eating "whatever i want"

Becoming Sarah · 10-18-2005, 01:05 PM

hi

i have tested as non-IR, but i do believe that there is a strong connection in the way my body responds hormonally to carbohydrates/sugar, and my PCOS symptoms. i was anorexic for over 2 years, now recovered, but my recovery has involved eating whatever i want (which means a lot of sugar and refined carbs at times). i do not feel alright with going on a low-carb or IR diet right now to control PCOS symptoms, because any sort of restrictive eating habits are very triggering for me as a person recovering from anorexia.

question: does metformin allow an individual (whether they tested as IR or not) to have a less restrictive diet, because the metformin helps regulate how our bodies process insulin? basically i am wondering if going on metformin would allow me to not have to go on a diet for PCOS right now, and also help lessen my symptoms. my doctor won't prescribe it.

thanks for reading!

RunnerDuck · 10-18-2005, 03:17 PM

No... it won't. It may for a while... but eventually the met will not be able to compete with crappy diet habits and your symptoms will return/worsen regardless. Well I suppose I should say MAY not WILL but that has been my experience.

I also have a history of anorexia/bulimia and in my case it felt like eating whatever I wanted was a sign of being recovered... but my periods were still screwed up... etc... I went on the met, I made a sincere effort to eat better (followed the principles of Sugar Busters)... I lost weight (I was about 160 when I was diagnosed which is high for my height of 5'4)... my periods came back, I felt good... but I backslid, my eating habits got lousy, all the PCOS problems came back...

I have been on met for almost 6 years now and only for the first year did I see an improvement. Now I am on avandia, too... and pursuing fertility treatments... because I am IMPATIENT... but I know that the truth is NOTHING I put into my body (medicinally) is going to have as much effect as what sorts of food I do or don't put into my body. I feel like I am trying to avoid personal responsibility by taking more and more pills... and it ain't working!

I don't know why I can't get back on track. I am really, really, really in a bad place right now as far as eating. But I feel like I am not bad enough for therapy... or maybe I am just denial about that, I don't know.

All I know is ... no, met won't allow you to eat whatever you want. But it *may* allow a woman to find relief from PCOS without following a strict low carb diet... but you still need to make sensible choices.

I am also really really bad at following low-carb etc because of the whole restriction setting the stage for bingeing... In theory the IR Diet is GREAT because you can eat anything on it, you just have to control portions... the problem is to me controlling portions is as hard/dangerous as forbidding certain foods in the first place... I had a really great run on the IR diet maybe 2 months ago - a 3 day run! - and it's like I have been in binge mode ever since. I don't know how to get out of it.