[AmyVV]

Hello to all. I am new here and I need some help. I have PCOS and have gained alot of weight within the past 5 years. We initally thought the weight gain was caused my going off of Birth Control, and later found out after trying to get pregnant that I have PCOS. The Dr. tells me that it will be hard for me to lose weight, well guess what? It is . If anyone out there has any ideas or tips on how to get this excess weight off please let me know. I want to work out because I know that will help, but I have alot of trouble finding the motivation inside to MAKE me do it. My goal is to lose weight and be healthy again. Please help.....

[nelie]

Amy,
Have you thought about going back onto birth control pills? There is also something else the doctor can give you to help regulate your hormones. When I went on birth control pills, it helped me lose weight.

Tips:
1) cut out refined carbs/sugar - bad bad bad for us
2) monitor your caloric intake - I use fitday.com but use whatever you feel comfortable with
3) Use a mixture of resistance training (weights) and cardio as your exercise - start with a level you are comfortable with and then increase as you get better

As far as getting motivated and staying motivated, my motivation is that I know that if I don't work towards my goal then it isn't going to magically happen.

I hope this helps

[AmyVV]

Nelie,
Thanks for your advise, but however the Dr. dosent want me back on BC for 2 reasons. One I am trying to get Pregnant, and Two, I was on BC from the time I was 13 to 21 without ever missing a pill, non stop without a break. He feels that is one of the problems with me having PCOS. I have a very mild case he says ( no cysts, just the hormonal imbalance and being insulin resitant). He tells me that if I lose a little weight that it may help with my situation. He has put me on Metformin and that has caused me to have a regular period each month. The doctor tells me that I am one person that can lie about my weight and get away with it, but I dont want to have to lie about it, I want to make it a reality.
Thanks for your advise again,
Amy

[ashana]

Hi Amy,
I think I am in the same position that you are in. I just started metformin on Jan 1st. My Dr started my slowly with 1 pill in the evening for 7-10 days and then build up to 4 pills a day (2 in am & 2 in pm). I think he was trying to lessen the side effects (yucky tummy) but I don't know how much it has helped. I go on the full dose tomorrow and am really not looking forward to it. I have not had a period since the week of thanksgiving when I had a D&C to remove polips. I would like to get pregnant some time this year but have a lot of weight to lose first. My dr also stated he thought that my condition would improve by losing weight but that has been hard. I plan on going back on WW monday and trying again. The only "good" thing about this is at least I know what the problem is and that it's not all in my head.

[AmyVV]

Hi Ashana,
Thanks for the reply. I have been on Metformin for quite sometime since I was diagnoised with PCOS, had stopped it because I was tired of taking medication, but I am back on it now and I am having a normal period every 30 to 31 days except for this month. Lets keep our fingers crossed. If I calculated right, then I was ovulating, and maybe that is why I have not started yet. I am only on a 850MG twice a day, once in the morning and once at night, but before when I noticed that nothing was happening I was only on 500MG twice a day, so he upped me, and now things are working like they are suppose to. Do you have PCOS? Sorry if you already mentioned it, I must not have seen it. If you would like to chat I am on MSN Messanger all day pretty much. I am [email protected]
I could go on forever. Hope all works out for everyone,
Amy

[seanrl]

Hi,
These messages sound like me. I am new to this group. I just recently found out that I have PCOS and now I know why I can't lose weight. Has anyone here lost weight while having this syndrome? Is it a life long thing like diabetes that has to be monitored or does it go away with med. My Dr. also has me taking Metformin.

[Anonymouse]

It doesn't go away. You can lose weight, but its very, very, very hard. You're not going to be on the Slimfast commercials saying you lost 70 pounds in 6 months, or LA Weight Loss and Jenny Craig saying you lost weight. And even limiting what you eat, and how much you eat, and exercising like mad won't help a whole lot.
It has to be monitored as far as I know... Although I admit that I don't officially have PCOS. I have something similar but that doesn't respond to the traditional medical treatment women with PCOS get. Most women with PCOS start having a menstrual cycle when they are on birth control pills, but I do not. Even when I was much thinner (I gained at least 180 pounds in about 2 years, give or take a few months), I didn't have a menstrual cycle.
Two or three times a year I have lots of blood taken, and once a year I have a pelvic ultrasound, and the annual GYN visit. We know that my tesosterone level hasn't come down very much, although my insulin level has dropped significantly and so have the blood sugar numbers. Last winter, my blood sugar was around 112. A few weeks ago my medical endocrinologist did an h1ac test, and the average blood sugar was 90. My insulin levels are within 3 points of being normal, and 2 years ago they were over 150.
You may well start having a normal menstrual cycle and have your testosterone and other blood results become normal from the mediciation. You may not.

[seanrl]

Thank you Anonymouse,
That is not very encouraging news. I have gone on health kick crazes but have gotten so fustrated with the lbs. remaining there. It's like no matter what I do it won't come off. Well back to researching this.

[ashana]

I haven't "officially" been told by my gyn that I have PCOS. I went to see my doc in October because I was having a period every 20 days and they were lasting 10 days. Some months I had 2 a month througout the summer. I have always had a weird cycle when not on the pill, I would ususally only have 8-9 periods a year. But for me that was normal. What isn't normal is 2 a month!! The dr had to put me on meds to stop the bleeding and then he did a d&C and removed polips. I had asked him about PCOS when I went for my visit before the d&c and he sent me for blood tests. I had the blood test on 11/23 and the d&c on 11/24. It wasn't until the week before Christmas that the nurse from the office called me to tell me that the Dr was putting me on meds due to insulin resistance. I first assumed it was for diabeties but since I started reading info about metformin I think it is quite a coinsidence that the med is used to treat PCOS which is what I asked him about to begin with. I am supposed to go in for a check up next month and will ask more questions then. I take 4 pills a day but sometimes only take 3 due to my system doesn't handle 4 as well. I have not had a period since I took the med to stop back in November. I am very overweight (about 100lbs) and I have never been like this in my life. After I stopped nursing my son last Feb I gained 25 lbs and that is the same time my periods got all crazy. I am getting a bit depressed about it because in the past if I wanted to lose weight I could rather easily (or at least easier than now) but I seem to be stuck at where I am now. Thankfully I not gaining any more either. I plan to try and stay off the "white stuff" and see if that helps along with the meds.

Has anyone had any positive results??

[emckie]

It amazes me that you all sound like me. It amazes me and in the same breath comforts me. I just want to say thanks. Even just for listening.

[usmcwife1997]

I don't have any advice, as I can't seem to lose weight either(though I totally admit I haven't been very good at sticking to any diet, or excercising much). You're story sounds a lot like mine though-I went off the pill to try to get pregnant and gained about 60lbs in 3/4 months. After a year of trying and not getting pregnant(not to mention not having normal periods) I was diagnosed with PCOS and put on metformin. I took 850mgs of Glucophage 2 times a day. After just a few months I started having regular periods(and I was ovulating). After 6 months of regular cycles, and I still wasn't pregnant, I had an HSG which showed my tubes were clear. So my next cycle I also took Clomid, 50mg on cyle days 5-9. And it worked-I took the Clomid and Glucophage in January, and got my positive pregnancy test on Valentine's Day! October 19 2003 I had my son! It took exactly 2 years, one year after my diagnosis, for me to get pregnant.
Anyway, I wish you luck in trying to concieve, and in losing the lbs.

[original_serendipity]

Anonymouse,
I wanted to ask you, when you said your level was 150, were you referring to your insulin level or your bloodsugar? As for the rest of the ladies here, I totally understand where you've been, albeit I got there through a different route. PCOS and hyperinsulinemia and/or mild insulin resistance go hand in hand. While I was pregnnant with my son in 1995/1996, I developed hyperemisis gravidum. In otherwords, I puked 24/7 for 37 weeks out of 41.5. I lost 35 lbs of my own bodyweight and after I recovered from my c-section (big baby, go figure), my heart was so weak I had to take electrolyte supplements constantly until I gained about 20 lbs. Also, I was extremely hypoglycemic early on in my pregnancy. They told me it would go away once I delivered. Well, I nursed him for 13 months, and it only got worse during that time. They again said, once I weaned him, it would go away. Well, that didn't happen. I began working out harder because I felt really out of shape. My hypoglycemia escalated even more. I transferred to sea duty and slowly began gaining weight, despite my best efforts. I was a cross country runner since I was 15, so I was having a really hard time with the weight gain. After 5 & 1/2 years, a few hysterical fits in my flight surgeon's office, and 130 lbs later, it finally occured to somebody something was wrong and it wasn't my fault. My A1c was 52 (anything below 50 is risk for a coma; anything below 20 is irreversible and death is imminent). My electrolytes were so low, I was at 30% increased risk for seizures, and my hematocrit had dropped to 15%. A normal for a woman is higher than 35%. My RDW was so low, they couldn't get an accurate count. I was more or less so anemic that I would have bled to death almost instantly if I had been injured. This was due to the fact that I had become anorexic, of sorts. The medical guys kept telling me to eat less, workout more. I was consuming less than 500-800 calories a week for about 6 or 8 months. My hair was falling out, my skin was dry and flaking, and my nails stopped growing. By the time I got to an endocrinologist, he looked at me and said, "oh, I can fix this easily." I was so pissed, I was seeing stars. I had to recondition my stomach to accept normal foods. He put me on metformin also. My insulin count was 13. 2 points shy of diabetic. At that time, I was showing no signs of insulin resistance, thank God. How that happened, they don't know. I fell into a 1 in 60,000 category for hyperinsulinemia. The first week on metformin, I lost 10 lbs. I lost another 30 lbs in the following months and then it slowed down again. My insulin count was still normal, but my testosterone was significantly high, leading them to diagnose me with PCOS that developed after I started metformin. I also was finally diagnosed with endometriosis at that time, so I couldn't pinpoint pain to save my ***. He upped my metformin to 1000mg and my weight levelled off. I was never able to get below 200 lbs no matter how hard I tried. For my efforts, I have traumatic osteoaerthritis in both my knees, both my hips, and my lower back. I also have split the cartilege in my hips from running. And tendonitis in my left foot. All while on active duty in the navy. My endocrinologist told me I would probably never lose the weight, or much of it anyway. So, he kept telling me to look into gastric bypass surgery. I was very against the idea, but I researched it anyway. I told myself, if I ever decided to do it, it would be a certain type. In short, I was honorably discharged, reenlistment denied for medical reasons, in mid-October. I asked him for a consult for surgery on a Wedsnesday. I got a call on Friday saying the military insurance already approved it, the surgeon already reviewed my file, approved it and said I was a perfect candidate, and my appointment to talk to the surgeon was on the following Tuesday. I had most of the required labs and such already done. They scheduled my surgery for 13 days later. I didn't have time to panic, needless to say. I won't go into those details, but I am 2.5 weeks post-op and have lost 27 lbs, my testosterone is already dropping rapidly, and I ovulated last week for the first time in about 4 years that I know of.
Please don't look at this as an advertisement for surgery. Last night I was laying in bed, about to cry, thinking, "What have I done to my body?". I have to remind myself that I have completely headed off ever having diabetes, as long as I take care of myself, my PCOS is expected to disappear because the relationship between my pancreas and stomach has changed, and I will be able to have another baby. My only regret is not havng doctors who were paying attention to the signs and listening to me sooner.
You all have my sympathy and hopes in your endeavors and however you choose to approach them. I did weight watchers for a while and had really good results until my insulin started rising again. Best of luck. I know how hard this is.

[Anonymouse]

I was referring to my insulin level. My blood sugar is, and has always been, normal. The h1ac test done in December indicated that my blood sugar is typically in the low 90s. There is no way in I'd ever consider having gastric bypass surgery. I can't see that it would cure what is wrong with me. It would certainly force my body to lose weight, I suppose, but I'm not even positive of that. Last summer I ate less than 800 calories a day, and while I lose some weight it wasn't more than 10 pounds. That was with 2 hours daily of exercise.
And, frankly, you DO NOT know how I feel because you're not me, and you haven't dealt with and been through what I've been through. Please don't try and say you are, and you have. There isn't a thing that we've tried that has worked the way it was supposed to. I still don't have a normal cycle despite birth control pills and spironolactone. The glucophage/metformin made me so sick that I was wearing a winter coat in JUNE inside my classroom in Virginia! It also caused liver damage because I never had any problems with liver enzymes until AFTER I was on that medication. I've had so much blood taken from me, and so many CT scans, ultrasounds and MRIs its amazing I don't glow in the dark! They increased my dosage of spironolactone, and now I'm constantly exhausted and dizzy. The only GOOD thing that happened is that my insulin level has dropped from the high of 150 to 17. That's normal, so I'm allegedly not insulin resistant anymore. Woo hoo!
But now my body doesn't digest what I do eat normally, and I spend my time being nauseated by the mere thought of most foods. So, between being exhausted, dizzy and nauseated, its a wonder I ever leave my apartment!
And I've had just about all I can take of people telling me that they know how I feel, because they don't know how I feel!

[Jennifer 3FC]

Originally Posted by Anonymouse

And, frankly, you DO NOT know how I feel because you're not me, and you haven't dealt with and been through what I've been through. Please don't try and say you are, and you have. ...So, between being exhausted, dizzy and nauseated, its a wonder I ever leave my apartment!
And I've had just about all I can take of people telling me that they know how I feel, because they don't know how I feel!

Please try and be more considerate of other members here. I've read you telling people off too many times here because they try and be sympathetic or compassionate to your troubles, and they TRY and relate to you to open themselves up to support you, and you do not have any reason to respond with nastiness!!

Furthermore, she was addressing everybody, not YOU. "As for the rest of the ladies here, I totally understand where you've been, albeit I got there through a different route. "

[Dagny]

Jennifer 3FC, great post.

AmyVV,

I also have PCOS, and it is hard to lose weight, but most certainly doable. I found the roughest part was getting started. I cannot take Metformin as it gives me major belly troubles. How I found success was to cut out all flour and sugar, and any starchy carbs(ie potatoes and rice). I also walked 6 miles a day, nearly every day. To be honest, the weight started peeling off, but it was time intensive and difficult to not give in to those cravings.

Unfortunately, my weight ballooned to over 200 lbs when pg with my son, and he is now a year old and I have yet to shed the weight. I have all the old symptoms again too. I cannot seem to find the motivation to stick to the proper diet OR to exercise. Having a child doesn't help in that respect, either. I wish I could tell you how to find that motivation.

We have been ttc #2 and have not yet had luck. (been trying for 6 months)

Best of luck~
Dagny