to feel patronised and judged by this nurse.

[watchoutforthatsnail]

I have pcos. I am on the pill to help control the symptoms. Last time I saw my doctor she gave me a years worth and promised she would never take me off it. I take it for pcos more than contreception, since ive been single for over 3 years.

In feb I went for my review appt where the nurse told me I needed to lose weigh. She would only give me 3 months worth and told me to come back. That was awful enough, she did acknowledge that I was fighting a loosing battle with it though.

I tried to view this postively, as had already started a diet and was cal counting on my fitness pal. At 1200 cals a day, I should have lost 1.4 lbs a week.

Weight loss is harder and slower with pcos. But I was hoping to get there.

As with a lot of people with pcos, I have disorted eating, and in futuile attempts to lose weigh I do cut my cals to 500 or so a day, that maybe, if I'm luckly let me lose 2 lbs a week. The doctors know this. My weight goes up and down by 2 stone yearly, because you can't substaine that kind of diet.

I don't want to keep doing that, I want to break the cycle, so vowed to stay away from the scales so I don't get disheartned, and just log my cals. I figure slow weight loss, but ill get there. There have been a few days each week where I've been 800 cals, but ive tried so hard to get it back to 1200.

I saw the nurse today. I have gained 2 lbs. She pulled a face at me and told me I wasn't trying hard enough. I burst into tears, because I am, and I have. Ive been on no carbs, lean protein, veg, no sugar for 4 months, and I've gained.
She told me Im not doing it right and questioned if I exercised. I do. Lots.
I offered to show her my Eating logs, she didn't want to know, just told me to get my weight down because I'm too heavy.
I asked her what I should do and she said she didn't know.

The worse thing is, if she takes the pills off me I'm less able to do anything About my weight, and balloon. And end up hsvibg to shave my face twice a day, and other awful things.

She's refered me back to my.doctor, but in the meatime I'm to ' try harder'

:(

I'd go to family planning of you have a local one she sounds horrible, was your blood pressure etc ok?

Can a nurse actually 'take your pills off you' ? thats a Dr decision surely.

I dont know much about pcos but if the if the pill is the best medication then your Dr will be the one to prescribe it, make an appointment to see her and while you are there complain about the nurse, if weight gain is part of your medical problem then the nurse should not be so judgemental and bullying

Blood pressure was fine. Surprising, because I.was in a state from.my 4 months of dieting resulting in a weigh gain. And being told it wasn't good enough.

It's not like I've chosen this, or am stuffing my face. At the momment I'm wondering what the point of even trying is, I might as well eat and just accept.I'm fat.

She had no advice and clearly didn't believe me, yet if she read my notes she would know I have pcos and huge difficulty loosing weight.

She also tried to swap my pill to one I've been on 3 years previously, which made me bleed continously for the 6 weeks I was on it. She told me that was a better risk.

When you see your doctor perhaps you should ask for a referral to a specialist clinician and a dietician. The nurse probably doesn't know enough about pcos. And, mention how upset the nurse has made you feel and tell the doctor that in future you would rather your review appointments were with one of the practice doctors and not the nurse.

Weight gain is one of the symptoms, its also well documented It's harder to lose any weight. Its not impossible... But harder.
I can lose weight if I.cut to 500 cals a day, which isn't any healthier than being overweight really.

Me not doing that, isn't trying hard enough.

I have a doctors appt ib 17 days. What am I meant to do in the meantime? Stop Eating?

Your Doctor sounds like she's on the ball so book an appointment and bring notes of your eating and doing and what the Nurse said and ask for your Doc to give an opinion based on where you are at now.

Your Doc can then overrule the Nurse (assuming there is no changing circumstances) who sounds like she fell off the ball and landed with her big foot in her even bigger mouth, I've known lots of lovely Nurses but like every group there will always be the occasional "I am the Oracle, question me not puny mortal" one.

I'm sorry you've had a rotten time.

The dieticians give worse diet advice, ive been through it all before. They tell you to eat carbs, which is the worse thing I can have.
So I end up stopping Eating, to.lose some weight. The doctors are happy. I end up having to eat at some point, it all comes back on. And repeat for 20 years.

:(

watchout I feel for you I really do. It is so disheartening :(
I do the same and get nowhere on a very restricted calorie count too with PCOS.
I would do as another poster suggested and talk to your gp about not seeing the nurse anymore. She is certainly no help!!

Don't know anything much about your condition but my practical suggestion would be don't see this nurse any more. Make all your appointments for contraception with the doctor. Don't share why you want an appointment with any receptionist. If the doctor queries why you are seeing them (unlikely) just explain how upsetting you find seeing the nurse.

Good luck with addressing your health issues - you are very brave.

Thanks farley. Its just awful

I feel like I shouldn't eat at all now. And 4 months of Eating 1200 has caused me to gain weight!!!
1200 is the absolute min a woman should have. Most people would lose 2-3 lbs a week on that, yet ive gained on that :(

It seems impossible. But its not and I can only see going back to 500 cals a day is the only way out. I.don't want to keep getting fatter :(

Just to be told ' you aren't trying hard enough' and asked if I exercise. Shit, like I'm some kind of fool chugging coke and stuffing biscuits in my mouth wondering Why I'm fat.

:(

I know this will offend you but it really doesn't sound correct that you are consuming 800 calories AND doing lots of exercise AND gaining weight.

I understand PCOS, I do. But it only makes it harder to lose weight not impossible.

Although the nurse was rude and unprofessional I would also not believe that you had been eating/exercising as you had claimed. Sorry.

It sounds like you need professional help.

There was a documentary a few years back where women who claimed they were eating only a few hundred calories and not losing weight were tested. There is a urine test that shows exactly how many calories a person has consumed that day.

One of the woman was certain she only ate 800 hundred calories a day. The test showed she was consuming 3000+.

Weight loss is really hard (I'm sitting here the size of a small yak) and I'm sorry you are upset. You need more support in losing weight.

I sympathise- PCOS is totally shit.

2lbs weight loss per week is a lot. If you did it at 1lb per week you'd be doing well.

The reason why weight is so hard to lose when you have PCOS is that the hormone levels (testosterone, LH etc) tend to be out of kilter. The imbalance is thought to lead to insulin resistance so that sugars (including from fruit etc) aren't broken down properly and your body holds on to them. I hope I've got all this right as I'm a bit rusty! Anyway, because of the insulin resistance you can literally gain weight when you eat very little because your body doesn't process what food you do give it properly. Eating a low glycemic index (GI) diet has helped many people.

Could you ask for a referral to a nutritionist? See if there's one who is trained to deal with endocrine issues.

Also, I found this book www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0007131844/ref=mp_s_a_3?qid=1335855153&sr=8-3
useful.

She can't take your pills away from you. Even if she is a nurse prescriber all she can do is not write a prescription.

Go back to your doctor, continue with your diet and refuse to see her again.

She clearly doesn?t know what she is talking about, I won?t claim to be a PCOS expert but I do know that one of the side effects is weight gain, and that it is more difficult to lose weight. the fact that she wasn?t interested in seeing your food diary etc. shows she was following a ?script? for want of a better word and not willing to think about you a an individual.

A bit of ?computer says No? attitude

I'm an ex-nurse (that is I haven?t renewed my registration) and I sometime despair of some of the attitudes and lack of knowledge.

Let me give you a recent example from my life my partner has Familial Hypercholesterolemia, a genetic condition in that his cholesterol is high despite eating a very healthy diet and a long distance runner it has to be treated with medication.

This condition when not treated can cause another disease called Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease; it is because of being diagnosed with NAFLD that his cardiac problems were discovered.

On a review by our practice nurse wanted to refer him to AA, on the basis of his blood results. I burst out laughing; she then wanted to refer me to Al-Anon as I clearly needed help dealing with his ?addiction?.

I pointed out that he was diagnosed with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease the clue is in the name (OH drinks alcohol maybe once a month, and then it?ll be a pint, if even that).

She was adamant that with his blood results he needed to be referred. Totally unwilling to listen. She had a flow chart and didn?t have the knowledge or imagination to think!

yours sounds similar.

Just carry on with your diet and don?t see her any more.

PS: I do not assume that all nurses are like this, the majority are caring, well informed, totally up to date individuals, however there are some that aren't. I trained with both types

I'm not surprised you are not losing weight as your metabolism will be all over the place if you have previously gone down to 500 calories.

I would stick to 1200 for 4 weeks and exercise too, the Shred is fantastic. If you haven't lost any weight reduce your calories by 100 but never ever go below 1000 as you will never get off the cycle of yo yo dieting.

Apologies if you have already tried, but I also have PCOS (on dianette) and I find the best weight lose diet is Slimming world, I lost loads over 6 month, was the only one that worked for me.

Then gave up smoking and piled it all on and more

The politest I can say is that the nurse maybe needs to work on her bedside manner...

Have you looked at Verity? It's a charity aimed at supporting women with PCOS and improving understanding about it. They have a discussion board about Weight Loss and Healthy Eating which has lots of PCOS-friendly diet advice. Good luck!

No, ive been Eating 1200 on the whole.
800 a day isn't healthy and im trying to break stupid Eating habits.

Its not impossible to lose weight, but I do, only if I go very, very low cal

Ive been logging absolutely all my food, as I eat it, on my fitness pal. I weigh everything too.

I eat low gi, and it makes a lot of difference to how I physically feel, in a positive way, but unless I.go way ubder cals I dont lose anything.

I am absolutely not Lying, or deluded. Though that is always what people think, because I'm not loosing anything, or am gaining.

So I stop Eating and everyone claps because ive lost weigh. And it Doesnt matter how ive done it.

Which is how ive ended up with disorted eating.

Bugger. X post with heaps of people and link didn't work. Anyone know how to make a link work???

Anyway, to add: carbs are not brilliant for PCOS sufferers as many are high GI.

Ilovedaintynuts- technically I think you could end up not losing weight by eating very few cals if your body did do the whole starvation mode thing, especially with the insulin difficulty thrown into the mix.

OP- should've said YANBU. The nurse clearly disagree have a good working knowledge about the condition. If the pill doesn't help with weight loss then I know women who've been prescribed Metformin (often used for people with type two diabetes) Perhaps you could broach this subject with your GP?

Can you post a typical days menu? You are right the carbs need restricting but not eliminating. The nurse sounds awful. I would echo seeing the doctor.

Can you post a typical days menu? You are right the carbs need restricting but not eliminating. The nurse sounds awful. I would echo seeing the doctor.

Can you post a typical days menu? You are right the carbs need restricting but not eliminating. The nurse sounds awful. I would echo seeing the doctor.

YANBU to be pissed off at the nurse, who almost certainly doesn't have enough training to make those judgements on you. Nor should she be able to limit your prescription, that's the doctor's job. However you do need better advice.

Even if you truly are only consuming 500 cals a day at times, you cannot do that to yourself - you are putting your body into "starvation mode" and at that level it will do anything it can to conserve weight because historically we were far more likely to go into periods of low food availability, so we have the genetic capacity to slow our weight loss and calorie expenditure so we don't die that quickly in times of famine. What we don't genetically have is the capacity to deal with times of glut - which is why obesity is such an issue, regardless of PCOS (which I know has hormonal effects on the whole situation).

500 cals is too low. 800 cals is too low. Your body may appear to lose weight slowly at that level but the minute you start to eat anything approaching normally your body will grab all those calories and cling onto them because it is working to safeguard you against the next period of "famine".

Low carbing is good but you need to maintain a decent intake of vegetables and some fruit for the vitamins and minerals they give. You also need to maintain a decent fat intake - good quality fats, from nuts, oils, seeds, grains etc. (less from animal sources but just go as natural as you can and if that means using a small amount of natural butter rather than a highly processed should-be-liquid-but-has-been-made-solid vegetable fat spread then use the small amount of butter)

There are books out there about dealing with PCOS via diet - have a look at these and if you don't already have at least one then get one, or get a different one because the one you may have might not really suit you.

Also massive x-posting as it took so long to type - repeating a lot of what others have said and realise you are aware that the really low cal intake is not good. Hope there's something useful there for you anyway.

Poor you. And I do believe you!

I don't know much about PCOS, but I have an underactive thyroid, which is still not under control about 18 months after it was identified. I've found that if I follow ww (strictly!), then I put on weight. If I cut out a meal, and stick to about 2/3 of the points you're allowed (would probably work out to about 800 cals too), then I sometimes lose weight, sometimes stay the same, and sometimes even gain. It's soul destroying. And very very hard to stick to - it's pretty much impossible to eat in normal situations, like going out for a meal, or even going round to a friends. People really don't understand. And often have the same reaction as Ilovedainty nuts above.

I think going back the the gp is the best idea, and it's frustrating that you have to wait so long. But you have my sympathies!

Ive done the shred, I didn't lose a thing. Slimming world and weigh watchers cause Weight gain, because It's more than I usually eat, esp all the fruit and carbs which I should avoid.

Ive Got a shelf of pcos books :(

And yes, my motablisism is shot. Which is why ive been on 1200 a day for the last 4 months... And trying not to let it go under that. But ive still gained.

I can only see cutting back to not Eating as a way out. I don't see what the other options are.