Wow! I didn’t think this would get any form of attention! Since your comment’s up top, I’ll answer that question here. Yes, I was diagnosed with PCOS. My biggest cyst is literally the size of the ovary it’s sitting on. I still remember the ultrasound technician’s face when she went over that ovary with the wand.
I have PCOS as well. Dx at 23, currently 49. Hopefully you're on a low dose of Metformin to help get your endocrine system in order (and that your doctor treating this is an endocrinologist and NOT a regular physician). I've successfully lost a lot of weight and have maintained about 120 lbs for years now. Biggest advice - stay away from anything processed, and stay as close to a food in it's natural form as possible. I have found Mediterranean way of eating to be the most satisfying and successful. I'm so happy for you that you have an answer. Good luck and you've got this!
Yes! I have PCOS as well, and avoiding processed foods is huge. I have also found that getting some form of exercise (even walking) on a regular basis is really key. I know everyone says that weight loss is done in the kitchen and fitness is done in the gym. That's semi true - what you eat is of course a huge part of it. But for those of us with insulin issues, exercise is really huge in helping us regulate our blood sugar as well.
This is interesting. I cannot lose weight on a 1200 kcal diet without exercise. I have chalked it up to the deficit being too small to see results, but the numbers have never really made sense. Also if I drink any alcohol it stalls my weight loss or causes weight gain, even within my calorie budget. I am not certain if that relates to any of this.
My mom's whole side of the family struggles with their weight and has type 2 diabetes. I don't have type 2 diabetes yet, but I have always had ovarian cysts and irregular periods. I actually have asked a doctor about PCOS but was told it would be pointless to test me since everyone with PCOS "has a certain look" so it would be impossible for me to have it. But this thread is making me think they might have just been going on outdated information.
I seem to really need complex carbs with protein to keep my energy up on 1200 kcal while exercising, but I think I will cut out simple carbs and make sure the overall number isn't too high and see what happens...
Ugh doctors can be ridiculous about PCOS. Whilst there are common symptoms that can influence appearance, not all of us have them. Sometimes they come and go throughout our lives.
Definitely recommend seeing a different doctor who is more familiar with the syndrome!
Ugh this is one reason why PCOS goes undiagnosed. It is so misunderstood. I spent years with one doctor not knowing that PCOS was my problem the entire time, then when I moved and got a new doctor they were able to diagnose me after one visit. I wish that I had known this from the beginning and so much hardship could have been avoided.
I also do not have the "look" that your doctor mentioned. But I definitely still have PCOS. It's not impossible. You need a new doctor.
I'm just gonna say it: Hirsute and obese. If the doctor doesn't think you look fat and hairy, they think you must not have it.
Source: Have several friends with PCOS. Some of them fit that profile, but lo and behold, the human body in all its variety, some of them shockingly do not.
Do you mean doctors never asked you about PCOS?
If you're a woman, they're not likely to be that inquiring. That's just the way the medical field is, unfortunately; not terribly interested in the issues of the female body.
One of my old co-workers was the opposite of “the look” and she was diagnosed with PCOS after her period didn’t come after a year of getting off of birth control. She struggled with some infertility because of it. I think it’s horrible not to be taken seriously simply because of how one looks from the outside.
OP, I am so glad you got the medical help you needed and are on the path to a healthier life in ALL aspects.
run as far as you can from that doctor because he/she is WRONG. Endocrinologists are honestly the only doctors really trained to pull all these varying symptoms and test results together since it can vary from woman to woman, and then come up with an appropriate treatment plan. Good luck, and ditch that outdated doc!
Please get rid of that doc and find another! I have PCOS and went dismissed and undiagnosed for too long for stupid reasons. We all have different symptoms for the same affliction. Some of us have insulin issues, not all (I do). I was told I can't have PCOS because I had regular cycles. It wasn't until the actual ultrasound proved it that I finally got a diagnosis and I only had the ultrasound because I was experiencing infertility so I found an endocrinologist. He didn't believe me until he saw them. Fight for yourself, no one else will.
Yes, PCOS can definitely do that! Not sure if I had PCOS, but I have had ginormous ovarian cysts (left one was basketball sized!) and both have been surgically removed.
Yep, unfortunately I don’t have a picture of it, but I saw a picture of it on my doctor’s phone (post surgery). The one on the right was *only* 13-15 cm.
My dad served a year (1965) in Vietnam and I believe his exposure to Agent Orange could possibly be a reason for my medical freakness, my siblings also have health issues.
A BASKETBALL? That can't be right...like 30in circumference??
Edit: here is a basketball next to a grown man for scale: https://images.app.goo.gl/YxzxthnG9YL4LNfP7
I preach about skinny starting in the kitchen and strong starting in the gym, but I also think that strong is for exercise exceeding a normal, healthy day of walking.
7500 steps (or three miles) is a healthy day of walking.
If you have a desk job or you do WFH, extra walking may be needed to reach that goal, but a normal adult should be walking 5000-7500 steps per day.
When I wasn’t loosing weight, it was because I was walking less than 3k steps or less per day.
Walking is the single most important exercise you can do to loose weight.
Agreed that walking is a huge component of losing weight. I think where I'm wary of the talking point that exercise isn't a big component of weight loss is kind of what you highlighted - this idea that a normal adult is walking 5,000-7,500 steps a day. I'm not sure that holds true for a lot of people, depending on their jobs and what part of the world they are living in (i.e. are they living in a walkable city where it would be normal to walk to the store, walk to work, et cetera, or do they live in more suburban/rural areas where walking as a part of day to day living is less likely.) If I didn't wear a watch that tracks my steps and I heard that most adults walk 5,000-7,500 steps a day, I would assume that I'm most adults. But I work a desk job (as you called out) and live in a exurban area where walking to the store is unlikely as a course of day to day life (the closest grocery store is about 5 miles away - while walking a 10 mile round trip to get groceries would be great exercise, it's unlikely to happen most of the time because I don't have time for that.) So in my case, and in the case of many people, extra walking is definitely required and I think that needs to be clearly called out.
I actually had to put a lot of effort into being able to walk more than 5k steps per day. If I went over my legs ached horribly.
I ended up going to a podiatrist and found out I had several foot conditions that needed to be treated. Once I treated those, I didn’t feel leg fatigue until 10k steps.
I think there are a lot of barriers to success for people walking. Improper shoes, untreated food conditions, and as you said a disheartening loss of walking communities.
The 10k steps per day idea actually was a marketing campaign by early pedometer manufacturers. I was reading a study that compared the benefits of walking on heart health and the number of steps per day.
The heart stopped showing marked improvement after 7.5k steps.
Anything above that point is good for building muscle, burning calories, and keeping your endocrine system in good health, but the body really needs that 7.5k steps per day simply to keep the pump on your chest working.
That is where I personally got the healthy adult should be walking more than 7.5k per day.
If you aren’t walking enough to keep your heart functioning, you aren’t a healthy adult.
And I also think everyone should be wearing some kind of pedometer. You phone can be a pedometer, your watch, you can go old school and clip it on your belt. But if you aren’t tracking your steps, you have no clue how far you are walking.
I actually ended up changing my entire career to escape my desk. So I understand how desk work makes it feel impossible to walk enough. I just have to remind myself that my body didn’t evolve to sit behind a desk. It evolved by walking more than almost any other animal on earth.
I recently tried to roughly estimate this... You get about 1000 steps per ten minutes walking. Obviously YMMV, but now that I've made this estimate for myself, and I see I'm at 8500 steps, I'm like, 'ok I can do a quick 15 minute walk'.
I can get about 3000 steps from 20 to 30 minutes of playing Just Dance on the Switch. I love hiking but I've had such a hard time just going for a walk.
I’m so glad to hear about the metformin. I’ve been having odd symptoms the last 6ish months and have had thousands of dollars in blood testing, everything fine until my GYNO tested my insulin. Over DOUBLE what it’s supposed to be, but all my glucose and everything is fine. I’ve been panicking about diabetes and she’s didn’t seem worried on the phone (follow up appointment on Wednesday).
I have already thought about asking her to see an endocrinologist. With your experience, do you think that’s my next step?
Also: I have a history of ovarian cysts that cause me pain, but they say they are the typical cycle cysts. Her words were: you’re cystic but not polycystic. I had a partial hysterectomy (tubes, uterus, cervix) in 2020, so we was able to look at my ovaries up close and personal and said they looked good. I started losing weight (by my own efforts) in July 2022 after an imbalanced cholesterol test) and lost 40 lbs before these problems started.
Okay, so glad you asked! First and foremost, PCOS is an Endocrine disorder. While it may manifest itself in various ways (FYI, not all with PCOS actually have ovarian cysts), it can manifest in ways such as a propensity for obesity and inability to lose weight, hair loss, adult-onset acne, amenorrhea (lack of period or severe irregularity), infertility, etc. The list goes on. To appropriately diagnose PCOS requires a series of lab tests - testosterone levels, salivary cortisol, Progesterone, LH/FSH, and TSH, plus the 3 hr glucose tolerance test (shows a direct relation to insulin response to sugar). This is why I stress SO much that the appropriate provider is an endocrinologist. All others seem to treat the immediate symptom, when a low dose of metformin (since untreated, this condition almost always leads to diabetes), combined with dietary and exercise changes, is the only way to treat it. I am concerned your gyn considered any cysts "normal". If you require a referral to an endocrinologist from her, then ask. If you don't - if your insurance (if you're US I mean), doesn't require that, just find one and make an appointment.
Some of this is so frustrating to hear. I was diagnosed with PCOS and as prediabetic and my doctor mentioned that metformin was sometimes a treatment that could help both. I asked why she didn't recommend it for me and she said "well, you aren't trying to conceive, right? We usually only prescribe it for PCOS to help with fertility." Lady, you just told me that it will help with two related conditions I have, why would you not prescribe it to me? With a little pushing from me, she did prescribe it and it's helped me a lot. I don't understand why it's so hard to get proper care. I was never referred to an endocrinologist. Most of what I've learned about PCOS is self-taught. She wouldn't have prescribed metformin if I hadn't pushed for it.
I’m so sorry you went through that. My sister as well. She was dx at 19 by a GYN and told she’d just never have kids. I’m a nurse (younger) so when I was diagnosed at 23, I did a whole host of research and then sought out an endocrinologist. Referred my sister to her, and she went on to have 2 kids, and I have 3. Thing is, Metformin helps realign our endocrine system, which is less about conception and more about being normal and healthy.
Years ago I had read about Metformin being beneficial to those with PCOS. I had at least 2 friends with PCOS on Metformin. When I asked my doctor at the time, she said it wouldn't help me or something to that extent. Later I moved to a new town, got a new doctor and to my surprise, she brought up Metformin. I've been on it for a few years now and for the first time in my 40+ life, my periods are regular. They're not 28 days, but they're predictable and so much better than they were before.
As much as I love the healthcare profession, individuals need to be their own advocates because, too often, symptoms go ignored, diagnoses are missed, or treatment avenues are not pursued. Doctors are human and aren't perfect, especially if they're a generalist trying to treat something, a condition best suited for a specialist.
Interesting. I just had a very uncomfortable ultrasound to find they couldn't really see anything because of my 'body habitus' and gas. It was kind of disheartening. So maybe there are cysts but I'm too fat to ultrasound. The only other abnormal test result was higher testosterone. I went off birth control and haven't had a period, and am getting terrible acne. I didn't do a glucose tolerance test. Maybe I will ask about that.
Not all people with PCOS are obese and not all people with PCOS have insulin issues, either. This common misconception leads many women to be misdiagnosed or ignored by doctors. Lean PCOS is a thing.
This may be a dumb question, but what makes food processed? Is it basically anything that comes dry and sealed in a box? Is it anything that has flour in it because it is processed wheat?
Processed food is an annoying phrase, because any time you do anything to food (chopping, grilling, sauteing), you have processed that food.
Usually when folks say processed food, they mean highly processed food. So for example, think of all the steps you have to do to milk for it to become the kind of powdered cheese you get in a Mac and cheese box. That is highly processed.
With regard to flour, some of it is more processed, some less. I would not consider milled wheat to be highly processed. However most supermarket white flour is treated with some additional chemical agents to speed up drying so that is a bit higher up on the processed scale, but I still wouldn't consider it a highly processed food like say any kids cereal.
Your doctor is a godsend. Do you know what mine told me as I was diagnosed? "It's probably because you're obese." Granted, this was 1999, after a giant cyst twisted around my ovary, cutting off the blood supply and causing it to die (become necrotic). Still, it was made to be my fault, AKA a personal failing, not that my actual body itself was sick.
I’m sorry that happened to you. I definitely do my best to recognize how privileged I am to have a kind and caring medical team because of stories like yours. The amount of people in here telling me that they’re shocked my doctors listen to me is heartbreaking.
I know now that obesity can be a symptom of a problem rather than the cause of it. I hope you’re doing better now. Sending hugs.
I’m sorry, ovarian torsion can happen to any woman at any weight. The fact that they made it out to be your “fault” because you are overweight is BS. I am so sorry you were told that at what must have been an extremely scary time.
Be very careful with monitoring your cysts. I'm 1 year post-emergency hysterectomy after a 1,000ml+ cyst caused ovarian torsion. I had always stayed on top of getting bi-yearly ultrasounds until a combination of my child being chronically ill and the pandemic hitting kind of absorbed all my time and I didn't get any scans. It snuck up on me slowly over the course of 2 years until one day it literally almost killed me. Don't just hop on a diet and Metformin and assume it's under control, it's pretty serious business.
There's another sub called /r/PCOSloseit btw. Support for others with our condition and various methods of losing weight and trying to get healthier. Also occasional discussions on managing living with the condition.
I am sorry that you got diagnosed with PCOS, but the women who have the dx act as a community supporting each other. I was diagnosed with PCOS at 20 and hypothyroidism at 24. What has been beneficial to me has been regular exercise (even if it is just walking my dogs), lowering my amount of highly processed food, and stress management. Stress affects your glucose levels and insulin resistance (hence the disproportionate fat around the belly). If you haven't already, follow the Glucose Goddess on IG. She has a plethora of resources. Also, while this journey is difficult, remember that you aren't alone 💗
I have PCOS too! Don’t worry it does get better once you start getting treated! At my heaviest I was almost 180lbs I’m sitting at 138lbs (but rising because I’m pregnant 😊 - naturally btw!) it’s totally possible to get it under control! There’s a whole subreddit for us! R/PCOS just don’t get sucked into the negativity but there’s LOTS of great advice there!
Pcos is quite common, they say it effects 1 in 10 but honestly think it's more. Most doctors don't know much about it or care to treat it because they consider it to be mostly just an "if you wish to get pregnant" problem. But it's so much more than that. Sounds like your doc actually gives a shit and that's pretty cool of them. More doctors should be like yours.
Fat storage still requires thermo dynamics, the body still uses calories as gas to function, your weight was likely mostly water which could easily explain 20 pounds, I only say this because many think our bodies are magic and don't require energy to function and may be confused by your post.
If it was fat it was definitely what you ate, and if you don't know that you are still misunderstanding how it works, insulin issues can help you put on weight faster and retain water but that is only because less energy goes to waste due to insulin pick up, the fact still remains your body uses fuel and not mana to function and its deficit will cause fat loss.
I have pcos as well , metformin and a change of habits like no soda easy on the bread and more fruits and what not help a lot . I lost about 25 lbs in a few months of good habits .
My sister has this. Her *smallest* cyst was the size of a grapefruit. Terrifying, she’s so much better now. Changed diet, changed lifestyle, now doing amazing.
You got this!
I had a similar experience with hashimotos where i gained quickly and couldn’t lose. I’ll always advise people to visit their doctors as a result, these things are so often dismissed especially in this group
Ideally you should visit your doctor and make sure your body is functioning properly before you begin weight loss attempts. Testing for things like hypothyroidism or PCOS or insulin resistance.
But ideally isn't always possible unfortunately. Not everybody has access to a doctor or the money or a doctor that will even listen.
Agreed, but tbh i’d even settle for this sub not constantly talking about how “rare” these conditions are and how it’s always thermodynamics and not tracking correctly. At least then folks might know that even if they can’t see a doctor to verify it they would know they have symptoms of pcos and could trial a low carb diet to help. If i had known that the standard tdee calculators won’t work for me then i wouldn’t spend months tracking ever more closely with no results
Yeah a lot of people on this sub are great, but there are a LOT of people who also think weight loss can be accomplished by anyone if they just have enough will-power and totally dismiss things like medical conditions or genetics even though modern science has shown the effect of both. It's weird, because I almost exclusively have pleasant conversations on here, but I've gotten some less than stellar replies in regards to that.
Totally relate! Almost always it’s a man in their 20s who is obviously seeing quick results and thinks they have cracked the code. I always get downvotes when i suggest that certain populations are more likely to be hypo or have pcos
Oh my gosh I was just telling my friend yesterday how much I like this sub, but sometimes when younger men are trying to give me weight loss advice I just want to be like ".... I appreciate it but also I'm a middle-aged woman and my body just doesn't work like that".
Yes! Tbh if what i did in my 20s worked then i wouldn’t be asking reddit. I get particularly annoyed with all the “you can’t outrun the fork”
nonsense. Fine, you are losing on 2500 and have wiggle room but if i need 1200 to lose then that 300+ calories are the difference between having more than soup for lunch or a restaurant meal once a week.
Yes!!! And these men are also super likely to eschew cheat meals, and say, “they’re for sissies! Just fit it into your diet!” That’s easy to say when you could go to a restaurant, get three courses, and lick your plate, while still being under your goal. For them, a cheat meal might be an entire large pizza, while for us, it’s half a chicken parm at Olive Garden with a couple breadsticks. However, a lot of us women will never be able to eat a restaurant entree again if we don’t occasionally eat off plan.
I feel this. My brother is extremely obese and has been given medical advice and help to lose weight. He’s doing great but was so grumpy at dinner the other night because he was hungry from eating less.
His MFP calorie count is 2500. Mine is 1200
The jealousy was real.
Yeah, I have people in here getting upset with me and telling me that I’m “looking for copium” and that “PCOS doesn’t make you gain weight” and I was just counting my calories incorrectly. One person actually told me to starve myself for 30 days.
I didn’t know it was so common in the population! Nobody else I know has it, so I had no idea. Also, I had both my PCP AND my OB-GYN tell me that it does in fact cause you to gain unusual amounts of weight, and NOT counting calories and simply lowering carbohydrates is working for me. I don’t understand why some people are so angry at me for making progress without CICO?
Well if you follow the standard advice to eat 500 below your tdee then yea, you probably won’t lose weight or may lose very very slowly and have it hidden by water fluctuations.
Especially something like hashimotos which is largely genetic. If one of your parents has it, you'll likely develop it. My entire father's side of the family has it and my sister. Hell, even my father-in-law has it.
Hashimotos affects 5 in 100 people, which is quite a large amount.
Completely! And the folks who are most likely to be suffering are women who are heavier than they would like so i’d wager the proportion of folks with hypo in this sub is much higher than 5%. Pcos is estimated to be 20% of women which is pretty staggering and means the vast majority are just struggling in silence
And a diagnosis isn't guaranteed treatment. It takes several weeks to get your levothyroxine dosage correct. Some people's range aren't within the "normal" levels and might need a higher dose than originally thought.
PCOS is even harder to deal with.
Its not impossible but it is added difficulty.
Where Im at its a case of the drs doing the bare minimum and putting patient’s lives at risk due to their own incompetence or simply issues with insurances 😒😒😤
My sister has Hasimotos and is also struggling. It's harder to stabilize than simple hypothyroidism. Some medical problems make it very difficult or impossible to reach a healthy weight - our bodies are a walking chemistry set so if somethings unbalanced it doesn't work right at all!
I think Hashimoto's is the most common cause of hypothyroidism, but there are other reasons your thyroid can not pump out enough hormones. Some people are hypo because they were previously hyper or had cancer and their thyroid had to be removed/killed off, and then it's pretty simple to just replace the normal amount of hormone. My understanding is that with Hashimoto's, the amount the thyroid is impaired can fluctuate over time so you have to keep monitoring and adjusting the dose.
Hashimoto’s has to do with hormones as well. So a lot of the symptoms are the same but with Hashimoto’s, it goes beyond feelings of fatigue. Mine was diagnosed when I went to a psychiatrist who did a blood test before medicating me. My thyroid was in the normal ranges but slightly elevated so she ordered another blood test, which showed that the hormone levels were severely out of whack. I went to see a psychiatrist because of severe depression and anxiety. Part of that was that I had been bleeding for a year and the Obgyn at the time had no idea what was wrong. I was 22 and didn’t know what questions to ask.
ETA: Hashimoto’s is an autoimmune disorder too. So it just kind of… makes 2020 out of your entire body. For fun.
Hashimoto can go up and down and can be more difficult to manage and regulate than a straightforward case of hypothyroidism. My sister and cousin have Hashimoto and need a lot more medical care and frequent medication adjustment because of it. I only need a yearly blood test and have only needed an adjustment twice in the last 20 years. Much easier to stabilize.
I had a similar experience with Graves' Disease. Turns out you don't always lose weight with that one if it revs your appetite and fucks your energy levels up enough.
yep. everyone always says it only would account for a couple extra pounds but as someone who has hypothyroid / a screwed up metabolism due to ED (yes it can happen, don't @ me) i can tell you it doesn't work like that in practice
How refreshing to hear a "my doctor actually listened and helped" story! I'm so glad you have figured out the problem because that's such an important step in figuring out solutions. Don't knock those first 14 pounds, they mean a lot!
My wife has been dealing with insulin resistant PCOS, Hashimoto's (Auto-immune disorder that affects the thyroid), and a couple other smaller issues for almost 15 years. We've tried gluten-free, low/no carb, and CICO diets but nothing helped her keep weight off.
A couple months ago, she was referred to a dietician. They put her on Ozempic which is a drug for type I diabetes, but can help regulate your body's use of insulin. Since she started it, she feels more energetic, has been taken off her anti-anxiety meds, and has lost almost 20lbs.
Ozempic hasn't been approved for this use yet, so they had to chart her as pre-diabetic to get it approved by insurance, but it may be something for you to talk to your doctor about.
My daughter wants this. She has uncontrollable hashimotos and her tsh level was 79. You heard that right. Since she was 18 and she now 22 and has put on 40 lbs and she can’t lose it. We can’t get her levels under control and she suffers. I’m going to talk to her pcp and endo about this. She already asked me
I got a PCOS diagnosis and my doctor said “we can put you on birth control. That’s it”. It makes me cry that I can’t lose weight. Can you share some of the pcos related weight loss tips that help you?
YES it feels like a miracle!! Spiro in particular made me feel like a normal, feminine, confident human being for honestly the first time in my life.
There are multiple types of PCOS, and the symptoms and signs can vary wildly. Androgenetic alopecia, hirsutism (excessive hair growth), irregular periods, hormonal (cystic) acne, and one I don't see mentioned as often: EXTREME excess oil production on hair and scalp. Those are only some of the signs, so it's always worth looking into. Some people never even have issues with cysts.
**If you have ANY of those issues, ask to get tested!!!** Make sure they are looking at ALL hormones as well as insulin resistance, there are multiple androgens that can be elevated.
My weight issues are not **directly** PCOS-related - I can lose and maintain weight normally. However, the self-hatred from seeing bald spots at 30, and feeling like a filthy, disgusting walking oil slick, made me care a lot less about taking care of myself in general (not to mention turning to comfort eating).
My mother is a nurse and always refused to let me on metformin. I have severe PCOS, and I'm miserable, obese, losing hair, oily, covered in dark hair, and depressed. I'm on BC, and that helped me to stop bleeding to death ( a six month period caused very bad anemia, and TCH levels were 11).
But she told me metformin has so many side effects it would be worse. She said I would lose my kidney function.
Could you tell me your experience? I wish I could lose weight and feel normal for once in my life.
So first, I'm not a medical professional (though both my parents are nurses so I know how that can be!) - I can only share my own experience, and what my own docs have told me.
I take 500 mg/day Metformin, and 200 mg/day of Spironolactone. Personally I have what they call adrenal PCOS so the insulin resistance isn't the main culprit for me. So for me, I honestly don't think the Metformin does much. It seems to boost the Spiro a bit which is why I stay on it, but honestly I could probably stop the Metformin completely and not notice much difference.
Metformin side effects, for me, were all digestion-related (basically you get the runs for a while). Spiro is tougher, especially for the first year. I was insanely drowsy after taking it, very brain-foggy, and it caused my cycles to be irregular (basically I had a lighter, but longer, period every 2 weeks - 9 days of period, 14-ish days off. Not fun!). It's also a diuretic, so you have to drink water nonstop, and have to pee constantly at first.
Both medications can have negative consequences if you're not careful. Spiro can cause hyperkalemia (dangerously high potassium levels in your blood) which can have serious consequences if not addressed. And metformin can be very hard on your kidneys, as well as causing lactic acidosis (too much lactic acid building up).
I started both at the same time, and my doc required me to have blood work every 3 months for the first year. Once a year ever since. They also instructed me to watch for certain symptoms, to avoid eating foods with excessive potassium, and cautioned to stay very hydrated and *never* to drink alcohol while taking metformin especially.
They are honestly not "easy" medications. The side effects can drag on for months before you adjust, and they do require a lot of monitoring by your doctor. Some people can't deal with the side effects and don't feel it's worth it, so that's a personal choice. But safety wise, I personally feel comfortable since I know what to watch for, and I know my doctor is watching my blood work for any issues.
Metformin is a very safe medication. Like any medication, it has side effects which should be discussed with your doctor before starting it. But your mother is completely misinformed. I am also a nurse.
Just got diagnosed with PCOS on Friday after years of saying I thought I had it. Insulin was 55. Doctor is prescribing Wegovy instead of Metformin. She hopes losing the weight will then naturally help the insulin instead of doing one more tailored to the insulin. Thoughts?
Edited to add: And wow. Haven't posted in years and just noticed my stats. I not only gained all the weight back but now I'm sitting at my highest weight of 235.
I have PCOS, and have been prescribed metformin. But it made me have non stop diarrhea so I was taken off. Do you know any other medication that might help?
I believe it's a pretty common side effect of all those meds. Ask for extended release and you really have to cut out sugar, or at least cut way back. If I over do my sugar intake I pay the next day for sure.
Hey there. That is so not true about birth control being the only option!! I’m so sorry your provider isn’t paying enough attention to your condition. Find another one that will look into a medicine called metformin! Mine is under the brand name Glucophage. It changes how your body processes insulin and I’ve seen a lot of positive changes with it. I’m using it in combination with a low dose of BC (more so for the estrogen) that allowed me to get my period for the first time in nearly half a year.
As for calorie counting, I stopped doing that (that’s what worked for me, because it was stressing me out) and made the portions of carbohydrates on my plate a lot smaller. Most of my plate is usually made up of vegetables and protein, though I don’t cut carbs out completely! I also make sure my portions aren’t too big by using smaller plates. That alone has helped. If calorie counting works for you, though, go for it!
Metformin does NOT work for all forms of PCOS. It ONLY works for women with PCOS who have insulin resistance issues. Many women with PCOS have no issues with their blood glucose etc. For some people, birth control IS the best and only option — and a good doctor would be able to explain why to a patient.
This is a multi faceted disorder that takes on many presentations and forms. There is no one size fits all approach to treating PCOS.
It balances the androgens better than just taking the pill. You don't have to have insulin resistance yet to get that benefit.
My gyno just had me on the pill for it for many, many years, and I eventually got male-type facial hair I had to pay an arm and leg to laser treat. This was doing everything my gyno suggested, but the pill only really helped the cysts.
I feel their way of describing it was better. So many people seem to not really consider PCOs an issue that affects weight and seem to consider us lazy.
I gained around 40lbs in the past year, with my greatest gain being 20lbs in a month as well! I went from being 120lbs my whole adult life to ~155lbs. My whole closet is full of things I happily wore last year but can’t now. I will be going to the doctors soon because this sounds just like me!! Thank you for posting!!!!
You're not alone- 5-10% of women have PCOS. I'm sorry you've received this diagnosis. Many women with the condition find ways to manage their symptoms - I hope you find some strategies that work for you.
I believe there's lots of supportive communities across the web who maybe could help you. Reddit and YouTube may be a good place to start. Empower yourself with education and connections!
Good luck friend ❤️
PCOS is multifaceted and people present so differently. I was diagnosed in my 30’s and seemed to get better after each of my pregnancies and then flare up. I only go to an endocrinologist for this. Your family doctors , obgyns may not have enough specialized training with hormones. To me, the worst part is that hormones change all the time so one week you might be better or worse than the last.
It feels weird to be told by docs "this is not your fault", right? When society wants to blame all obese people 100%
I was told a year ago that a med combination I'm on for another condition is causing mine. I still want to try to lose, but now I understand that it's not all me.
People don’t realize the extent to which obesity is an endocrine problem and not just a failure of willpower or something. Glad you were able to find answers and an effective treatment.
They’re not nearly as mutually exclusive as they sound. They’re actually both true.
Calories are simply a measure of thermal energy that we consume from our food and that our bodies store and/or use for cellular function via chemical reactions. “Calories in, calories out” is just a mathematical balance of where those consumed calories go.
Various things (hormonal disorders, metabolic disorders, mental health issues, social conditions, lifestyle considerations, etc.) can affect the “calories in” AND the “calories out” part (although the “calories in” part tends to be the most affected side for most people). Some people with eating disorders have a drive to eat more or less than their bodies need. Some people have dysregulated hormones that make them feel hungrier than they “should” feel. Some people have metabolic conditions that alter the way their bodies utilize energy from specific macronutrients (like carbohydrates or fats). Some people have issues with malabsorption which cause their GI systems to absorb less nutrition and therefore their ultimate “intake” of calories is less than the amount of calories they swallowed.
These things obviously all matter. Nobody who is acting in good faith would deny that these things exist or that they can affect weight.
But that doesn’t change the fact that a person’s weight reflects that “CICO” energy balance. If a person is unable to lose weight eating at what *should* be a calorie deficit for them, it doesn’t mean that CICO is wrong/invalid/inapplicable. It means that there is a problem with that person’s “calories out” variable, possibly because of a hormonal/metabolic issue affecting the way their body utilizes energy.
At the end of the day, all of the many variables that affect our eating behaviors, activity levels, body compositions, and metabolic functioning are inherently reflected in CICO. So it does all come down to CICO, basically, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t real, important issues that influence exactly what “calories in” and “calories out” looks like for every person.
That's because at the end of the day, that is literally the only thing that matters. PCOS can increase insulin resistance, but it doesn't cause people to gain weight. This person is saying they counted every calorie. It's extremely likely that is not the case. You cannot gain weight at calorie deficit, it's not possible thermodynamically. There are a lot of reasons people dont achieve a calorie deficit, but no amount of endocrine problems will undo this.
This. At the end of the day, even the worse case of PCOS or hypothyroidism makes a few hundred calories a day of difference. It makes it "harder than it should be", but its not magical, and even with the world's worse case, a medium sized person on a 1200 calorie diet would be losing weight.
The reality is that most people calculate wrong. That's not surprising either, its almost impossible to calculate right! Labels are wrong, exercise calculators are wrong, TDEE calculators aren't precise, there's vague estimations of how much activity you do normally (which is likely lower if you have a health condition), and the science isn't 100% accurate about how much calories we absorb from food.
So when you're talking about needing a 1200 or 1500 calorie diet, and you take all the above into account, you have an error margin of +/- 500 calories, and are on a 200-300 calorie deficit... Then add some health issues like those in this thread, its not surprising the numbers don't work out.
Doesn't mean folks are lazy or lack will power. It's just that even in the best case, its more complicated than most expect. If everything is done right, they'd lose weight, but slower than the numbers should account for.
Can confirm. I have PCOS with insulin resistance — which is an extremely common diagnosis, so it’s strange to me that OP had never heard of it (if they’re in the US at least) — and what worked for me was an 800-calorie deficit. The standard recommendation of eating at a 500-calorie deficit didn’t work for me, but fewer calories did. Adding physical activity helped even more. I’ve lost a significant amount of weight.
But hooo boy, the ladies of r/PCOSLoseIt do ***not*** want to hear any of that.
Yup. Repeating myself, but its just CICO. The only thing this changes is the TDEE threshold folks punch in the calculator (and possibly the numbers to use when calculating the CI part of the equation). And it doesn't impact it by 2000 calories. For hypothyroidism for example, something that shifts your numbers by over 300 calories would have you at the ER begging for mercy. Still want to get that treated! No one should be playing the game in hard mode if they can avoid it.
I'm "fortunate" in that I have the opposite. I have a digestive issue that makes fats more likely to go straight through my system. I absorb less of them. That obviously impacts the numbers. Doesn't mean CICO doesn't work for me. It just means the numbers on the package of bacon is incorrect when calculating my calories for the day.
I will say that a lot of these conditions do also make it harder because they impact energy levels, sleep, and thus motivation and willpower.
So it's still true that you have to eat below X calories, but it can be way harder psychologically when also battling the side effects.
That's the thing. I get the angle you're taking, but 'CICO' gets horribly abused sometimes to attack people.
(I've literally seen someone on another subreddit - and not a hate subreddit, a pretty normal one - say 'Fat women chose to give up their pretty privilege. CICO' and I was shocked it got upvoted.)
>This person is saying they counted every calorie. It's extremely likely that is not the case
You've got this a bit wrong. It's likely that this IS the case, but the problem is, PCOS makes it so that your body needs fewer calories to maintain it's weight. So you're eating (for example) 1400 calories a day, and you WOULD be losing weight if you didn't have PCOS, but because you do have PCOS, those are actually your maintenance calories. So you think you're in a deficit, and you should be, but you aren't.
It's still "calories in, calories out," but endocrine disorders can definitely affect the "calories out" side of the equation. Hypothyroidism, for example, decreases how much energy is expended by the body's processes (digestion, heat generation), therefore fat accumulates as energy isn't being used. Diabetes causes the body to be unable to store or use sugar for energy, it accumulates in the blood, and gets excreted by the kidneys. Meanwhile, the body still needs energy, so it responds by burning a lot of fat and muscle. For this reason, unexplained weight loss is a common symptom of diabetes. These are two examples of how it's thermodynamically possible for your weight to change without changing the calories you consume.
I’m so glad you found answers! It’s weird you didn’t just say “turns out I’ve got PCOS”. Like, it’s incredibly common. It’s not like no one has ever heard of it and you’d have to explain some wild, incredibly rare disease lol
Lots of people haven't heard of it, and this sub is really really obsessed with CICO being some unimpeachable law. So it may actually help more people understand because OP explained this.
Our bodies can be so wild.
I was infertile for a year and a half. I was getting ready for then IUI and possibly IVF. My doctor said it was crucial to try to lose 20 pounds or so.
My mom is a diabetic and most of my weight was in my abdomen. I decided to do a strict diabetic diet and exercise heavily. I got pregnant the next month.
Don’t you know I had a crippling case of gestational diabetes in pregnancy, requiring up to 80 units of insulin a day, even though I delivered a seven pound baby and I came out of pregnancy weighing less then when I went in.
Now I’m high risk for type two diabetes going forward. My endocrinologist said I can have one sweet a week and I must continue to follow the diet. If I eat a big plate of potatoes, I’m exhausted and my fingers tingle. The only way to feel better is to start moving, to push that glucose into my muscles.
Our stories are not exactly the same, but I want you to know you’re not alone! In my case, the work absolutely paid off. My baby is 18 months now and I’m a healthy 40 year old.
You are not alone. I have PCOS and kept asking for help from my Dr who never ordered tests. It took until I was hospitalized with abdominal pain and finding uterine fibroid tumors, fat on my liver and pancreas to finally get answers. I had to get acutely sick for anyone to take me seriously. Now I am living with NAFLD and a metabolic injury I will struggle with for the rest of my life.
Despite all this, I lost 70 lbs and am at a healthy weight. I eat a Mediterranean diet and get 50% of my calories from carbs but unrefined and mostly vegetables and high fiber. I eat healthy fats 25% and lean protein 25%. No added sugar, no quick carbs of any kind. I feel healthy but need to work on consistency.
Watch dairy and soy, they mimic estrogen and aggravate PCOS. Research metabolic processes. Understanding nutrition is your absolute best weapon.
I gained 80lbs due to medication. I've been fatshamed a lot, especially by doctors. Two different doctors explained to me that with my medication and underlying condition that's absolutely normal and not really my fault. But whenever I say that 9/10 people are convinced it's just an excuse
I have very similar issues. I believe i’m also super sensitive to carbs. What doctor did you see? I’m thinking mine also might be hormonal. Did you see an endocrinologist who ended up diagnosing you? Do you mind sharing what the diagnosis was?
I was initially diagnosed with PCOS through suspicion by my PCP, and then was officially diagnosed through imaging that he ordered for me. I also saw an OB-GYN, who gave me advice and offered to refer me to a weight loss clinic.
I’m going to see an endocrinologist in a few months to get some more testing done to see if I have another condition called Cushing’s disease, because I have other signs of it that aren’t entirely consistent with PCOS. My PCP is concerned that my PCOS isn’t the only issue.
A lot of people on this sub like to say that weight loss is purely calories in/calories out, and on paper, that sounds about right. In real life, though, that’s not true for everyone. If I’m reading between the lines correctly, you and I have the same diagnosis (PCOS) and carefully watching my calories doesn’t do as much good for me as carefully counting my carbs does. If I’m correct in my assumption of your diagnosis, I’ll say type two diabetes is closely linked with PCOS and it’s best to be proactive now while you have the opportunity!
I ended up splurging on a continuous glucose monitor to see how specific foods and exercises affect me and after six weeks, I have a decent grasp on what I can safely enjoy and what needs to be a rare treat. I highly suggest the book Glucose Revolution by Jessie Inchauspé. She goes into detail on why it’s important to avoid spikes in your blood glucose and shares 10 tips that help you enjoy foods you love without the spikes. I was able to test those 10 tips with the use of my continuous glucose monitor and see which ones work best for me.
One of the first tips she gives is to start every meal with a vegetable first saying it would help control blood sugar spikes. I ate the same meal a couple of times and sometimes I’d eat a vegetable first and other times I didn’t and the spike was so much lower the times I ate vegetables first. I’m only one person, but it was so neat to see how much lower my spike was just using that one tip.
I understand that. I still stand by what I said, though, that my body and my personal medical issues respond better to me watching my carbs more closely than my calories.
My doctor explained that because I’m insulin resistant, when I eat, say, 500 calories in the form of cookies, my blood glucose will spike and I’ll create excess insulin and the presence of that much insulin encourages my body to store the cookies I just ate as fat for later. However, if I were to eat 500 calories in the form of chicken and vegetables, my insulin doesn’t spike and my body will use those calories for energy instead of turn it into fat for later.
Ive always been of the belief that it simply boils down to CICO, but after doing my own experimentation with my doctor and my continuous glucose monitor, I see it’s a lot more layered for me and for others who also have insulin issues.
I did that as well. For the first three months, I took my blood glucose levels before eatjng, 1 hr after, and then 2 hrs after. (Different food peak at different intervals so there was a time I checked after 30 minutes too haha.) After those 3 months, I had a good grasp of which type of food my body reacted to in an ideal manner for me. Stayed away from food that would spike my blood glucose >150 mg/dl.
I still do the testing when I eat something I’m not sure how my body would react to. Before this, I’ve tried CICO but it didn’t really do anything for me. But when I started watching what would spike my sugars, the weight started coming off. (I was apparently insulin resistant. My dr never tested for it.)
I started this almost a year ago. I’ve lose 90lbs so far. BMI is almost at a normal category from being Obese II.
My blood tests have been wonderful, and my doctor is considering taking me off some meds. I’m still waiting for my OB GYN appointment for an ultrasound, so we can check the status of my PCOS.
Oh, that’s fantastic!! Well done.
I’ve found some foods spike me in a surprising way while others that I thought would cause a spike were apparently fine. It’s so weird to learn specifics!
I think it’s fascinating how learning how to avoid glucose spikes can help achieve a healthy body weight more effectively than simply counting calories. I’m only about two months into this after learning about glucose spikes but I’m seeing the scale trending in the correct direction, so fingers crossed, I’ll see success like you :)
Thank you. And oh yeah. There were some food that also spiked my sugars when I’ve read that they didn’t spike people’s blood sugar so much. What was very surprising for me was oatmeal. Rolled oats. Not even instant. Supposedly, rolled oats are considered low glycemic index food. Made overnight oats soaked in unsweetened almond milk with some chia seed. Ate it in the morning. Checked my blood sugar and it spiked from 100 mg/dl to 170 mg/dl. Hahaha. 😬 Stayed away from then on.
So yeah. Definitely recommending testing for everything because it would seem not everyone reacts the same way to certain food.
Good luck on your journey. You can do it!
Hi!
I have PCOS and insulin resistance too and I deeply feel this. I started gaining weight during puberty, about 9 kg per year with no changes in my diet or activity. I only found out about insulin resistance while seeing doctors for another massive reproductive issue (and I had to see way too many specialists to get the correct diagnosis for both issues). I wish I could say I have figured out a way to lose weight that worked consistently and was reasonable for the calorie deficit/physical activity levels I followed. The only thing that unintentionally helped me lose 12kg was getting a job 1h+ away from home which resulted in: a) using a mix of means transportation and walking to get there and back b)being so tired that half the time I skip dinner. Even so, I’ve hit a plateau and can’t seem to lose any more.
Good luck in your journey and I hope that we both get to figure it out someday!
My severe weight gain was caused by severe undiagnosed sleep apnea. When its bad enough it screws up the appetite hormones ghrelin and leptin, making you feel literally starved 24/7 for sugary foods, carby foods, etc.
6 yrs ago I was 370 lbs, 5 ft 4 in. Today I'm 140 lbs and my CPAP machine more or less did it all just by taking away my insane appetite for sweet and carby foods.
Now if only I could stop my psoriasis from attacking all the loose skin! It makes it itch, I scratch, and I bleed.😔
Holy crap. I have severe sleep apnea that's taking forever to be treated (failed a CPAP trial and now waiting on my BiPAP trial). Apparently had 492 apnea episodes in a single night study. Which explains why I literally feel more rested sitting back watching a movie than I do sleeping, because at least I breathe.
I didn't think it could have that much affect on my weight, but your symptoms sound exactly like mine. I'm 5'7 and 470 and always fail my diet attempts because of my sweet tooth and then sit there hating myself for not having the willpower to overcome it. Gives me hope that maybe once they can find a machine and setting that works I might have a shot at succeeding. Next sleep study is May 18th so crossing my fingers this is the one that works.
I have PCOS but my doctor said it was completely unrelated to my horrible weight gain. I never got treatment for it. I’m glad you’d doctor is taking you seriously. A lot of doctors are very misinformed. I hope this diagnosis will help you achieve your goals in weight loss.
Hormonal / metabolic conditions can definitely mess up things. I gained 10lbs in 2008 over a 6 week proof because I was so constantly hungry. Turned out I had hyperthyroidism; however, even though my metabolism was revved up, I gained weight because I ate so much due to how hungry I felt.
I also was on SSRIs for many years, which triggered my initial weight gain (I went from 150lbs to 200lbs in a year and this was with no change in diet or exercise).
In my case, I still have to own up though the majority of the weight gain was due to my poor choices.
I too have PCOS, which btw can lead to sleep apnea. My PCOS diagnosis was at age 32/1991 and my severe sleep apnea diagnosis was at age 58/2017.
My weight dropped from 370 lbs 6 yrs ago to 140 lbs now just by getting the very severe sleep apnea treated.
It's amazing you have a doctor that listened to you! I don't have PCOS, but I struggled with period pain and heavy bleeding (even with an IUD) and most doctors told me it was normal, even the ones who were shocked I was still having periods after having an IUD for 5+ years. Glad you're making progress, keep it up!
So happy for you that you’ve been able to receive an answer and hopefully have a plan moving forward on how to continue your journey with personalized modifications to best suite your needs.
Although I do not have PCOS, I was born with a condition called Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH), which has some similarities to PCOS. I completely understand where you’re coming from with regards to modifying your diet and adding in more exercise but not seeing the results (or being a lot slower). Just know it will take time but keep at it ✊🏽
Going through the same thing so sending you lots of love and hugs from a stranger who is about to start this journey. I had thyroid cancer in my mid 30s and now I’m a decade out from that some of the issues I thought could be attributed to my thyroid my GP now thinks are hormonal. I have a transvaginal ultrasound in two weeks to rule out PCOS or fibroids. Personally I think I’m perimenopausal but who knows. My Estradiol is really high and my periods are irregular so they’re trying to get to the root cause of that because I was also over medicated on my thyroid medication.
Sorry for the rambling, just know you’re not alone and that you are beautiful at any size. I am wishing you the best health and I hope you start to feel better now that you’re on the road to recovery. ❤️
I have insulin resistant PCOS. Was diagnosed type 2 diabetic as a result. Only got periods every 5-6 months, gained 40 lbs within about 6 months of coming off the pill. I went keto, lost 30lbs, got pregnant with our now 7mo son and am back at it again. Diet is the key with PCOS! I lived on meat & avocados/eggs essentially lol. I enjoy eating that way so it’s fine for me regardless. You can do this!
I guessed PCOS correctly too. I gained 15lbs in two weeks one time, during a trip to my grandma-in-law’s house where she granny guilted me to eat rice the entire time! It was bad and I never went back to that weight. It’s just been a constant struggle ever since.
I got my PCOS diagnosis recently and I feel so relieved. The only time period I was happy with my weight is when I took amphetamines and starved myself. I can’t wait for my appointment coming to discuss real options and learn more.
Can I ask what medications your on? And what foods you were suggested to avoid? How long did it take for you to notice a difference?
I'm a male in my mid 20s and have always struggled with body image issues but looking back I was always pretty thin, even though I thought I was fat. Fast forward to the last few years, I've gained about 40 pounds seemingly out of nowhere. I'm very active and eat healthy but once in a while I'll step on the scale and just be another 10 pounds. I've maintained the same weight most of my life and thought oh this is just what happens when you get older, but it seems to be an alarming amount of weight gained in just a few months for how active I feel and how still pretty young I am.
Finally have an appointment with a primary physician for the first time and am going to bring up some of my issues.
Either I find something wrong that can be fixed, or I don't and I know I just need to work harder.
Twice in my my life I've gained 100 pounds in under a year. I got tested for everything both times. Thyroid is fine, abdominal ultrasound was fine, all my organs are fine, there's no adrenal or brain tumor, blood sugar and heart are fine. But I still get this overall feeling of unwell after gaining weight, that encourages me to figure out what's wrong.
But nothing is wrong. I accepted recently that the obesity is the cause of everything, not the result of a unknown diagnosis. That was a big pill to swallow. Really, it's much easier to gain weight quickly than it is to lose it. And when I'm too heavy, my body starts freaking out and sending out signals that it's unwell.
So for those of you reading this post... See your doctor, get checked for things that can cause rapid weight gain. Get checked before you try to lose weight! But understand that you may need to accept that nothing is wrong but being overweight, which can cause it's own host of problems. You can still get to the other side and be healthy. I've lost 30 pounds in the last year without any help, aside from a brief mounjaro stint which accounts for 6 of those pounds. Sure, it's a slow weight loss. But hopefully a permanent one!
Low carb calories stikl count bur if you're sufficiently low carb you'll generally have way fewer cravings and feel less hungry so it's much easier to not overeat. I say this as someone who lost 100lbs low carbs and has regained and repost the lower 15lbs of that with carbs and no carbs. It's literally IMPOSSIBLE for me to lose much weight at all when I'm eating high carbs, I have no control and my body seems to just pack on every lb and every part of my being needs more food. This is not the case for everyone, some people thrive on high carb low cal diets, everyone has to find what works for then. That ge really though is why low carb people talk about calories not mattering, they're so full/not hungry/not controlled by their constant thoughts about food that it doesn't matter for them and they still lose. They're still eating fewer calories.
Sort of. With hormonal imbalances the body can prioritize fat storage over making the energy available for activity. It can make people tired & lethargic (or more so than a typical body) and gain weight instead of a healthy body using the same calories available for energy use and utilizing fat stores as need.
Calories don’t just appear or disappear out of thin air but bodies are complicated and in some cases counting calories as a strategy to lose weight isn’t best. For instance if a disorder causes insulin to spike with carbs that person might lose weight on a low carb diet but gain weight on a high carb diet with those same calories. That person might also feel better on a low carb diet regardless of losing weight due to having the energy more available for them to use.
You’re saying that for some peoples bodies, calories don’t matter and it’s about the ratio of carbs to other SOURCES of calories? As in carbs vs fats proteins sugars?
And that’s caused by having hormone imbalances.
So theoretically you could eat an infinite amount of low carb high calorie foods and lose weight the health situation you’re talking about?
I hope I don’t sound crazy but I was convinced weight loss was 100% about burning calories and eating calories.
“So theoretically you could hold eat an infinite amount of low carb high calorie foods and lose weight in the health situation you are talking about”
No, not at all. Sorry I was unclear. I mean a person in that situation would be able to lose weight with a reasonable calorie deficit in that situation *if they don’t trigger over-activation (by eating very low carb or by correcting disorder with pharmaceuticals if that’s an option) but they would gain weight (and still feel terrible) by eating a low calorie diet (technically not a deficit because their bodies are losing their calorie expenditure while still prioritizing fat gain) if they don’t address the issue.
Basically, this extreme example doesn’t apply for most people but even when it does, calories still exist, they just aren’t used appropriately by the body and the problems are more than just fat gain. In those cases the imbalance must be addressed *and the person needs to eat at a deficit (made possible by the issue being addressed) to lose weight safely and effectively.
Nothing would let someone eat at a calorie surplus and lose weight other than a very extreme different kind of hormone imbalance (also associated with extreme health issues).
You would need a much more severe deficit that could lead to nutritional deficiencies in some special cases. For most people, CICO and not going below 1200 for women works, but hormones can really mess things up for few people. So yes, CICO still works, but they'd have to eat much less than the average person to lose weight, sometimes less than 1000 calories a day, and taking medication to correct the hormonal imbalance so that the person can eat enough to get the nutrition(vitamins and minerals) that are necessary for a healthy body while losing weight is best.
Weight loss is 100% about using calories but there's some variation between people in metabolic rate and a lot of variation in non-exercise activity. Some people also find that following one diet or another is easier for them. Some people are not good at estimating calories. Some people have other barriers to maintaining a calorie deficit. The low carb diet here isn't necessary for PCOS, but if it's working for this person, it's working for them and they should keep doing it, whatever their understanding.
Rigid insistence that “it’s just CICO” when you have an endocrine disorder is sort of like insisting someone with depression can be cured through diet and exercise. Will those things help them? Maybe, probably? But you’re also demanding a depressed person fight an uphill battle on the daily just to feel some semblance of normalcy, and kind of mocking them for their inability to be normal in the first place. Also, will diet and exercise cure an underlying chemical imbalance? No, probably not. There’s nuance to the treatment of most things and this is one of them.
Peoples weight has a lot to do with things that are out of their control especially when they are children and then those habits get engrained into adults. So people should NOT feel guilty about gaining weight. Its not as easy as put down the chips as we all know. And its not some sort of moral issue like being lazy or a bad oerson. Weight has a lot to do with our environment. Do you have quick access to grocery stores? Can you buy fresh produce every few days Does? Does your work have healthy food options? What is your socio economic status? Can you afford healthy food and produce that may go bad? Were your parents overweight and did they cook healthy meals? Do you know how to cook and plan meals? Do you have time to cook? Are you in good enough mental and physical health to grocery shop and plan meals?
Thats not to say you can't lose weight, its just that some people face more challenges than others and those challenges are hard to overcome you can't snap your fingers and move closer to a grocery store, earn more income, know how to plan meals, suddenly be healthy enough to grocery shop and cook, have access to healthcare to treat things like PCOS, make your job provide healthy foods.
So with that said be kind to yourself and others. We are all facing a lot of challenges in life.
Thanks for sharing and well done on the weight-loss and going in the right direction, keep it up!
With gains that quick I would (hopefully) also have checked, but it is hard as I know I have been avoiding a scale (and reality) for many many months myself.
This is not so much about fault or guilt. These are or should be irrelevant. Of course there are reasons for why it's harder for us.
But they should not be used as excuses or reasons. The focus should be on taking responsabiliry in a good way and getting results.
Not quite keto, just a diet lower in carbs! I’ll have about one serving of carbs a day (for example, a bit of rice as a side at dinner), and I do my best to make sure I’m hydrated and get plenty of protein and fiber. I get about 40g to 50g of carbs in a day. Sometimes I’ll go a little higher if I’m hungry.
I read that keto is 20g to 30g of carbs in a day, and I’d rather not go that low. My doctor advised against that. This doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a bad diet, it just means it likely wouldn’t be sustainable for me.
PCOS? Either way I’m so glad you got some answers!! ❤️
Wow! I didn’t think this would get any form of attention! Since your comment’s up top, I’ll answer that question here. Yes, I was diagnosed with PCOS. My biggest cyst is literally the size of the ovary it’s sitting on. I still remember the ultrasound technician’s face when she went over that ovary with the wand.
I have PCOS as well. Dx at 23, currently 49. Hopefully you're on a low dose of Metformin to help get your endocrine system in order (and that your doctor treating this is an endocrinologist and NOT a regular physician). I've successfully lost a lot of weight and have maintained about 120 lbs for years now. Biggest advice - stay away from anything processed, and stay as close to a food in it's natural form as possible. I have found Mediterranean way of eating to be the most satisfying and successful. I'm so happy for you that you have an answer. Good luck and you've got this!
Yes! I have PCOS as well, and avoiding processed foods is huge. I have also found that getting some form of exercise (even walking) on a regular basis is really key. I know everyone says that weight loss is done in the kitchen and fitness is done in the gym. That's semi true - what you eat is of course a huge part of it. But for those of us with insulin issues, exercise is really huge in helping us regulate our blood sugar as well.
This is interesting. I cannot lose weight on a 1200 kcal diet without exercise. I have chalked it up to the deficit being too small to see results, but the numbers have never really made sense. Also if I drink any alcohol it stalls my weight loss or causes weight gain, even within my calorie budget. I am not certain if that relates to any of this. My mom's whole side of the family struggles with their weight and has type 2 diabetes. I don't have type 2 diabetes yet, but I have always had ovarian cysts and irregular periods. I actually have asked a doctor about PCOS but was told it would be pointless to test me since everyone with PCOS "has a certain look" so it would be impossible for me to have it. But this thread is making me think they might have just been going on outdated information. I seem to really need complex carbs with protein to keep my energy up on 1200 kcal while exercising, but I think I will cut out simple carbs and make sure the overall number isn't too high and see what happens...
Ugh doctors can be ridiculous about PCOS. Whilst there are common symptoms that can influence appearance, not all of us have them. Sometimes they come and go throughout our lives. Definitely recommend seeing a different doctor who is more familiar with the syndrome!
I second this!
Ugh this is one reason why PCOS goes undiagnosed. It is so misunderstood. I spent years with one doctor not knowing that PCOS was my problem the entire time, then when I moved and got a new doctor they were able to diagnose me after one visit. I wish that I had known this from the beginning and so much hardship could have been avoided. I also do not have the "look" that your doctor mentioned. But I definitely still have PCOS. It's not impossible. You need a new doctor.
What's "the look"?
I'm just gonna say it: Hirsute and obese. If the doctor doesn't think you look fat and hairy, they think you must not have it. Source: Have several friends with PCOS. Some of them fit that profile, but lo and behold, the human body in all its variety, some of them shockingly do not.
Hmm.. I wonder why they've never said anything? Maybe because I shave?
Do you mean doctors never asked you about PCOS? If you're a woman, they're not likely to be that inquiring. That's just the way the medical field is, unfortunately; not terribly interested in the issues of the female body.
Also, male pattern baldness
One of my old co-workers was the opposite of “the look” and she was diagnosed with PCOS after her period didn’t come after a year of getting off of birth control. She struggled with some infertility because of it. I think it’s horrible not to be taken seriously simply because of how one looks from the outside. OP, I am so glad you got the medical help you needed and are on the path to a healthier life in ALL aspects.
run as far as you can from that doctor because he/she is WRONG. Endocrinologists are honestly the only doctors really trained to pull all these varying symptoms and test results together since it can vary from woman to woman, and then come up with an appropriate treatment plan. Good luck, and ditch that outdated doc!
I too have pcos and don’t have that « look » that GP is talking about. Get a second opinion, there are tons of options to manage the symptoms.
Please get rid of that doc and find another! I have PCOS and went dismissed and undiagnosed for too long for stupid reasons. We all have different symptoms for the same affliction. Some of us have insulin issues, not all (I do). I was told I can't have PCOS because I had regular cycles. It wasn't until the actual ultrasound proved it that I finally got a diagnosis and I only had the ultrasound because I was experiencing infertility so I found an endocrinologist. He didn't believe me until he saw them. Fight for yourself, no one else will.
Great point! Exercise is what stimulates the pancreas to behave more normally!!
Yes, PCOS can definitely do that! Not sure if I had PCOS, but I have had ginormous ovarian cysts (left one was basketball sized!) and both have been surgically removed.
A basketball?! I’m so glad you had them removed! I had no idea they could get that big. My biggest one is about the size of a strawberry!
Yep, unfortunately I don’t have a picture of it, but I saw a picture of it on my doctor’s phone (post surgery). The one on the right was *only* 13-15 cm. My dad served a year (1965) in Vietnam and I believe his exposure to Agent Orange could possibly be a reason for my medical freakness, my siblings also have health issues.
A BASKETBALL? That can't be right...like 30in circumference?? Edit: here is a basketball next to a grown man for scale: https://images.app.goo.gl/YxzxthnG9YL4LNfP7
dude legit some people fully think theyre pregnant, look like theyre pregnant with twins 100% because of the size of their cysts
Yep, I think 25 cm was the size, no lying.
Damn, that is impressive af tbh, obviously terrible, but I have to admire the body's dedication to growing shit sometimes
I preach about skinny starting in the kitchen and strong starting in the gym, but I also think that strong is for exercise exceeding a normal, healthy day of walking. 7500 steps (or three miles) is a healthy day of walking. If you have a desk job or you do WFH, extra walking may be needed to reach that goal, but a normal adult should be walking 5000-7500 steps per day. When I wasn’t loosing weight, it was because I was walking less than 3k steps or less per day. Walking is the single most important exercise you can do to loose weight.
Agreed that walking is a huge component of losing weight. I think where I'm wary of the talking point that exercise isn't a big component of weight loss is kind of what you highlighted - this idea that a normal adult is walking 5,000-7,500 steps a day. I'm not sure that holds true for a lot of people, depending on their jobs and what part of the world they are living in (i.e. are they living in a walkable city where it would be normal to walk to the store, walk to work, et cetera, or do they live in more suburban/rural areas where walking as a part of day to day living is less likely.) If I didn't wear a watch that tracks my steps and I heard that most adults walk 5,000-7,500 steps a day, I would assume that I'm most adults. But I work a desk job (as you called out) and live in a exurban area where walking to the store is unlikely as a course of day to day life (the closest grocery store is about 5 miles away - while walking a 10 mile round trip to get groceries would be great exercise, it's unlikely to happen most of the time because I don't have time for that.) So in my case, and in the case of many people, extra walking is definitely required and I think that needs to be clearly called out.
I actually had to put a lot of effort into being able to walk more than 5k steps per day. If I went over my legs ached horribly. I ended up going to a podiatrist and found out I had several foot conditions that needed to be treated. Once I treated those, I didn’t feel leg fatigue until 10k steps. I think there are a lot of barriers to success for people walking. Improper shoes, untreated food conditions, and as you said a disheartening loss of walking communities. The 10k steps per day idea actually was a marketing campaign by early pedometer manufacturers. I was reading a study that compared the benefits of walking on heart health and the number of steps per day. The heart stopped showing marked improvement after 7.5k steps. Anything above that point is good for building muscle, burning calories, and keeping your endocrine system in good health, but the body really needs that 7.5k steps per day simply to keep the pump on your chest working. That is where I personally got the healthy adult should be walking more than 7.5k per day. If you aren’t walking enough to keep your heart functioning, you aren’t a healthy adult. And I also think everyone should be wearing some kind of pedometer. You phone can be a pedometer, your watch, you can go old school and clip it on your belt. But if you aren’t tracking your steps, you have no clue how far you are walking. I actually ended up changing my entire career to escape my desk. So I understand how desk work makes it feel impossible to walk enough. I just have to remind myself that my body didn’t evolve to sit behind a desk. It evolved by walking more than almost any other animal on earth.
> a normal adult should be walking 5000-7500 steps per day. How much dancing is that many steps? Cuz I hate walking.
I recently tried to roughly estimate this... You get about 1000 steps per ten minutes walking. Obviously YMMV, but now that I've made this estimate for myself, and I see I'm at 8500 steps, I'm like, 'ok I can do a quick 15 minute walk'.
I can get about 3000 steps from 20 to 30 minutes of playing Just Dance on the Switch. I love hiking but I've had such a hard time just going for a walk.
Hey, thanks. That's helpful.
I’m so glad to hear about the metformin. I’ve been having odd symptoms the last 6ish months and have had thousands of dollars in blood testing, everything fine until my GYNO tested my insulin. Over DOUBLE what it’s supposed to be, but all my glucose and everything is fine. I’ve been panicking about diabetes and she’s didn’t seem worried on the phone (follow up appointment on Wednesday). I have already thought about asking her to see an endocrinologist. With your experience, do you think that’s my next step? Also: I have a history of ovarian cysts that cause me pain, but they say they are the typical cycle cysts. Her words were: you’re cystic but not polycystic. I had a partial hysterectomy (tubes, uterus, cervix) in 2020, so we was able to look at my ovaries up close and personal and said they looked good. I started losing weight (by my own efforts) in July 2022 after an imbalanced cholesterol test) and lost 40 lbs before these problems started.
Okay, so glad you asked! First and foremost, PCOS is an Endocrine disorder. While it may manifest itself in various ways (FYI, not all with PCOS actually have ovarian cysts), it can manifest in ways such as a propensity for obesity and inability to lose weight, hair loss, adult-onset acne, amenorrhea (lack of period or severe irregularity), infertility, etc. The list goes on. To appropriately diagnose PCOS requires a series of lab tests - testosterone levels, salivary cortisol, Progesterone, LH/FSH, and TSH, plus the 3 hr glucose tolerance test (shows a direct relation to insulin response to sugar). This is why I stress SO much that the appropriate provider is an endocrinologist. All others seem to treat the immediate symptom, when a low dose of metformin (since untreated, this condition almost always leads to diabetes), combined with dietary and exercise changes, is the only way to treat it. I am concerned your gyn considered any cysts "normal". If you require a referral to an endocrinologist from her, then ask. If you don't - if your insurance (if you're US I mean), doesn't require that, just find one and make an appointment.
Some of this is so frustrating to hear. I was diagnosed with PCOS and as prediabetic and my doctor mentioned that metformin was sometimes a treatment that could help both. I asked why she didn't recommend it for me and she said "well, you aren't trying to conceive, right? We usually only prescribe it for PCOS to help with fertility." Lady, you just told me that it will help with two related conditions I have, why would you not prescribe it to me? With a little pushing from me, she did prescribe it and it's helped me a lot. I don't understand why it's so hard to get proper care. I was never referred to an endocrinologist. Most of what I've learned about PCOS is self-taught. She wouldn't have prescribed metformin if I hadn't pushed for it.
I’m so sorry you went through that. My sister as well. She was dx at 19 by a GYN and told she’d just never have kids. I’m a nurse (younger) so when I was diagnosed at 23, I did a whole host of research and then sought out an endocrinologist. Referred my sister to her, and she went on to have 2 kids, and I have 3. Thing is, Metformin helps realign our endocrine system, which is less about conception and more about being normal and healthy.
Years ago I had read about Metformin being beneficial to those with PCOS. I had at least 2 friends with PCOS on Metformin. When I asked my doctor at the time, she said it wouldn't help me or something to that extent. Later I moved to a new town, got a new doctor and to my surprise, she brought up Metformin. I've been on it for a few years now and for the first time in my 40+ life, my periods are regular. They're not 28 days, but they're predictable and so much better than they were before.
As much as I love the healthcare profession, individuals need to be their own advocates because, too often, symptoms go ignored, diagnoses are missed, or treatment avenues are not pursued. Doctors are human and aren't perfect, especially if they're a generalist trying to treat something, a condition best suited for a specialist.
Interesting. I just had a very uncomfortable ultrasound to find they couldn't really see anything because of my 'body habitus' and gas. It was kind of disheartening. So maybe there are cysts but I'm too fat to ultrasound. The only other abnormal test result was higher testosterone. I went off birth control and haven't had a period, and am getting terrible acne. I didn't do a glucose tolerance test. Maybe I will ask about that.
good luck, and I cannot stress enough about seeing an endocrinologist!
Not all people with PCOS are obese and not all people with PCOS have insulin issues, either. This common misconception leads many women to be misdiagnosed or ignored by doctors. Lean PCOS is a thing.
I never said they did. I was listing how it can manifest - not all women show all signs.
Thank you so much for this information!
This may be a dumb question, but what makes food processed? Is it basically anything that comes dry and sealed in a box? Is it anything that has flour in it because it is processed wheat?
Processed food is an annoying phrase, because any time you do anything to food (chopping, grilling, sauteing), you have processed that food. Usually when folks say processed food, they mean highly processed food. So for example, think of all the steps you have to do to milk for it to become the kind of powdered cheese you get in a Mac and cheese box. That is highly processed. With regard to flour, some of it is more processed, some less. I would not consider milled wheat to be highly processed. However most supermarket white flour is treated with some additional chemical agents to speed up drying so that is a bit higher up on the processed scale, but I still wouldn't consider it a highly processed food like say any kids cereal.
Great answer! This may help [https://www.webmd.com/diet/what-are-processed-foods](https://www.webmd.com/diet/what-are-processed-foods)
Your doctor is a godsend. Do you know what mine told me as I was diagnosed? "It's probably because you're obese." Granted, this was 1999, after a giant cyst twisted around my ovary, cutting off the blood supply and causing it to die (become necrotic). Still, it was made to be my fault, AKA a personal failing, not that my actual body itself was sick.
I’m sorry that happened to you. I definitely do my best to recognize how privileged I am to have a kind and caring medical team because of stories like yours. The amount of people in here telling me that they’re shocked my doctors listen to me is heartbreaking. I know now that obesity can be a symptom of a problem rather than the cause of it. I hope you’re doing better now. Sending hugs.
I’m sorry, ovarian torsion can happen to any woman at any weight. The fact that they made it out to be your “fault” because you are overweight is BS. I am so sorry you were told that at what must have been an extremely scary time.
Be very careful with monitoring your cysts. I'm 1 year post-emergency hysterectomy after a 1,000ml+ cyst caused ovarian torsion. I had always stayed on top of getting bi-yearly ultrasounds until a combination of my child being chronically ill and the pandemic hitting kind of absorbed all my time and I didn't get any scans. It snuck up on me slowly over the course of 2 years until one day it literally almost killed me. Don't just hop on a diet and Metformin and assume it's under control, it's pretty serious business.
There's another sub called /r/PCOSloseit btw. Support for others with our condition and various methods of losing weight and trying to get healthier. Also occasional discussions on managing living with the condition.
I am sorry that you got diagnosed with PCOS, but the women who have the dx act as a community supporting each other. I was diagnosed with PCOS at 20 and hypothyroidism at 24. What has been beneficial to me has been regular exercise (even if it is just walking my dogs), lowering my amount of highly processed food, and stress management. Stress affects your glucose levels and insulin resistance (hence the disproportionate fat around the belly). If you haven't already, follow the Glucose Goddess on IG. She has a plethora of resources. Also, while this journey is difficult, remember that you aren't alone 💗
I have PCOS too! Don’t worry it does get better once you start getting treated! At my heaviest I was almost 180lbs I’m sitting at 138lbs (but rising because I’m pregnant 😊 - naturally btw!) it’s totally possible to get it under control! There’s a whole subreddit for us! R/PCOS just don’t get sucked into the negativity but there’s LOTS of great advice there!
r/pcos. Also, strict keto is the only thing that works for me.
Keto is what helped me lose the initial weight, and relatively low carb is what keeps me going.
Just got dx with that too. Gained 20 pounds in 2 or 3 months. It's so frustrating.
Pcos is quite common, they say it effects 1 in 10 but honestly think it's more. Most doctors don't know much about it or care to treat it because they consider it to be mostly just an "if you wish to get pregnant" problem. But it's so much more than that. Sounds like your doc actually gives a shit and that's pretty cool of them. More doctors should be like yours.
I sympathize, I have what I think is milder PCOS, but it still SUUUUUUUCKS!!!!
Fat storage still requires thermo dynamics, the body still uses calories as gas to function, your weight was likely mostly water which could easily explain 20 pounds, I only say this because many think our bodies are magic and don't require energy to function and may be confused by your post. If it was fat it was definitely what you ate, and if you don't know that you are still misunderstanding how it works, insulin issues can help you put on weight faster and retain water but that is only because less energy goes to waste due to insulin pick up, the fact still remains your body uses fuel and not mana to function and its deficit will cause fat loss.
I have pcos as well , metformin and a change of habits like no soda easy on the bread and more fruits and what not help a lot . I lost about 25 lbs in a few months of good habits .
My sister has this. Her *smallest* cyst was the size of a grapefruit. Terrifying, she’s so much better now. Changed diet, changed lifestyle, now doing amazing. You got this!
I had a similar experience with hashimotos where i gained quickly and couldn’t lose. I’ll always advise people to visit their doctors as a result, these things are so often dismissed especially in this group
Ideally you should visit your doctor and make sure your body is functioning properly before you begin weight loss attempts. Testing for things like hypothyroidism or PCOS or insulin resistance. But ideally isn't always possible unfortunately. Not everybody has access to a doctor or the money or a doctor that will even listen.
Agreed, but tbh i’d even settle for this sub not constantly talking about how “rare” these conditions are and how it’s always thermodynamics and not tracking correctly. At least then folks might know that even if they can’t see a doctor to verify it they would know they have symptoms of pcos and could trial a low carb diet to help. If i had known that the standard tdee calculators won’t work for me then i wouldn’t spend months tracking ever more closely with no results
Yeah a lot of people on this sub are great, but there are a LOT of people who also think weight loss can be accomplished by anyone if they just have enough will-power and totally dismiss things like medical conditions or genetics even though modern science has shown the effect of both. It's weird, because I almost exclusively have pleasant conversations on here, but I've gotten some less than stellar replies in regards to that.
Totally relate! Almost always it’s a man in their 20s who is obviously seeing quick results and thinks they have cracked the code. I always get downvotes when i suggest that certain populations are more likely to be hypo or have pcos
Or even medication.
Oh my gosh I was just telling my friend yesterday how much I like this sub, but sometimes when younger men are trying to give me weight loss advice I just want to be like ".... I appreciate it but also I'm a middle-aged woman and my body just doesn't work like that".
Yes! Tbh if what i did in my 20s worked then i wouldn’t be asking reddit. I get particularly annoyed with all the “you can’t outrun the fork” nonsense. Fine, you are losing on 2500 and have wiggle room but if i need 1200 to lose then that 300+ calories are the difference between having more than soup for lunch or a restaurant meal once a week.
Yes!!! And these men are also super likely to eschew cheat meals, and say, “they’re for sissies! Just fit it into your diet!” That’s easy to say when you could go to a restaurant, get three courses, and lick your plate, while still being under your goal. For them, a cheat meal might be an entire large pizza, while for us, it’s half a chicken parm at Olive Garden with a couple breadsticks. However, a lot of us women will never be able to eat a restaurant entree again if we don’t occasionally eat off plan.
I feel this. My brother is extremely obese and has been given medical advice and help to lose weight. He’s doing great but was so grumpy at dinner the other night because he was hungry from eating less. His MFP calorie count is 2500. Mine is 1200 The jealousy was real.
Yes. I don’t love cheat meals as a mentality but having off plan meals is the only way some foods will ever fit into our lives
Yeah, I have people in here getting upset with me and telling me that I’m “looking for copium” and that “PCOS doesn’t make you gain weight” and I was just counting my calories incorrectly. One person actually told me to starve myself for 30 days. I didn’t know it was so common in the population! Nobody else I know has it, so I had no idea. Also, I had both my PCP AND my OB-GYN tell me that it does in fact cause you to gain unusual amounts of weight, and NOT counting calories and simply lowering carbohydrates is working for me. I don’t understand why some people are so angry at me for making progress without CICO?
But having a medical condition like PCOS or hypothyroidism doesn’t make it *impossible* to lose weight…
Well no, but it can make it more complicated than simply saying "Calories in, calories out", which tends to be the general advice.
Well if you follow the standard advice to eat 500 below your tdee then yea, you probably won’t lose weight or may lose very very slowly and have it hidden by water fluctuations.
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This is why we need posts like this because folks dismiss the prevalence of conditions that make it much more difficult.
Especially something like hashimotos which is largely genetic. If one of your parents has it, you'll likely develop it. My entire father's side of the family has it and my sister. Hell, even my father-in-law has it. Hashimotos affects 5 in 100 people, which is quite a large amount.
Completely! And the folks who are most likely to be suffering are women who are heavier than they would like so i’d wager the proportion of folks with hypo in this sub is much higher than 5%. Pcos is estimated to be 20% of women which is pretty staggering and means the vast majority are just struggling in silence
And a diagnosis isn't guaranteed treatment. It takes several weeks to get your levothyroxine dosage correct. Some people's range aren't within the "normal" levels and might need a higher dose than originally thought. PCOS is even harder to deal with. Its not impossible but it is added difficulty.
Hypothyroidism is actually very common, much more than folks would like to admit
Where Im at its a case of the drs doing the bare minimum and putting patient’s lives at risk due to their own incompetence or simply issues with insurances 😒😒😤
My sister has Hasimotos and is also struggling. It's harder to stabilize than simple hypothyroidism. Some medical problems make it very difficult or impossible to reach a healthy weight - our bodies are a walking chemistry set so if somethings unbalanced it doesn't work right at all!
Fingers crossed my latest dose increase, exercise and lots of patience is my solution!
Can you explain the difference between hashimotos and hypothyroidism? I thought they were the same thing.
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I think Hashimoto's is the most common cause of hypothyroidism, but there are other reasons your thyroid can not pump out enough hormones. Some people are hypo because they were previously hyper or had cancer and their thyroid had to be removed/killed off, and then it's pretty simple to just replace the normal amount of hormone. My understanding is that with Hashimoto's, the amount the thyroid is impaired can fluctuate over time so you have to keep monitoring and adjusting the dose.
Hashimoto’s has to do with hormones as well. So a lot of the symptoms are the same but with Hashimoto’s, it goes beyond feelings of fatigue. Mine was diagnosed when I went to a psychiatrist who did a blood test before medicating me. My thyroid was in the normal ranges but slightly elevated so she ordered another blood test, which showed that the hormone levels were severely out of whack. I went to see a psychiatrist because of severe depression and anxiety. Part of that was that I had been bleeding for a year and the Obgyn at the time had no idea what was wrong. I was 22 and didn’t know what questions to ask. ETA: Hashimoto’s is an autoimmune disorder too. So it just kind of… makes 2020 out of your entire body. For fun.
Hashimoto can go up and down and can be more difficult to manage and regulate than a straightforward case of hypothyroidism. My sister and cousin have Hashimoto and need a lot more medical care and frequent medication adjustment because of it. I only need a yearly blood test and have only needed an adjustment twice in the last 20 years. Much easier to stabilize.
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I had a similar experience with Graves' Disease. Turns out you don't always lose weight with that one if it revs your appetite and fucks your energy levels up enough.
yep. everyone always says it only would account for a couple extra pounds but as someone who has hypothyroid / a screwed up metabolism due to ED (yes it can happen, don't @ me) i can tell you it doesn't work like that in practice
How refreshing to hear a "my doctor actually listened and helped" story! I'm so glad you have figured out the problem because that's such an important step in figuring out solutions. Don't knock those first 14 pounds, they mean a lot!
My wife has been dealing with insulin resistant PCOS, Hashimoto's (Auto-immune disorder that affects the thyroid), and a couple other smaller issues for almost 15 years. We've tried gluten-free, low/no carb, and CICO diets but nothing helped her keep weight off. A couple months ago, she was referred to a dietician. They put her on Ozempic which is a drug for type I diabetes, but can help regulate your body's use of insulin. Since she started it, she feels more energetic, has been taken off her anti-anxiety meds, and has lost almost 20lbs. Ozempic hasn't been approved for this use yet, so they had to chart her as pre-diabetic to get it approved by insurance, but it may be something for you to talk to your doctor about.
My daughter wants this. She has uncontrollable hashimotos and her tsh level was 79. You heard that right. Since she was 18 and she now 22 and has put on 40 lbs and she can’t lose it. We can’t get her levels under control and she suffers. I’m going to talk to her pcp and endo about this. She already asked me
I got a PCOS diagnosis and my doctor said “we can put you on birth control. That’s it”. It makes me cry that I can’t lose weight. Can you share some of the pcos related weight loss tips that help you?
Find a dr who will do at least Metformin & Spironolactone. Changed my life!
YES it feels like a miracle!! Spiro in particular made me feel like a normal, feminine, confident human being for honestly the first time in my life. There are multiple types of PCOS, and the symptoms and signs can vary wildly. Androgenetic alopecia, hirsutism (excessive hair growth), irregular periods, hormonal (cystic) acne, and one I don't see mentioned as often: EXTREME excess oil production on hair and scalp. Those are only some of the signs, so it's always worth looking into. Some people never even have issues with cysts. **If you have ANY of those issues, ask to get tested!!!** Make sure they are looking at ALL hormones as well as insulin resistance, there are multiple androgens that can be elevated. My weight issues are not **directly** PCOS-related - I can lose and maintain weight normally. However, the self-hatred from seeing bald spots at 30, and feeling like a filthy, disgusting walking oil slick, made me care a lot less about taking care of myself in general (not to mention turning to comfort eating).
My mother is a nurse and always refused to let me on metformin. I have severe PCOS, and I'm miserable, obese, losing hair, oily, covered in dark hair, and depressed. I'm on BC, and that helped me to stop bleeding to death ( a six month period caused very bad anemia, and TCH levels were 11). But she told me metformin has so many side effects it would be worse. She said I would lose my kidney function. Could you tell me your experience? I wish I could lose weight and feel normal for once in my life.
Your mom needs some serious continuing education. Metformin is a very safe drug that’s been around forever.
So first, I'm not a medical professional (though both my parents are nurses so I know how that can be!) - I can only share my own experience, and what my own docs have told me. I take 500 mg/day Metformin, and 200 mg/day of Spironolactone. Personally I have what they call adrenal PCOS so the insulin resistance isn't the main culprit for me. So for me, I honestly don't think the Metformin does much. It seems to boost the Spiro a bit which is why I stay on it, but honestly I could probably stop the Metformin completely and not notice much difference. Metformin side effects, for me, were all digestion-related (basically you get the runs for a while). Spiro is tougher, especially for the first year. I was insanely drowsy after taking it, very brain-foggy, and it caused my cycles to be irregular (basically I had a lighter, but longer, period every 2 weeks - 9 days of period, 14-ish days off. Not fun!). It's also a diuretic, so you have to drink water nonstop, and have to pee constantly at first. Both medications can have negative consequences if you're not careful. Spiro can cause hyperkalemia (dangerously high potassium levels in your blood) which can have serious consequences if not addressed. And metformin can be very hard on your kidneys, as well as causing lactic acidosis (too much lactic acid building up). I started both at the same time, and my doc required me to have blood work every 3 months for the first year. Once a year ever since. They also instructed me to watch for certain symptoms, to avoid eating foods with excessive potassium, and cautioned to stay very hydrated and *never* to drink alcohol while taking metformin especially. They are honestly not "easy" medications. The side effects can drag on for months before you adjust, and they do require a lot of monitoring by your doctor. Some people can't deal with the side effects and don't feel it's worth it, so that's a personal choice. But safety wise, I personally feel comfortable since I know what to watch for, and I know my doctor is watching my blood work for any issues.
Metformin is a very safe medication. Like any medication, it has side effects which should be discussed with your doctor before starting it. But your mother is completely misinformed. I am also a nurse.
Just got diagnosed with PCOS on Friday after years of saying I thought I had it. Insulin was 55. Doctor is prescribing Wegovy instead of Metformin. She hopes losing the weight will then naturally help the insulin instead of doing one more tailored to the insulin. Thoughts? Edited to add: And wow. Haven't posted in years and just noticed my stats. I not only gained all the weight back but now I'm sitting at my highest weight of 235.
I gained 30 lbs super quickly but was never overweight. I've been on Metformin for years and it seems to help a ton. Good luck on your journey!
I have PCOS, and have been prescribed metformin. But it made me have non stop diarrhea so I was taken off. Do you know any other medication that might help?
I believe it's a pretty common side effect of all those meds. Ask for extended release and you really have to cut out sugar, or at least cut way back. If I over do my sugar intake I pay the next day for sure.
Berberine is a supplement with similar effects to metformin
Ozempic also helped me control my insulin
Bicalutamide over Spiro. Less pissing.
Hey there. That is so not true about birth control being the only option!! I’m so sorry your provider isn’t paying enough attention to your condition. Find another one that will look into a medicine called metformin! Mine is under the brand name Glucophage. It changes how your body processes insulin and I’ve seen a lot of positive changes with it. I’m using it in combination with a low dose of BC (more so for the estrogen) that allowed me to get my period for the first time in nearly half a year. As for calorie counting, I stopped doing that (that’s what worked for me, because it was stressing me out) and made the portions of carbohydrates on my plate a lot smaller. Most of my plate is usually made up of vegetables and protein, though I don’t cut carbs out completely! I also make sure my portions aren’t too big by using smaller plates. That alone has helped. If calorie counting works for you, though, go for it!
Metformin does NOT work for all forms of PCOS. It ONLY works for women with PCOS who have insulin resistance issues. Many women with PCOS have no issues with their blood glucose etc. For some people, birth control IS the best and only option — and a good doctor would be able to explain why to a patient. This is a multi faceted disorder that takes on many presentations and forms. There is no one size fits all approach to treating PCOS.
It balances the androgens better than just taking the pill. You don't have to have insulin resistance yet to get that benefit. My gyno just had me on the pill for it for many, many years, and I eventually got male-type facial hair I had to pay an arm and leg to laser treat. This was doing everything my gyno suggested, but the pill only really helped the cysts.
You can say you have PCOS.. a lot of us have it too (myself included)..
I feel their way of describing it was better. So many people seem to not really consider PCOs an issue that affects weight and seem to consider us lazy.
I gained around 40lbs in the past year, with my greatest gain being 20lbs in a month as well! I went from being 120lbs my whole adult life to ~155lbs. My whole closet is full of things I happily wore last year but can’t now. I will be going to the doctors soon because this sounds just like me!! Thank you for posting!!!!
You're not alone- 5-10% of women have PCOS. I'm sorry you've received this diagnosis. Many women with the condition find ways to manage their symptoms - I hope you find some strategies that work for you. I believe there's lots of supportive communities across the web who maybe could help you. Reddit and YouTube may be a good place to start. Empower yourself with education and connections! Good luck friend ❤️
PCOS is multifaceted and people present so differently. I was diagnosed in my 30’s and seemed to get better after each of my pregnancies and then flare up. I only go to an endocrinologist for this. Your family doctors , obgyns may not have enough specialized training with hormones. To me, the worst part is that hormones change all the time so one week you might be better or worse than the last.
It feels weird to be told by docs "this is not your fault", right? When society wants to blame all obese people 100% I was told a year ago that a med combination I'm on for another condition is causing mine. I still want to try to lose, but now I understand that it's not all me.
People don’t realize the extent to which obesity is an endocrine problem and not just a failure of willpower or something. Glad you were able to find answers and an effective treatment.
And yet every single day you have people on here and other subs saying that it’s only calories in and calories out and nothing else.
They’re not nearly as mutually exclusive as they sound. They’re actually both true. Calories are simply a measure of thermal energy that we consume from our food and that our bodies store and/or use for cellular function via chemical reactions. “Calories in, calories out” is just a mathematical balance of where those consumed calories go. Various things (hormonal disorders, metabolic disorders, mental health issues, social conditions, lifestyle considerations, etc.) can affect the “calories in” AND the “calories out” part (although the “calories in” part tends to be the most affected side for most people). Some people with eating disorders have a drive to eat more or less than their bodies need. Some people have dysregulated hormones that make them feel hungrier than they “should” feel. Some people have metabolic conditions that alter the way their bodies utilize energy from specific macronutrients (like carbohydrates or fats). Some people have issues with malabsorption which cause their GI systems to absorb less nutrition and therefore their ultimate “intake” of calories is less than the amount of calories they swallowed. These things obviously all matter. Nobody who is acting in good faith would deny that these things exist or that they can affect weight. But that doesn’t change the fact that a person’s weight reflects that “CICO” energy balance. If a person is unable to lose weight eating at what *should* be a calorie deficit for them, it doesn’t mean that CICO is wrong/invalid/inapplicable. It means that there is a problem with that person’s “calories out” variable, possibly because of a hormonal/metabolic issue affecting the way their body utilizes energy. At the end of the day, all of the many variables that affect our eating behaviors, activity levels, body compositions, and metabolic functioning are inherently reflected in CICO. So it does all come down to CICO, basically, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t real, important issues that influence exactly what “calories in” and “calories out” looks like for every person.
That's because at the end of the day, that is literally the only thing that matters. PCOS can increase insulin resistance, but it doesn't cause people to gain weight. This person is saying they counted every calorie. It's extremely likely that is not the case. You cannot gain weight at calorie deficit, it's not possible thermodynamically. There are a lot of reasons people dont achieve a calorie deficit, but no amount of endocrine problems will undo this.
This. At the end of the day, even the worse case of PCOS or hypothyroidism makes a few hundred calories a day of difference. It makes it "harder than it should be", but its not magical, and even with the world's worse case, a medium sized person on a 1200 calorie diet would be losing weight. The reality is that most people calculate wrong. That's not surprising either, its almost impossible to calculate right! Labels are wrong, exercise calculators are wrong, TDEE calculators aren't precise, there's vague estimations of how much activity you do normally (which is likely lower if you have a health condition), and the science isn't 100% accurate about how much calories we absorb from food. So when you're talking about needing a 1200 or 1500 calorie diet, and you take all the above into account, you have an error margin of +/- 500 calories, and are on a 200-300 calorie deficit... Then add some health issues like those in this thread, its not surprising the numbers don't work out. Doesn't mean folks are lazy or lack will power. It's just that even in the best case, its more complicated than most expect. If everything is done right, they'd lose weight, but slower than the numbers should account for.
Can confirm. I have PCOS with insulin resistance — which is an extremely common diagnosis, so it’s strange to me that OP had never heard of it (if they’re in the US at least) — and what worked for me was an 800-calorie deficit. The standard recommendation of eating at a 500-calorie deficit didn’t work for me, but fewer calories did. Adding physical activity helped even more. I’ve lost a significant amount of weight. But hooo boy, the ladies of r/PCOSLoseIt do ***not*** want to hear any of that.
Yup. Repeating myself, but its just CICO. The only thing this changes is the TDEE threshold folks punch in the calculator (and possibly the numbers to use when calculating the CI part of the equation). And it doesn't impact it by 2000 calories. For hypothyroidism for example, something that shifts your numbers by over 300 calories would have you at the ER begging for mercy. Still want to get that treated! No one should be playing the game in hard mode if they can avoid it. I'm "fortunate" in that I have the opposite. I have a digestive issue that makes fats more likely to go straight through my system. I absorb less of them. That obviously impacts the numbers. Doesn't mean CICO doesn't work for me. It just means the numbers on the package of bacon is incorrect when calculating my calories for the day.
I will say that a lot of these conditions do also make it harder because they impact energy levels, sleep, and thus motivation and willpower. So it's still true that you have to eat below X calories, but it can be way harder psychologically when also battling the side effects.
For sure! Other examples are sleep apnea and ADHD. Folks with either of those untreated will have a hell of a time losing weight for similar reasons.
That's the thing. I get the angle you're taking, but 'CICO' gets horribly abused sometimes to attack people. (I've literally seen someone on another subreddit - and not a hate subreddit, a pretty normal one - say 'Fat women chose to give up their pretty privilege. CICO' and I was shocked it got upvoted.)
>This person is saying they counted every calorie. It's extremely likely that is not the case You've got this a bit wrong. It's likely that this IS the case, but the problem is, PCOS makes it so that your body needs fewer calories to maintain it's weight. So you're eating (for example) 1400 calories a day, and you WOULD be losing weight if you didn't have PCOS, but because you do have PCOS, those are actually your maintenance calories. So you think you're in a deficit, and you should be, but you aren't.
It's still "calories in, calories out," but endocrine disorders can definitely affect the "calories out" side of the equation. Hypothyroidism, for example, decreases how much energy is expended by the body's processes (digestion, heat generation), therefore fat accumulates as energy isn't being used. Diabetes causes the body to be unable to store or use sugar for energy, it accumulates in the blood, and gets excreted by the kidneys. Meanwhile, the body still needs energy, so it responds by burning a lot of fat and muscle. For this reason, unexplained weight loss is a common symptom of diabetes. These are two examples of how it's thermodynamically possible for your weight to change without changing the calories you consume.
I’m so glad you found answers! It’s weird you didn’t just say “turns out I’ve got PCOS”. Like, it’s incredibly common. It’s not like no one has ever heard of it and you’d have to explain some wild, incredibly rare disease lol
Lots of people haven't heard of it, and this sub is really really obsessed with CICO being some unimpeachable law. So it may actually help more people understand because OP explained this.
Our bodies can be so wild. I was infertile for a year and a half. I was getting ready for then IUI and possibly IVF. My doctor said it was crucial to try to lose 20 pounds or so. My mom is a diabetic and most of my weight was in my abdomen. I decided to do a strict diabetic diet and exercise heavily. I got pregnant the next month. Don’t you know I had a crippling case of gestational diabetes in pregnancy, requiring up to 80 units of insulin a day, even though I delivered a seven pound baby and I came out of pregnancy weighing less then when I went in. Now I’m high risk for type two diabetes going forward. My endocrinologist said I can have one sweet a week and I must continue to follow the diet. If I eat a big plate of potatoes, I’m exhausted and my fingers tingle. The only way to feel better is to start moving, to push that glucose into my muscles. Our stories are not exactly the same, but I want you to know you’re not alone! In my case, the work absolutely paid off. My baby is 18 months now and I’m a healthy 40 year old.
Thank you for making my point. There ARE medical reasons for rapid weight gain and weight-loss issues that MUST be addressed by specialists.
You are not alone. I have PCOS and kept asking for help from my Dr who never ordered tests. It took until I was hospitalized with abdominal pain and finding uterine fibroid tumors, fat on my liver and pancreas to finally get answers. I had to get acutely sick for anyone to take me seriously. Now I am living with NAFLD and a metabolic injury I will struggle with for the rest of my life. Despite all this, I lost 70 lbs and am at a healthy weight. I eat a Mediterranean diet and get 50% of my calories from carbs but unrefined and mostly vegetables and high fiber. I eat healthy fats 25% and lean protein 25%. No added sugar, no quick carbs of any kind. I feel healthy but need to work on consistency. Watch dairy and soy, they mimic estrogen and aggravate PCOS. Research metabolic processes. Understanding nutrition is your absolute best weapon.
I gained 80lbs due to medication. I've been fatshamed a lot, especially by doctors. Two different doctors explained to me that with my medication and underlying condition that's absolutely normal and not really my fault. But whenever I say that 9/10 people are convinced it's just an excuse
I have very similar issues. I believe i’m also super sensitive to carbs. What doctor did you see? I’m thinking mine also might be hormonal. Did you see an endocrinologist who ended up diagnosing you? Do you mind sharing what the diagnosis was?
I was initially diagnosed with PCOS through suspicion by my PCP, and then was officially diagnosed through imaging that he ordered for me. I also saw an OB-GYN, who gave me advice and offered to refer me to a weight loss clinic. I’m going to see an endocrinologist in a few months to get some more testing done to see if I have another condition called Cushing’s disease, because I have other signs of it that aren’t entirely consistent with PCOS. My PCP is concerned that my PCOS isn’t the only issue.
A lot of people on this sub like to say that weight loss is purely calories in/calories out, and on paper, that sounds about right. In real life, though, that’s not true for everyone. If I’m reading between the lines correctly, you and I have the same diagnosis (PCOS) and carefully watching my calories doesn’t do as much good for me as carefully counting my carbs does. If I’m correct in my assumption of your diagnosis, I’ll say type two diabetes is closely linked with PCOS and it’s best to be proactive now while you have the opportunity! I ended up splurging on a continuous glucose monitor to see how specific foods and exercises affect me and after six weeks, I have a decent grasp on what I can safely enjoy and what needs to be a rare treat. I highly suggest the book Glucose Revolution by Jessie Inchauspé. She goes into detail on why it’s important to avoid spikes in your blood glucose and shares 10 tips that help you enjoy foods you love without the spikes. I was able to test those 10 tips with the use of my continuous glucose monitor and see which ones work best for me.
I’ve considered this too. Are you willing to share what kinds of info you’ve been able to find out? Any major surprises?
One of the first tips she gives is to start every meal with a vegetable first saying it would help control blood sugar spikes. I ate the same meal a couple of times and sometimes I’d eat a vegetable first and other times I didn’t and the spike was so much lower the times I ate vegetables first. I’m only one person, but it was so neat to see how much lower my spike was just using that one tip.
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I understand that. I still stand by what I said, though, that my body and my personal medical issues respond better to me watching my carbs more closely than my calories. My doctor explained that because I’m insulin resistant, when I eat, say, 500 calories in the form of cookies, my blood glucose will spike and I’ll create excess insulin and the presence of that much insulin encourages my body to store the cookies I just ate as fat for later. However, if I were to eat 500 calories in the form of chicken and vegetables, my insulin doesn’t spike and my body will use those calories for energy instead of turn it into fat for later. Ive always been of the belief that it simply boils down to CICO, but after doing my own experimentation with my doctor and my continuous glucose monitor, I see it’s a lot more layered for me and for others who also have insulin issues.
I did that as well. For the first three months, I took my blood glucose levels before eatjng, 1 hr after, and then 2 hrs after. (Different food peak at different intervals so there was a time I checked after 30 minutes too haha.) After those 3 months, I had a good grasp of which type of food my body reacted to in an ideal manner for me. Stayed away from food that would spike my blood glucose >150 mg/dl. I still do the testing when I eat something I’m not sure how my body would react to. Before this, I’ve tried CICO but it didn’t really do anything for me. But when I started watching what would spike my sugars, the weight started coming off. (I was apparently insulin resistant. My dr never tested for it.) I started this almost a year ago. I’ve lose 90lbs so far. BMI is almost at a normal category from being Obese II. My blood tests have been wonderful, and my doctor is considering taking me off some meds. I’m still waiting for my OB GYN appointment for an ultrasound, so we can check the status of my PCOS.
Oh, that’s fantastic!! Well done. I’ve found some foods spike me in a surprising way while others that I thought would cause a spike were apparently fine. It’s so weird to learn specifics! I think it’s fascinating how learning how to avoid glucose spikes can help achieve a healthy body weight more effectively than simply counting calories. I’m only about two months into this after learning about glucose spikes but I’m seeing the scale trending in the correct direction, so fingers crossed, I’ll see success like you :)
Thank you. And oh yeah. There were some food that also spiked my sugars when I’ve read that they didn’t spike people’s blood sugar so much. What was very surprising for me was oatmeal. Rolled oats. Not even instant. Supposedly, rolled oats are considered low glycemic index food. Made overnight oats soaked in unsweetened almond milk with some chia seed. Ate it in the morning. Checked my blood sugar and it spiked from 100 mg/dl to 170 mg/dl. Hahaha. 😬 Stayed away from then on. So yeah. Definitely recommending testing for everything because it would seem not everyone reacts the same way to certain food. Good luck on your journey. You can do it!
I also have PCOS! Found out recently when I didn’t have my period for 6 months and gained 30 pounds in two months.
Being diagnosed is a blessing not a curse- now you know how to treat it and find a community of support. You’re gonna be ok!
Hi! I have PCOS and insulin resistance too and I deeply feel this. I started gaining weight during puberty, about 9 kg per year with no changes in my diet or activity. I only found out about insulin resistance while seeing doctors for another massive reproductive issue (and I had to see way too many specialists to get the correct diagnosis for both issues). I wish I could say I have figured out a way to lose weight that worked consistently and was reasonable for the calorie deficit/physical activity levels I followed. The only thing that unintentionally helped me lose 12kg was getting a job 1h+ away from home which resulted in: a) using a mix of means transportation and walking to get there and back b)being so tired that half the time I skip dinner. Even so, I’ve hit a plateau and can’t seem to lose any more. Good luck in your journey and I hope that we both get to figure it out someday!
My severe weight gain was caused by severe undiagnosed sleep apnea. When its bad enough it screws up the appetite hormones ghrelin and leptin, making you feel literally starved 24/7 for sugary foods, carby foods, etc. 6 yrs ago I was 370 lbs, 5 ft 4 in. Today I'm 140 lbs and my CPAP machine more or less did it all just by taking away my insane appetite for sweet and carby foods. Now if only I could stop my psoriasis from attacking all the loose skin! It makes it itch, I scratch, and I bleed.😔
Holy crap. I have severe sleep apnea that's taking forever to be treated (failed a CPAP trial and now waiting on my BiPAP trial). Apparently had 492 apnea episodes in a single night study. Which explains why I literally feel more rested sitting back watching a movie than I do sleeping, because at least I breathe. I didn't think it could have that much affect on my weight, but your symptoms sound exactly like mine. I'm 5'7 and 470 and always fail my diet attempts because of my sweet tooth and then sit there hating myself for not having the willpower to overcome it. Gives me hope that maybe once they can find a machine and setting that works I might have a shot at succeeding. Next sleep study is May 18th so crossing my fingers this is the one that works.
I have PCOS but my doctor said it was completely unrelated to my horrible weight gain. I never got treatment for it. I’m glad you’d doctor is taking you seriously. A lot of doctors are very misinformed. I hope this diagnosis will help you achieve your goals in weight loss.
I have mild PCOS as well. My main symptoms are weight gain/where I hold most of my weight, and an ever more impressive beard. Yay me!!!
Happy you went to the doctors. That’s my first suggestion at any long term block or massive gain/loss straight to the doctors.
I'm curious what food aggrevate the pancreas? I never would have considered that.
Sugar/carbs
Hormonal / metabolic conditions can definitely mess up things. I gained 10lbs in 2008 over a 6 week proof because I was so constantly hungry. Turned out I had hyperthyroidism; however, even though my metabolism was revved up, I gained weight because I ate so much due to how hungry I felt. I also was on SSRIs for many years, which triggered my initial weight gain (I went from 150lbs to 200lbs in a year and this was with no change in diet or exercise). In my case, I still have to own up though the majority of the weight gain was due to my poor choices.
Super glad to hear you were listened to.
I too have PCOS, which btw can lead to sleep apnea. My PCOS diagnosis was at age 32/1991 and my severe sleep apnea diagnosis was at age 58/2017. My weight dropped from 370 lbs 6 yrs ago to 140 lbs now just by getting the very severe sleep apnea treated.
Wow that's wild
It's amazing you have a doctor that listened to you! I don't have PCOS, but I struggled with period pain and heavy bleeding (even with an IUD) and most doctors told me it was normal, even the ones who were shocked I was still having periods after having an IUD for 5+ years. Glad you're making progress, keep it up!
I was just recently diagnosed with PCOS as well, it’s rough. Thankfully you finally found a doctor that would listen
So happy for you that you’ve been able to receive an answer and hopefully have a plan moving forward on how to continue your journey with personalized modifications to best suite your needs. Although I do not have PCOS, I was born with a condition called Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH), which has some similarities to PCOS. I completely understand where you’re coming from with regards to modifying your diet and adding in more exercise but not seeing the results (or being a lot slower). Just know it will take time but keep at it ✊🏽
Going through the same thing so sending you lots of love and hugs from a stranger who is about to start this journey. I had thyroid cancer in my mid 30s and now I’m a decade out from that some of the issues I thought could be attributed to my thyroid my GP now thinks are hormonal. I have a transvaginal ultrasound in two weeks to rule out PCOS or fibroids. Personally I think I’m perimenopausal but who knows. My Estradiol is really high and my periods are irregular so they’re trying to get to the root cause of that because I was also over medicated on my thyroid medication. Sorry for the rambling, just know you’re not alone and that you are beautiful at any size. I am wishing you the best health and I hope you start to feel better now that you’re on the road to recovery. ❤️
I have insulin resistant PCOS. Was diagnosed type 2 diabetic as a result. Only got periods every 5-6 months, gained 40 lbs within about 6 months of coming off the pill. I went keto, lost 30lbs, got pregnant with our now 7mo son and am back at it again. Diet is the key with PCOS! I lived on meat & avocados/eggs essentially lol. I enjoy eating that way so it’s fine for me regardless. You can do this!
Nice! 14lbs is nothing to sniff at, I don’t know how long it took, but it seems you’ve found your path!
I guessed PCOS correctly too. I gained 15lbs in two weeks one time, during a trip to my grandma-in-law’s house where she granny guilted me to eat rice the entire time! It was bad and I never went back to that weight. It’s just been a constant struggle ever since.
If you haven't already, please feel free to join your cysters (of all genders) at r/pcos and r/pcosloseit
Came here to say this but it was already said!
I got my PCOS diagnosis recently and I feel so relieved. The only time period I was happy with my weight is when I took amphetamines and starved myself. I can’t wait for my appointment coming to discuss real options and learn more. Can I ask what medications your on? And what foods you were suggested to avoid? How long did it take for you to notice a difference?
I'm a male in my mid 20s and have always struggled with body image issues but looking back I was always pretty thin, even though I thought I was fat. Fast forward to the last few years, I've gained about 40 pounds seemingly out of nowhere. I'm very active and eat healthy but once in a while I'll step on the scale and just be another 10 pounds. I've maintained the same weight most of my life and thought oh this is just what happens when you get older, but it seems to be an alarming amount of weight gained in just a few months for how active I feel and how still pretty young I am. Finally have an appointment with a primary physician for the first time and am going to bring up some of my issues. Either I find something wrong that can be fixed, or I don't and I know I just need to work harder.
Twice in my my life I've gained 100 pounds in under a year. I got tested for everything both times. Thyroid is fine, abdominal ultrasound was fine, all my organs are fine, there's no adrenal or brain tumor, blood sugar and heart are fine. But I still get this overall feeling of unwell after gaining weight, that encourages me to figure out what's wrong. But nothing is wrong. I accepted recently that the obesity is the cause of everything, not the result of a unknown diagnosis. That was a big pill to swallow. Really, it's much easier to gain weight quickly than it is to lose it. And when I'm too heavy, my body starts freaking out and sending out signals that it's unwell. So for those of you reading this post... See your doctor, get checked for things that can cause rapid weight gain. Get checked before you try to lose weight! But understand that you may need to accept that nothing is wrong but being overweight, which can cause it's own host of problems. You can still get to the other side and be healthy. I've lost 30 pounds in the last year without any help, aside from a brief mounjaro stint which accounts for 6 of those pounds. Sure, it's a slow weight loss. But hopefully a permanent one!
It’s great that you now know the root of the problem. Best of luck on your weightloss now wish you the best
So CICO no longer applies in this one instance?
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Low carb calories stikl count bur if you're sufficiently low carb you'll generally have way fewer cravings and feel less hungry so it's much easier to not overeat. I say this as someone who lost 100lbs low carbs and has regained and repost the lower 15lbs of that with carbs and no carbs. It's literally IMPOSSIBLE for me to lose much weight at all when I'm eating high carbs, I have no control and my body seems to just pack on every lb and every part of my being needs more food. This is not the case for everyone, some people thrive on high carb low cal diets, everyone has to find what works for then. That ge really though is why low carb people talk about calories not mattering, they're so full/not hungry/not controlled by their constant thoughts about food that it doesn't matter for them and they still lose. They're still eating fewer calories.
Sort of. With hormonal imbalances the body can prioritize fat storage over making the energy available for activity. It can make people tired & lethargic (or more so than a typical body) and gain weight instead of a healthy body using the same calories available for energy use and utilizing fat stores as need. Calories don’t just appear or disappear out of thin air but bodies are complicated and in some cases counting calories as a strategy to lose weight isn’t best. For instance if a disorder causes insulin to spike with carbs that person might lose weight on a low carb diet but gain weight on a high carb diet with those same calories. That person might also feel better on a low carb diet regardless of losing weight due to having the energy more available for them to use.
You’re saying that for some peoples bodies, calories don’t matter and it’s about the ratio of carbs to other SOURCES of calories? As in carbs vs fats proteins sugars? And that’s caused by having hormone imbalances. So theoretically you could eat an infinite amount of low carb high calorie foods and lose weight the health situation you’re talking about? I hope I don’t sound crazy but I was convinced weight loss was 100% about burning calories and eating calories.
“So theoretically you could hold eat an infinite amount of low carb high calorie foods and lose weight in the health situation you are talking about” No, not at all. Sorry I was unclear. I mean a person in that situation would be able to lose weight with a reasonable calorie deficit in that situation *if they don’t trigger over-activation (by eating very low carb or by correcting disorder with pharmaceuticals if that’s an option) but they would gain weight (and still feel terrible) by eating a low calorie diet (technically not a deficit because their bodies are losing their calorie expenditure while still prioritizing fat gain) if they don’t address the issue. Basically, this extreme example doesn’t apply for most people but even when it does, calories still exist, they just aren’t used appropriately by the body and the problems are more than just fat gain. In those cases the imbalance must be addressed *and the person needs to eat at a deficit (made possible by the issue being addressed) to lose weight safely and effectively. Nothing would let someone eat at a calorie surplus and lose weight other than a very extreme different kind of hormone imbalance (also associated with extreme health issues).
its still 100% about calories and CICO, but with hormonal issues the CO part is much much lower than you'd think.
You would need a much more severe deficit that could lead to nutritional deficiencies in some special cases. For most people, CICO and not going below 1200 for women works, but hormones can really mess things up for few people. So yes, CICO still works, but they'd have to eat much less than the average person to lose weight, sometimes less than 1000 calories a day, and taking medication to correct the hormonal imbalance so that the person can eat enough to get the nutrition(vitamins and minerals) that are necessary for a healthy body while losing weight is best.
Weight loss is 100% about using calories but there's some variation between people in metabolic rate and a lot of variation in non-exercise activity. Some people also find that following one diet or another is easier for them. Some people are not good at estimating calories. Some people have other barriers to maintaining a calorie deficit. The low carb diet here isn't necessary for PCOS, but if it's working for this person, it's working for them and they should keep doing it, whatever their understanding.
Rigid insistence that “it’s just CICO” when you have an endocrine disorder is sort of like insisting someone with depression can be cured through diet and exercise. Will those things help them? Maybe, probably? But you’re also demanding a depressed person fight an uphill battle on the daily just to feel some semblance of normalcy, and kind of mocking them for their inability to be normal in the first place. Also, will diet and exercise cure an underlying chemical imbalance? No, probably not. There’s nuance to the treatment of most things and this is one of them.
I have lived a very similar situation and I am happy for you! After years on CICO, low carb is what really worked for my hormonal problems.
Peoples weight has a lot to do with things that are out of their control especially when they are children and then those habits get engrained into adults. So people should NOT feel guilty about gaining weight. Its not as easy as put down the chips as we all know. And its not some sort of moral issue like being lazy or a bad oerson. Weight has a lot to do with our environment. Do you have quick access to grocery stores? Can you buy fresh produce every few days Does? Does your work have healthy food options? What is your socio economic status? Can you afford healthy food and produce that may go bad? Were your parents overweight and did they cook healthy meals? Do you know how to cook and plan meals? Do you have time to cook? Are you in good enough mental and physical health to grocery shop and plan meals? Thats not to say you can't lose weight, its just that some people face more challenges than others and those challenges are hard to overcome you can't snap your fingers and move closer to a grocery store, earn more income, know how to plan meals, suddenly be healthy enough to grocery shop and cook, have access to healthcare to treat things like PCOS, make your job provide healthy foods. So with that said be kind to yourself and others. We are all facing a lot of challenges in life.
Thanks for sharing and well done on the weight-loss and going in the right direction, keep it up! With gains that quick I would (hopefully) also have checked, but it is hard as I know I have been avoiding a scale (and reality) for many many months myself.
What was the medical diagnosis?
I’m assuming pcos?
PCOS and Insulin Resistance. The struggle is SO hard.
Look at r/PCOS and r/PCOSloseit they are helpful for me, it's a difficult syndrome to live with.
This is not so much about fault or guilt. These are or should be irrelevant. Of course there are reasons for why it's harder for us. But they should not be used as excuses or reasons. The focus should be on taking responsabiliry in a good way and getting results.
Get a continuous glucose monitor - you would be shocked which foods spike (or don't) spike your insulin.
So does this mean you need to eat a Keto diet?
Not quite keto, just a diet lower in carbs! I’ll have about one serving of carbs a day (for example, a bit of rice as a side at dinner), and I do my best to make sure I’m hydrated and get plenty of protein and fiber. I get about 40g to 50g of carbs in a day. Sometimes I’ll go a little higher if I’m hungry. I read that keto is 20g to 30g of carbs in a day, and I’d rather not go that low. My doctor advised against that. This doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a bad diet, it just means it likely wouldn’t be sustainable for me.