4 weeks of metformin with 2.5# loss. Help!
 

Hi, everyone. I'm so glad to find this forum. I'm just starting out on this PCOS journey, and I am a little lost.

I was diagnosed with PCOS in June. Symptoms: 3 heavy periods/year, "pearl necklace" cysts in ultrasound, rapid weight gain in last 2 years, increased facial hair/acne.

I was tested for insulin resistance, but my fasting insulin bloodwork came back at a 4, which is a great number. I was on day 10 of SouthBeach at the point of the test (duh moment for me, and I didn't mention it to my dr. at the time, so it isn't her fault. :0) )

I lost 10 pounds on the first 2 weeks of Southbeach, which was thrilling! But I completely stalled out after that, even though I followed the plan, even continuing the induction phase one more week.

So my obgyn put me on metformin, 500 mg. 1x/day, and I lost 2.5 pounds that first week. Another thrilling moment, because with as cautious as I am being with my diet, it is so nice to FINALLY see some movement on the scale.

But here we are, 3 weeks later, with my weight yo-yoing up and down around that 12 pound marker. I just can't peel off the fat!

Exercise: I walk on the treadmill 30 minutes, 3x/week. Not a lot, but more than I used to.

My diet: I am following South Beach, except more strictly. I do not eat any grains (no brown rice, bread, quinoa, pastas, etc.) or hi gi foods. I eat one serving of fruit per day. Coffee is my vice, but I only add a dash of cream (real, not powdered) and some carb-free flavoring if the mood strikes. 3 cups a day. No sweets, nothing. I don't know what else to cut.

Any advice? I would be thrilled with a .5#/week progress, even! If it would just go downward even a little, it would make this lifestyle/diet change feel worth the extra effort. I will do anything at this point to get things going. :?:

12 pounds is GREAT! It is really hard to hiut plateaus, or stall for a bit, but give the medicine, and your diet, a while to work. Patience is hard!

Tough question....if the met and diet don't work....will you go back to eating like before??? Diet and excercise work wonders for PCOS. I suffer with it, too. I used to blame PCOS for my inability to lose weight, even on Metformin, but really it was my inability to tough it out and realize that PCOS does make it harder, but I still have to change my LIFESTYLE everyday from here on out.

Also, what ARE you eating? Are you sure you are eating enough?

Hi! Yes, I'm sure I'm eating enough. LOL. A normal day:
Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs with veggies
snack: premeasured mixed nuts, 1/4 cup, can of V-8.
Lunch: lunchmeat rolled up with spinach and a dab of mayo/mustard, grapefruit
Snack: fat free/sugarfree pudding, leftover veggies or meat for protein
Dinner: chicken dish over spinach or spaghetti squash, veggies

That's it! Am I missing something?

And i know 12 pounds is a great start, but I have 40 to go, and I don't think what I'm doing is working! The initial 10 pounds were the induction phase of SBeach, and the other 2.5 were the first week of met. Every other week of the last 4 months my weight loss has been *nothing*.

Is 500mg/1xday a super low dose? Should I ask to go up to 2xday?

And to answer your question, no. I won't go back to eating like before. I'm here on this lifestyle forever, and I'm starting to really accept that and be happy. But I keep hearing that the pcos will improve if I lose weight, and I just can't.

There's a subforum for PCOS if you want to join us there (I have PCOS too!).

And the thing with PCOS is that it's not just a carb thing, but it's also a calorie count thing. My success has been to not only control carbs, like you're doing with South Beach, but also limit the calories that I'm doing.

Also, the exercise that you're doing might not be enough. It's a tricky situation with our bodies, so we have to find what works individually for us. I have gone a month or longer without a change in my scale and I gain weight very quickly if I go off plan for any length of time.

It will be harder, but that's, unfortunately, the nature of the PCOS beast.

I would recommend you look at the Metabolism Miracle Diet. I suffer with PCOS and it is the only diet that have ever done that I see consistent results. I lost about 2 stone on it last year and when I fell off plan because of hurting my back I maintained my weight for about 3 months. Take a peak on amazon and read the first few pages of the book. It is very interesting and easy to follow. I never feel hungry and I don't find myself thinking about food all the time like I used to. If you want to ask me more questions feel free to pm me.

As for the metformin, I am on twice that so it may well be worthwhile asking for the dose to be amended.

Metformin doesn't make you lose weight, it helps you lose weight if you are insulin resistant. When I took it, my diet remained steady, and I didn't lose. The doctor said that was a good way to make sure I wasn't IR (on top of the paperwork) and told me that only people with IR should lose weight with metformin. I've had other doctors in the past put me on it for weight loss, and my current doctor just laughed, because it won't do much if you're not IR.

As for your weight loss- it looks like you're saying you lost 12lbs in 3 weeks? Maybe 4? That's a really high average. Your body is probably still burning fat, but all the water you lost on SB might be coming back a bit. You just have to be patient. There's no way you can eat how you say you're eating and not continue to lose weight in the long run. Give it a couple of weeks.