Long Post Warning ⚠

So I used to be a regular around here. I've been dealing with Pcos and it's lovely symptoms for decades now. I'm currently 41, but I started having symptoms as a teen.

I discovered low carb in my 20s and started putting together the insulin connection. It was moderately effective for weight control, but other symptoms like an irregular cycle, hirsutism, and acne never got under control.

In my mid 30s I started working with a naturopathic doctor, who helped with herbal supplements to regulate my cycle, and control my acne, I finally found some succes with weight loss, but wasn't able to maintain that loss.

Two months ago, as I was seeing my doctor, and complaining how nothing I did seemed to be able to make any meaningful gains in managing my weight. I asked to be put on metformin, but she refused because my A1C (blood sugar) was normal. (Ah yeah, I haven't eaten sugar or processed carbs in 20 years). Instead she recommend a drug called Victoza. (Also marketed under the name Saxenda.) Saxenda especially is marketed as an appetite suppressant, while Victoza's information says it makes you produce more insulin though they are identical drugs. I was skeptical to say the least. Everything I know about insulin says you want less insulin, not more... And I don't have an appetite issue.

I resolved to change nothing, and see what the drug actually achieved. With in a few weeks, of still eating the occasional fast food, sushi and mostly eating healthy (like I always do) I had lost 10lbs. Obviously this stuff was working, but why?

This drug is a hormone that the body produces naturally in the gut called GLP-1. From a research perspective, the known ways this drug works is:
1. Slows gastric emptying
2. Increases pancreatic sensitivity (making more insulin)

This perplexed me as neither item should be helping me. I cast my net a bit wider and started reading clinical observational information opposed to the medical literature. I encountered an Dr who specialized in obesity, who believes this drug also increases insulin and leptin sensitivity. Now this started to make more sense.

https://www.restartmed.com/saxenda/?fbclid=IwAR3xjx9tNapv-ImdyA2TtoI1oJq4qE-SRk4krtozUKcuB7nVnhalb_Cuuos

This Dr also recommended you combine alternate day fasting with the drug to get the best results.

FASTING?!? PFFFT, we all know fasting is bad for you, starvation mode, body eating your muscle... That seemed like lunacy, I discounted that piece of advice.

A few weeks later I started noticing my hirsutism seemed slightly better? Hmmmm? Odd. So in the Facebook support group I'm in, I ask if anyone else with PCOS had noticed an improvement? In the resulting discussion a lady said she had really seen improvements once she added fasting. And recommended I read the book The Obesity Code, but Dr Jason Fung.

I like to read, and have no problems calling crap, crap if I encounter it, so I ordered the book. Holy science batman! He spends half the book siting clinical studies proving CICO doesn't work, and how the underlying issues for all obesity, and comorbidities of obesity like type 2 diabetes and PCOS are caused by excess insulin. Everything I knew and have experienced says yes that's true. The second half of the book he explains how you can reverse your insulin resistance.

Low carb reduces how much sugar your body has to process, and keeps your insulin levels low, but it does nothing to fix the underlying problem of your cells being resistant to insulin. The solution? You guessed it... Fasting. Whenever we eat no matter what it is, we will produce a small amount of insulin as a response. It's only in the absence of insulin will your body start to gain some insulin sensitivity.

He also goes into how fasting used to be routine for humans and how once in a fasted state, our body changes from growth mode, to repair mode, recycling and doing general house cleaning at a cellular level. He also explains that in a fasted state, as long as we have enough fat to burn we aren't in a calorie deficit because we have all the calories needed, and our metabolism actually increases while fasting, unlike eating a calorie deficit where our body just learns to do more with less.

So at this point I'm convinced enough that I'm willing to experiment on myself. 😂 So just before Christmas I started adding some fasting into my diet. While I was losing before, my weight loss is much more rapid now, I'm averaging 2-3lbs a week. I've seen further slowing of my facial hair growth, I've had skin tags spontaneously fall off. It's been an interesting experiment and I'm only a few weeks in.

One of the things that I find most hopeful is all our hormones are supposed to be reset through fasting, and while I doubt I'm ever going to be that eat anything person, I'm hopeful that this might produce lasting weight loss I've never experienced before.

I'd recommend if you're interested looking up Dr Fung's YouTube channel, or getting your hands on one of his books. He's written, The Obesity Code - digs deep into the science of why, The Complete Guide to Fasting, - a much more practical guide though still explains a lot of the science, The Diabeticty Code - I haven't read this one, and in the spring he's coming out with a book aimed especially for PCOS.

I'm a huge proponent of every person's journey is different and the choices that might work for me, may not work for you. However, information is power.

Much love, and luck on all your journeys.