Atlas27
Explorer
What follows is my own story, my experiences and the thoughts that came with them. Nothing here is meant to offend anyone - that isn't the purpose. Some of the detail may be more than people want, but these are exactly the kind of things I'd want to know, and while I could never say any of this face to face, staying anonymous online has its perks. Female data and info is also chronically thin on the ground, so hopefully my experience proves useful to other women.
Female, early 30s, with a PCOS diagnosis that came in my late teens.
PCOS shows up differently in everyone (and yes, I know the name has been updated - it's still what I call it). For me it was mostly a cycle problem: skipped periods, lateness. Acne, hirsutism and ovarian pain were never an issue. Birth control got pushed on me as the fix. Alesse was what I took for roughly 6 months at uni, but I hated the way it made me feel, so I came off it, and nothing hormonal has gone in since. Fitness, diet and supplements (Inositol) kept that side of things under control. Bloating and water retention have been with me forever too, and only very recently did I learn those count as PCOS symptoms. This will sound silly, but I had no idea I was dealing with either of them, or what they even were. Bloating is one of those things you think means you're briefly bigger around the middle, and since I lived in that state permanently, it never registered as a symptom. I just assumed the weight sat there. Friends say things like "let's take pics before we eat and get fat" and I never understood it - my stomach barely changed with food, it was simply always big and there. Being active the whole time, in track from elementary school onwards, only made it more confusing, yet the padding around the middle never went anywhere. Even with a good diet and plenty of movement, some extra fat has always been there. A DNA methylation test last year more or less confirmed it: my metabolism is awful and my body hoards, refusing to let anything go easily. PCOS plus those genes has made everything harder. BTW, by recently discovered bloating I mean about a month ago, after I finished a tesa cycle. Plenty of food sensitivities here in North America probably don't help either. In Europe my stomach flattens out, but the moment I'm back in Canada it balloons again.
Tesa was what I turned to for the belly padding. Before starting I read up on it properly - side effects, what to expect. To prepare I timed it against my cycle so water retention would be lower. Daily electrolytes started the week before and ran right through. The cycle itself was 12 week in total. MOTS-C and KLOW were in the mix as well. Dosing went 0.5mg for roughly the first 2 weeks, then up to 0.75 mg for another 2 weeks, then 1mg for the bulk of it, finishing with 1.5mg over the last 2 weeks. Chatgpt tracked it for me, daily, logging dose, ISR and how I felt. Each morning I did a ring test - a ring that normally fits perfectly, worn to see whether anything changed. My fingers puffed up slightly and then plateaued at that level of swelling. Upping the dose over the final 2 weeks pushed the swelling higher still. A lot of water sat in my abdomen too, worst around week 4 to week 6. Those weeks were brutal - roughly 3 inches on my waist (normally 0.5-1 inch). Just big and uncomfortable; a bra was out of the question. Around week 7 it thankfully dropped to about 1.5 inches and held there. Raising the dose brought another increase, though not as dramatic. A few weeks after stopping tesa I was largely back to baseline with no real difference to show for it. Visceral fat probably isn't something I carry much of, and this was around the same time I finally understood what bloating is. I know I come across as a complete idiot, but you live and learn. Another thing I learned: secretagogues like tesa aren't for people with PCOS, since they can worsen insulin resistance. All told, my tesa journey taught me a great deal and I'm glad I did it.
Reta is what I run now (1mg/week, split across 2 days), and back when I began I was on CJC 1295 (no DAC) daily, purely to hold onto muscle. Lifting started during the TESA/MOT-C/KLOW cycle, it went very well, and losing the muscle wasn't something I was willing to do. Once I'd read up on PCOS and secretagogues, the CJC dose changed - it's twice a week now (tiny doses, 150 mcg or so), enough for a small boost without working against my own body. Reta brings some bloating with it as well, though nowhere near the water retention from tesa.
I'll stop there, this has gone on long enough. Any questions, happy to answer them. And yes, I know I'm an idiot - no need to tell me LOL
Female, early 30s, with a PCOS diagnosis that came in my late teens.
PCOS shows up differently in everyone (and yes, I know the name has been updated - it's still what I call it). For me it was mostly a cycle problem: skipped periods, lateness. Acne, hirsutism and ovarian pain were never an issue. Birth control got pushed on me as the fix. Alesse was what I took for roughly 6 months at uni, but I hated the way it made me feel, so I came off it, and nothing hormonal has gone in since. Fitness, diet and supplements (Inositol) kept that side of things under control. Bloating and water retention have been with me forever too, and only very recently did I learn those count as PCOS symptoms. This will sound silly, but I had no idea I was dealing with either of them, or what they even were. Bloating is one of those things you think means you're briefly bigger around the middle, and since I lived in that state permanently, it never registered as a symptom. I just assumed the weight sat there. Friends say things like "let's take pics before we eat and get fat" and I never understood it - my stomach barely changed with food, it was simply always big and there. Being active the whole time, in track from elementary school onwards, only made it more confusing, yet the padding around the middle never went anywhere. Even with a good diet and plenty of movement, some extra fat has always been there. A DNA methylation test last year more or less confirmed it: my metabolism is awful and my body hoards, refusing to let anything go easily. PCOS plus those genes has made everything harder. BTW, by recently discovered bloating I mean about a month ago, after I finished a tesa cycle. Plenty of food sensitivities here in North America probably don't help either. In Europe my stomach flattens out, but the moment I'm back in Canada it balloons again.
Tesa was what I turned to for the belly padding. Before starting I read up on it properly - side effects, what to expect. To prepare I timed it against my cycle so water retention would be lower. Daily electrolytes started the week before and ran right through. The cycle itself was 12 week in total. MOTS-C and KLOW were in the mix as well. Dosing went 0.5mg for roughly the first 2 weeks, then up to 0.75 mg for another 2 weeks, then 1mg for the bulk of it, finishing with 1.5mg over the last 2 weeks. Chatgpt tracked it for me, daily, logging dose, ISR and how I felt. Each morning I did a ring test - a ring that normally fits perfectly, worn to see whether anything changed. My fingers puffed up slightly and then plateaued at that level of swelling. Upping the dose over the final 2 weeks pushed the swelling higher still. A lot of water sat in my abdomen too, worst around week 4 to week 6. Those weeks were brutal - roughly 3 inches on my waist (normally 0.5-1 inch). Just big and uncomfortable; a bra was out of the question. Around week 7 it thankfully dropped to about 1.5 inches and held there. Raising the dose brought another increase, though not as dramatic. A few weeks after stopping tesa I was largely back to baseline with no real difference to show for it. Visceral fat probably isn't something I carry much of, and this was around the same time I finally understood what bloating is. I know I come across as a complete idiot, but you live and learn. Another thing I learned: secretagogues like tesa aren't for people with PCOS, since they can worsen insulin resistance. All told, my tesa journey taught me a great deal and I'm glad I did it.
Reta is what I run now (1mg/week, split across 2 days), and back when I began I was on CJC 1295 (no DAC) daily, purely to hold onto muscle. Lifting started during the TESA/MOT-C/KLOW cycle, it went very well, and losing the muscle wasn't something I was willing to do. Once I'd read up on PCOS and secretagogues, the CJC dose changed - it's twice a week now (tiny doses, 150 mcg or so), enough for a small boost without working against my own body. Reta brings some bloating with it as well, though nowhere near the water retention from tesa.
I'll stop there, this has gone on long enough. Any questions, happy to answer them. And yes, I know I'm an idiot - no need to tell me LOL
