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'

:(

As others have said I think you need to go through your dr from now on to get your pill. I will only go through my dr for meds Inc the pill, as I take some very dangerous ones these days and it seems that I know more about possible interactions etc than dr random locum... So if I see anybody else I either end up on a consultation where I have to tell them what to do (& them google it to check) or they prescribe the wrong thing. I had one who would only prescribe me 3mths worth as she wanted me to change to the implant and said she would only give me 3mths worth to force me to think about it despite being insistent that I wasn't going to change from something I knew worked and didn't have any side effects or interacts to something unknown.... I take enough horrible things with horrible side effects why would I change the one thing that didn't have any?
nevertheless I won that battle by going back to my regular GP who knew all about me.

You poor thing. I don't know anything about pcos so feel free to ignore. But how much do you weigh, are you overweight or obese and how old are you? You don't have to answer all that but what I suppose I'm saying is what are the increased risks your weight is causing you? Would it be possible just to plan to maintain for say, 6 to 9 months until you're feeling a bit more in control? Understand that maynot be healthy.
And I sympathise, and feel a bit pathetic. I'm hugely overweight but diets work fine for me, its willpower that lets me down. Sounds like you have that in abundance!

Have you tried Metformin watchout? I found it a low dose and a medium fat, high protein, low carb diet a very useful way to get my PCOS and weight under control.

It can be brutal at higher doses and if you don't introduce it carefully.

You need to speak with a doctor who knows about PCOS unfortunately not all health care professionals do understand it. 1200 calories is not enough. STOP.

Stop letting this rule your life.

Talk to your doctor about metformin, it really can help.

I am insulin resistant due to PCOS, Gooogle it or metabolic syndrome x.

You might need to gone on a low GI diet, and sugar is not our friend

Have you got this book? I can't say it will be a miracle for you but may be worth a go - it's more for re-setting your metabolism than for PCOS specifically, which may be more necessary now.

Am also going to send you a PM - will take me a minute or few to write though!

um, yesterday i had:

muller light - 88 cals
king prawn, spinach, cucumber, cherry toms, spring onion, chilli dressing and a pink lady apple - 280 cals
a malted milk biscuit - 44 cals
chicken breast, steamed, brocoli, carrots, baby corns, home made gravy - 400 cals max, more like 320, but if im being generous... on account of the gravy.

so - yeah, under 1200.

i walked the dog for 40 mins
did 40 mins gardening
did the school run twice, 5 mins each way
worked 5.5 hours.

ive not tried metformin, im going to ask for it when i see the doctor next. Ive heard awful things about it though and as a woking lone parent, who needs to be on the ball, it worrys me

and i know 500cals, or even 800 is too low. and awful but really, what are the other options. kepp getting fatter and fatter??
im 33, and my bmi is 30.2 which is not good. pcos women i think are 7 times more likely to have heart disease or a stroke.. from being over weight and i think its 1 in 4 or something that will develop diabeties by the age of 40. i fo not want that to be me, for my health i need to get my weight down, i know this. but it wont go down.
im like stuck. and the only thing is cutting the cals to 500 again, in a effort to ' try harder'

its just all bollocks.

I do believe you. I don't have PCOS but I put on weight easily and don't lose it as easily. 1200 calories a day is fine for me but I lose weight at a very slow pace. Through trial and error I have discovered that sugar is also not my friend, when I cut the sugar out it becomes so much easier.

Do you have a natruopathy (no idea how to spell it!) practice in your area. Might be worth calling them and seeing if they have a nutrionist who knows about PCOS.

I think you need breakfast cut down on lunch if necessary but have a better breakfast. Yanbu. The nurse was out of order.

Yeah, you have to be really careful with it, but if you are desperate then it might be the next step.

I was lucky my pregnancy seemed to sort me out quite a bit as far as the PCOS went, so I was able to come off the metformin (just as carefully as I went on it).

I don't suppose getting knocked up is an option?

It is indeed bollocks, but it is what it is and your weight and medical issues (and PCOS IS a medical issue) is not all you are, try to get your head around that, I know it is really hard, but it is true. If you DO end up a bit fatter than 'ideal' then so what? Being more likely to develop problems is not a certainty. Really THINK about what you want, how much of your life are you wasting agonising over this? How many years will be lost to that? I am not at all saying forget about it and eat crap/sit on your butt. But if you can find a good healthy diet that makes you feel good and you are getting a solid amount of exercise, why beat yourself up about it? Who gains from that?

i think you need to stop thinking about calories (the theory that 3,500 kcal deficit = 1lb loss doesn't take into account different bodies and lifestyles and diets) and concentrate on being kind to yourself - i don't mean eating whatever you want but thinking about what your body needs. get yourself back on an even keel with respect and then work from there - thumbwitch's book suggestion sounds good.

the nurse was awful but if you are overweight and on the pill there is increased risk of blood pressure problems (at worst a stroke) which may be why she was reluctant to prescribe for as long as a year. she should have been more understanding

I don't have any personal experience of PCOS, so ignore if you've tried this and it didn't work for you, but a friend of mine who was very big and has PCOS has lost 5 stone on Slimming World.

The nurse sounds awful. Stick with the doctor who understands, and tell them why.

YADNBU. It's like banging your head against a brick wall sometimes. I am in the same boat with my asthma. It gets bad, I see a consultant. He advises me to change my meds and take ventolin. The asthma nurse then tries to change my meds and tells me the complete opposite of what the chest consultant says.

Just a thought, but have you tried the Zone diet (Barry Sears)? It is all about keeping your insulin levels steady (something I think affects PCOS?). It may be worth looking at, as you will be able to eat more without eating loads of carb-type food that makes the weight loss tricky. Hope that helps and good luck at the Drs.

One of the best forms of exercise for weight loss is cycling- an hour of vigorous cycling (75%+ of maximum heart rate) can burn 1,000 calories.

The best way to start out would be to build up from light exercise, using a training plan and heart rate monitor, as with your insulin problems you could be in real trouble if you just got on a bike and went all out for an hour.

Stop seeing the nurse. Go to the doctor instead, and don't be fobbed off with 'oh, the practise nurse can deal with that'

I'm probably unlucky, but every time I've seen a nurse about a problem (for a quick appointment) I've ended up worse, and had to see a doctor in the end anyway (but now with permanent ear damage from an ear infection, or feeling awful with glandular fever because they diagnosed a throat infection and gave me anti-biotics which obviously did nothing but knock me out further)

I found weight training very useful as well.

This pill makes me crazy, the one time I took the morning after pill I was actually bordering on the psychotic I think.

Could the pill actually be contributing to the problem?

Actually I have one friend with PCOS who managed to bring her weight down some by vigorous cycling - her DH and she used to go out cycling around the countryside for a couple of hours as many days in the week as they could. She'd also tried daily swimming for an hour before work. Her PCOS is pretty severe (yours sounds similar) and she will never be thin, even at her fittest (and also at her lowest life point when she had both bulimia and anorexia) she has never been below a size 18. That is just her body type/ shape/build.

I know nothing about pcos but I do know
The nurse sounds like a bitch

I do notice you haven't counted drinks in your calculations

What you weigh isn't always a reflection of how healthy you are. Obviously if you eat chips and drink beer and sit on your arse )ALL the time) and are fat then you will be unhealthy with it.

If however, you are eating well and doing plenty of exercise and generally feel pretty good then I don't believe that carrying some extra fat is that big a deal.

And it certainly is NOT a moral failing.

YANBU re:nurse. I have no experience of PCOS so nothing helpful to add.

I hope you get sorted with better health professionals than that nurse.

I have pcos and my DSD told me something interesting about it. Women with pcos are heavier and retain weight, because when a famine would wipe out alot of the lighter women, we would lose some weight and still be able to carry on getting pregnant!!
We are bigger women...unless your someone like Victoria Beckham, but as long as you're healthy and your GP is happy enough with you then tell that nurse to do one!!!
Stressing and worrying about your weight will almost guarantee that you retain weight or even put it on!!
Hugs x

OP I am on 1200 a day, have been for a long time. I've lost 4 stone 8lbs so far with still a bit to go.

I know that PCOS is making it harder for you, but don't forget how hard it is to lose weight PCOS or no PCOS. Have you joined a slimming club? I'm not in it anymore but Slimming World helped me regain a healthy relationship with food. It taught me a lot about what I was eating. I think the group support and a new regime would probably do you the world of good.

When you say that most women on 1200 a day will lose 2-3lbs a week, that really isn't the case. In my dieting group we are all on either 1200 or 1500 a day. Some women lose 3lbs easily each week, some lose 0.5lb a week despite sticking to the 1200 a day. Some women are just different.

bear in mind most 'light' foods just replace fat with sugar. when it comes to yoghurt that basically makes it nutritiously worthless.

also forget fruit - full of sugar which with your condition you don't want. have lots of veg instead.

how about scrambled eggs for breakfast - a couple of eggs is less than 200cals and protein fills you up for longer.

go back to your doc and tell them everything the nurse said and how upsetting it is. tell them how hard you've been trying and nothing is working and you need help - whether that be medication, support, whatever because despite best efforts you're not getting anywhere.

sorry to read about the nurse being such a twonk!

I know nothing about PCOS but am I the only one that thinks 2lb isn't gaining weight? You are beating yourself up for "putting on weight" when in actuality you have maintained your current weight with an eating plan. weight can fluctuate by 2lb or more day to day dependent on water retention, when you atr and muscle Vs fat and how accurate the bloody scales are. You can't judge on 2lb either side

So yanbu the nurse should have said you hadn't lost that's all and she spoke in a way that shows zero respect for the mental issues connected with weight loss let alone someone with PCOS. Refuse to see her again, book in an appointment with Dr sooner and tell him/her all your feelings on the matter.