PCOS/Insulin Resistance SupportSupport for us with any of the following: Insulin Resistance, Syndrome X, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, or other endocrine disorders.
I am Aminah, 25, married, in the US, and I am a teacher. I just found out today that I have insulin resistance. I am relieved in a way, because I've been feeling like garbage lately, and this might explain some of it. For many years, frankly, I've had problems with weight, irregular psycho periods, occasional depression, lethargy, etc. Not to say that the IR and possible PCOS is the only factor, but it's a start to know something truly IS wrong. For the longest time, I just thought I was fat and therefore gluttonous, and gluttonous and therefore fat! I got married last summer to the man of my dreams and we decided not to take any precautions, and let nature take its course. It didn't, not in the way we wanted...well, since marriage, I have gained 30 pounds (oh, the humanity!) and started a course of Wellbutrin. And my husband is an absolute prince, I thank God every day because if he were a jerk I would be totally nuts by now!
So one day a couple months ago, I woke up and said, "WHY AM I THE WAY I AM? THERE MIGHT BE A REASON!" In the wake of this revelation, I went to the doctor and said, "I do not feel right. I have rarely felt right in my life. Please help!" My doctor is so wonderful. She let me talk to her for half an hour that day, when most docs hurry you along like they have a plane to catch. She gave me a battery of tests, checking for hypothyroidism, hormonal imbalances, high glucose, excessive androgens...and came up with nothing! Meanwhile, I kept gaining 2 pounds a week practically, not having periods regularly, and feeling rotten. My GP referred me to an OB/GYN because I told her I was really concerned about our chances for conception, especially since it was now 3 months from my last period. The OB/GYN tested me for 3 things, and I found out today that I have IR. She prescribed metformin and I will be taking 500 mg 3x daily for a few months.
So, I'll have to go over some old threads and see who's who and what's what, but that's my life story as far as health is concerned. I thank you all in advance for your support and I hope we can learn together!
She let me talk to her for half an hour that day, when most docs hurry you along like they have a plane to catch.
WELCOME, AMINAH!!
ROFLMAO @ Plane TO Catch!!!!! Don't ya just hate that?!! UGH!!!
Everything you are going through I been there did that. I understand 100% about your frustrations!! You are on the right track though...a good Doctor always makes a big difference. I hated getting that "your nuts lady" look so for years I would just avoid the doc. I finally got 2 docs here that understood and got me on the right track and it's been wonderful ever since.
Please stick around and keep us posted!! Feel free to join us in the monthly chat, the word games, anything!!! We're glad you are here.
Thank you so much for the warm welcome. I too used to avoid doctors, because I dreaded the inevitable weight loss talk. I always thought, if I were so easily able to lose weight, wouldn't I have done it by now? And I HAVE lost a lot of weight, a couple times, but not without heroic efforts and I've NEVER been able to keep it off for too long. I lost a hundred pounds two years ago and I've gained back all but 20! Part of it is habits but I have always felt there is a metabolic issue too. Since I was in eighth grade I have never been below 220 pounds even with insane amounts of diet and exercise. I am tall and have a large frame so I look quite nice at 220, but I still know it would be healthier to be less than that, especially since I get really into exercise and I want to have good joints. (Both my parents have had joint replacements...Mom has a bionic knee and Dad is getting his 2nd hip replacement soon!) I don't even wanna SAY what I weigh now. I don't even like to THINK it. Not because I think there is a huge shame in being fat, but because it is such a PROJECT to work on. But oh well, the time will pass one way or another. May as well pass with me attempting to be proactive. (I can't stand that word, proactive!)
So I get to go see a dietician, something I always hesitated on because the idea of a slender woman coaching me on food always seemed offensive somehow. I have no problem with people of small or large size, but I have always been scared. But now I am almost excited because (I hope) I am on my way to managing my problems. I know I'm not going to instantly slim down, become a marathon runner, conceive an adorable set of twins, and become the all-time greatest housecleaner, but I am going to try to do what is right for my health and well-being.
I'm glad you are feeling some success and you have good docs. It makes so much difference to have a doctor who you feel is on your side rather than battling you! I'm going to continue checking this site out. I like seeing everything from health calculators to plus-size apparel in one place!
Hi Aminah, this is definitely a very cool place. Good Luck with your ambitions, and if you do find out how to become "the all-time greatest housecleaner," please pass it on! I've pretty much given up on that one, lol!
LOL, I don't blame you for not trying anymore, SITC! I'm not really too inspired to become the next Martha S., especially in her current state, but I am just a super-disorganized person with stacks of stuff everywhere. Well, I guess that's my organizational system. My way of cleaning is to shove everything in a cupboard/drawer/closet and shut it REALLY FAST!
I just dream of a house where I could welcome the occasional drop-in guest rather than tiptoeing to the peephole and creeping away as quietly as possible! My entire living room looks like a messy desk. Since my husband and I got married, we haven't bought a lot of furniture, because this has always been our temporary apt, but I think we better get some filing system soon before our home spontaneously combusts!
Welcome, Aminah! I understand how you feel looking at the Big Project Ahead. Slowly it does come off and you will find yourself getting closer and closer. Maybe instead of looking at it in an overwhelming way, try and look at it as an Exciting Big Project! Make a Grand Plan and enjoy and savor all you learn along the way. It can be a really fun journey learning new ways to do it without suffering. Have you chosen an eating plan? (as you can tell, I love plans!)
Hi Jennifer! I appreciate your positive words. It definitely is a Big Project and I feel good in a way, knowing that I could be on my way to a healthier life. It is a little intimidating if I look at it in terms of ALL THOSE POUNDS but if I look at it in baby steps, it's not too scary. I've lost a lot of weight before (and found it again) but never on a sustainable plan. I like to exercise, so that's good. Lately I've felt so crummy that I haven't even had it in me to hop on my elliptical trainer for even 15 minutes, and so of course then I get guilty seeing it just sit there gathering dust. But I'm gonna say it: screw feeling guilty! That's not what it's all about.
I am going to talk to a dietician, but my feeling is that I'm going to go on a moderate low-carb plan maybe like South Beach or Protein Power. I've done Atkins before but I just feel like a walking stick of butter. I know you can eat less fat on it but it just doesn't feel sustainable to me. What is working for everyone? I love to know!
I lost about 30 pounds in the last 8 months or so. 10 of it was Atkins, then I promptly quit losing weight. Everybody says you don't have to count calories, but I do think I just ate too much. I changed to South Beach Diet and lost another 20. I changed because I needed a way to feed my whole family easier. SBD is much more balanced for us. I quit losing weight on that one, also, so I backed up closer to Phase 1. Now I'm losing weight again. I think I just ate too many carbs. I started out low, and then kept adding!
Again, portion control isn't really discussed, just 'eat until satisfied'. South Beach isn't low carb at all, beyond Phase 1. It is a good carb diet, which should also work well with IR.
I am starting Body For Life soon. I think probably this week. I have wanted to start lifting weights for a while, and I've been reading a lot of Bill Phillips and his whole plan sounds intersting. I hope with the weight I have lost that my IR is down enough that I can lose weight regardless of the types of carbs. We'll see!
One thing about IR is that you really DO need to exercise on a regular basis. Exercise is vital for getting rid of IR. Here is a good article on IR and management: http://www.aafp.org/afp/20010315/1159.html
I really appreciate your advice and diet reviews. I want to find a comfortable way of eating that is good for my health and my husband's health as well. My husband is Bangladeshi, and what that means diet-wise is that he likes to eat his weight in basmati rice every night. And if you've ever had South Asian desserts you might know those are bad news...basically they take flour and sugar, fry it in ghee (clarified butter) and then soak it in more sugar or honey. YOW! So I think it's ta-ta for now as far as gulab jamun and coconut cakes are concerned.
Luckily, my husband is a great cook and can make a mean curry without using a lot of fat or any sugar. He makes a curried salmon which is such a great idea...doesn't it sound like something served in an upscale "fusion" restaurant? (I'm not the biggest salmon fan but this is pretty good and so easy. I don't know if there is a recipe board around here, I'll snoop around a little and see.) I am also a great cook but I use too many health-killing ingredients like whole sticks of butter and cups of sugar. So I'll just have to retrain myself.
I know that once I lose about 20 pounds I am going to feel so much better, even though I want to lose at least 100 eventually! (What a scary number!) My husband loves the way I look now and I know he wouldn't mind if I stayed big, but he wants me to be healthy first and foremost, so I know he will support me. His idea of a diet is "Eat the same thing as always and add more fruit." Not exactly a fantastic idea, but at least he wants the best for me! He'll get used to me, however I am, too. At least now that I've found a medical issue that is linked to weight, he will take me more seriously. Before, I would try to eat moderately and he would say, "Don't starve yourself! Eat!" What a sweetie.
That was a good article about IR. I have just skimmed about 100 articles this weekend. While I know there is some goofy stuff on the net, I am finding some common things everywhere I look.
On the subject of IR, I am down 3.5 pounds just since Friday when I started taking it. I think most of that is due to, ahem, dehydration as I am experiencing one unpleasant side effect. I noticed I did not get a rumbly tummy when I ate my husband's fish curry last night, but I did get sick after eating toast and an asparagus/cheese omelet this morning. I don't know if it's the high-fat cheese or what but I am not getting the tummy problem after every meal, just certain ones. I am trying to figure out the common denominator...is it fat, sugar, or what? I am going to be REALLY careful about what I eat at school, because I certainly can't leave 20 2nd graders alone for a pit stop with no notice! Oh well, it's worth it if it helps me along on my quest for good health.
I can't remember if I've read about Body for Life. I don't know a lot about South Beach either, but I did Protein Power and Atkins before, and I liked Protein Power. I just got cheat-y, and gave up too soon. Turns out I might have been on the right track!
I just can't wait for that feeling of swimming in my "fat clothes." I like to wear them till they're hanging off me. I'm Muslim so I wear one of those long coats called a jilbab usually, and they're supposed to be loose, so I won't have to buy a new "outer wardrobe" for quite some time. But as for cute stuff I wear around my husband and around my friends...that will be fun!
My way of cleaning is to shove everything in a cupboard/drawer/closet and shut it REALLY FAST!
I just dream of a house where I could welcome the occasional drop-in guest rather than tiptoeing to the peephole and creeping away as quietly as possible!
LOL Aminah!!! Your honesty makes me smile.
The key to getting organized is to start slowly and with a small project. If you decide Ok, today I am going to do this WHOLE house, you will get overwhelmed and then just try to hide it by shoving everything away or just saying "Ahh **** with it I can'd do it so forget it" and ignoring it. Problem is then we just gather more stuff to put with the already dis-organized stuff. Then it builds up more and more...until one day you open the closet and get wacked in the head by a flying bowling ball or something.
I am a very organized person. I cannot stand stuff dirty or out of its place. Problem is, I LIKED stuff! Nick nacks, etc. But the more useless junk you have laying around, the harder it is believe or not to clean that area. I have a tendency to also shove stuff "out of site" so I can pretend it is gone, but alas, it isn't...and I know this mentally and it drives me bananas!! So what I did is I made a list of what I would like to see cleaned out and organized, and then I would just do one thing off the list here and there.
Take for instance my recent living room re-do project. I decided to move it all around and de-clutter. I had too many nick nacks and other junk that I really didn't want anymore plus I wanted to make the place easier to clean and take the glare off of the TV. Our Beast TV center was on the wrong wall so we moved it to the other wall. After I finished this project, it felt SOOooo good meantally and physicallyto walk into the living room and see it all sparkly clean and organized and less junk! It's like you are proud of yourself for accomplishing this task. This just motivates me to conquer the rest of my list. Plus...it's a GREAT way to lose weight!! All of that running around, de-cluttering, and re-putting stuff in its place burns up calories and it's easy on the body too! Well until you move a giant TV Center.
Another thing I do is when I de-clutter, I get 3 bins and I label them "EbaY, Swap Meet, or Donation." Then I sell what I think will sell, and donate the rest. I get a rush off of turning my junk into cash!! I've been doing this since 1997.
Anyhow, if you need any tips or encouragement to help you get started and motivate you along the way, you've come to the right Noodles!! I thoroughly enjoy stuff like this and enjoy helping others get organized.
I just can't wait for that feeling of swimming in my "fat clothes." I like to wear them till they're hanging off me.
I am at this point. I must say...I LOVE IT!! This has been one of the motivational factors that keeps me going when all I want to do is sit on the computer all day instead of getting exercise.
At first I was a bit ticked because I wasn't showing weight loss on the scale, but my clothes were getting looser and looser...turned out it was cause I gained muscle. But then the weight started coming off again and soon the scale started catching up. I wanted to hug it then.
Aminah: Curry-- yum, yum, yum. Also korma sauces and rogan josh and naan!!! I love that stuff, and so does my DH. He's English, and loves Anglo/Indian food. But it's so high in fat and calories! If you come across or invent some healthy versions of this stuff, please share it! Curries and Mexican food are the things I feel most deprived of.
As for your tummy, I have found every time I change my diet I get rumbling and gas. It might help to change slowly, one thing at a time. I also use Gas-X if it's really bad.
My DH also thought I would "starve myself" when I first started to lose. Mine didn't seem to understand that a woman just doesn't need to eat as much as a man. He looked at the food on my plate, and thought "I just couldn't live on that" and thought I was harming myself.
But all that changed when he stepped on the scale one day and was shocked to see it at 250! Now he's definitely enthusiastic about the diet and exercise thing. And he still gets a good volume of food, because we eat a big salad or a half-plate full of vegetables every night, in addition to the main course.
Also, you might see if you can get him to like brown rice instead of basmati. It fills you up more, and sticks with you longer, I find, so you don't have to eat as much or raid the kitchen 2 hours after eating.
It can be hard though. My DH is a real traditionalist when it comes to food. Meat and potatoes, tea at 5 p.m., boil the vegetables for a month. Very British. It has taken me 13 years to get him to eat a more modern diet! Good Luck!
Oh gosh all this organization talk is making me want to clean house and get rid of everything. The problem is, I don't have much to get rid of. I don't like doo-dads at all. Maybe just a few that are special to me because of a certain life event, but that is very rare. I can probably put all my household knock-knacks in a shoebox! I like things simple, fresh and uncluttered. I do however have a box of candles I may never light, old clothes, retired electronic equipment, old monitors and computer skeletons hidden away that I need to TOSS.
I understand about husbands from a different culture. My husband is from Holland, and everything he cooks (cooked) has bread, potatoes and cheese on it! He also loves curry, but I can't stand it. It isn't really a bad taste, but I always wind up with a headache after eating it. I guess maybe I am allergic to it? He eats on South Beach with me now to help me stay in line. He gained about 15 pounds when he moved here, but that is really all he needed to lose. He lost 10 and now eats the same stuff, just more of it, to maintain.
Aminah, I hope the side effects from the met let up on you soon. I had problems with it all the time, but most everybody else I've talked to gets over it. I had worse symptoms when I ate too many carbs than with any other food. If you continue to have problems, ask your doctor if he/she can get you Glucophage XR. Same thing, but extended release and usually easier on the stomach.
SITC: I loveeee Mexican Food too. Lemme tell ya...when we moved from Oregon to here...the mexican food joints increased from a couple of good ones to over 50 good ones!! *sigh*
Jennifer: Yer on the right track there!! You're keeping your home in harmony by de-cluttering and staying on top of it. You could donate the old electronics and PC stuff...There are some foundations that use electronics and PC stuff for the disabled to learn how to work on PCS. That's what I did with most of my old electronics and computer junk that hubby had laying around for 3 years. Plus its all write off-able from your taxes!!
Aminah: When I first went on the Metformin, I had the gastrointestional problems for about a week. Then everything settled down. I feel the week was worth it for what this medicine has done for me otherwise. Hang in there...
The key to getting organized is to start slowly and with a small project.
SNIP
Anyhow, if you need any tips or encouragement to help you get started and motivate you along the way, you've come to the right Noodles!! I thoroughly enjoy stuff like this and enjoy helping others get organized.
I like your idea of 3 bins. Problem is, my 3 bins would be labeled, "Procrastinate and give to Goodwill in 2 years," "Random bills you'll forget to pay," and "A bunch of stuff you'll forget you have and you'll buy at Target next week...again!"
Thanks for the motivation! WOW, your living room project is AMAZING.
Hello all! Just found out I have IR! Eek! ;)
I got married last summer to the man of my dreams and we decided not to take any precautions, and let nature take its course. It didn't, not in the way we wanted...well, since marriage, I have gained 30 pounds (oh, the humanity!) and started a course of Wellbutrin. And my husband is an absolute prince, I thank God every day because if he were a jerk I would be totally nuts by now!
We're glad you are here. 
