PCOS??

[Mrs_Quiet]

I am hoping this lifestyle change will help me with both my weight problem and my PCOS. I am excited at the chance to finally lose some weight. I have been reading and I was wondering if it would be better for me to go Whole90 to see the best results.

[ladyshanny]

21 minutes ago, Mrs_Quiet said:

I am hoping this lifestyle change will help me with both my weight problem and my PCOS. I am excited at the chance to finally lose some weight. I have been reading and I was wondering if it would be better for me to go Whole90 to see the best results.

HI @Mrs_Quiet - often when people have systemic or underlying or longstanding health concerns, yes, it is realistic to expect to need more than 30 days. Even if you've only had your condition for 5 years, that's 1,825 days. And 30 days, while great, is a pretty small fraction of time in comparison.   If you can, I would set your expectations on 60 or 90 days. We're here for you!

[HopingtoHeal]

Hi ladies,

I'm keen to connect with others who have PCOS. This is my first attempt at Whole30 (starting 1st June) and I am hoping it will help with bringing my symptoms under control. The doctor has me on metformin at the moment but I can't say it's been as positive or successful as I had hoped - I am no longer spotting in between or having prolonged bleeds but my cycles are getting longer! Really keen to restore ovulation and get healthy enough to carry a pregnancy to full term (we lost a wee baby back in Aug 2015). Any W30 wisdom for PCOS would be greatly appreciated as would hearing any success stories from others!

Look forward to connecting with you!

[HopingtoHeal]

Hi ladies,

I am starting on June 1st, my first Whole 30 and hopeful it will help heal some of my symptoms. In particular I am hopeful that lifestyle change will restore ovulation for me.

I am currently on 1000mg of metformin a day - i couldn't tolerate 1500mg - and I don't think I am seeing much success on it, although I don't spot in between or have prolonged bleeds anymore I seem to have a longer cycle length than ever before. Honestly would rather just not be on it at all! Due to be seeing the doctor this week so will see what he thinks, but would love to get things under control naturally!

Is anyone else on this thread currently or soon to start their Whole 30?

[SugarcubeOD]

PCOS has been discussed at length on this forum.  Google 'whole30 + topic'... I've started this google search for you, which has brought up other threads discussing PCOS and have merged your thread with the most popular to keep the forum streamlined.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=whole30+pcos&oq=whole30+pcos&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60l2.1822j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

[HopingtoHeal]

Sorry for doubling up! I was looking in the Ladies Only thread as I assumed that would be where I would find something - still getting used to how the forums work! Thanks for consolidating my posts!

And hello to all the other ladies on this thread. Keen to hear how you are all getting on whether you are in the midst of a whole30 or completed a while ago!

[whywhy]

Hi, I've really enjoyed reading this thread and wanted to share my own (very positive) experience. I've had irregular periods since I was 12, by 16 only got periods twice a year, and was diagnosed with PCOS at 21, when an ultrasound was finally ordered. It took a couple of years and a lot of meds/injections to get pregnant with my first child when I was 34. It was a tough recovery post-pregnancy for me. I had even wilder mood swings than in the past, felt so incredibly cloudy, and felt like every day was a battle. I wanted another child at some point but absolutely did not want to go through the fertility process again. 

I got a referral to a progressive OB/GYN I had heard about. At our consult, I expected him to start prescribing his recommended concoction of drugs. Instead, he asked me about my diet! Anyway, one thing led to another and I decided to do the Whole30, which I had been hearing about, to ensure I would stay on track. (I've always had crazy food cravings and am very much an emotional eater.) I started shortly thereafter and the first 3 weeks kicked my butt. They were hard! I had cravings, but worse, I had nonstop gut pain. It felt like a hurricane in my insides every day. Long story short, DOING THE WHOLE30 CHANGED MY LIFE! I have had so many benefits (I could probably be a poster child for Whole30--ha ha): Top of my list is literally no gut pain since, and that's something that's been troubling me my entire life. I needed way less sleep, like 1-2 hrs less and I'd wake up before my alarm clock. Fewer crazy nightmares that left me waking up feeling restless. Skin got better. And way fewer mood swings. I just always assumed I was a cranky, irritable person. Who knew I could be so pleasant?? Anyway, who knows which eliminated food groups it was that did it, but I imagine the no carbs/sugar really helped. And oh yeah, it took about 3-4 months, but I ended up losing about 15-20 lbs. I was 21 BMI to begin with, so that's pretty damn good.

The best part of all is that literally the month after stopping breastfeeding (my first child was 13 months), I got pregnant! No Clomid, no Letrozole, no shots, no progesterone shoved in private places...I went on a trip by myself without my husband or son, and got pregnant the day I came back. I didn't even realize for a long time because I just thought no way, not after the ordeal I'd had to go through the first time.

My second miracle child is now 10 months old, and unfortunately post-partum has been as brutal for me as it was the first time . So I decided to do another Whole30, together with my husband, to give myself a reset and to try to find myself again. Right now I'm on day 20 and so far so good. It has been soooo much easier this time around. No daily cravings like I had last time, and not a sign of the wars in my stomach each night. So it's been much easier to do this time around. And we've even found a couple of places we can eat out at, for days when I can't bear to prepare another meal from scratch.

I should mention that for both rounds of Whole30, I've started/restarted Metformin ER (slow release, ladies! much easier on your stomachs). Each time I start with just one pill right after dinner, my biggest meal. Once I feel okay (after several days or weeks if necessary), I add another half pill. And slowly I work my way up to 3 pills x 500mg. The first time it took me a couple of months to work my way up to 3 full pills so I did it very gradually. I'd had a very poor reaction to regular Metformin in my 20s and was very scared of the stuff. But taking Metformin in slow release form + the gradual introduction worked fantastically. 

After reading your posts, I now especially appreciate how lucky I am, as a lifelong PCOS woman, to benefit as much as I do from Whole30. I'VE DEFINITELY GOT THE TIGER BLOOD. So it's no myth. I seriously feel like super woman, and like my much happier, more energetic, and more fulfilled alter ego steps onto the scene when I do Whole30. So why not continue indefinitely, a friend asks? Ha! Because I looovee carbs and ice cream. We'll see what happens...

[HopingtoHeal]

10 hours ago, whywhy said:

Hi, I've really enjoyed reading this thread and wanted to share my own (very positive) experience. I've had irregular periods since I was 12, by 16 only got periods twice a year, and was diagnosed with PCOS at 21, when an ultrasound was finally ordered. It took a couple of years and a lot of meds/injections to get pregnant with my first child when I was 34. It was a tough recovery post-pregnancy for me. I had even wilder mood swings than in the past, felt so incredibly cloudy, and felt like every day was a battle. I wanted another child at some point but absolutely did not want to go through the fertility process again. 

I got a referral to a progressive OB/GYN I had heard about. At our consult, I expected him to start prescribing his recommended concoction of drugs. Instead, he asked me about my diet! Anyway, one thing led to another and I decided to do the Whole30, which I had been hearing about, to ensure I would stay on track. (I've always had crazy food cravings and am very much an emotional eater.) I started shortly thereafter and the first 3 weeks kicked my butt. They were hard! I had cravings, but worse, I had nonstop gut pain. It felt like a hurricane in my insides every day. Long story short, DOING THE WHOLE30 CHANGED MY LIFE! I have had so many benefits (I could probably be a poster child for Whole30--ha ha): Top of my list is literally no gut pain since, and that's something that's been troubling me my entire life. I needed way less sleep, like 1-2 hrs less and I'd wake up before my alarm clock. Fewer crazy nightmares that left me waking up feeling restless. Skin got better. And way fewer mood swings. I just always assumed I was a cranky, irritable person. Who knew I could be so pleasant?? Anyway, who knows which eliminated food groups it was that did it, but I imagine the no carbs/sugar really helped. And oh yeah, it took about 3-4 months, but I ended up losing about 15-20 lbs. I was 21 BMI to begin with, so that's pretty damn good.

The best part of all is that literally the month after stopping breastfeeding (my first child was 13 months), I got pregnant! No Clomid, no Letrozole, no shots, no progesterone shoved in private places...I went on a trip by myself without my husband or son, and got pregnant the day I came back. I didn't even realize for a long time because I just thought no way, not after the ordeal I'd had to go through the first time.

My second miracle child is now 10 months old, and unfortunately post-partum has been as brutal for me as it was the first time . So I decided to do another Whole30, together with my husband, to give myself a reset and to try to find myself again. Right now I'm on day 20 and so far so good. It has been soooo much easier this time around. No daily cravings like I had last time, and not a sign of the wars in my stomach each night. So it's been much easier to do this time around. And we've even found a couple of places we can eat out at, for days when I can't bear to prepare another meal from scratch.

I should mention that for both rounds of Whole30, I've started/restarted Metformin ER (slow release, ladies! much easier on your stomachs). Each time I start with just one pill right after dinner, my biggest meal. Once I feel okay (after several days or weeks if necessary), I add another half pill. And slowly I work my way up to 3 pills x 500mg. The first time it took me a couple of months to work my way up to 3 full pills so I did it very gradually. I'd had a very poor reaction to regular Metformin in my 20s and was very scared of the stuff. But taking Metformin in slow release form + the gradual introduction worked fantastically. 

After reading your posts, I now especially appreciate how lucky I am, as a lifelong PCOS woman, to benefit as much as I do from Whole30. I'VE DEFINITELY GOT THE TIGER BLOOD. So it's no myth. I seriously feel like super woman, and like my much happier, more energetic, and more fulfilled alter ego steps onto the scene when I do Whole30. So why not continue indefinitely, a friend asks? Ha! Because I looovee carbs and ice cream. We'll see what happens...

Thanks so much for sharing your story! It is so encouraging to hear of other's success! I am on Day 25 now and it has been so overwhelmingly positive. I have dropped a dress size and even some of these clothes feel a bit big now, I have lost all the puffiness on my face and the massive bloating around my middle. I wake before my alarm now too, which is so unusual for me, I used to struggle so much with waking up! My doctor actually took me off of metformin as I had seen way more progress in 7 days of whole30 than I had in 5 months of metformin and I haven't felt any negative effects of coming off it. I guess it will take time to see what happens cycle-wise but I am hopeful in a way I haven't been for a long time! We've recently been referred to fertility (I'm in the UK so it is NHS and waiting lists tend to be long) but I really do hope that things will work out without that. But I agree, Whole30 has changed my life and honestly I think I will stick with it most of the time once my 30 days are up. There are certainly a lot of old habits broken and new habits forming. I don't want to put the weight back on and I don't want to go back to feeling awful so things I used to crave don't have the same appeal as before but like you say, we'll see what happens!

[whywhy]

On 6/25/2017 at 9:13 AM, HopingtoHeal said:

Thanks so much for sharing your story! It is so encouraging to hear of other's success! I am on Day 25 now and it has been so overwhelmingly positive. I have dropped a dress size and even some of these clothes feel a bit big now, I have lost all the puffiness on my face and the massive bloating around my middle. I wake before my alarm now too, which is so unusual for me, I used to struggle so much with waking up! My doctor actually took me off of metformin as I had seen way more progress in 7 days of whole30 than I had in 5 months of metformin and I haven't felt any negative effects of coming off it. I guess it will take time to see what happens cycle-wise but I am hopeful in a way I haven't been for a long time! We've recently been referred to fertility (I'm in the UK so it is NHS and waiting lists tend to be long) but I really do hope that things will work out without that. But I agree, Whole30 has changed my life and honestly I think I will stick with it most of the time once my 30 days are up. There are certainly a lot of old habits broken and new habits forming. I don't want to put the weight back on and I don't want to go back to feeling awful so things I used to crave don't have the same appeal as before but like you say, we'll see what happens!

That's great to hear, HopingtoHeal! I'm so happy for you! Yea! 

I just wanted to say that for me, I really believe it was the _combination_ of Whole30 diet and Metformin ER that helped with my fertility situation. I am a really big believer in the Metformin. For example, I was saying in my original post that I only get periods about 1-2 times a year (and often aren't even ovulating despite having a period). But with Metformin, I started getting periods every month and once I stopped breastfeeding after my first child, also started ovulating. I was doing progesterone blood work every month to check my ovulation, so that's how I know.

I attribute the many positive symptoms to Whole30, but don't think the natural fertility machine would have kicked into full gear without the Metformin. Just my 2 cents.

[HopingtoHeal]

@whywhy that's amazing that metformin worked so well for you! In recent years my norm was bleeding more rather than less but with metformin my cycles became MUCH longer. My ovulation has been patchy, we got pregnant 2 years ago with no help but sadly lost the baby and haven't gotten pregnant again since. I've been off the metformin for 2 weeks and my period came today - whole30 day 26 and cycle day 39... 9 days sooner than previous cycle. We've been referred to fertility so will no doubt have blood work coming to see if I'm ovulating but willing to give diet and exercise the chance on its own. Although looking at supplementing with myo-inositol as I've heard great things about it. 

Great that fertility aside Whole30 goes a long way to lessening symptoms!

[amorg79]

So I just started my whole30 and have to begin taking metformin tomorrow, can I do the whole30 while on this medication?  I was looking at the inactive ingredients and there were a couple in there that were not compliant.

[jmcbn]

Drs orders trump Whole30 rules so if this is a medication that you have beenprescribed then, yes, you are good to go....

[wholemhk]

After TTC for a year and 1 miscarriage, I was just diagnosed with "lean PCOS." I also have hypoglycemia.  Basically, I am always thinking about food and I feel like I am always eating to avoid low blood sugar.  It's incredibly frustrating.  I have attempted several whole30s and have yet to complete one.  For me, eating 3 big meals without snacking is the hardest part.  Despite eating a whole30 breakfast, (typically 3 eggs,  1/2 plate filled with veggies cooked in coconut oil, 1/2 avocado or handful of olives, and about a palm sized serving of starch such as sweet potato, squash or berries) I am starving 2 hours later.  It's crazy! Does anyone else experience this?  Has anyone else been able to manage low blood sugar without needing to eat every 2 hours?  I'd love some ideas for mini meals that don't involve too much prep or cost to much.  Figuring out proteins other than hard boiled eggs has me stumped.  After getting this diagnosis I'm so motivated to complete a whole30 to try to reverse my symptoms and get pregnant! 

[Serendipity]

I am the same as you wholemhk.. been TTC for a year with lean PCOS and always need to eat every few hours, I am only on day 3 of whole30 but I’m still doing a smoothie for morning tea to get me through to lunch, I feel like starving til lunch and getting the blood sugar crash is not worth it! A banana, decent handful of spinach, 1/4 avocado, almond milk & coconut water then I don’t feel hungry til about 1pm. A handful of nuts and some berries gets me between lunch and dinner. Also I take Inosotol powder, prescribed by my naturopath it is the natural alternative to metformin and a study I read actually showed  it had better results for women’s fertility than metformin I’m on the same path trying to reverse my PCOS and get pregnant without Clomid, although my Gyno appointment is only 6 weeks away now. Here’s hoping whole30 is the answer for us like it has been for others!

[Chasey]

I am in the second week of my first Whole30. Honestly, I am very overweight, and have a desk job, and I ate basically whatever I wanted for a long time. I have lost 6lbs so far, out of the 100 I need to lose. Anyway, I am prediabetic and anovulatory. I do not cycle unless on birth control. Met did nothing but make me sick so I just figured this is the status quo. Weird thing is, I see signs of a possible natural start to my period and have seen a marked increase in my sex drive. I am following the plan without cheating, though I did accidentally have a sauce with sugar in it and some peanuts before I remembered they were a no go. Anyone else feel this way? I don’t know if that’s what Tiger Blood means, just seems odd, so there is definitely a hormonal component.