Been there, done that, worn the T-shirt (in all sizes from UK8 to UK18). I have endometriosis and PCOS and I've been on and off all kinds of hormones for the last 18 years. On the Pill, weight on, off the Pill, weight off. Onto new hormones, weight on, then IVF treatment, weight on, pregnant - weight OFF, breastfeeding, weight on, period suppressing drugs, weight on, HRT MORE weight on, I have bras all the way from 36C to 40G, every month I took my hormones my boobs went up a size and never came back down again. I'm sick of not being able to see over my chest to do anything like even buttoning up a shirt. Then came the steroids...
In this country they are so scared people will stop taking their mediction if it mentions weight gain that all the side-effects leaflets say "changes in weight". If only they said "you might expand whoppingly on this nonsense" I'd have watched what I ate more closely, but most people complained of uncontrolled weight LOSS on the injection when I started it I thought I'd scored a good cheat, but I just got hairy, fat and annoyed with everyone.
I'm battling through as best I can, and for years I did just blame the hormones entirely and say I'll try to control my weight when the treatment is all done instead of saying I'll take the best control that is in my hands today so I don't blow up like a balloon. Didn't need a (male!) doctor smugly saying "there are no calories in hormones" either. That may be true, but they make me retain litres and litres of water, some days I pee every 15 minutes and other days once every 5 hours and I drink exactly the same. They also made me so hungry and drove my blood sugar out of whack.
The main part of this is coming to an end in about March next year when my hormones stabilise after a total hysterectomy, but then there's the HRT argument to be won, I say no, doctor says compulsory I say good luck putting the organs back in once you've done it and I refuse. [evil laughter]
It's one of those really depressing moments where they say well if only you were closer to your ideal weight the side-effects would be much less, but oh I forgot, you will diet as hard as everyone else and lose 1lb a month. Grah! But either you can decide it's unfair and open another pint of ice-cream or you can say life is unfair but either I tackle this or I don't, and 1lb a month will get there in the end and I'll be all the stronger for it. My blood sugars and appetite quickly stabilised with improved diet, which has never happened before because I've never kept a check on what my diet is made of and how often I eat, just cut calories and eaten whatever is under my calorie target. This feels much better eating regular good quality food.
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