Kasey’s incredible PCOS Protocol story
Kasey is another of the amazing women in The PCOS Protocol and has an incredible story of her own journey to reversing her PCOS. Like many of you (and me!), she’s suffered from the weight gain, skin issues, bloating, sugar cravings and fatigue. But her determination to overcome this coupled with the right strategy, has seen her resolve many of these symptoms.
I was diagnosed with PCOS with insulin resistance at 16. To be honest I had no idea what that meant, and didn’t really recognise how serious it was. The only thing I do remember was the endocrinologist saying it would be difficult for me to have kids later in life.
I was immediately put on the Dianne 35 OCP and given metformin. The metformin made me so nauseous that my endocrinologist took me off it and said “eat healthy and exercise”. I had no idea what that meant as a teenager. So I carried on eating chocolate and drinking coke until my weight ballooned to 89kg. I felt awful, I looked awful and I was so unhappy. I went to weight watchers and lost about 16kg but have never been able to easily maintain that weight, I sit around 80kg now.
My sweet tooth has always been a massive struggle for me! even though my doctors say my insulin levels are normal I believe this indicates I still have some insulin resistance. Last year after being on the pill for 13 years I decided to come off it. I have struggled with anxiety and depression and had a blood clot and after some research decided that the pill was probably to blame for this. I wanted to see how my body worked without the OCP too so hopefully when I want to have kids any issues have already been resolved naturally. That’s how I found Clare!
Since starting The PCOS Protocol I feel so much better! I always thought people who cut gluten and dairy without being coeliac/allergic to dairy were crazy but I feel a million times better. I had a notoriously moody stomach before this and now I’m hardly ever bloated. I also have a lot more energy due to really putting in the effort to get more sleep even though I’m a shift worker. My skin is a lot better too. I had a strange rash on my face for about a year prior to removing gluten and dairy. It wasn’t acne, but more like a tiny pimply rash. That has now disappeared.
I haven’t weighed myself or taken my measurements since starting the program however my work pants and other clothes are a lot looser so I’m sure I’ve lost some inches. It hasn’t been easy to stick to sometimes due to social pressure and the fact I’m allergic to most nuts so that makes being gluten free somewhat difficult. However, I try to remind myself how much better I feel now than before I started the program. I also try to remember my “why” which is kept in the notes on my phone.
One of the things I’m most proud of since starting the protocol is my ability to say no when there’s birthday cake at work or my partner eats ice cream in front of me. I would almost always cave in to temptation before I made these changes.
My advice to girls sitting on the fence about trying this is why not? It’s just three months and if you’re like me you’ve probably been struggling for a lot longer than that!
Kasey