I weigh 293 (again), and I have regular ovulatory cycles. I have IR.

So what was your first clue to check for PCOS? I've never even heard of it until I found this message board! I just go about my days with my regular ovulatory cycles and cramps and then its over--never thought anything of it. I don't know if PCOS came along with IR at this point because it doesn't cause me enough issues to worry, nor am I trying to conceive at any point in the foreseeable future so ehhh.

What does bother me is my insulin 5x the normal level in my body. I'm so angry that this happened and I'm hoping like crazy the Metformin begins to correct it. I've read many great stories on here about women having successful weight loss with it so I'm hoping with Met and my bodybuilding workouts & pre-contest diet that I'll be back to my old self soon! Kinda hoping I don't have a thyroid issue too...

Its been about 6 days on the Met so far and I seem to be tolerating it well. No major issues to complain about other than I seem to be having the opposite of the bathroom issues most people have--I can't seem to produce a good/frequent BM for some reason, hmm....

Please keep us posted!!! I, too, cannot lose weight no matter what I do. I used to think anyone who wasn't lean wasn't putting in the effort. Now I want to shout and cry because I've been putting in the effort for years but gain body fat. I stopped Metformin about a year ago because I was hallucinating at night, but now I'm thinking I might need to do it gain?

Seriously!?
 

AWESOME. Bodybuilding pre-contest diet & 4-day lifting split & taking Metformin for a week and a half I have GAINED 6 lbs. Are you kidding me?!? What the $%^&* kinda crap is this??? Omg, if I wasn't completely distraught before, this is surely gonna do it. My weight is climbing while I purposely went on medication to get it to do the exact opposite??

I understand that it takes about a month for the Met to build up in your system, but I'd figure with 5x the normal amount of insulin levels in my body, starting medication would have helped regulate that even just a little so far as to not cause a GAIN. 6 pounds??! In 12 days. This is absolutely unacceptable. I was better off 12 days ago NOT taking this stupid Met. What the **** am I counting calories for and eating the same few foods for? I hate being a "negative nancy" by I am never gonna be able to get on stage and compete at this rate. This is absurd. Wow, depressing. My head's all messed up right now. On my end, I can't possibly do anything better! I can't eat better cause I'm already eating 100% clean counting & weighing every food I take in. I can't workout more cause I'm on my hardcore pre-contest lifting routine. Diet + exercise = nothing. Fantastic. :?:

Quadzilla12: That sucks. I'm sorry.



Maybe you could see a different doctor?

So its been 5.5 weeks on the 1000mg/daily Met and I've GAINED 8 more lbs. WITH working out 5 days per week and eating only 2100 calories per day. I maintain my weight around 2800 cals and now here I am gaining on less. Sweet. Tomorrow I'm calling my doc to figure what else is wrong with me here. I don't know if I should ask for a thyroid panel blood test, increase in Met to 2000mg daily, I don't know what to eat each day, I don't know anything anymore.

After 10 years of bodybuilding & dieting I know how my body SHOULD function and what I need to do to get lean like before, but none of that has actually worked in years due to this stupid IR.

I'm curious what you ladies consider "low carb" ?? At this point I'm willing to cut more carbs to try to lose weight even if it affects my workouts because this is ridiculous still gaining. I've read some people eating less than 60g carbs, less than 30g carbs... As a competitive bodybuilder, I tend to think of low carbs as 100-130g per day. Anything less than that and I'm gonna be wiped out during my lifting sessions. BUT I'll do it if that seems to be the general consensus on how low my carbs need to go to begin to see some fat loss results. I've done years and years or low-no carb ketogenic dieting so maybe I'll switch back to that.

I'm just so confused and upset at the state my body is in despite all my excellent dieting & working out habits for the past 10 years... I don't know what to do first. I wish I could have some success in this like many other ladies online here now that I know I'm indeed IR and trying to treat it properly.

It's different for everyone, but I tend to lose best between 75-100 carbs a day. I learned this by starting with really low carb (20-30) and then adding back 5-10 more carbs for a few days until I reached the point where I was no longer losing and gaining. But, I also do well with carb cycling where I have a low Atkins type day followed by a higher 100 carb day.

When you have IR or PCOS/IR the number of calories to maintain or gain do not mesh up well with average BMR or what works well for others. For example, I can gain weight on 1000 calories if it is mostly carbs. But, I will lose really well if that 1000 calories were mostly protein/fat.

The magic number or carbs and calories will vary by person, though. In my experience, extreme workouts (possibly including heavy lifting) can be too taxing on the body when if/when the person has PCOS/IR. My own body responds better to walking and yoga than intense workouts. This may or may not be the case for you...and it may take some time and experimenting to figure out how much your body can handle before it gets too taxing.

Good luck to you as you "relearn" what works for your IR or PCOS body.

I have never heard of anything like this I'm so sorry. If this was happening to me I'd stop lifting and only do cardio on a 1,200 cal diet until I could figure out WTH is going on. I would also get a 2nd opinion. :hug:

Have you had a complete thyroid panel? I gained 35 pounds in 6 months with zero changes in eating or exercise habits before I was finally diagnosed with a thyroid problem. I also have extreme vitamin d deficiency which can effect weight. It took me 3 different doctors to get the right one who could diagnose me correctly. I hope you get answers, if not keep searching until you get the right Dr to help you. Good luck!

Quadzilla,
I am not a body builder, But i know how you feel... I found out friday... I presented at a 42...

I am stunned... Because i struggled with weightloss for years, then this time, i'm finally seeing success.. I finally started eating better, and exercising.... and then this...

I have no idea how to make the right food choices, I am scared to eat... and I feel so sick from the metformin...

Hang in here... Your not alone :)

Have you done a food allergy test? According to "The Virgin Diet" book, most people are slightly allergic to the 7 "bad boy" modern foods today: gluten, soy, dairy, eggs, corn, peanuts, sugar and sweeteners. She claims if you eliminate those, your weight loss will start up again.

Also, I went through a body-building type phase, and I must say that whey protein caused me to gain pure FAT. I could not understand it. I started getting a double chin. I'm not sure if you rely on powders/supplements like that? :( I feel for you. I went through the same thing. I was killing myself at Crossfit and gained like 15lbs of fat. It was so embarrassing!!!

Thank you so much for all the responses, ladies!! I appreciate it :)

I called my doc today and he said to stop the Met. It didn't cause me any bad issues, but it's obviously not helping either. That was a temporary solution I asked for in the meanwhile before I could see my endocrinologist on May 8th--so I'll just have to wait it out at this point. Doc said he doesn't think the Met caused the weight gain--just that my insulin serum level is at an 83 and its supposed to be under 17, so that's still causing weight gain on its own.

My doc told me I don't have to drop carbs even further at this point and just to hang on til the endo can run a battery of tests to figure out why my insulin is so high. Either way, blood sugar still excellent and A1C still excellent. I talked to a nurse today who had diabetes and she made me feel a lot better about my situation. Though I don't have diabetes, she described to me her situation about what her insulin levels do and how she gains and loses 10-20 lbs in 2 weeks sometimes. She understood my frustration and at least I felt better after speaking to her.

Michelle, I've never had a food allergy test, but I normally eat only eggs regularly out of that list. I've switched to almond "milk" and eat walnuts/almonds, but no peanuts... a greek yogurt cup once in a greaaat while. Love eggs though! And whey protein powder I do like quite a bit, but I tend to focus more on whole foods. If I'm running late for school/work, I'll make a shake with water. Hmm....

I went to an endocrinologist a few days ago and she was puzzled. Said she's not sure why my PCP doc told me my insulin was an issue. She was also wondering why my PCP didn't order a thyroid test if I'm having so much trouble losing weight with 5x workouts and strict dieting. The endo told me to wait until 6 days after my TOM to get the blood test done and by the look of what she ordered me to be tested for, I'm thinking she's thinking I have PCOS. She wants tested: TSH, Free T4, Thyroglobulin AB, Thyroperoxidase AB, Estrogen, Free testosterone, progesterone, androstenone, prolactin, DHEA, LH, FSH, etc.... Like 12 things!! Seems like she's thinking its a PCOS issue.

Now that I think about it besides the fact that I can't lose weight no matter what I do, I do have some facial hair growth I pluck regularly and thought I might be losing some hair on my head once in a while in addition to the red dots/dermititis rash I get around my TOM. These things never bothered me though so I never stepped back and looked at it. I only focused and was stressed out about never being able to lose weight. If indeed I have PCOS, why did 1000mg Met NOT help me when I tried it for 6 weeks?! It didn't do a darn thing in my opinion and I continued to gain weight the whole time :/ I get to wait til mid-June now to figure out this next part...

Every doctor I see thinks I have PCOS, but all my blood work is fine. The only thing that was ever a problem was my insulin levels (around 80 - 85) and high cholesterol (but I was eating 10,000+ calories of fast food a day, what did I expect?). Metformin did not work for me either, but what did was a diet called "The Carbohydrate Addict's Diet" by Drs. Richard and Rachel Heller. I was on it for almost 2 years, and have been able to switch to a mostly Paleo Diet (except for cheese, chocolate, white potatoes (2x/month), and a random thing here or there). I run 10 - 30 miles a week (depending on how rough a week my students give me), and have just recently started adding strength training (mainly pull ups, sit ups, dips, squats, handstands, etc.).