PCOS, now known as PMOS

Las Vegas Fertility Acupuncture

Intro to PCOS PMOS

PCOS, PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome, was renamed to PMOS, Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (much more accurate). PCOS PMOS is a condition that interferes with fertility. It’s really not a good name for this issue because it takes more than resolving the ovarian cysts to create a pregnancy. PCOS is NOT a reproductive disease. It’s a metabolic disease that shows up in your reproductive system. PCOS was recently renamed to PMOS, Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome to reflect the whole-body metabolic impact this syndrome has on women. The name change is significant: finally medical doctors have a better roadmap for treating women. PCOS PMOS creates a fundamental imbalance in your reproductive hormones leading to too much testosterone, and not enough estrogen and progesterone. The imbalance is what causes your infertility. But PCOS PMOS also increases your risk of miscarriage, cardiovascular disease and diabetes (gestational and type 2).

PCOS PMOS: A Quick Look at Fertility Hormones

So what happens with PCOS PMOS? To understand why PCOS PMOS affects fertility, first, you need a little background on hormones: Hormones are your body’s signaling system. Hormones are the way that your body “talks” to itself and creates action. All hormones are part of the endocrine system, which is a group of glands that secrete hormones. Estrogen, progesterone, luteinizing hormone and testosterone are the main fertility hormones. You are probably familiar with these. You secrete estrogen in the first half of your cycle, secrete luteinizing hormone to ovulate, and then secrete progesterone in the second half of your cycle. As a woman, you secrete a very small amount of testosterone, that is what gives you your sex drive, and wakes up protofollicles to start developing.

So What About the Metabolic Issue?

Insulin is the main hormone for managing blood sugar. Your body makes insulin in response to a rise in blood sugar levels. Insulin is the way that your body gets that sugar out of the bloodstream and into the cells. Insulin, in normal levels, is good. But when too much insulin is generated, it hijacks the testosterone production system and cranks it up really, really high. It also cranks up the production of luteinizing hormone at the wrong time. The high levels of testosterone hyper stimulates follicle production. But it also interferes with estrogen production, which means your follicle growth stalls out. Even worse, the luteinzing hormone closes off the nutrition portals to your developing follicles, so they don’t get the nourishment they need to grow either. And the rest of the cells in your body develop insulin resistance because they don’t need all that extra energy (which gets stored as belly fat, oh joy.)

Explaining the Symptoms of PCOS PMOS

In classic PCOS PMOS, women have very long, irregular cycles, more hair, have trouble losing weight, acne and dark patches of skin around the neck and belly, and multiple, stalled follicles. All these issues are due to high testosterone and high LH.

There other type of PCOS PMOS that I see frequently is hypoglycemic PCOS PMOS. Women don’t have the above signs of classic PCOS PMOS, but they get hangry/shaky/brain foggy/feel weird symptoms when they don't eat regularly. They often have testosterone/DHEA imbalances, but not so much that they have the classic signs of high androgens, and their luteinizing hormone is imbalanced. These issues all prevent follicles from developing properly. The result? The fertility hormones are totally out of synch, and follicles don’t develop. Or, if ovulation happens, because the egg has been bathing in testosterone it isn’t a healthy egg, and can’t sustain development.

It's Not Just The Cysts

This is why PCOS PMOS is not just about the ovarian cysts. Without bringing insulin, testosterone, estrogen and progesterone into balance, your eggs will not be healthy. A better name for it would be Insulin-dependent PolyFollicular Disease, because fixing the insulin issue is fundamental to fixing the fertility issue. The poor egg quality, by the way, is why many women with PCOS PMOS are poor responders to Clomid, or have failed IVF cycles. More eggs isn’t better if the eggs haven’t developed in a healthy hormonal environment. It is also why the rate of miscarriage is higher: the hormones are still out of balance, and your body just can’t compensate. Metformin can help because it addresses the real issue: insulin hypersensitivity.

PCOS PMOS, Fertility and Your Health

If you have been diagnosed with PCOS PMOS-caused fertility issues, you are here because you want to get pregnant. I will help you address the fertility issue, but I am also committed to helping you design a lifestyle that will support your health after pregnancy. PCOS PMOS can be a very serious disorder. But it CAN be managed, and risk factors significantly reduced with changes in lifestyle and diet and rebalancing your hormones. The beautiful thing is that everything we do to improve your fertility will also improve your general health. It’s win-win.

Acupuncture and lifestyle changes are equals in this work. Lifestyle is the foundation — how you eat, sleep, move, and manage stress — so acupuncture can rebalance hormones, address the specific fertility issue, and tie everything together. Both are critical. Ninety days is the window for maximal change. It is not the only useful window. Every acupuncture treatment still helps.

The Good News

The good news is, I can work with you and change the hormone balance, help healthy eggs develop, and increase your chances of conceiving. It requires a strong commitment on your part to change what you eat, manage your stress, and take supplements. Treating PCOS PMOS fertility issues is very much a partnership between you and I. It takes time. Egg development is a 3-month process, so treating PCOS PMOS takes a minimum of four months. I promise you will feel better and will notice changes during this time. Please call me at (702) 539-9185 to schedule an appointment, so you can feel better, address your PCOS PMOS, and improve your fertility through Las Vegas PCOS PMOS Support!

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