perplexed with pcos

jmzz1

Hi,
After 6 months went to my endocrine doc tor for regular check up and he suggested these tablets
1. Drospirenone and ethinylestradiol tablets
2. Myo Inositol
3. multi vitamin tablet

past 6 months I was on
1. Metformin (250mg twice daily)
2. Myo Inositol
3. multi vitamin tablet
but due to irregular periods my doctor changed the tablets as mentioned in the first para

I have not lost even a single kg. I am 74kgs only
I know i dont log my food items daily but weigh each and every item i eat and eat 1400 calories per day .
due to my knee problem i do cycle for 15min and elliptical for 15 min and rest 30min of weight lifting. I am having calcium deficiency so past one week started taking 250ml of milk as well

What do i do?

Dragonwolf

Try increasing your fats and decreasing your carbs some.

I know, I'm biased, since I make no bones about being a low carb, high fat fan. However, even if you don't want to go that far with it (though I'd recommend giving it a shot for a month), fat is necessary for vitamin absorption and Vitamin D synthesis. Without Vitamin D, you can't absorb the calcium. Also, you don't need milk for calcium. Green vegetables can provide comparable amounts of calcium, and include other nutrients that help absorb the calcium (without the insulin hit from the sugars and whey).

How much Inositol are you taking? It may help to increase it. The dosages used in most of the studies are about 4g, so you may need to go higher to see effects. Also, you may want to consider include d-chiro Inositol if you can get your hands on it. It's been found to complement Myo Inositol and can have more dramatic effects.

jmzz1

My body is feeling lethargic as of late and my doctor asked me to increase my calories. How am I supposed to increase it (I.e. how many calories to increase and for how long)?

Past two week I have introduced one cup of milk in my diet since I have injured my back and knee so doctor advised me to have it

Any more calcium rich food can you suggest so that I can skip milk and get back on metformin(500mg/ day) , since metformin combined with milk is giving me stomach upset

Myo inositol I am having 4gm. Will discuss with my doctor and increase it.

Dragonwolf

jmzz1 wrote: »

My body is feeling lethargic as of late and my doctor asked me to increase my calories. How am I supposed to increase it (I.e. how many calories to increase and for how long)?

Past two week I have introduced one cup of milk in my diet since I have injured my back and knee so doctor advised me to have it

Any more calcium rich food can you suggest so that I can skip milk and get back on metformin(500mg/ day) , since metformin combined with milk is giving me stomach upset

Myo inositol I am having 4gm. Will discuss with my doctor and increase it.

Can you do cheese, instead? It's likely the lactose in the milk that's reacting with the Metformin. Cheese may still have whey in it, but at least it's not the double-whammy of whey+lactose.

Here are a list of other non-dairy sources you might want to try:
http://greatist.com/health/18-surprising-dairy-free-sources-calcium

And some more info on the whole milk and calcium thing in general (as well as more suggestions):
http://wellnessmama.com/18369/calcium-without-dairy/

I'd recommend running your stats through a calculator to find out about where your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is (I recommend this one, as it has a couple different formulas -- http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/ ). Play around and set it to a couple different levels to get a feel for how the numbers change and where the numbers are at different activity levels up to your current activity level.

From there, increase your calories by 100-200 per interval (at least a week, but you can do it more slowly if you want; by all means, talk to your doctor about a more detailed plan). Focus on getting those extra calories from high quality vegetables, proteins, and fats, to give your body good fuel to repair itself. Keep an eye on how your body reacts. Depending on how much a deficit you've been running, it may react by gaining weight. Don't freak out, that gain should be temporary. Keep monitoring it and see if the gain is consistent with the increases in food. If it's not, it's likely just adjusting to more food. If it is, you may want to talk to your doctor about getting a metabolic rate test, to make sure you metabolism is where it should be. (If the test does show that it's fine, it may still just be the body adjusting. Be patient and it should start stabilizing.)

Alliwan

Dragonwolf wrote: »

jmzz1 wrote: »

My body is feeling lethargic as of late and my doctor asked me to increase my calories. How am I supposed to increase it (I.e. how many calories to increase and for how long)?

Past two week I have introduced one cup of milk in my diet since I have injured my back and knee so doctor advised me to have it

Any more calcium rich food can you suggest so that I can skip milk and get back on metformin(500mg/ day) , since metformin combined with milk is giving me stomach upset

Myo inositol I am having 4gm. Will discuss with my doctor and increase it.

Can you do cheese, instead? It's likely the lactose in the milk that's reacting with the Metformin. Cheese may still have whey in it, but at least it's not the double-whammy of whey+lactose.

Huh learn something new everyday I am. I wondered why a glass of milk sent me to the bathroom but cheese/heavy cream/cream cheese didnt affect me as badly.

This helps convince me to not drink milk, which i rarely do until pms anyway,

KnitOrMiss

I didn't know that about Metformin with lactose either. I rarely drink milk. Very rarely. And when I do, it is never around the time of my Metformin. I do eat cheese often. But I don't react to ice cream much, though, also, it is at a different time for my Metformin.

jmzz1 - Another thing you might due is consider modifying when you take your Metformin. I don't know if you are still taking it twice a day, but I take an extended release pill once per day, which the doctor had me take at dinner. However, I noticed immediately that it has a wakeful/energizing effect on me (I have odd metabolism issues), and so I switched to taking my first dose before breakfast with a doctor approved amount of caffeine, and it was worked miracles for my energy.

I should mention I am also hypothyroid, so the issues might be related or compounded. Another thing is I take far less Inositol than y'all do (I am NOT wanting to increase fertility at ALL!!!), but it also has a wakeful effect for me. I just attempted to look up whether it is D-Chiro or Myo, and I can't find it listed anywhere. It is Rugby Brand, 500 mg with 36 mg (4%) calcium... One pill peps me up, no matter how badly I'm dozing off...unknown reasons...

Good luck!

Dragonwolf

KnitOrMiss wrote: »

I didn't know that about Metformin with lactose either. I rarely drink milk. Very rarely. And when I do, it is never around the time of my Metformin. I do eat cheese often. But I don't react to ice cream much, though, also, it is at a different time for my Metformin.

jmzz1 - Another thing you might due is consider modifying when you take your Metformin. I don't know if you are still taking it twice a day, but I take an extended release pill once per day, which the doctor had me take at dinner. However, I noticed immediately that it has a wakeful/energizing effect on me (I have odd metabolism issues), and so I switched to taking my first dose before breakfast with a doctor approved amount of caffeine, and it was worked miracles for my energy.

I should mention I am also hypothyroid, so the issues might be related or compounded. Another thing is I take far less Inositol than y'all do (I am NOT wanting to increase fertility at ALL!!!), but it also has a wakeful effect for me. I just attempted to look up whether it is D-Chiro or Myo, and I can't find it listed anywhere. It is Rugby Brand, 500 mg with 36 mg (4%) calcium... One pill peps me up, no matter how badly I'm dozing off...unknown reasons...

Good luck!

Generally speaking, if it doesn't specify, it's almost certainly Myo-inositol. Myo is the cheaper form (I have no idea why).

Because the Metformin stays in your system (that's kind of the point of extended release -- to release medicine slowly throughout the day), it doesn't really matter when you eat the reactive food(s) in relation to when you took the Metformin. But yeah, it's a carbohydrate thing. Lactose is a type of sugar, so it's just as likely to react as anything else (unfortunately, it seems to be any form of carbohydrates, as I was reacting even to fiber before I quit taking it). If a given item has any amount of any type of cards, there's a chance it'll react.

KnitOrMiss

What is weird is that I've been told most people on Metformin tolerate fruit okay, but not bread. I'm the total opposite!! I can eat moderate amounts of bread (comparatively, still aiming for low carb levels), and in fact I have to, or I have massively loose stools with it. But, I cannot eat fruit beyond apples and berries. Anything more, and I'm in the bathroom like I'm having that first week reaction all over again. Utter misery. I don't know why, exactly. And heck, I even tolerate real sugar better than the natural sugars in fruits... My body is so weird and broken, though. I'm being mindful of what I eat, but I'm not hard-core tracking right now, and I'm doing okay. I made some really good habits when I was obsessively tracking, so that has served me well, but the idea of tracking right now still makes me super aggressively irritable, so I'm just not back there yet!

jmzz1

Thanks all for such great advice...

dragon wolf - u seriously surprise me too with so much info...
-
Knitormiss- will speak to my doc about extended release

jmzz1

Does anyone here has a recipe for indian berry also called as amla...?
heard its good for controlling insulin level

KnitOrMiss

Never heard of it, but there are many things that help balance insulin levels naturally. Some work for most people, others work for some, etc. It is a case of SAFE trial and error to figure out what works for you specifically, in what combinations, and with what diet and exercise. There are so many factors that change from person to person, saying one thing works for everyone is short-sighted. LOL I'd ask a doctor and pharmacist before trying it, just to see what they know...and to make sure it doesn't interact or interfere with something you are already taking.