PCOS! Confused

legallyblonde86

Ladies, (sorry for the long post in advance)

Advice needed please!!

This thread has probably been done before but i cant find it. I was diagnosed with PCOS (poly cystic ovaries syndrome) back in 2009 at the age of 23. My periods stopped in 2006 for nearly two years and I gained over seven stone in three years (not having changed my diet/exercise routine & I wasn't stuffing my face any more than the average woman!!)

Went to doc and a fertility clinic and was advised to lose weight. I upped my exercise and managed to lose 4 stone. Periods came back and I was delighted.

Fast forward to February this year and I gained two stone over two months, periods stopped AGAIN (diet didn't change) so I went back to docs and was told to lose weight again! Still trying to lose weight, exerceising my arse off and still gaining weight!:eek:

What else should I do? 2nd opinion? Lock myself in a room with only water and starve myself.

Anyone have the a similar experience or a more positive/negative experience?also worried about fertility issues as id like to start trying for a family in a few years. Any help appreciated.

Wibbs

Here ya go, merged with previous thread on subject. Hope you get some experiences from others on this

legallyblonde86

Wibbs wrote: »

Here ya go, merged with previous thread on subject. Hope you get some experiences from others on this

Thanks a million

winterlight

Have you tried Metformin (aka glucophage)? It helps a lot of women with pcos. You're doc should at least get you to try this and refer you to a gynae...

legallyblonde86

winterlight wrote: »

Have you tried Metformin (aka glucophage)? It helps a lot of women with pcos. You're doc should at least get you to try this and refer you to a gynae...

He won't give me anything just told me to lose weight... not helpful at all! I was at a Gynae for the same thing, had all the tests and she said the same thing... like banging my head off a fricking wall!!!

Danniboo

Hey girls,

Just looking to see if anyone else had the same symptoms after coming off Spirolactone. I'm generally regular as clockwork unless i'm on some kind of medication. I'm off the Spirolactone about 6 months now and was regular for a good while after coming off it. The last couple of months they've gone a little bit irregular though not much. While this isn't too much of a hinderence in itself a couple of occasions after getting my lady friends i've had to take time off work due to sheer exhaustion normally the day after I get them, I presume this is due to a change in estrogen. I've never had this level of tiredness with them before, I end up staying in bed until at least lunch time and don't be fit for much for the rest of the day. People have also commented on how terrible I look. I'm not anaemic and generally in good health. I know meds can take around 6 months to leave your system so just wondering if this is a symptom of coming off the Spirolactone?

LegacyUser

legallyblonde86 wrote: »

He won't give me anything just told me to lose weight... not helpful at all! I was at a Gynae for the same thing, had all the tests and she said the same thing... like banging my head off a fricking wall!!!

I know what you mean...... my gp doctor said i didnt have pcos and i was diagnosed a week ago, he also said my hormones were fine and my testosterone was very high (i was told by gynae on tues)

i was told to lose weight too and to be honest i have to lose weight of more then 5 stone to be in the healthy category... my bmi is horribly over...WAY OVER !!!! dont know what to do as i find it so hard to get motivated... i have no1 to talk to or support me... i am only 22.

would love some advice

Elbi

Hi Ladies,

I haven't posted in a while but I was at the doctor today so maybe my update will be useful information to you.

I was diagnosed in June (I think),
after years of complaining of weight gain, hair loss and pelvic pain my own doctor didn't really take any notice of me. I had no intention of changing doctors but I was very sick one day and couldn't get through to my doctor I went to my mothers doctor and she straight away said I had PCOS (i didn't know what this was at the time) anyway she did bloods and it was confirmed. I was put on Glucophage.

anyway since June I went back today for an update and I have put up 1stone in weight, my pains are getting worse and so on, I know i have not exercised as much but I definitly dont eat very much at all as the Glucophage has kind of put me off most foods. I got an emergency appointment with an endocrinologist on Wednesday so I will come back and update you on her findings.

Allie79

My friend was in the same boat - her doctor wouldn't put her on metformin till she'd shown she could lose weight, gave her three months to do it. She went low GI and started exercising and she lost 10 kg and when she went back he put her on met and she's lost another 5 so far. IMO the only way to lose weight when you have PCOS is either low GI or cutting out wheat and sugar completely (that means reading labels and not allowing even a trace amount in your food). Eating healthily means something different for those of us with PCOS.
Elbi another think I know from my own experience is that metformin will make you feel sick if you eat off your diet, if you're going to take it you have to stick to low GI and you have to make sure you don't skip meals - either way you'll get horrible gastro side effects. It may seem strange that you have to eat to lose weight but you can't afford for your metabolism to slow any further and the metformin has to have good low GI food to work on. The other thing I found is that it takes a good couple of weeks before your body gets used to the metformin and it happens whenever you start taking it again. Good luck Ladies, it's not easy but if you stick at it you'll get results XX

Boop22

Hi all,

Haven't been on this in a while. Still trying to lose weight and have recently joined a gym. Am doing exercise most days and watching what I eat but the scales don't seem to be moving at all

I know that a low GI diet is recommened for PCOS. I was thinking of joining Unislim as there programme is based on Low GI foods but to be honest I have tried ww so many times that I am just turned off the idea of joining another slimming class.

Would anyone who is following a Low GI Diet be able to give me a quick run down of their daily food diary just to give me some ideas on what foods to be eating and what to avoid.

Thanks in advance

Allie79

I'm a really picky eater so the things I eat will not appeal to most! However, the absolute easiest way to do it is this....
Buy a book called the GI diet Shopping and Eating Out Pocket Guide by Rick Gallop. It's a little book, not expensive and is small enough to fit in your handbag. Foods are organised into red, amber and green. If you only eat foods from the green list you'll be low GI - simple. If you want to cheat - go for something in the amber list and have it with foods that are green. The proper GI diet is less strict but is more convoluted in terms of trying to lower the overall GI of your meal by combining foods in certain ways like always having a few low GI nuts when you have a piece of fruit and other such tricks. SO the easiest way is to just stick to the green list and go with that, to do it the other way you need to read up on it or get someone to give you a diet plan based on the things you like and it has to be quite precise as it's easy to go from low to medium or high just by substituting one or two things in a meal. If you want the maximum effect you should also cut out all wheat and sugar but that can be very difficult to do all at once. Just my opinion and experience but good luck whether you take my advice or not!

Boop22

Thanks a million for that Allie, will deffo have a look for that book......ordered it on Amazon last night

rhapsody

Just wanted to back up what Allie79 said about the Rick Gallop book. Its really handy for throwing into whatever bag. It isn't exhaustive (it couldn't be, its tiny!), but it has nearly everything I'd look for, and I have written in some others. I haven't stuck to it very well recently, just cutting out the reds rather than going for greens only, but its a start. I hope you get on well with it Boop22

Since I'm new to [posting in] the thread, I'll mention that I have some symptoms of PCOS but not others, my GP isn't really sure yet- has referred me so am waiting on that appointment. He didn't mention anything about losing weight/ "going GI" in the meantime but I'm trying to be pro-active in case thats what it turns out to be. I've found it great to read other people's experiences, I was getting quite down (still do sometimes), feeling like less of a girl because of the elevated testosterone & its results, and from reading about the possible fertility issues. Its good to read about other people dealing with it.

Boop22

Thanks rhapsody:-) it can be really horrible at times and really get you down but just remember that you're not alone and that it is very common. Good luck wit your hospital app and wit gettin to grips wit the GI :-)