Will the PCOS diet let me stop using the estrogen patch after a total hysterectomy?

by Lea
(AZ)

I have PCOS diagnosed in 2008, I am 46, looking back I have been suffering symptoms for 20 yrs.

I had a total hysterectomy in Feb. 2008, due to severely enlarged ovaries (multiple cysts) and uterus (multiple fibroids).

I was not told I had PCOS before the surgery but discovered it after switching doctors and ordering a copy of my charts.

I am struggling to change my diet and that of my two girls, 12 & 19, who are already showing symptoms of PCOS.

We have had some success in changing how we eat, I thought we ate "healthy" but it is hard and necessary to change some habits.

I am using an Estrogen only patch, I get very "weepy" when I don't have it on. I would like to not use it if I can.

Is that a possibility with this way of eating?

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Editor's comments: What you eat affects your body's ability to metabolize hormones. It also influences your overall hormonal balance. The healthier the foods, the better off you will be. It's impossible to know whether an improved diet will allow you to stop or reduce the dosage of the patch. Even if you must continue the patch, you will certainly be healthier.

If you are overweight, be aware that your fat cells produce hormones. So losing fat weight will help you get back into hormonal balance.

As a point of interest, the multiple fibroids could have been the result of "estrogen dominance".

You don't want too much estrogen. You don't want too little. Secondly, there are several different types of estrogen in your body. Some are good for you and some are not so good. The foods you eat influence the types of estrogen in your body.

The foods in the pcos diet book should help you to metabolize estrogen, improve insulin function, and provide other benefits.

Of greater concern is your daughters. Sooner or later, they will have to follow a much healthier diet and get much more exercise. Now is the time for them to get started on a healthy lifestyle, no matter what their peers may say. Delay is not the best option.