The PCOS Support Thread

[ChicknThief]

Anyone else out there have PCOS? (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome)

I was just diagnosed last Thursday. I don't know exactly how it all ties together, but I guess as a result of my untreated PCOS, I am now insulin resistant and well on my way to being pre-diabetic.

Those of you who have PCOS know the side effects. Weight gain, bulk up easily with exercise (due to all the extra insulin in our blood that then turns into testosterone), irregular menses, facial hair (gasp!), infertility, increased risk of miscarriage, etc. The list goes on.

My doc has put me on Metformin with the expectation that I won't really start seeing results for about six months, and it won't be at full capacity until it has been in my system for about 2 years

I started the Metformin on Friday. Oh. My. God. The side effects. Pepto Bismal is my only friend. Nausea and *uncontrollable* diarrhea. And I am only taking 1/3 the dose I am supposed to be. I need to work myself up to 3 pills every morning and I am still only taking 1. Any Metformin veterans out there that can give some tips on speeding the adjustment my body needs to make?

And now for the hardest part, the PCOS diet.

For the next month, I can't eat anything that has sugar, baked goods (bread etc), yogurt, bananas, beer, white wine, potatoes, rice, pasta.

So that basically leaves proteins, fruits (except bananas), and vegetables. You would NOT believe some of the things I have learned have sugar in them. Like, EVERYTHING has sugar in it. It's insane.

After this first month (the restrictive phase) I can move on to the "maintenance phase" which will last indefinitely. Which is basically the same thing except I am allowed to have 2-4 servings per week of the "bad" stuff.

I also am not allowed to go more than 3 hours without eating. All of this is to prevent my body from putting out an overdose of insulin. So I pretty much eat 6 small meals on any given day.

There are pros and cons to this. Since I eat so often and there are no restrictions of how much I eat, I am really never hungry (and am already losing weight!). Most of what I can eat is very tasty. Lots of nuts, berries, salads, etc. I am slowly learning to experiment to create more complicated foods that I can eat. Last night I made a dish with ground beef, black beans, cheddar cheese, and taco seasoning that I served over lettuce. It was delicious!

Cons are the cravings. Bread. I really miss bread lol. And I am Italian, so going without pasta for the foreseeable future is depressing. But! I am finding that the longer I hold out, the less intense the cravings are when they hit.

I have no idea how many people here are going through the same thing. I know I will be posting here occasionally, and you are welcome to do the same. Feel free to share stories, recipe's, vent, etc. It's always good to know you aren't alone.

 

[furbabymum]

I'm sorry to hear of your problems. I have PCOS but I think it's pretty mild. I faint if I don't eat often enough. It took almost 4 years to have our first child. They were worried about a particular ovarian cyst. It looked cancerous so I got the entire cancer talk. Scared the hell out of me! Anyway. Preggo with my second child now and not complaining. So sorry yours is so horrible. I think I'd probably die without donuts.

 

[TriciaHowe]

I was diagnosed about 15 years ago with pcos when hubby and I couldn't get pg. I went to an infertility Dr. and was able to get pg with my 2nd month of clomid. I did try metformin but the side effects were more than I could handle. There was a new drug on the market then called Avandia that was my god send. It's not on the market anymore to my knowledge though. It was awesome! Got pg with #2 a couple of months after starting it. Had my left ovary removed when she was born (c/sect) because of a huge dermoid tumor. Got pg w/3 and 4 on Avandia as well. No more kids for us, but my symptoms really lessened a lot after I had my ovary removed and have been pretty much symptom free since.
Good luck to you. It can be managed! PS I also try to follow a low carb/high protein diet. It really seems to help. I don't do ANY artificial sweeteners though. Agave syrup is my friend for my coffee. Low glycemic index and it tastes great. I would recommend that you look into either South Beach Diet or Paleo. Both are great for IR people like us!

 

[ChicknThief]

I'm sorry to hear of your problems. I have PCOS but I think it's pretty mild. I faint if I don't eat often enough. It took almost 4 years to have our first child. They were worried about a particular ovarian cyst. It looked cancerous so I got the entire cancer talk. Scared the hell out of me! Anyway. Preggo with my second child now and not complaining. So sorry yours is so horrible. I think I'd probably die without donuts.

I know what you mean! I have only been doing this for 5 days, and already I start to feel weak and nauseous if I go longer than a couple of hours without eating *something*, no matter how insubstantial. And let me tell you, I am getting SO SICK of nuts! Lol.

I was diagnosed about 15 years ago with pcos when hubby and I couldn't get pg. I went to an infertility Dr. and was able to get pg with my 2nd month of clomid. I did try metformin but the side effects were more than I could handle. There was a new drug on the market then called Avandia that was my god send. It's not on the market anymore to my knowledge though. It was awesome! Got pg with #2 a couple of months after starting it. Had my left ovary removed when she was born (c/sect) because of a huge dermoid tumor. Got pg w/3 and 4 on Avandia as well. No more kids for us, but my symptoms really lessened a lot after I had my ovary removed and have been pretty much symptom free since.
Good luck to you. It can be managed! PS I also try to follow a low carb/high protein diet. It really seems to help. I don't do ANY artificial sweeteners though. Agave syrup is my friend for my coffee. Low glycemic index and it tastes great. I would recommend that you look into either South Beach Diet or Paleo. Both are great for IR people like us!

Oh wow! Not being able to have children has been one of my greatest concerns since I found out about this. It is so reassuring to find someone who has not one, but four! What a load off my mind. As for the diet, I am already essentially on an atkins diet. No carbs, no sugar, etc. Luckily I don't drink coffee, so I don't need to worry about drinking the black brew straight

Do you have any recipe suggestions? I feel bad for my husband. I would love to be able to make meals that he can really enjoy that I can eat too. Obviously that can't always happen, and I have been making special dishes for him if what I am eating is too "healthy" haha.

Last night I tried making eggplant parmesan with no carbs. It actually turned out pretty good! I just sliced the eggplant pretty thinly. Dunked it in egg, coated with parmesan, and baked in a glass casserole dish at 350* for about 5 minutes. Then I drizzled a pasta sauce over it (not too much) and baked it at 400* until it was well browned (about 40 minutes). It would have done well with just about any pasta sauce too. Red or white.

This morning I upped my Metformin dose to 2 tablets. I figure it will take me another 5 days to adjust to this before I can start taking and adjusting to the prescribed dose of 3 tablets every AM. Tricia Howe: I feel you on the side effects. If I hadn't been reassured that they would diminish with time and eventually be gone entirely I would have already given up. Without going into too much detail, the side effects are extremely painful and involves bleeding from unmentionable areas

 

[newfoundland]

My eldest daughter was diagnosed with this about 17 years ago. I do remember her being offered clomid but as it happened she became pregnant shortly after the diagnosis. She subsequently went on to have another child naturally as well. I don't remember her receiving any dietary advice though. I believe her symptoms disappeared following pregnancies.