I tried diets and treatments from all over the world to manage my PCOS and fall pregnant. Here's what worked

Melissa Christie, 31, was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome in 2012. The health advocate now looks back over years spent trying Chinese medicine, Ayurveda and low GI foods to improve her fertility and tells SBS what worked for her.

"There isn’t one way forward or a rule we all have to follow. We are all different and one diet won’t help us all." Pictured: Mel Christie and her son. Source: Supplied

I found out I had PCOS in 2012 when I was 25 years old. I had just come off the contraceptive pill and a few months later, I missed a period.

At the time, I had a boyfriend and wondered whether I was pregnant. So I went to the GP and got a blood test. The GP also evaluated me against ‘The Rotterdam Criteria’ – the world standard to diagnose Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). I learned that I met two of the three criteria of a PCOS diagnosis: polycystic ovaries and irregular periods. I also had an LH (Luteinizing hormone) to FSH (Follicle-stimulating hormone) ratio that was out of balance. I was then diagnosed with PCOS.

PCOS is a complex endocrine (hormonal) disorder comprised of a set of symptoms that affect all women with it differently. There is no definitive cause, no definitive cure and PCOS is the most common endocrine disorder in the world. 

Most devastatingly, this condition is also the leading cause of reduced fertility in women.

But my diagnosis helped to explain all of the symptoms I’d been experiencing in the past. Ever since I was 18-ish, I’d struggled with belly weight, acne and mood swings (even though I always felt stable with my mental health). So when I found out I had PCOS, I was relieved and thought ‘now I can actually do something about it’.

My doctor wanted to put me back on the contraceptive pill to make my periods regular but I said no – I didn’t want to be on the pill. And that was all he suggested for me.

So I jumped straight online and researched alternative ways to manage my PCOS through diet, lifestyle and holistic treatments. That’s when my real health journey began.

A low GI diet

I read that a low glycemic index (GI) diet was a good way to manage insulin resistance so I followed a low GI diet. It felt good and I lost a few kilos. My symptoms improved a little bit but the results stopped there – I plateaued and after a while, nothing really changed.

A naturopathic pathway

At the end of 2012, while I was still on the low GI diet, I decided to see a naturopath.

She gave me herbs and I lost weight. My cycle also got down to a pretty healthy range. I continued to see her for at least 1.5 years. But again, eventually the success plateaued.

Eating for my dosha

A friend then suggested I try traditional Indian medicine, Ayurveda. It’s [one of] the oldest practicing medical systems in the world and has a completely different approach to healing than the Western medical system.

So I started seeing an Ayurvedic practitioner in early 2014. She said my dosha (body type) was kapha. She put me on a bunch of supplements and weird elixirs and told me that I needed to nurture my body. The practitioner also recommended that I eat more astringent and warm foods and warm rice with water and honey for breakfast, which was the opposite of a low GI diet.

During the treatment, my cycle improved drastically, becoming normal. I went to the doctor and found that my ovaries were no longer polycystic. My LH and FSH ratio was still unbalanced, although it had improved but I still had weight to lose.

I went to my practitioner for a year and only stopped because I went overseas with my husband, backpacking for 10 months. I decided not to bring the herbal medicines with me.

During the treatment I went to the doctor and found that my ovaries were no longer polycystic. My LH and FSH ratio was still unbalanced, although it had improved and I still had weight to lose.

A diet of tea brews and warm foods

In early 2015, after three months of travelling, I was in China. My acne had become crazy, my cycle was at 60-70 days (which is bad for me) and my weight wasn’t good.

I found a traditional Chinese doctor and sought treatment. Chinese medicine is all about energy, and yin and yang. The doctor gave me a really strong brew to drink, which I did. Her diet advice was not to eat spicy, cold or fried foods. She also gave me bags of tea seemingly full of bark and flowers to take with me travelling.

I got my period straight away and I soon flew to Nepal. While we were there, during my next cycle, we tried to conceive.

We were in Nepal trekking through the mountains when the 2015 earthquake hit and we had to leave. We flew to Thailand and that’s where I found out I was pregnant. I immediately stopped taking Chinese medicine.

The next stop on my backpacking trip was India – where I had my 12-week ultrasound. Unfortunately, the doctors told me the baby had died three weeks earlier.

The thing is, there’s a real misconception out there that when you have PCOS it’s really hard to get pregnant and once you fall pregnant, the tough part is over. But that’s just not true. Early pregnancy miscarriage occurs in 30-50 per cent of women with PCOS compared to 10 to 15 per cent of women without PCOS. I wish I had known to continue my PCOS care.

Eventual pregnancy success

Five months after I lost my first baby, I fell pregnant again and carried to term. I now have a two-year old boy.

At the time when I fell pregnant, I was back on Chinese medicine, following the low GI diet and was eating really clean. During my first trimester, I was also on progesterone [prescribed by my gynecologist].

I’m currently still breastfeeding and am not on any Chinese medicine because I don't want to take anything too powerful. I only just got my period back in the last twelve months. I’ve had some long cycles, bad acne days and am still struggling to lose weight. These are symptoms that I now want to address.

It’s just about taking ownership of your own health and finding your own solution.

Since my diagnosis of PCOS six years ago, I’ve tried many types of holistic treatments from around the world and different diets.

After all of it, my message for women with PCOS is that if you try western medicine – go on the contraceptive pill or Metformin – and it doesn’t work for you and it doesn’t improve your PCOS, don’t despair.

There are so many other options to change your diet and lifestyle and manage PCOS.

There isn’t one way forward or a rule we all have to follow. We are all different and one diet or treatment won’t help us all. The same diet or treatment will have different effects on different women.

It’s all about taking ownership of your own health and finding your own solution.

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Melissa Christie was inspired to start a PCOS support website, PCOS Pathways to show women there's no one way to eat or treat to manage your PCOS. Thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, she's just released a new 2019 journal for women with PCOS, with tips and information about the condition and various holistic treatments. For information, visit PCOS Pathways.

If this article has raised issues for you, please see your GP. To find out information about PCOS or other female health issues, visit Jean Hailes online.