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Starting my PCOS journey at 18, looking for advice

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I was diagnosed with PCOS at 13, mostly for irregular periods and hirsutism. I was on meds like Provera, birth control, and spironolactone, but I stopped them recently because I wanted to see if I could improve my PCOS through lifestyle changes instead. Now at 18, my symptoms have worsened, my hair on my head has gotten thinner and my hirsutism has worsened in my neck and chin area. My last labs (over a year ago) showed high insulin (33), high DHEA and other adrenal hormones, high testosterone, low SBHG, you name it. I haven’t gotten bloodwork since because I’m scared of what it might show and because my endocrinologist usually just prescribes meds instead of other solutions, and she NEVER explained anything to me about insulin, I had to learn about all of that from this subreddit. She also wanted to put me on steroids and I panicked so my mom and I never went back to her, and we haven't found a new endo. Recently, I’ve started cutting down on processed sugar and sweets. I’m not perfect though, I still have treats occasionally, and I haven’t cut carbs because they’re a big part of my cultural food (I am Indian so if you know you know). I’d love advice on what else I could be doing to improve my PCOS and hopefully put it in remission. Am I on the right track? Do I need supplements? What else should I be doing? I just really need some reassurance and help. I don't want to go back on medications because tbh they just didn't work for me and I personally don't want to be on them, but that isn't me trying to shame anyone who is thriving off of them. I know there are things I could be doing for my adrenals, insulin, etc. But there is just so much information that I'm basically stressed out by it. I really want to fix this issue and hopefully regain some of my confidence back

Details

Subreddit
r/PCOS
Posted
Feb 13, 2026 at 12:47 AM UTC
LeadScore: 50question

AI Analysis

Condition
PCOS, hirsutism, hair thinning/androgenic alopecia, insulin resistance, hyperandrogenism
Barrier
pcp unavailable
Geography
us likely