Irritibility Issues

[BLG1007]

I have noticed that my irritiblility levels are always on the up and up. The most random things will cause me to get irate and some days I feel as though my skin bugs me. Is there anything that I can do to calm this? Is it result of imbalanced hormones? I hate feeling like that but some days its as if I am a different person. What can be done?

[fellow_cyster]

I've heard this a lot from women with PCOS. YES. I completely believe its due to jacked up hormones. Think about it, the hormones we should have running normal through our bodies are all messed up - we either have too little or too much... THEN you add high testosterone levels and that just makes it worse. I've read that high testosterone levels can increase irritability (maybe that's why men are so grumpy all the time!!)
My husband has noticed over the past year or so that along with my facial hair and hair loss getting worse, I have become very irritable and easily upset as well. Over the past 3 weeks, since I've been taking an herb to reduce my testosterone levels, I have noticed a BIG stabilization of my moods.
Finding a way to lessen the testosterone in your body will be a HUGE benefit to you and many of your annoying symptoms.

Pamela
www.pcosinfo.com

[BLG1007]

Thank you again Fellow Cyster! I am glad to know that I am not alone with feeling like somedays that I could just blow up at the dumbest things.

[lbignall]

Hi Girls,

I am completley new to all this i got diagnosed with PCOS about 2 years ago now i have had a nightmare with my periods as i had never had one until i was 22 and the only reason i started to have them was because my doctor put me on the pill, i am having mood swings all the time and i feel so sorry for my boyfriend! he has to put up with it! i get so irrated over stupid little things and find i can get out of my mood,

its good to know i am not the only one,

[jenny_c]

omg! i have the worst mood swings on birth control, i was the biggest B! ever i was even disgusted with myself, however i tried every birth control in canada and they all made me the same way, plus i would cry every day for no reason it was horrible then i was get irritated and very violent i told my doc and he told me it was impossible for those things to happen what a piss off! so i completely stopped taking it and have refused to take it ever since sometimes people just cant take BC their bodies cant handle what it has to offer

good luck hopefully your body finds a happy medium!

[youngwife]

I'm with you on this, I've dealt with the irritability issues as well. And now that I'm in an in between stage of being on birth control and being on these natural suppliments I am horribly irregular in my moods. Much worse than normal. Sometimes I just have to walk away from people for fear that I'll cause some sort of outburst.
I'm hoping that these suppliments prove to be an answer towards that.

[sandyrae1]

Pamela, I was wondering what the natural herb is to reduce testosterone? Could you please help??? Thanks, S

[drelizabeth]

Pamela, I was wondering what the natural herb is to reduce testosterone? Could you please help??? Thanks, S

Hi SandyRae1,

Thank you for writing into the PCOS forum. The two most common herbs used to remove excess testosterone levels are saw palmetto and nettles. These two herbs are found in the PCOS + supplement by Insulite Laboratories. The Insulite System is designed to rebalance hormone and insulin levels and promote healthy weight.

I hope this helps. If you have any other questions please let me know.

[Laurie]

I am new to this sort of thing... Back in 1996 I was put thru a series of blood tests... I went from 140Lbs to 246lbs in 10 months... I was tested for diabeties, cushing syndrome.. you name it... recently, my symptoms are getting far worse.. the facial hair is alot more, my hair is noticeably thinner, my mood swings and irritability are thru the roof... not to mention.. the acne the last 6 months is horrible.. I was diagnosed with pcos (of course, thats why im here)... depression/anxiety.. often resulting in panic attacks.. which are under control now... .. severe obstructive apnea, sever hyper somnia & gerd... My normal doc has me taking diet pills to get my weight under control.. and they are helping only a little.. but my mood swings are really getting to me.. ive been on serafem, welbutrin, lexapro... all which I dont really feel helped... I feel like I am comming out of my skin... I am supposed to sleep with a cpap with 1 liter of o2 and i haven't lately.. i can't stand that mask on my face... during 2 sleep studies.. I was told i had over 100 epidsodes of interupted sleep.. so I know alot of my irritability is from not reaching my rem sleep too often... I tend to snap easily.. mood swings as I said and i can't seem to stay focused and am easily frustrated lately... more recently.. i've been having abnormal mentral bleeding.. normally I will just skip periods.. but now the last 3 weeks I am bleeding.. lightly.. but omg my moods are worse than i was pregnant with my daughter.. I was able to conceive twice.. 1st pregnancy didnt make it.. I just want to feel normal and pretty... The facial hair and acne are way worse last few months.. I am 37 and frustrated.. I feel like I have no control over my body what so ever and I just sit and cry over this every single day... I don't know what to do about it really.. my ob/gyn that i was seeing for the last 12 years pretty much dismissed my pcos saying i just needed to watch my diet etc.. and when i went for 2nd opinion.. was told he could no longer be my doc. since I "apparently didn't trust his expert opinion"... also.. i do have cysts on either side of my thyroid as well.. .i've had my thyroid tested but doc said my levels were within normal range.. I asked to plz be referred to an endocronologist.. but was told it wasn't necessary... so again.. I am hitting all sorts of road blocks... I have just about every symptom there is.. I have been trying to get pregnant again for the last 5 or 6 yrs and no luck... I want control of my body again... all i can say/ask is... HELP!

[drheather]

I am new to this sort of thing... Back in 1996 I was put thru a series of blood tests... I went from 140Lbs to 246lbs in 10 months... I was tested for diabeties, cushing syndrome.. you name it... recently, my symptoms are getting far worse.. the facial hair is alot more, my hair is noticeably thinner, my mood swings and irritability are thru the roof... not to mention.. the acne the last 6 months is horrible.. I was diagnosed with pcos (of course, thats why im here)... depression/anxiety.. often resulting in panic attacks.. which are under control now... .. severe obstructive apnea, sever hyper somnia & gerd... My normal doc has me taking diet pills to get my weight under control.. and they are helping only a little.. but my mood swings are really getting to me.. ive been on serafem, welbutrin, lexapro... all which I dont really feel helped... I feel like I am comming out of my skin... I am supposed to sleep with a cpap with 1 liter of o2 and i haven't lately.. i can't stand that mask on my face... during 2 sleep studies.. I was told i had over 100 epidsodes of interupted sleep.. so I know alot of my irritability is from not reaching my rem sleep too often... I tend to snap easily.. mood swings as I said and i can't seem to stay focused and am easily frustrated lately... more recently.. i've been having abnormal mentral bleeding.. normally I will just skip periods.. but now the last 3 weeks I am bleeding.. lightly.. but omg my moods are worse than i was pregnant with my daughter.. I was able to conceive twice.. 1st pregnancy didnt make it.. I just want to feel normal and pretty... The facial hair and acne are way worse last few months.. I am 37 and frustrated.. I feel like I have no control over my body what so ever and I just sit and cry over this every single day... I don't know what to do about it really.. my ob/gyn that i was seeing for the last 12 years pretty much dismissed my pcos saying i just needed to watch my diet etc.. and when i went for 2nd opinion.. was told he could no longer be my doc. since I "apparently didn't trust his expert opinion"... also.. i do have cysts on either side of my thyroid as well.. .i've had my thyroid tested but doc said my levels were within normal range.. I asked to plz be referred to an endocronologist.. but was told it wasn't necessary... so again.. I am hitting all sorts of road blocks... I have just about every symptom there is.. I have been trying to get pregnant again for the last 5 or 6 yrs and no luck... I want control of my body again... all i can say/ask is... HELP!

Dear Laurie,

Welcome to the forum Laurie and thanks for writing in and sharing your
story. I am sorry to hear that you are not feeling well. As you know with
PCOS you need to be your own health advocate and it sounds that you have
been working hard to get help.

I hope that you find the support here that you are looking for. There are so
many women in the PCOS community that no matter what their experience with
PCOS, you know you are not alone.

I know that the C-PAP is not really comfortable but it can certainly help
with energy as well as mood. When we are not getting adequate and
appropriate sleep, the effects can be devastating to our body's. Depression
can also worsen as well as other mood changes.

The hormonal imbalance of PCOS can also affect moods, to no surprise.

Irregular bleeding is also not uncommon with PCOS. As you have experienced,
many women have absent or missed periods but some can have more irregular
bleeding. This again is often due to the hormonal imbalance.

Nutrition and exercise are going to be helpful but I would also recommend
that you read more about the PCOS System. http://pcos.insulitelabs.com/

Laurie, the underlying cause of PCOS is most often insulin resistance.
Insulin resistance vastly reduces the insulin sensitivity of cells, which
impairs the processing of glucose through the cell wall for conversion to
energy. As a result, glucose remains in the blood stream, causing elevated
levels of blood sugar, some of which is sent to the liver. Once there, the
sugar may be converted into fat and stored via the blood stream throughout
the body. This process can lead to weight gain and obesity, key factors in
creating PCOS.

Sometimes insulin resistance results in high blood sugar, sometimes in low
blood sugar, and sometimes there is no change whatsoever in blood sugar
levels. I think this probably depends on how long the person has been
insulin resistant, among other things. Like many things, developing insulin
resistance was probably a combination of environmental and genetic factors.

Also, with insulin resistance, the body becomes insensitive to the insulin
it produces, which leads to elevated circulating levels of insulin. This in
turn leads to hormonal imbalances such as increased testosterone and other
androgens (male hormones).

The increased testosterone is responsible for many of the symptoms such as
hair growth and abnormal menstrual cycles.

Elevated insulin also contributes to the formation of cysts in the ovaries
in part due to the hormonal imbalances and also because the ovaries are
highly sensitive to the influence of insulin. In women with PCOS, the
ovaries are over-sensitized to insulin's effects.

Finally, the weight gain associated with PCOS is intricately related to
Insulin Resistance. Losing weight helps to improve insulin sensitivity, and
vice versa: becoming more sensitive to your insulin helps you to lose
weight.

Women with PCOS may also find it more difficult to achieve pregnancy because
of the hormonal changes (elevated testosterone and DHEA-S) and ovarian cysts
that are characteristic of PCOS.

I was sorry to read that your doctor was not willing to work with you rather
than choose to end the relationship. But if your doctor is not willing to
try to work with you to find out what is impacting your health, it was
probably a good thing. I hope that the current doctor is more understanding
and supportive.

Ultimately, you can also affect how much PCOS impacts your life. I recommend
that you continue to educate yourself about PCOS and consider the PCOS
System.

Laurie, if there is anything I can do to help support you, please let me
know.