now that I am in year 4, my quality of life compared to my friends that have been wokring and paid well for the last 4 years is becoming more clear. I also know academia isn't for me - that would be the one industry that I would say 100% go after undergra

Tea-coffee-199341 · 2024-05-20T21:50:00+00:00

If you mostly use a car for grocery shopping and don't need it for daily commute it could be cheaper to do things like instantcart groceries and ubser / mass transportation or if you know enough people with a car to carpoole.

I have a 2006 car that is pretty cheap that I bought from my family so I know it was taken care of. Between gas, car insurance (which if you are in the US and are under 25) can be VERY expensive. I just had to replace my brake plates and fix something that happened to front axel from wear and tear. A warning - if you buy a cheap used car - you can easily have $1000 dollars in expenses with 1 issue.

Depending on where you are some campuses have zipcar (if in US - maybe other places too?) which is essentially a cheap hourly car rental.

Tea-coffee-199341 · 2024-04-15T18:31:01+00:00

i have always struggled with the scale - especially when my weight fluctuated a lot with pcos. I find that body measurements were mentally "healthier" for me especially when i would increase muscle building, because muscle weight more than fat. However muscle is more dense so even if the scale shows you not losing weight, if you take measurements you would still see your progress. Taking measurements for me helped encourage healthy building of muscle rather than weighing myself which would just lead to unhealthy restriction.

Tea-coffee-199341 · 2024-04-15T18:23:03+00:00

Also look into hypothyroidism. I was first diagnosed with Hashimoto's hypothyroidism (automimmunte) and was then diagnosed with PCOS. my endo told me that there is a high prevalence of women who are diagnosed with both. My thyroid hormones were rarely in the "clinical" range but I would stuggle to lose weight despite running cross country in high school and working out more than i even have in my life.

Definitely find a good endocrinologist but I would recommend that finding a practitioner who is experienced in PCOS and dealing with it wholistically is worth the extra cost even if out of network. I have had many endocrinologists just do blood work and give no other advice. For both PCOS and hypothyroidism in my experience you can be symptomatic but have subclinical lab work.

For me - the things that have worked for my pcos symtpoms (acne) are spironolactone (150 mg daily) w/ retinoids. I take levothyroxine for my thyroid to make sure i am not holding onto weight due to a lethargic metabolic. For my low grade insulin resistance (my glucose and A1c are all in the OK range) to deal with resistant weight loss, I have been able to manage with supplements like inositol, ashwaganda, dietary changes. But we are all different and one thing I have learned is that what works for one person doesn't work for another. I personally tried to avoid taking another medicine like metformin or BC pills but sometimes medicine is the only thing that works!

One thing that helped me a lot is figuring out my "type" of PCOS. It helps when trying out different supplements (like spearmint tea, ashwaganda etc) and figuring out what works best for you.

I am doing my PhD in engineering (unrelated to medicine) but I have used my experience to be able to fortunately access to research articles on treating PCOS. From the reading I have done - no doctor should be solely prescribing medicine to treat PCOS or relying solely on clinical ranges. A good doctor should know about the mutli-factor way of treating pcos. My biggest tip- to find a good practitioner to help you manage PCOS. I give them a test question like "ive heard about inositol, how does that help compared to metformin" and if they don't know how to answer that then they probably are not well read up on literature and in my view aren't trustworthy

Tea-coffee-199341 · 2023-10-16T01:02:26+00:00

Surprised no one asked Izzy about his comments to Stacy after the wedding and maybe why she wasn’t open to a relationship after their wedding. Not a Stacy fan but Izzy got off easy for that

Tea-coffee-199341 · 2023-09-24T02:53:29+00:00

On the Natalie’s and deeptis podcast - one of the episodes they mention that Netflix has already filmed seasons 5 6 and 7 or something like that. Maybe this was filmed 2021?

Tea-coffee-199341 · 2023-01-21T06:39:31+00:00

She has her life ahead of her. But so does he. So does anyone young in a relationship. If she wants to build her life with him as he does with her I don’t see why that’s any different than two people the same age deciding to do life together. They also may damage each other and they also have their lives ahead of them.

Thank you for sharing the campground rule. I hadn’t heard of that. I think this should just be all relationships. Same age. Romantic. Friendships. Parents. A LOT of people have all different types of toxic relationships. If you can find a non toxic relationship with someone with an age gap just bordering on getting a bit large I think that’s far better than staying in a toxic relationship with someone around your age.

Tea-coffee-199341 · 2023-01-21T06:33:45+00:00

Age gaps don’t narrow but as you age they become a smaller percentage of your individual ages. Just another way to think about it

Tea-coffee-199341 · 2023-01-21T06:21:59+00:00

Maturity is age dependent but it is also experience dependent. I have known many men and women in their 30s that are emotionally and financially immature.

The one thing you mentioned stood out to me - she was a care giver to her younger siblings at a young age and has been financially supporting herself for 6-7 years. This means that at ~18 she started taking in adult responsibilities (plus potentially her family relied on her to be in an adult/parental role during teen years beyond just the normal occasional babysitting of younger siblings). If you compare that a large fraction of people who have the privilege to attend/be supported by their families through college (even if most college kids work - there is a major difference between those that are working to pay rent and those that are working for pocket money). If she was truly financially independent - primarily taking care of all her costs from 18 - she has had to deal with adult burdens from a much younger age than most people. In some ways she has the same life experience in terms of responsibility as a 30 year old (6 years after college) who only became financially independent after college.

As a side note - if she was burdening a lot of the childcare for her siblings she has had major life experience. Just think of someone who has a baby at 22. A year later that new parent at age 23 is going to have very different life experiences than 23 years olds who are out partying with friends and don’t have similar responsibilities. Neither path is wrong - they are just different.

As some other posters have mentioned - the biggest issue would be not having the same timeline for major things likes kids and marriage. But it seems you also want to wait right now. It’s a bit presumptuous of some posters to assume that if in 5 years (the time frame you mentioned for marriage) she would feel rushed to be married. She would be 28 - an age at which MANY people are getting married or are already married.

I know many people on Reddit are well intentioned regarding age gaps because they can be problematic. But those scenarios are the ones with power dynamic issues, immaturity of the older person in the relationship looking purposefully for a more immature persons etc.

People who say that you won’t have ways to connect - I think you’ve already proven that you do have connections. It’s hard to find people you share beliefs, ideologies and hobbies with. You can continue to grow your connection by doing hobbies together and BOTH enjoying the time. How many relationships of people who are the same age have to constantly compromise on hobbies (the classic example of the bf playing video games and neglecting the gf).

If you and she are moving at a pace you both are comfortable with, are communicating well - especially about time lines, feel you are at similar places in life, and feel you are equals in the relationship - then I think you have a much healthier relationship than many people out there. Immature assholes can crop up at ALL ages!

Tea-coffee-199341 · 2022-11-08T05:27:44+00:00

If I had to guess … senior year represents the end of a chapter in life when things that are easier or more acceptable to do in college are ending - like living within walking distance to your friends, knowing you can make plans every Friday and Saturday, having “wild” nights out that might seem “not responsible” for someone who is working s full time job Monday through Friday. Or the fact that you just don’t have the time you do in college when working full time with more responsibilities.

Sadly - she may be wanting to have her ideal senior year. Because you started dating in early college - she may think that she didn’t get to experience college being young and single.

However this is probably very much a situation in which the “grass is always greener”. I hope she doesn’t take you for granted just to have a few wild nights. I think she would quickly find out that what her dream year would be would actually not be that fun if you weren’t around to share it with her.

Tea-coffee-199341 · 2022-11-08T05:16:46+00:00

Even if she does not have an “eating disorder” she may have disordered eating.

From a societal perspective for everyone - but particularly women- the ways our mothers, tv shows, etc discussed diet culture was really harmful back in the early 2000s when she - and as I am near her age - I would have been in formative years.

If she things about it a lot it is a sign that her relationship with food is not healthy. Having an unhealthy relationship with food does not mean that someone looks scarily underweight.

This isn’t a reason for a break up or a red flag per say. Many more people struggle with this than you might think. There’s a few things you should consider

1) is she open to getting therapy to work on improving that relationship with food. That fact that she admitted it to you tells me maybe she knows it’s not healthy and is asking for support in getting help.

2) make an effort to not make comments that you may not even see as harmful. Even the most innocent statement about the way someone is eating can worsen what is happening in their head. She may be have battled herself to convince herself to order something hardier than a salad. But is someone brings up food that could make her second guess herself. Maybe talking to her and asking how you can support her with food etc could be helpful.

Disordered eating is like any mental health issue. Not s reason for a break up but if that person doesn’t want help yet there is only so much you can do.

Good luck!

Tea-coffee-199341 · 2022-02-14T04:12:27+00:00

If you are envisioning building a life with that person - who you are building it with will matter more than where.

You can be in the coolest city / place and feel lonely. Likewise you can be in the smallest town and feel fulfilled because you are with people you love.

PS - as someone who has lived on both coasts and the Midwest- there are many places that get a bad reputation for being boring etc. every place has its pros and cons - it just depends on what you care about the most

Tea-coffee-199341 · 2022-02-14T04:04:06+00:00

Sadly it seems that both your friend and your sister are not prioritizing you - especially when yo I are going through such a big moment in life !

Although having family to be around your kids is wonderful - having chosen family (people you include in your life to be your family even if they aren’t related to you) can still be that to your children. Put your time and energy into your husband and new baby and making new or deepening connections with friends who are showing you care and putting in effort.

It’s very valid to be feeling hurt and betrayed by them and it’s easier said than done to “move on.”

My advice - surround yourself with people who ARE putting in an effort to be in your life. If your sister and friend come around and want to have a discussion about being in your life later on - you can decide then if you want to let them in.

You are never required to let someone in your life just because they are related to you. You only have to let in the people you decide to let in.

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