Ladies with PCOS

PCOS here too. I am med free. I took metformin to help regulate my cycles to get pregnant with my daughter. It worked at about 2000 mg a day. I didn't feel very good on it and actually gained weight. I don't have insulin resistance though, it just helped with the hormones. My doctor said they dont' really get why it works, they just know that it does.

I was actually having an irregular cycle on the pill so I stopped it a few months ago. My skin got better and I have had a somewhat regular cycle and I don't feel like I have pms everyday.

Hi guys

So, I am 42 and have had PCOS since I was at least 16. Just about 5 years ago was when docs actually decided it might be a "real" issue! I had the small areas of facial hair, lots of dark hair on my arms, whacked out periods and really insulin resistant. My cholesterol was always pretty good on a total basis but the good could be better and the bad should be lower. Lastly, no matter what I did I couldn't lose any weight. People see you overweight and automatically think you eat like a pig and don't work out. Untrue here. I work out respectively and eat pretty well. I could do better but it seems to be the portions not really the "greasy" bad foods I have issues on. I am all Italian and I am told PCOS is more prevalent in folks with "Mediterranean descent" ie, GREEK, Italian, etc..

3-4 years ago I did weight watchers online and was able to lose 70lbs. I have gained back about 10 and am now really wanting to lose 50 but can't seem to get the groove down. Doc has me on Spiro, MET XR & Prometrium ( to regulate periods ). I used to get SO sick on the reg MET but I guess now, the MET XR is WAY better than a few years ago. I have ZERO side effects. Doc said the Extended Release is a God send.

I'm looking to chat and bounce ideas off other PCOSers so please ask me anything and if I can help I will! I LOVE MPF which I am starting to use regularly now so this is actually a bonus!!

I have PCOS. I'm on metformin, bc, and spironolactone now, and the meds have worked wonders. Still have acne issues though. Anyone feel free to add me! I'm in desperate need of support/encouragement/advice/friendship

Another PCOSer here. Nice to meet you all!

I was diagnosed about two years ago when I started gaining weight for seemingly no reason. Birth Control leveled it out for awhile, but after some time it just stopped working and I started gaining again, although at a slower pace.

So, I stopped taking it a few months back, not on any meds but taking what seems to me like a crapload of vitamins and supplements. So far it seems to be working.

Feel free to add me.

I just went to my doctor today and asked her about metformin and the other meds for pcos....she would have supported either decision i have made but i decided to go with diet and exercise. aside from the weight my issues are the hair loss and the acne are both horrible. wish there was a med for that. thinking i will get back onto my multivitamin

fellow PCOSer here. Had symptoms my whole life but was dx via ultrasound about 7yrs ago. I went from 210 to 140 by going veggie and working out 6 days a week. Also didn't eat much bread at all. Then I got pregnate with my son and am at 170. For the last year I kept trying to lose weight to no avail. Last October I was finally getting it off with very few calories and vigrous work outs but started having major blood sugar attacks. Didn't know what they were back then, thought something serious like stroke was going on. So I quit watching what I ate and gained back the 10 lbs I had lost but the attacks stopped. Started to lose weight again and the attacks started again along with planters fascitous (no idea how to spell it, problem with feet). Laid off the exercising and the weight was coming back so fast even with working out 3x a week for an hour (less then I had been) so I went to the dr and she put me on Met. Also I had always been on low dose bc but she had me on reg ortho, so we changed that to ortho lo, will start the new bc in about a week. I can say though that in the last week on met I have fewer sugar cravings and am down 1.5 lbs!! Hopefully this continues as we are wanting to start ttc in Sept. I find that I want to snack but nothing sounds good so I just don't. Anywho, anyone want to add me they can I would love the support. I am so hoping I will finally start getting results without the blood sugar problems. Any advise is welcome too!!

Nice to meet you all. good luck with your weight loss!

I just had my first appointment with an RE last week and she thinks I have PCOS (pretty sure, waiting on lab results to confirm the diagnosis but I have all the others signs and symptoms). My cycles have been crazy irregular for about 2 years since going off BC and no luck getting preggers in over 18 months but we finally did this past May but lost the baby about 2 weeks later. :sad: Anyway finding this out has been bittersweet. No one wants to be diagnosed with this but it is nice to finally know I'm not crazy and all the random symptoms I've been having are all related. Feel free (any of you ladies) to add me as a friend, it would be nice to have some friends going through the same issues and struggles with weight loss so we can help and support each other.

My RE said that if the labs confirm the PCOS then I will probably be put on metformin and probably also clomid (we are still ttc). For those who struggled with met did they start you out on a lower dose and work up to the full dose? My RE said that helps because it does make some people sick. I'm hoping the meds help me but I am also more dedicated now to working hard to lose this weight because it not only should help us conceive again but also help to avoid other health problems later in life.

Hi ladies!

Fairly new around here. Had symptoms of PCOS all through puberty but was only diagnosed five years ago, at 19. Not currently on any medication to treat it. Metformin had no effect, and I cannot take hormonal BC. I do have a question for all you ladies: I know it is significantly harder for women with PCOS to lose weight than it is for women without PCOS to lose weight. I read this article not so long ago that may offer some insight into why:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18678372

For those who just want the quick and dirty facts, here are the results of the study:
PATIENT(S): The study included 91 Greek women with PCOS and biochemical hyperandrogenemia, with mean age 24.03 +/- 0.55 years and mean body mass index (BMI) 26.67 +/- 0.69 kg/m(2), and 48 matched regularly menstruating women, with mean age 26.33 +/- 0.93 years and mean BMI 23.35 +/- 0.85 kg/m(2), as control subjects.

RESULT(S): Adjusted BMR was 1,868 +/- 41 kcal/day in the control group, 1,445.57 +/- 76 in all PCOS women, 1,590 +/- 130 in PCOS women without IR and 1,116 +/- 106 in PCOS women with IR. Adjusted BMR showed a statistically significant difference between women with PCOS and control subjects, with lowest values in the group of PCOS women with IR, even after adjusting all groups for age and BMI.

What this shows is that women with PCOS (both with and without insulin resistance) have a significantly lower BMR than women without PCOS. I was just wondering if any of you ladies had heard something similar and had taken this into account. Seeing this it makes sense that it is more difficult for us to lose weight, and in order for us to see the same weight loss as someone without PCOS, we would have to eat far fewer calories.

I'm sorry for the novel - I just thought it might be interesting to some of you.