Overwhelmed by PCOS
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Metformin helped me to lose over 60 lbs0
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Insulin resistance means that your body doesn't respond to insulin as it should.
Insulin tells your body to remove the sugar from your blood and store it as fat.
Someone with insulin resistance isn't having the sugar removed very well from their blood to be stored as fat.
That doesn't make you gain weight.
Extra insulin (created by your body trying not to poison itself, even as your fat mass is saying "enough! we're big enough!") DOES make you hungrier, though.
So you eat more.
So that's why you gain weight.
It doesn't actually matter what you ate. You could have been eating Twinkies WITH PCOS and you would have lost weight just fine. But you'd be insanely hungry.
Low carbs are helpful because they greatly control hunger with insulin resistance, not because carbs make people with insulin resistance gain weight.
PCOS is a syndrome, and as such, it has diagnostic criteria but no actual specific test for the condition.
There are an increasing number doctors who now diagnose PCOS outside of requiring a majority of diagnostic criteria to be true. I think it's insanely unhelpful because you no longer have a syndrome but instead have "people who have one or more symptoms on this list."
I have irregular periods (3-8 a year, mostly 8 now that I'm older), fertility problems, and acne. Some doctors would give me a PCOS label with just that. This really makes no sense. NONE of the PCOS therapies will work for me because I don't have "real" PCOS. Why give me a label that confuses a syndrome, then?
Other women have very cystic ovaries (and no periods as a result, as well as infertility) but aren't overweight, never have been, and have no insulin resistance. Again, PCOS therapies don't work for them. If follicle stimulation fails, they usually have to have ovarian drilling to ovulate, and that typically only works for a short while.
Most doctors still take the restrictive view of PCOS--that it should be a truly meaningful set of symptoms that come together into a single syndrome. Some, though, want to give everyone a label, and quite frankly, there has been zero movement toward creating labels for many infertility-causing conditions, so PCOS is the "closest fit." As someone who has had misdiagnoses ("exercise-induced asthma"--I have exercise-induced anaphylaxis, which is a very different condition!) and wastebasket diagnoses ("fibromyalgia"--no, I have a dominant-inheritance channelopathy), I push for precision because I really believe that people ought to be talking about the same thing when they use a term.
I guess it might feel nice to have a label for my issues. It would certainly be better than "well, it seems like your channelopathy messes up a lot of your hormones a little bit, and sex hormones are some of those that are affected, so maybe that's it." But I don't want it enough to accept a diagnosis that isn't meaningful to my condition.0 -
PCOS'er here. I thought I was fat because of my PCOS, turns out my PCOS was being worsened by my fat.
Since dropping the weight, I have gone completely asymptomatic, and was able to discontinue metformin with my doctors approval.
I do eat lots of carbs, and that does not affect my ability to lose or maintain my weight.
As a vegetarian, I eat lots of fortified cereals, breads, pasta, rice and starchy foods like beans. I also consume soy products like soy milk, tofu, and TVP, with no issues.
Trust me it sucks to find out you have been over eating. I was really upset when I found out I was fat because of over consumption of calories. Now that you know, you can move forward.0 -
RebeccaMaunder wrote: »I'm not sure where to post this so I'm writing it here. I have suffered with PCOS for about 15 ish years. When I was told I had it the doctor told me that I could eat salads every day and still door overweight of malnutrition.
I've let this be an excuse I think. I have made plenty of poor choices and I think in the back of my mind I just keep there that it doesn't matter what I do I'm going to die fat.
I don't want to believe this. I think I can do this, however I'm struggling so much with where to start what I should be eating how often ect that I literally broke down in to tears tonight.
Something needs to change. So if you've got any suggestions I would love to hear them.
Stats obviously female. 350 lbs and not always able to be the most mobile due to pain in feet and knees.
Thank you
Becca
Hi Becca,
My girlfriend manages her PCOS and weight with Metformin and a low carb diet. She has an endocrinologist.
I have knee issues when I'm over a certain weight - the knee part of your OP might be a good topic for a new thread, but with knee issues I was able to swim, walk in the woods (not on pavement), use a recumbent bike, and do yoga.
This veteran injured his legs while in the military and was told he would never walk again without crutches but transformed his health and life through yoga:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIXOo8D9Qsc
Best,
KK
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Mamabirdboss I'm not even going to argue with you cause you clearly don't understand the science behind insulin resistance.0
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Nonsequitur.
Come on. People decide they like palatable food more than making choices within a limit. It's easy to overeat. That's not the food's fault.
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ellesMFP93 wrote: »PeachyCarol wrote: »No. I'm sorry, but that's standard low-carbing gospel, and, as a rational being, you had it in your power to do something somewhere in the process to not be powerless to the cravings.
You overate.
The food pyramid used to suggest that the largest part of your diet should be grains, cereals, pasta, bread, rice, etc. It has only been adjusted in the past couple of years. If people weren't fully educated about nutrition past the food pyramid they learnt in school it would be very easy for them to think eating plenty of carbs would be a good thing.
I'm not saying people with insulin resistance and PCOS don't or didn't overeat. I'm saying it's not the same as knowingly eating past the point of being full. And I'm saying it's important to understand why the overeating happened. It's not as simple as 'you overate. Say no to your cravings.'
Yeah it is.
I got fat by eating too much, and because I got fat, I developed IR. I stopped eating as much, lost a lot of weight (83 pounds), reversed my IR. I also lost all that weight while eating a moderate amount of carbs (average of around 150g a day).
I had a lot of medical issues to overcome to get to where I am today - depression, generalized anxiety disorder, Chiari Malformation (with a 16mm herniation of my brain into my spinal cord), IR to name a few. I don't think those things made it harder for me. Because I made the choice that they wouldn't hold me back.0 -
I have PCOS and Hashimoto's (my thyroid function is greatly diminished and my endo has said it's only a matter of time before it fails completely) ... so I get a double whammy when it comes to endocrine disorders.
First off - PCOS is a bit of a misnomer because you do not have to have cysts to have PCOS. I was never found to have any cysts until a recent surgery. Not even my OBGYN who tied my tubes 2 years ago found any.The name “polycystic ovary syndrome” is misleading because you can have PCOS with or without ovarian cysts and, if you do have ovarian cysts, it does not necessarily mean that you have PCOS. The cysts associated with PCOS are actually eggs that do not get released from the ovary because of abnormal hormone levels
My PCOS was diagnosed because of my slight IR, mild hirsutism, adult acne, and highly erratic cycles. My androgen levels are considered normal, but my endo believes I am just very sensitive to androgens so I present with symptoms despite the labs not being elevated. My normal labs and further digging was dismissed by 2 GPs and 2 OBGYNs. It wasn't until I found my current GP that my issues were taken seriously, and I'm glad it was because my issues were caught early because I wouldn't stop seeking out answers since I knew something wasn't right with my body.
I've not been back for my check-up yet but based on my cycles regulating, and having stabilized into a normal pattern for almost a year now, I'm going to guess that my 50 pound loss has had a HUGE impact. My endo wanted to see what I could do on my own before medicating me. She said if I stalled out despite doing everything right - and I detailed to her what my plan was which has simply been CI<CO, and not even carb reduction because I love me some carbs - then we would talk about metformin. At that time I had lost about 20 pounds, so I can only imagine what my insulin levels looked like prior to that set of labs. :noway:
My PCOS and Hashimoto's do not define me. They do not control me. I have the power to change myself, and I decided to use that power. My body doesn't deserve to be treated like crap because it's broken. I spent too much of my life ignoring it and what it was trying to tell me, and now I'm dealing with the consequences of that. My children deserve a mother worth looking up to, and my husband doesn't need to deal with losing another wife in his lifetime (at least not until we're old as hell and have lived our lives as full as we possibly can).
If you are overwhelmed talk to your endo, see about being referred to a dietician to get help making a solid plan of attack. Find what works for you that you can do in a sustainable manner and possibly for the rest of your life.0 -
Thank you everyone for your responses. I know that my choices with food have been mine alone. I do not blame carbs or anything else for that. I chose to put food on my mouth. My point I was making with the original post was admitting that I've used pcos as an excuse because of what a doc said. I want to change it. I was really looking for helpful ideas for that. I get the cico thing and measuring your food... Which I do sometimes... I need to be consistent but I guess I wanted to know what types of things people are eating what are you doing to combat what you are dealing with.
Thank you all
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PeachyCarol wrote: »
Nonsequitur.
Come on. People decide they like palatable food more than making choices within a limit. It's easy to overeat. That's not the food's fault.
What draws them to the food ? the food has no power, marketing is ineffective ?
Seems to me food has a lot of power over many people.
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RebeccaMaunder wrote: »Thank you everyone for your responses. I know that my choices with food have been mine alone. I do not blame carbs or anything else for that. I chose to put food on my mouth. My point I was making with the original post was admitting that I've used pcos as an excuse because of what a doc said. I want to change it. I was really looking for helpful ideas for that. I get the cico thing and measuring your food... Which I do sometimes... I need to be consistent but I guess I wanted to know what types of things people are eating what are you doing to combat what you are dealing with.
Thank you all
Consistency really is key. The first step I'd recommend is: log EVERYTHING. Good days, and bad. Little nibbles here and there - log it all. Then step back and see where you can easily make sustainable changes.0 -
RebeccaMaunder wrote: »Thank you everyone for your responses. I know that my choices with food have been mine alone. I do not blame carbs or anything else for that. I chose to put food on my mouth. My point I was making with the original post was admitting that I've used pcos as an excuse because of what a doc said. I want to change it. I was really looking for helpful ideas for that. I get the cico thing and measuring your food... Which I do sometimes... I need to be consistent but I guess I wanted to know what types of things people are eating what are you doing to combat what you are dealing with.
Thank you all
Get a food scale and weigh all your solid foods, measure your liquids.
I eat everything I ate before, but I don't eat it with reckless abandon anymore. I portion out crackers and chips. Instead of eating a 12" sub on my own my husband and I split it. I weigh my gelato on a scale and log it here on MFP. I stay within my caloric goals most of the time. I slip up more than I want to admit to, but that's life and I just keep on keeping on and don't let the days I slip up take me down. I exercise for health and to earn a few more calories during the day.0 -
ellesMFP93 wrote: »So the 7 years, 18 doctors and numerous fad diets it took to diagnose my PCOS and insulin resistance is because I was ignoring my weight gain?
Not everyone with PCOS is insulin resistant so I'm sure not everyone you know who has PCOS is overweight.
I'm not blaming the food. I'm saying I was told for years I was eating the right things until one day that information was incorrect.
I was explaining the reason why the overeating happens. Which I think is a lot more helpful than 'stop overeating'.
I was trying to help the OP to understand what goes on in the body of an insulin resistant person and the kind of foods to eat to combat this as she asked what she should eat.
I've found everyone else of MFP to be really positive and good at encouraging each other to eat better things. I can't say the same for you though PeachyCarol.
You can eat the right things and still get overweight. By overeating. You can overeat in calories having a "perfect" diet. And before you say I have no personal experience, I am insulin resistant, I have never been overweight, I have never reduced carbs. I monitor my weight closely, to control PCOS. When I eat more and move less, I gain, like everyone else. When I am more carefull about not overeating and not skipping exercise, I lose, like everyone else. I am not lucky or have a special metabolism, or "mild" PCOS. I have actually several hormonal illnesses at once. And I love food. But I love my health more and I am careful about how much I eat. Which is hard and at times not very pleasant. But very effective.0 -
ellesMFP93 wrote: »Mamabirdboss I'm not even going to argue with you cause you clearly don't understand the science behind insulin resistance.
She understands. You do not.0 -
RebeccaMaunder wrote: »Thank you everyone for your responses. I know that my choices with food have been mine alone. I do not blame carbs or anything else for that. I chose to put food on my mouth. My point I was making with the original post was admitting that I've used pcos as an excuse because of what a doc said. I want to change it. I was really looking for helpful ideas for that. I get the cico thing and measuring your food... Which I do sometimes... I need to be consistent but I guess I wanted to know what types of things people are eating what are you doing to combat what you are dealing with.
Thank you all
Calories in calories out. If you are insulin resistant, space your carbs throughout the day. No low carb, just not eating more than 40-60 grams per meal. And exercise. Not just to burn more calories, being physically active on its own helps with PCOS. Nothing dramatic, just half an hour a day or trying to walk a bit more than usual etc.0 -
PeachyCarol wrote: »
I was asking because my wife has pcos and has hypothyroidism, but I appreciate your blunt expression of my need for a new thread thanks for your...help?0 -
MamaBirdBoss wrote: »ellesMFP93 wrote: »OP what was the idiot dr who told you this? The first and most important treatment steps for PCOS are losing weight, via controlling calories, and getting physically active. PCOS might be to blame for a few extra lbs clinging to your belly area. That's it. The end. The rest of the weight, it is from overeating. So the good news are, you have control over it. Count your calories and start moving, and you will be impressed.
The rest of the weight is not just from overeating. Insulin resistance means that there's a fault in the lock and key mechanism that takes glucose into the cells in the muscles. When it struggles with that it produces more insulin to compensate, converts the glucose to glycogen and stores it as fat. This drops your blood sugar quite quickly and you can get hypoglycaemic symptoms. This obviously makes you crave more sugar or carbs which continues the cycle on again. If it goes undiagnosed for a long time this can cause obesity and diabetes. It's not just 'overeating' like your eyes are bigger than your stomach. Your body is telling you it needs more.
I've found the best way to combat this is making sure to eat fats and proteins at the same time as carbs if I do eat them. This slows down the absorption. Eating low GI carbs obviously helps too.
No, ALL the weight that brings you from a normal weight to overweight is from overeating. If you were one of the extraordinarily rare women who have insulin resistance due to another type of condition other than obesity, you wouldn't have an elevated risk of becoming obese.
Obesity causes PCOS, not the other way around.
Notice that thin women who have cystic ovaries don't respond to PCOS treatments that restore fertility in overweight women with PCOS. That's because their ovaries are cystic but they don't have PCOS. (Usually, ovary drilling is the only option for them after the follicle stimulating drugs fail.)
Like taking birth control, insulin resistance can make you a little more hungry and a little more tired. So along with the other things that create the behaviors causing obesity, it's just another pebble on the pile.
People with PCOS who have bariatric surgery don't lose less than people without PCOS. And MOST morbidly obese people develop insulin resistance as a result of their obesity. Men also often have a drop in their testosterone levels when this happens--and also the same sort of fertility drop. No one's telling them that their magical sex hormones now won't let them lose weight. Weight loss as little as 10lbs can lessen or even reverse PCOS, depending on the woman.
Metformin can make weight loss easier by reducing hunger and fatigue associated with insulin resistance. It isn't well-tolerated by everyone, though. Again, you can cut out all carbs with a high glycemic index and get a fairly similar effect.
Women need to stop being lied to--and women need to stop lying to their doctors about what they're doing, however unintentionally. (The average person underestimates what they eat by at least 20%--and underweight people usually OVERestimate what they eat, so this figure includes those people. In overweight people, the percents skyrocket.) Weigh everything. Eat a deficit. Watch the weight fall off.
If it didn't work, then a) you'd be magical unicorns defying the laws of physics, and b) bariatric surgery wouldn't work for some people. Yet it works for everyone until they learn to stretch their stomachs out again and force their bodies to accept more food.
Wrong about only overweight women having pcos and weight causes it. I didn't get my period when I was a teenager. I was a healthy weight, I used to swim 24 laps of an Olympic sized swimming pool three times a week. I was fit, and I was 120 lb 5'4 woman. So no, just no. Are my symptoms worse now I am overweight, yes. But being overweight didn't cause this. My being over weight is from eating, my condition is worse for it, but my weight didn't cause it to start with.
Also, I was diagnosed with PCOS at a healthy weight... Have not heard of this somehow different diagnosis for those who have cysts and those who are fat with cysts. Poly just means many, as far as j know, if you have many cysts, you have cystic ovaries you end up with this diagnosis.0 -
PeachyCarol wrote: »
Nonsequitur.
Come on. People decide they like palatable food more than making choices within a limit. It's easy to overeat. That's not the food's fault.
What draws them to the food ? the food has no power, marketing is ineffective ?
Seems to me food has a lot of power over many people.
Not gonna derail, though this could be a good topic for discussion. I believe things only have the power over you that you give them. If you want to discuss further, let's maybe start a new topic.
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PeachyCarol wrote: »
I was asking because my wife has pcos and has hypothyroidism, but I appreciate your blunt expression of my need for a new thread thanks for your...help?
Sorry, since you didn't clarify that you were asking due to your wife having BOTH conditions, it seemed like you were a man asking about his own hypothyroidism (which confused me greatly!). So yeah, I was blunt because I wondered why you wandered into a thread about PCOS to ask about your condition!
Sorry about that.
Did you have a specific question regarding your wife's needs since a poster upstream has said she has both hypothyroidism and PCOS?
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