POCS Treatment
Get Relief from PCOS at Wonderfully Made Functional Medicine
PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) affects up to 5 million women of reproductive age in the United States. However, you can experience PCOS well beyond your child-bearing years.
If you’re dealing with this condition, then you know how difficult it can be. Weight gain, sleeplessness, pain, unwanted hair growth, mood swings, and so much more can make life miserable. In fact, women with PCOS have much higher rates of depression and anxiety than those without this condition.
But there is hope!
While PCOS can feel overwhelming, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. Dr. Kathryn Wood is certified by the Reproductive Health Research Institute (RHRI). With compassion and care, she will assess the underlying hormonal issues associated with your PCOS and create a treatment plan to help you recover a healthy hormonal balance.
What is PCOS?
According to the National Institutes of Health, women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome have at least two of the following conditions:
Absence of ovulation, which leads to irregular or no menstrual periods
High levels of androgens, such as testosterone and DHEA
Cysts on one or both ovaries
“Polycystic” means “having many cysts.” However, some women with PCOS don’t have cysts on their ovaries. Because the ovaries contain follicles, released eggs don’t make it down to the uterus and can be trapped in the follicles. The ovaries appear enlarged because the follicles that surround the eggs look like cysts. However, an ultrasound can confirm whether or not these are actual cysts.
Causes and Symptoms
The root causes of PCOS are both hormonal and metabolic, and when one symptom worsens, this can cause others to worsen. This makes it challenging to determine cause versus effect. For example, women who have PCOS often have high androgen levels AND insulin resistance.
As to genetic disposition, no specific “PCOS gene” exists. However, studies have shown that women can pass down genes affecting hormone levels and insulin resistance from generation to generation.
Symptoms of PCOS may include:
No periods, irregular periods, or irregular bleeding
Obesity or weight gain
No or irregular ovulation
High blood pressure
Insulin resistance
Thinning hair or male-pattern baldness
Excess hair on the body and face
Abnormal cholesterol with high triglycerides
Acne or oily skin
Conditions Associated with PCOS
Up to 70% of women with PCOS have insulin resistance. This condition, where your body doesn’t respond as it should to the hormone insulin, can cause weight gain, particularly around the abdomen. Moreover, insulin resistance can lead to metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.
Another condition associated with this syndrome is estrogen dominance, where the ratio between estrogen and progesterone is out of balance. With PCOS, estrogen is produced as eggs are released into the follicles, but because the eggs don’t mature, the body doesn’t produce adequate progesterone. This throws off the ratio between these hormones, which can cause abdominal weight gain, infertility, autoimmune disorders, and thyroid dysfunction. Estrogen dominance also increases the risk of endometriosis, breast cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and endometrial cancer.
Conventional Treatment
Conventional medicine treats Polycystic Ovary Syndrome by prescribing synthetic birth control pills to make periods more “regular.” However, this type of treatment to manage PCOS makes no sense: the condition already makes it hard to conceive, and birth control pills will make it almost impossible! Moreover, some studies have shown that birth control pills can worsen insulin resistance, which contributes to PCOS.
Doctors may also prescribe statins to control the high cholesterol that can result from insulin resistance. And often, fertility drugs are prescribed for a woman trying to get pregnant. Plus, many patients undergo hair-removal procedures because of the excess hair caused by PCOS.
Yet, none of these approaches addresses the root cause of the condition — they only treat or mask the symptoms.
Discovering and Treating the Root Causes of PCOS at Wonderfully Made Functional Medicine in Frisco, Texas
PCOS can have both hormonal and metabolic causes, and it’s vital to get to the root cause of what’s going on. That’s why we address PCOS, and any other menstrual or ovulation disorder, with a multi-faceted, functional medicine approach.
Treatment for PCOS will depend on symptoms, and a wide variety of natural remedies are available for this condition. These may include dietary changes, supplements, adaptogenic herbs, lifestyle changes, and treatments to reduce insulin resistance and to reduce androgenic symptoms.
You don’t have to live with PCOS and its unwanted symptoms. We will work to find the underlying causes and address them. Our goal is to help you achieve wellness and vitality.
Contact our New Patient Coordinator
Call us for a consultation to see how we can help. We’ll answer any questions you have and explain our treatment approach, protocols, fees, and options. Or fill out the contact form below, and we will contact you at a time that is convenient for you.
New Patients Call: 972-214-5641
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