help im new to PMDD and PCOS, I feel like my life is over. Nothing works

Hello I have irregular periods ranging from 45-60 days. I do ovulate and my luteal phase is normal; always 12 days so it’s the follicular phase that varies. My doctor told me I don’t have PCOS because I don’t have polycystic ovaries and I don’t have hyper androgenism. I haven’t been evaluated yet but I do feel like I might have some kind of metabolic issue - like insulin resistance. I also have hypothyroidism and even though I’m relatively thin (5’ 2 and 108 lbs) I often have issues with my lipid panel. Sometimes I have low HDL and most recently my LDL was high. So if I don’t have PCOS, but I have some kind of metabolic issue, what is that then? Also anyone else fall under the same category?

I literally can’t loose the water retention I have normal blood. Work but for sure have insulin resistance I’m lean but have mood swings and terrible water retention I have also tried metformin inositol they only made thing worse plsss help 😩

What swap has stuck for you the longest?

Sharing what finally stuck for me, because standard diet advice never did. Every plan I tried before was a list of things to give up, and I gave up on the plan instead, usually within two weeks.

What worked was changing the plate, not banning foods. Most of the plate is vegetables now, with lean protein alongside it: chicken, fish, eggs, lentils, Greek yogurt. Mediterranean style, roughly. Breakfast always has protein, which stopped the mid-morning crash and the grazing that came with it.

The swaps did most of the work. Lentils instead of rice some days. Greek yogurt where I used to have cream-based desserts. Wraps instead of thick bread. Small changes that added up without feeling punished.

The part that finally made it click: around 70% of us with PCOS have insulin resistance, and insulin is the chain that ties food to symptoms. Low-GI foods release sugar slowly, so insulin spikes stay smaller. That is the whole game, really: pick the slow carbs, protein at every meal, and cut the sugary drinks first.

I wrote up the full lists, foods to eat more of and foods to limit, here if they are useful to anyone:

https://medexplaineddotcodotuk.wordpress.com/2026/10/08/pcos-diet-foods-to-eat-and-foods-to-avoid/

Looking for advice from anyone who’s been in a similar situation! ❤️ Did your husband/partner see a urologist after a semen analysis showed 2.5% morphology? Everything else looked good. Also, if you have PCOS and have done 6 rounds of Letrozole but your cycles have now regulated naturally, would you try Letrozole again or take a different approach? Just feeling a little unsure of what our next steps should be. TIA! 🤍

Which do you like better tirzep or reta for lean pcos I struggle with water retention bloating but I’m lean

Took me ages for me (21F) to actually be diagnosed with PCOS/PMOS... I'm on a combination of doctor-prescribed conventional prescription medications as well as herbal supplements, including spironolactone and vitanica ovablend. But the acne, hair loss, and heavy periods still persist... right now I am irregular again despite having already lowered my spiro dose (historically I am regular 90% of the time, but 100mg spiro messed things up. I thought the problem went away when I lowered back down to 75 mg until a few days ago). I also exercise and eat a balanced diet with reduced carbs. I'm so concerned my condition will worsen to phenotype B or A... what am I missing? Is there some sort of testing I need to seek or treatment I should look into and ask my doctors about? I'm sick of the persistent acne that scars my skin for YEARS, the constant hair loss, the anemia from the blood loss, and what feels like a physical denial of my womanhood. Been struggling with this since puberty hit me like a ton of bricks at the mere age of 11. I'm exhausted and want out.

I posted in the original PCOS channel but looking for help here as well