Weight and PCOS (long)

Fynralyl · 07-06-2005, 03:13 AM

This is a point that has caused me a lot of confusion since my PCP first mentioned PCOS to me roughly a month and a half ago. I went to see her on the 17th day of my period, after six months of no period at all. It wasn't showing any signs of stopping and I wanted to find out what was going on with me. She asked me a few questions including, "I bet if I asked you, you'd tell me that no matter how little you eat, you keep gaining weight." And of course I answered yes because that's what has been going on with me since I was about 19 (I'm 26 now). That's when she told me her suspicion that I had PCOS. She referred me to an OB/GYN who specializes in fertility because she wasn't comfortable confirming the diagnosis. She gave me a prescription to stop the bleeding, ordered blood work and a vaginal ultrasound and sent me on my way. The meds helped a little bit for the first ten days, but I had to go back for another prescription and for some reason it didn't work as well. I ended up bleeding for five weeks before I finally stopped... but that's another story (or is it?).

So I went to the OB/GYN as soon as he could see me. He gave me an examination then had me meet him in his office. First thing he told me was that if I got pregnant now (hubby and I had stopped preventing end of last October), I would be putting my life and the life of the baby at serious risk. He told me I had to lose weight and that all of my problems are a result of my weight. He casually mentioned that I had PCOS in passing, as if it was one of those problems resulting from my weight. In my mind, I'm thinking, "That's not how my other doctor seemed to think... and not what I read when I researched PCOS online..." but I didn't say anything, because he's the doctor, right?

I can't even tell you how much it hurt for him to tell me that the only way I could gain the weight I did, in the time that I did was if I was gorging myself all the time. He didn't even give me a chance to defend myself, to explain that I actually don't eat often, or very much. Just that I've been making bad food choices. He ordered me to join a weight loss program, so I joined Weight Watchers, which is the one I could find that was least like a diet and more like a change of life.

I love Weight Watchers and the changes that I've made. I feel healthier and happier. My husband joined with me to support me. But after my first week, when most people show a very significant weight loss (4-6 pounds), I only lost 0.4 pounds. Not even a whole half a pound, while my husband lost 5.4. I know that men lose faster than women, and I know that every body is different, but even the other women seem to lose a significant amount their first week then start losing a healthy 1-2 the following weeks.

I can't help but think that my PCOS is hindering my weight loss. My first doctor and the sources I found online all referred to excess weight as a symptom of the syndrome, but my OB/GYN seemed to think that my weight was causing PCOS. Every symptom can be treated and I know that weight loss isn't impossible. I just don't want to set myself up for disappointment every week by thinking about how much I should have lost and then not seeing that figure on the scale. If I know that PCOS is going to slow me down, I can remember that when comparing my success/failure to others.

I guess what I don't understand is which causes which. Does PCOS cause excess weight gain? Or does obesity cause PCOS symptoms to surface? Or is this like the question of the chicken and the egg?

Thanks in advance for your help.

cec414 · 07-06-2005, 03:46 AM

Hi, I see that you are brand-spanking new to soul-cysters so welcome. I'm a little tired,lol, so I am going to give you a quick overview. For some women, PCOS causes weight gain, and weight gain makes it worse. Some women are thin with PCOS. That's one of the mysteries with this syndrome, it varies so much. For those who have gained weight(and even in some women who are thin with PCOS,) PCOS is thought to affect how your body uses insulin properly, and when you have excess insulin floating around your body, it works on the ovaries of women with PCOS since they are more sensitive to the affects on insulin then other women, and this releases excess androgens. There is also an adrenal component as well as a pituitary gland component to this whole thing as well. Also, having the extra insulin makes it very difficult to lose weight and very easy to gain weight, insulin puts the body in a "fat storing mode." Gaining more weight will add more to the excess androgrens,which will make the processing of insulin more difficult.This is why going on carb-restricting(not necessarily Atkins, but others that monitor them) can have a profound affect on weight loss for women with PCOS. Insulin-lowering drugs also help the causes since they cause the body to be more efficient with the usage of insulin and restores the body's ability to process sugar and not store so much as fat. With the androgens floating around, it makes you gain your weight in the middle, which is a disease marker, and can affect the liver's ability to do it's job handling fat storage as well.

Your doctor is sadly, one of the many doctors out there who refuses to believe that you can gain weight without stuffing your face, and on this site, many of us can attest to gaining weight in such a dramatic fashion without altering our diet much, that there was and is something there that is causing this. Fortunately, some researchers have figured out this insulin link with PCOS, and now people are getting treated for it, eating the right way, taking meds if necessary, and also exercising because it helps lower insulin.

I stopped doing WW because I feel like it's more focused on getting the fat out then the eating the right carbs. I know they have a plan for eating less carbs, but still, I decided it wasn't for me when I gained more points for the day by eating healthy fats then eating a very sugary product that was low-fat. I am now on the IR Diet and it is so great!!! Some women on this site like WW and are doing alright, but you might want to play around with the diets a little, especially ones that at least watch your carbs and the make sure your eating the right carbs, because insulin can be a really nasty bugger when there's too much floating around in your system and eating refined carbs/sugary carbs will cause a huge insulin spike in your body and women with PCOS really have to control this for life since this is a probably a genetic issue and won't be "cured" by losing weight, it will just be managed better by losing weight since your body won't have all that insulin floating around. Anyways hope you got the idea, and so please don't feel like you are the only one accused of eating too much still even when dieting or frustrated because you can't lose weight as much as others, many of us still struggle with this sydrome which is why we're all here. You can message me if you have any questions!!

Christine

Fynralyl · 07-06-2005, 04:06 AM

Thanks Christine, that actually helps a lot! My mother is diabetic, so I know what you mean by the "right carbs". I think I'd like to stay on WW for now, because it's helping me a lot with other aspects of my diet. I have high cholesterol, so I still need to really watch the fats and cholesterol. I already only use whole grain bread and I prefer the no sugar added yogurts and other treats. Knowing that refined carbs will affect me more because of the insulin will certainly help me in my food decisions. I'm still working on getting the excerise going, and I'm sure that will make a big difference.

Thanks for taking the time to give me so much information even though you're tired! And thanks for the welcome too! I'm still trying to understand everything that's going on with my body.

Just one more question. My Dr has me on birth control until I get my weight down, but he also has me on metformin as a long range plan for fertility, the idea being that it will help me to already be ovulating regularly when I go off birth control. Since metformin is usually prescribed for diabetics, it will help me with the insulin, right?

cec414 · 07-06-2005, 04:11 AM

Metformin will definitely help you with your insulin, but make sure you birth control pill doesn't affect your weight, I was on Ortho-tricycline and it made me gain so much weight and I craved junk food all the time!!! Good luck with all your efforts, and glad I could help out!!!

Fynralyl · 07-06-2005, 04:27 AM

He has me on Ovcon, which according to their website, doesn't effect weight one way or another. I think I'll be ok on that count.

sweetums · 07-07-2005, 05:34 PM

fynralyl, I wanted to say hi and welcome to Soul Cysters! This is an amazing site and definately a really great support! I don't know what I would do without these women! I can understand your frustration with the doctor! My GYN diagnosed me almost 2 years ago. She said, "You have something called PCOS. You need to lose weight. If you aren't trying to have a baby right now, I'll give you a prescription for Yasmin to regulate your period. Here is a pamphlet on PCOS. Good Luck." I had some blood tests done to check insult and thyroid and testosterone and things like that, and that was it! So I've had to learn about all of this on my own. My husband and I recently decided that we want to start trying to conceive, so we are starting a new chapter in this journey. Don't be afraid to ask questions and we are so happy that you are here! If you ever need support or have any other questions that I might be able to help with, pm me or email me.

sweetums_ur@yahoo.com
Good luck and we'll see you on the boards!

Manders

DrewM · 07-07-2005, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Does PCOS cause excess weight gain? Or does obesity cause PCOS symptoms to surface? Or is this like the question of the chicken and the egg?

I know the verdict is still out on this, but I wanted to interject with my two cents. When I was 20, I went from a normal, healthy thin person with pretty skin and shiny hair, to an obese, hairy, stringy-haired acne-filled blob, in less than 6 months. At the same time my periods stopped and cysts started rupturing. (I had no idea that all of this was related at the time.) I CHANGED NOTHING to cause all of this to happen--my diet and activity level were the same as any healthy young college student.

So in my case I strongly believe that PCOS did CAUSE my weight gain. It's not like I ate potato chips for years, slowly getting fatter, and once day PCOS kicked in. ALL of it started at the same time, without explanation. And I've honestly never been an overeater. (I swear!)

PCOS for me isn't so much a "chicken or the egg" dilemma, but more a "Catch-22" type of problem. I can be healthier and beat PCOS if I lose weight, but I can't lose weight because I have PCOS.

It's a bummer, but there is hope.

Drew

P.S. Your OB/GYN sounds like a wank. Fire him.

SweetMe · 07-07-2005, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cec414

For some women, PCOS causes weight gain, and weight gain makes it worse.
Christine

this is exactly what happened with me. i say a child endocrinologist who looked at the steady weight gain form puberty onwards. and looked at the steady rise of symptoms. he said PCOS had caused the weight gain. Then 4 months later i turned 17 and was handed over to a consultant who specialises in PCOS, he told me it was my fault and the PCOS was a result of my weight. And my gyn (i never met her, only her juniors) well the male one said the same as the consultant, but the female one said "poor you, you're trying to lose weight and you've got the odds stacked against you!" This made me burst into tears coz she was so right!

coolkitty · 07-07-2005, 07:23 PM

Hi, welcome!

Drew, my OB/GYN used the phrase "Catch 22" at my most recent appointment - that is a great way to describe the weight gain issue!

All I can give you is my personal experience. My weight has come on more slowly than others here, partly because of poor eating and partly because of PCOS. I know that I still would have gained w/o the poor eating, just not as much.

Before I was taking Metformin, I tried WW and had an experience similar to yours. After I started taking it, it actually worked! I have lost 12 lbs in 3 weeks. I do watch my intake of refined sugars, but I have to say that I feel better already. I don't exercise as much as I should - only twice a week since I started, and only treadmill walking. I think that I will be able to maintain steady weight loss if I up that to 4-5 times/week.

Ortho Tri Cyclene did not help my PCOS symptoms at all, other than the fact that my period came regularly. So hopefully your BCP or Met will work for you. PM me if you need to talk, or want to talk about WW.

BTW - follow Drew's advice and dump your OB/GYN. There are places on the boards here to look for a recommendation for a better dr.

Good luck hon!

Fynralyl · 07-07-2005, 10:28 PM

You ladies are wonderful! All of you! I can't tell you how much better this all makes me feel. I've taken Drew's advice before ever seeing it. That Dr is long gone now! I have an appointment scheduled with one (two weeks from tomorrow) that was recommended here and he sounds like he really understands PCOS (thanks again Darlene!). Hopefully things will greatly improve.

Drew, your description of how it all set in sounds so familiar! I'd always known that I was irregular. After all, I got that from my mom (she now thinks that she has had PCOS all along - hasn't been tested yet - can you imagine going through your entire life, luckily having kids, and not knowing what was causing all those problems until after menopause???) and I just thought that it was normal, for me. I was skinny as a twig since I was a baby, started to put on some weight after I hit pueberty and thought I was fat. I look back now and realize I was actually at a very healthy weight. Then, when I was 19 and going to college, I put on 50 pounds in 6 months! I wish I had paid more attention to how absurd that was for a "normal" person instead of just blaming myself.

Since then I've yo-yo'd a little bit (weight loss pills, slim fast) but for the most part I've only gained since then. I'm now 26 and 286 pounds. Most of that weight gain has (surprise, surprise) been since I went off BCP end of October last year. Of course even when I was on BCP, I was still steadily gaining when I wasn't doing anything to actively lose weight. I'll admit that I gave up and just stopped making the healthy choices, but I shouldn't have ballooned up as fast as I did.

I certainly do feel like I'm in a catch 22. My second WI at WW is in half an hour. I'll see how I do. I definitely need to get into a good exercise routine, but I think I'm going to need to do more to make the kind of progress I want to. I'll keep you all posted and thank you so much for the support! I really feel like I've found some real "soul cycters" that really understand where I'm coming from and what I need! Thank you!

(I'm crying right now... you're not supposed to do this...

)

DrewM · 07-08-2005, 12:10 PM

Quote:

I was still steadily gaining when I wasn't doing anything to actively lose weight.

I was like this until I was put on met in 2004. Every year I was bigger and bigger, despite being somewhat active (I bartended and waited tables for years) and not eating much. (Granted, I was eating the wrong things, but how could I have known?)

Once I started met there was an initial gain of about 10 pounds (which may have been just because it hadn't started working yet), and then the gaining stopped. Over the past year I've nearly killed myself trying to lose weight and it still won't come off, BUT...I'm at least grateful that I'm no longer getting BIGGER.

Quote:

I put on 50 pounds in 6 months!

That's EXACTLY how much I put on in the same amount of time. I was a nicely shaped 120 and went up to 170 in a matter of months. It was awful--I felt so confused and powerless, and it sent me into a two year long depression where I never went out and talked only to my boyfriend. Eventually I snapped myself out of it, got a job, made a whole bunch of new friends, and learned to love myself again, fat and all. Without PCOS I probably never would have known that type of self-acceptance, so I guess I was given this challenge for a reason.

~Julie~ · 07-08-2005, 12:39 PM

Jenny~I don't mean to be rude, but hon, you need a new dr! Your current ob/gyn sounds incredibly unprofessional! I know, and a lot of other girls talk about finding "fat friendly" doctors. The right DR can make all the difference in the world. Good Luck TTC!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fynralyl

I'm now 26 and 286 pounds. Most of that weight gain has (surprise, surprise) been since I went off BCP end of October last year.

I'm also 26, and I'm at 380lbs (as of my last dr appt in May) I had gained 20lbs from Dec. . .It's crazy. I am a home body and don't really care for exercise (except swimming) and I chase around the little boy I babysit all day, so I don't feel like working out later. . .I have been watching what I eat, but it doesn't help. I have gained a total of 60 lbs since I met my DH 4 years ago, and 40lbs of that was after I stopped BCP's in June of 2003.