PCOS/Metformin/Low Glycemic Diet

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kburrows82
kburrows82 Posts: 49 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So been seeing the Dr a lot over the past month-ish and she say I have PCOS...... Today she says she wants me to start taking Metformin. Anyone have any luck with this? She says it will make it easier for me to lose weight but that I need to be on a low glycemic diet anyone else on this? Any input and suggestions advice would be awesome :)

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  • tniemiec1
    tniemiec1 Posts: 8
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    I have PCOS and I take Metformin 500mg 3x daily and have done so for gosh at least 3 yrs now. It helped me lose some weight. Most everyone I know with PCOS is on metformin and I work in healthcare, so I know it's commonly prescribed to help treat PCOS. I don't know any low glycemic diets to follow. Google some or ask your doctor. Best of luck to you!
  • kazzsjourney
    kazzsjourney Posts: 674 Member
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    I have PCOS but dont take metformin. They did give it to me initially but it made me ill and as i am not insulin resistant it was decided it wasnt necessary...best of luck :)
  • Lochlyn_D
    Lochlyn_D Posts: 492 Member
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    My doc started me on Metformin when I was diagnosed too. It made me violently ill. I was in the hospital an hour after each pill. So, she started dialing the dose back to half a pill a day. Still made me puke my guts out. Started puking blood, tore my esophagus.

    I stopped taking it, went to a new doc, got SPIRONOLACTIN.

    I took it for about a year. Got an ab scan. Cysts were gone. It's been about four years now. I get a scan every six months and still no cysts. It bascially cured me.

    Worth a shot to ask your doc about it.
  • peacemongernc
    peacemongernc Posts: 253 Member
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    I've been on it for 6 or 7 years. I was shocked in the beginning because the weight just dropped off like crazy. I lost somewhere around 25 or 30 pounds. But every few months the dose had to be increased. I hit the max and was stable... not losing weight or gaining, for about a year. Then I started gaining again and started having more noticeable symptoms again. At that point my OB sent me to an endocrinologist who said that a person gradually develops a tolerance to the metformin. So I needed to keep taking it even though the benefits had lessened. I WISH I had take advantage of the initial benefits and really focused on my nutrition, but at that point in my life (and to some degree still) I was very opposed to dieting or making difficult changes.

    A couple of months ago I was tempted and decided to go off the metformin. I was no longer contributing, in my opinion, to my weight loss and I'm guessing that I'm more sensitive to insulin than I used to be. Not taking it made me feel bad and I went to a different doctor for a different opinion on my situation. (My OB told me not to stop taking it). The other doctor said that she also believes I need to be on it from now on, no matter how much I lose. But she doesn't think this is a bad thing.

    I have mixed feelings about it, but it certainly seems to help. My first choice would be to find out WHY I'm the way I am and try to modify it with food or exercise or lifestyle changes. I've wondered if I ate a very different type of diet from the beginning, even in childhood, if I could have avoided the whole PCOS thing. I have a completely unscientific theory that it is an environmental and dietary illness.

    That said, I honestly don't know if I could have made the dietary changes I did without the metformin. When I miss a dose, my food cravings are intense and crazy and everything I eat makes me TIRED TIRED TIRED.

    But if you take the meds, I really really encourage you to make some dietary changes to go with it.
  • wendylee68
    wendylee68 Posts: 4 Member
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    I don't have PCOS but i do take metformin as I am diabetic, perhaps following the diabetic diet plan would work, it's worth looking into since some foods are naturally higher in sugar than others, I'd avoid anything white-potatoes, rice, bread and switch to whole wheat or whole grain, brown rice or wild, and colored potatoes,, such as sweet potato or yam.
  • flexdirectcpr
    flexdirectcpr Posts: 103 Member
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    My doctor put me on Metformin at the end of last year. He put me on it to help me get pregnant. I actually gained weight initially, but I was also on some hormones at the time. I started eating better and exercising in January, and I have been able to lose weight. I wish you the best of luck.
  • kburrows82
    kburrows82 Posts: 49 Member
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    Thank you very much ladies, I am not trying to get pregnant but we are trying to get my hormones in order. And see if it will help with the weight issue. She is starting me out at 250 2x per day then up to 500 2x per day if it does not make me sick.
  • peacemongernc
    peacemongernc Posts: 253 Member
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    I take the Metformin AND Spironalactone. They don't treat the same things. Spironalactone is an old BP med that slows the growth of facial hair.

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