PCOS/Insulin Resistance SupportSupport for us with any of the following: Insulin Resistance, Syndrome X, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, or other endocrine disorders.
i'm new here too. i just put my introduction post in response to another thread. i've been bouncing around diets and exercise since i was a freshman in high school, but i really need to buckle down now. nothing has helped me lose weight in the past, but i'm hoping now with the pcos diagnosis and with metformin, maybe i'll actually start to lose weight.
so far just doing gym about 2 or so times a week, 3 or 4 miles each plus free weights. will try and make a concerted effort to up the ante in 2009. as a starting point, i'd like to at least be able to fit into my "fat clothes" again and go from there.
however, on a side note, i have not been feeling well for ages now. could this be the met?
I know how you feel sassy, I went through a time with no period at all for almost a year- it really sucked- who knew- women who are HAPPY to get their period? lol.
I'm only taking 1000 mg of metformin and honestly I'm not noticing ANYTHING- WHAT am I supposed to notice? I'm also on 25 mg spironolactone- AGAIN not noticing anything!
I found out recently a coworker of mine also has PCOS- she takes 2000 mg of metformin a day and 200 mg of spironolactone- I'm going to ask my doctor if she'll up my metformin to at least 1500 (but I'm going to ask for slow release as when she upped it to 1000 there are times I'm feeling nauseous in the morning- my coworker said switching to slow release helped her with that.
It's like I'm tired of waxing and/or shaving my face! Under my chin I get the worst hair it's so annoying I HATE IT.
fatasianbaby (FAB)- what is the "not well" feeling? I have felt like I'm about to puke lately and my coworker said that's how she felt before she got slow release pills. I stopped taking my "night" one- and now I do one in the morning with breakfast and one with lunch- it's helped a lot but I still want to up my dosage.
And my good friend who has PCOS her metformin she's barely on 500 mg and lost a ton of weight- I'm so jealous! lol. She isn't even TRYING to lose weight grrr.. But then again she does weigh about 300 lbs so I am glad she's losing weight.
w/r/t not feeling well, it's a bit dicey, actually. i've had digestive possible ibs-d issues since about 2000, so it's kind of hard to really draw a clear line, but i swear it's gotten worse since i've started on the met. and it's really starting to screw up my social life. am now not so inclined to go out anymore. and around midday at work i have been feeling nauseous and just a general unwell feeling.
i think i'm on extended release already.
i'm not sure if it's the met, i'm being a hypochondriac, or i'm actually low-level sick, but this has been going on for a few months now.
LOL I did read your post about the yogurt. I actually went out to Target here and bought the jello ... My fiancée ate it (grrr) LOL but it made me think of that and crave it. Plus I had to pick on you sassy haha
Thank you Jennifer!!!!
I am doing the 50 miles in January in the chicks up for a challenge post. Please join in!! I have a few to put in from yesterday and today. I am right now sitting at the subway down the street from my house. They have that point thing gout and I had 92 so I cashed in for my sandwich. I walked here from my house. Plus I have no gas LOL but I have my bodybugg on and ready to see how many calories I burned today heehee ... Now I am off to the house to log in my calories :-)
I've never had a problem taking my met. Right now, I'm taking 1000mg/day. At one point I was up to 2000mg/day. I just started taking Spir and I am taking 100mg/day. Haven't felt any "side effects" from that. I guess I'm just one of the lucky ones with the met.
I think I am having carb withdrawals. I've been really cutting back, and boy have I been MOODY and have had a horrible headache. I just need to get through the next few days.
You know ...now that I think about it ... my doctor has never prescribed me anything for my PCOS. She always just told me to lose the weight.
What is the Metformin for? She wanted to give me Clomid but that was only because I wanted to conceive but my fiancee and I decided I should lose the weight before we proceed with anything. Hmmm .. is there something somebody is not telling me?
The metformin is typically prescribed for those of us with insulin resistance. But it can also help regulate those out-of-balance hormones. I actually don't have insulin resistance, but my ob/gyn went ahead and put me on Met to get my other hormones back in balance. It seems to be working and when I ovulate on Met, it's much more "natural" than ovulation from clomid which makes for a more viable pregnancy. At least that's what the doc told me. He put me on Met to see if I would ovulate on it before trying clomid. I ovulated last month, so I guess it's working.
As far as weight loss goes, when your hormones get put back in order it makes it easier for you to lose weight. It basically puts you on an even playing field with all the other people in the world and you won't be fighting such an uphill battle to get the pounds off.
Hope that helps.
Oh, also, as far as your doctor goes... there are many doctors out there who refuse to treat overweight women with PCOS. I can't tell you how many times I've heard "Just lose weight and you'll be fine" or "Lose the weight and then we'll begin treatment." If you like your doctor, great. But if you feel like he's not treating you fairly it might be time to look for another doctor. Your doctor needs to understand that it can be nearly impossible to lose the weight without some form of treatment. It made a world of difference for me once I found a doctor who truly understood PCOS.
Christine
Last edited by FluffyChristine; 01-09-2009 at 08:34 PM.
Reason: Thought of something to add.
Went out to dinner lastnight with DH and our friend. Had seafood.....Yummo! I had King Crab Legs and a cup of the Crawfish Bisque Gumbo. Then I spurlged and had a piece of Pralene Cheesecake!! OMG!!!! It was SOOOO good!!!!!
But ya know I think I over did it because I went to the bathroom after eating and I almost lost my whole meal! I was like uh uh I am not wasting that food, no puke! no puke! lol. It was just so yummy and I don't have crab that often at all. So I splurged.....
After that DH and our friend had to head off to work --- ha ha not me! So I went to Wally World and shopped alone. I haven't done that in a LONG time and it was nice. I took my time and looked. I didn't even buy that much, but it was just nice to go and look at whatever I wanted however long I wanted!
There was a group of very annoying teenagers in there though that were hooting and hollering. I was like, "Lets go hang out at Wal-Mart" Geez if I ever was that obnoxious I truly apologize to society! lol.
Then I got home, started watching a Lifetime Movie and halfway through realized I had already seen it and it was a sad one and I didn't feel like boo-hooing so then I got online. lol.
In the morning if the weather isn't too bad I am meeting DH for breakfast. We usually go out to breakfast every Saturday morning together, its "our time" together. Then we are going to Costco to get a few things and possibly a few other stores, depending on how tired DH is (he works nights too) I am off but I have been awake the same amount of time as him, only haven't been working, so I shouldn't be as tired, but you never know! lol.
Oh and our next door neighbor who has been such a pain in the rear being so loud with his stereo and all, well he started cursing and yelling lastnight so loud I could hear it at our computer desk with music on! So I called and left a message with the apartment complex. We never complain so the Apartment Manager called bright and early yesterday morning. I guess the owner, who we are on extremely good terms on, is taking care of it. I am so glad! I don't mind if people have the occasional party or something, but with him its ALL the time and he also has people coming and going at ALL hours of the night, people knocking LOUDLY on his door at all hours then he opens the door and then they leave minutes later. We think he may be a drug dealer. So I hope that they evict him! I don't need that! I mean I know we want to move, but it is going to take some time and we have been here a while and our building was so nice and peaceful until he got here! lol.
TY all for your good luck! I will need it! Also my problem with my period is I get it TOO often. I have gone without one for a while too, it kinda goes in "spurts" but here lately its been like every week! But so far *knock on wood* no AF!
As for my meds: I am on Fortamet, which is a form of Metformin 500 mg Twice a Day. I can't take the Met, it makes me really sick but the Fortamet doesn't. I also take Glipizide XL 5 mg once a day (I am a diabetic) and that stuff is awesome! Totally helps me keep my BS (Blood Sugar) in check! I also take Wellburtrin 300 mg for depression and its totally awesome I love it and then there is my Nexium 40 mg twice a day for my Acid Reflux that is my best friend. lol. I hope to get rid of these meds once the weight comes off though! I also am on Robaxin 750 mg when I need it for my back. (I was in a car accident 13 years ago that resulted in me having a spinal injury and so my spine shifts from time to time and its incredibly painful)
And Christine, you are so right about some drs and thinking that the losing the weight is the miracle cure! Infact my family dr is one of those. He says that he thinks if I lose my weight all my health issues with disappear. Kinda funny though I am still heavy and last time he did my blood tests my A1C (tests your Blood Sugars for 3 months) was .1 from being normal, my cholesterol went down 30 points and is normal (I take Fish Oil Pills 3x's a day, and that along with diet and exercise has helped me extremely with my cholesterol, before taking it I was right at the borderline and then after taking it, it went down 30 points ), and my blood pressure as it always has been is normal too.
So its kinda funny that I am really "normal" according to my bloodtests. Also my mother, who is a stringbean, always has been thin, has high blood pressure and cholesterol. There is a guy at work who is only 28, has always eaten very healthy, is not overweight and has heart problems and infact is having a pacemaker put in.
Also that lady Kate, from Jon & Kate Plus 8, also has PCOS and she is and was always thin as well. So that is complete BS (and no I do not mean Blood Sugar here!! LOL) that its all the weights fault. Granted I want to lose weight anyways, but to blame everything on the weight its just wrong in my opinion.
Wowsers I have really rambled away this time!
For those of you who are new: I do tend to ramble A LOT! lol. So just a "heads up"
Also if any of you wanna chat outside the forum, just PM me (just click on my name and select send Private Message) and we can exchange email addys or I also have Yahoo Messenger too. Just do not post it publicly in the forum, PM me with your info if you want.
Oooooooh ok .... Theybdid a blood test on me once to see if I was diabetic because it runs in my family but I am fine there. And she never really mentioned any medicine. She did say to lose weight because that will help with the hair and the hormones. Next time I go see her (which they always seem to trick me LOL) I'm going to ask her to give me something because I've lost 5lbs but my damn I feel like I should have lost soooo much more the way I've been hitting that gym lately :-/
Thank you sooo much for informing me!! This is why I love this sight. It's sucks to be the only one with this in my group of friends so it's nice to know I'm not alone and can ask a question. Especially since I don't talk to my ob/gyn that often.
I'm glad to see everyone is hanging in there and keepin goin! I've been a little off this week or so food wise but I've gotten better and started exercising!!! I'm very proud of that fact.
As for my dosage of met, I'm currently on 2000mg/day. My doctor told me to increase it since AF wasn't coming. But it did last month so I'm hoping for a repeat performance this month. I was kind of in shock that my blood work this past visit in the beginning of Dec. was off like it was the previous visit in Aug. My cholesterol is still higher and my tris are still up. She wanted to put me on cholesterol meds and I told her I wanted to try and change it with diet and exercise. I just hate how much PCOS seems to screw things up inside. GRRRRRR I mean I can't say that I was eating *perfectly* but it had been a lot better than it had been in the past yet my numbers are still too high for her liking. Maybe she actually cares as opposed to other docs I've been seen by so I guess that's a good thing? Logically I know it is a good thing but then there's the little part of me that's like why does it need to be perfect? I guess in some ways it's kind of a love hate relationship when it comes to things like this. But I really and truly do respect her and know that she knows what she's doing which I absolutely love (seeing my past relationships with other docs that didn't seem to have the slightest clue) so I need to reconcile my feelings with my logic and I think I'll be ok.
Sorry for the rant but I guess I kinda needed to say that. Thanks for listening.
Last edited by gymlee; 01-11-2009 at 01:00 AM.
Reason: typo
Wow I am sooo achy from this weather.......We were supposed to get freezing rain + snow, we didn't we just got some rain and it got cold. But my back and even my legs ache so much!
So I didn't get to my exercising. I am afraid too right now. All it takes it one wrong move and my back will go out so I know if its aching or hurting to not push it. Not worth being laid up for a week or longer.
Anyways, DH and I did go to Whole Foods and got some good produce. I got some snap peas, (I never thought I'd be eating those, cuz I hate the icky squishy ones you get in a can, but these I like! ) Spring Greens, cucumber, red pepper, Carrots, A fresh pineapple, and bananas.
Well I suppose that is about it. Sorry nothing more exciting. Back to work for me tonight.
It always feels as if we're the only ones in the world with PCOS and that we're all alone in our battle. Thank God for sites like this where we can hold each other up.
I'm blessed with my doctors. My family doctor used to be an ob/gyn and dealt with a lot of PCOS patients, so he knows his stuff. His nurse actually HAS PCOS (and from what I can tell, she struggles with it much more than I do). Every time I go to see him, she and I have some "bonding" time when she's getting my blood pressure and we rant and rave about PCOS. She and I have decided we need to form a support group. Unfortunately, we don't know hardly any other women with it. I think I might look in to starting one though. And finally, my ob/gyn also has dealt with PCOS and he specializes in infertility. There's nothing quite like having a medical team that actually understand what you're going through.
I've learned that pasta is NOT my friend. (I've always known, but decidedly ignored it.) I made a wonderful pasta bake last night that was pretty good on calories and VERY yummy. Unfortunately, I ended up being incredibly hungry the rest of the night and ate way more than I should have. So, unless I can figure out a better way to make it (so that I won't be so hungry), I won't be making that again any time soon.
Christine you are lucky. My doctor is a thin female and she seems to know it all and now that I come on here and doctors and doing this test and that test I am wondering if miss prissy pants is actually doing the most she can. I know everyone is different but lately I have not been tested for diabetes again and I did gain weight. Maybe this time I will pay her a visit. But how I hate those paps lol
Back to the grind tomorrow. I went dancing Friday and my legs still hurt so I took the weekend off from the gym. But tomorrow I will go at it again :-)
Gymlee, I know so many people (online and in person) that have had huge success stories with weight loss, cholesterol and BP with Eat To Live. It's a vegetarian (and vegan if you choose) diet. If that's a possibility for you, maybe you'd like to read about it.
Christine, have you tried Fiber Gourmet pasta? It is white pasta, but with 18 grams of fiber per serving. I don't detect all the extra fiber - tastes normal to me! But with the fiber, it sticks to the ribs - plus I'm afraid to overeat it because I don't want a stomach ache. We also have a review about it on 3FC, but I'm still looking for it.
Nicoyaangel, I wish I could dance! I've got two left feet and no rhythm. I can't even do dance exercise videos good enough to burn any calories. I'm just shuffling back and forth trying to get the moves down. I'm such a nerd, lol. I'd definitely ask the Dr about Met, and if she doesn't think it will help, I'd find another doctor. It sounds like she is familiar with PCOS because she admits the weight loss may help with the symptoms, so there should be no reason that she doesn't treat it more aggressively. Is she an OB/GYN or a general practitioner?
Sassy, you now have me craving some salad! Do you eat the sugar snap peas raw? That's my favorite way. I've got some Paula Deen peach pecan salad dressing that is sooooo good, and it's low cal Paula Deen, if you can believe that! I need to make a big jethro bowl of salad for lunch. Yum!
Hola
I had King Crab Legs and a cup of the Crawfish Bisque Gumbo. Then I spurlged and had a piece of Pralene Cheesecake!! OMG!!!! It was SOOOO good!!!!! 
I was like uh uh I am not wasting that food, no puke! no puke! lol. It was just so yummy and I don't have crab that often at all. 
So I splurged.....
So I went to Wally World and shopped alone. I haven't done that in a LONG time and it was nice. I took my time and looked. I didn't even buy that much, but it was just nice to go and look at whatever I wanted however long I wanted!
Geez if I ever was that obnoxious I truly apologize to society! lol.
so then I got online. lol.
I don't mind if people have the occasional party or something, but with him its ALL the time and he also has people coming and going at ALL hours of the night, people knocking LOUDLY on his door at all hours then he opens the door and then they leave minutes later. We think he may be a drug dealer. So I hope that they evict him! 
Also my problem with my period is I get it TOO often. I have gone without one for a while too, it kinda goes in "spurts" but here lately its been like every week! 
But so far *knock on wood* no AF! 
I also take Wellburtrin 300 mg for depression and its totally awesome I love it and then there is my Nexium 40 mg twice a day for my Acid Reflux that is my best friend. lol. I hope to get rid of these meds once the weight comes off though! I also am on Robaxin 750 mg when I need it for my back. (I was in a car accident 13 years ago that resulted in me having a spinal injury and so my spine shifts from time to time and its incredibly painful)
Maybe she actually cares as opposed to other docs I've been seen by so I guess that's a good thing? Logically I know it is a good thing but then there's the little part of me that's like why does it need to be perfect? I guess in some ways it's kind of a love hate relationship when it comes to things like this. But I really and truly do respect her and know that she knows what she's doing which I absolutely love (seeing my past relationships with other docs that didn't seem to have the slightest clue) so I need to reconcile my feelings with my logic and I think I'll be ok. 
Hi All
