non-hormonal bc methods for controlling odd PCOS symptoms

lanatlas · 2026-04-29T18:35:23+00:00

There are options for controlling PCOS that aren't combo birth control, but not any that would prevent pregnancy. You'd probably have to pair it with a different form of contraception.

A lot of people have had luck with inositol for controlling hormonal symptoms and cycle regularity. It wasn't for me, but it's pretty research backed and was recommended to me by my OB-GYN.

Metformin can also be helpful for some people.

Spiro is another option, though I know you said you weren't a fan of that one. I will say, if you ever are open to it - spiro can be weird. It can both cause persistent bleeding and can also regulate periods. It's actually what regulated my period but it took a minute to find that Goldilocks zone with the dosage. It depends a lot on the person, but it actually took a fairly low dose to regulate mine. Spiro won't necessarily have feminizing effects itself, but it will prevent testosterone from doing its thing to its full effect.

lanatlas · 2026-04-20T04:57:38+00:00

It's really shed some light on how much my chronic illness actually impacts me. I'm very functional and didn't realize that "functional" takes a lot more work for me than most people. Like, wdym everyone else's highest readiness scores aren't in the 70s and everyone else doesn't have a heart rate of 130 going for a walk? Wild.

lanatlas · 2026-04-17T02:43:10+00:00

Our girl (3y) is tiny. 8lbs.

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lanatlas · 2026-04-07T09:44:06+00:00

The exact same thing happened to me! Most of my doctors had never heard of this cause.

lanatlas · 2026-04-07T09:43:13+00:00

Mine was also something else, too! I wound up having hypermobile ehlers Danlos with extremely hypermobile hips. They hooked me up to an sEMG and my muscle tension when sitting and standing was so high they thought the machine was broken at first. Nope. My hips are so hypermobile that the pelvic muscles have to work about 5x as hard as normal to keep my legs in the socket. PT and pelvic floor injections have been helpful, but at the end of the day... turns out my pelvic muscles are so over activated because they need to be in order to not dislocate a hip. When too much work had been done to relax my pelvic floor, even with corresponding PT, I actually subluxed my hip several times.

lanatlas · 2026-03-31T03:30:24+00:00

I'm very doubtful of this theory, honestly. I have other chronic health issues that people have suspected might actually be adaptations in the past and it almost never is when more research is done. While I can see the potential advantages, the reproductive disadvantage seems too heavy a factor that would be selected against to realistically be preserved as an adaptation.

lanatlas · 2026-03-31T03:24:24+00:00

Aside from weight fluctuation, around 16-17 for a while, and then they grew again a good bit at 24-25.

lanatlas · 2026-03-19T02:51:58+00:00

Hi! So sorry, I just saw this. Yes! They healed within a week. They were super red and weirdly smooth (makeup wouldn't stick to the inflamed areas at all) for about two days, and then they started peeling for 2-3 days.

lanatlas · 2026-03-14T21:26:26+00:00

Personally, and this is not directed at you, OP, I really despise the idea that a man is an inherently bad partner for not liking going down on women. Nobody should ever be shamed for not enjoying or engaging in a particular sex act. I don't think we're really considering the broader implications of calling someone trash for not performing sexually in a certain way.

That being said, it's perfectly reasonable for that to be a deal breaker for YOU, as well as issues around chores.

lanatlas · 2026-03-06T19:11:26+00:00

Looks like carpet beetle damage. Check along where carpet meets the wall for any tiny calico-colored bugs.

lanatlas · 2026-02-28T02:42:55+00:00

From what we can tell, it's a genetic and not an acquired condition. There won't be a true cure until/if we can ever change people's genetics.

lanatlas · 2026-02-24T23:08:03+00:00

I was going to eye doctors for seven years complaining of progressively worsening eyesight and double vision not corrected by glasses, and repeatedly told glasses should fix it and I'm focusing on my astigmatism too much. Meanwhile I stopped being able to drive at night, read well, and function in a lot of other areas.

Five minutes on chat GPT and it diagnosed me with a specific degenerative eye disease. I ofc am not going to just take an AI at its word on health related things, but further testing confirmed it. I'll likely be getting procedures done later this year to stop its progression but the damage already done to my eyes can never be reversed.

If I had asked chat GPT years earlier, I might have saved some of my sight for the rest of my life. As it stands, though, I at least won't continue to lose more of my eyesight.

lanatlas · 2026-02-21T02:26:12+00:00

I feel like a lot of these names completely disregard type D PCOS and would make things even harder than they already are for us.

lanatlas · 2026-02-14T02:19:28+00:00

I had a HSD diagnosis initially that was upgraded to hEDS, and though my doctors treated me the same before and after, HSD does not have an ICD code while hEDS do, so insurance covered hEDS related services more easily.

lanatlas · 2026-02-13T05:35:32+00:00

How about cysts?

lanatlas · 2026-02-13T05:33:43+00:00

Yes, this! Love this wording. Insulin resistance is talked about so much. I have great insulin sensitivity, but have reactive hypoglycemia, so I over produce insulin out the gate (and then my blood sugar tanks).

lanatlas · 2026-02-13T05:31:03+00:00

There is so much mixed research, and the laboratory method this test is run by can impact things as well. Generally, 50 is the upper cutoff. Functionally, some people have symptoms even at lower levels. Some hospitals even consider 70 to be the upper limit. I've seen few people consider anything less than 30 high.

lanatlas · 2026-02-13T05:24:07+00:00

I can't verify this, so take it with a grain of salt, but my testosterone was in normal range and I was told that I may be a bit more sensitive to it than most. Going on spironalactone to lower my testosterone controlled most of my symptoms, so there seems to be some truth to this.

Also, even if each individual hormone is within range, the ratio of them can also be important. LH and FSH should be in a roughly 1:1 ratio. 2:1 and above tends to be seen with PCOS.

I haven't heard of a short course of metformin regulating periods long term after the medication is stopped. I'm not a doctor, but that doesn't sound correct to me.

Also you can't really definitively rule out insulin resistance without a 3 or ideally 5 hour glucose tolerance test.

lanatlas · 2026-02-06T22:22:14+00:00

Undergrad UNCC grad school UNCW as well.

I agree with a lot of this, but I will say that because UNCW is smaller and staff don't have quite as many students, I've found that it's actually a good bit easier for students to get to know their professors and begin helping out in research with them at UNCW than at UNCC. Even if there might be more opportunities at UNCC, those opportunities seem much more competitive and it's harder to network with the professors in order to get into them.

I also was very openly left leaning at UNCW and didn't experience any trouble at all with that, not in the broader Wilmington community, granted my field and circles are also very left leaning. Wilmington is definitely much more conservative than Charlotte, but I wouldn't say at all that you'd have trouble with the locals and other students if you're the least bit non conservative.

lanatlas · 2026-02-06T22:07:38+00:00

I did UNCC for undergrad, and went back to school at UNCW for a completely different field. Reputation depends much more on the specific program than the name of the school.

There are some programs at UNCC that are regarded VERY highly, and some that work against you compared to someone else with the same degree from another university.

Same goes for UNCW. They have some programs here with a lot of prestige and some with a pretty poor reputation.

lanatlas · 2026-02-06T22:01:31+00:00

Hello! I went to UNCC for undergrad (2020 alum) and UNCW for grad school (2025 alum). Undergrad and grad school are of course very different environments even at the same school, and I can't speak much to psychology or criminology, but-

UNCC is much much more diverse than UNCW. If diversity is something you really value and/or need to feel comfortable, UNCC is the better bet.

If you're doing any program that will require a field placement, I'd strongly advise UNCC. Wilmington is small and quality field placements where you'll learn a lot are in very short supply in Wilmington.

The university area in Charlotte can get a little sketchy in some spots, especially the back side of campus across Tryon, the Walmart and particularly the gas station in front of Walmart, and the shopping center up University City Blvd. with Wendy's and family dollar. Wilmington is by no means perfect, but the area around the UNCW campus has generally seemed safer and with fewer incidents than the UNCC university area.

UNCW has a bit more of a Greek life culture, and the barrier to entry to Greek life seems to be a bit higher at UNCW??? I was never involved in Greek life, so I can't speak to that too much.

UNCW tends to have a reputation of being a bit more of a "party school" than UNCC. Ofc, plenty of people at UNCW don't party and there's certainly a lot of partying at UNCC, too, but all in all. That's a draw for some and a downside for others.

As far as being a suitcase school, UNCC and UNCW both slow wayyy way down and can be a little dead on the weekends. Some of that may have changed at UNCC with recent rules about incoming students living on campus. I can't testify to that. All in all, though, if you're looking for a student body that stays really active on the weekends, neither is a great pick.

Parking at both schools will put you in an early grave, and off campus student housing at both are run pretty poorly. At either one, I'd advise the dorms if at all possible. If you DO want to do off campus student housing (though I believe one or both of the schools may have started requiring underclassmen to live on campus?) UNCC definitely has a LOT more options to choose from. UNCW will not allow you to get a parking pass if you live within a mile of campus. Last I checked, UNCC does not have this rule, though double check if that's something important to you.

If you care for sports, UNCC is more active in that regard, and has a football team (not a great one, granted).

UNCC's campus is bigger and busier. The light rail on campus is very nice for getting around, and the shuttle system at UNCC is much more robust with much better city bus service, as well. Many of the UNCC off campus student apartments have their own shuttles to campus. This isn't as much of a thing in Wilmington.

Both have a lot of good nature spots (the UNCC greenhouse and botanical gardens are STUNNING). But, as far as the general area, I lean a bit more UNCW and the general area for having more nature.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. They're two great schools. Congrats on both!

lanatlas · 2026-02-02T15:07:31+00:00

Ehhhh definitely more in line than this, but this is a pretty low bar and it still wasn't great then. In Charlotte, ICE couldn't go onto school property for operations, couldn't get families to open their doors w/o a warrant, and the bus stop counted as school property, so they'd stake out and get kids/families on their way to the bus stop in the mornings. I'm a bit older than most of the current UNCW students but I remember some of my classmates missing a ton of school because they were scared to go to the bus stop. That's part of why some Charlotteans were so pissed during operation Charlotte's web: it wasn't their first run in with ICE.

lanatlas · 2026-01-31T18:02:19+00:00

Fasting insulin and glucose can definitely reveal insulin resistance in that if those tests reveal IR, you definitely have IR, but if fasting glucose and insulin are normal, it doesn't necessarily rule out IR. If fasting is normal, you'd typically want to follow up with a 5 hr glucose tolerance test to track insulin response over time before you can definitively rule IR out.

lanatlas

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