Losing weight for TTC?

[1woodpecker]

is anyone else actively trying to lose weight to aid conception?

I’ve got low progesterone and read that being overweight can be a factor (along with stress which I’m also working on). I really try to not put emphasis on weight and body size being important and haven’t dieted for years, but my weight/BMI has been creeping up and I’m worried it is a factor.

Hi 👋🏼 I am 39 with BMI of 32. I had a chemical pregnancy 1 week ago so waiting to ovulate again. I have been googling like mad and convinced myself it was because I’m overweight. I’m now on a mad rush to loose weight incase we need IVF.
i have been dieting since the day I started to bleed and lost 5lb this week. I am fasting and watching what I’m eating.
the thing is Drs constantly blame everything on weight which is annoying.
I am going on holiday next week though without the BF which is worrying as I think I will ovulate over those days. But it might do me good who knows.
do you need to loose a lot? I need to loose 3st to get into the healthy 25 BMI ! But that is just too much and it won’t happen over night. First goal to get under 30 incase of IVF x

Hey

Its pretty common for progsterone to be low in pcos patients - have u been tested for this ?

I lost half a stone thanks to metformin and myo inostol which im on for pcos

Gynae advised low gi foods

Nhs dietician said stop snacking and half a plate of veg with lunch and dinner

I bought a chocolate protein blend from free soul and have this once a day with oat milk - lotsa good vits in the blend

I use indoor exercise bike most days

Just bought an indoor trampoline that arrives tomo

We try and swim once a week

Hi @worldwidetravel2017 yes GP has referred me for a scan for PCOS as testosterone slightly high and SHGB a bit low. I don’t have loads of PCOS symptoms although am a bit hairy! So scan will be interesting.
I’ve looked at myo-inostol although waiting to hear about the pcos as think it can be harmful to those who don’t have pcos?

thanks @Joleyjojo sounds like you’ve got A good plan! I’ve had some very faint BFPs at around 7-9dpo that have faded so I’m wondering they were early chemicals due to low progestone. Have you had your progesterone checked mid luteal?
My BMI is just over 29, apparently I need to lose just under 2 stone to drop back into the “healthy” range. I’ve dieted before with success but that was before living with my fiancé and not having as much control over what I eat. I’m planning to do the 5:2 diet because it means I can block out 2 days a week where I eat differently to him but without affecting the rest of the week. This is week 1 though so we’ll see how it goes!

Low shbg is common in pcos patients

Gynae advised i eat walnuts to help raise it

NHS dietician told me to put walnuts in fat free yog..

Fertility clinic did day 3 - 5 bloods for LH and FSH - - those were in keeping with pcos..
Your nhs gp might authorise them if you ask

Testosterone is different in different parts of cycle even in those without pcos

Randox health are good

They offer testing for 30 gbp and are good for testing progsterone after ovulation etc

That’s great you have a plan.

All my bloods have come back within normal range. Although when I looked the SHBG was the lower end of normal and testosterone higher end of normal. The GP said they are normal nothing to worry about.

I will start putting some walnuts in with my flax seed and yogurt.

there is no way I will loose 3 stone quickly, but I will just loose what I can hopefully just helping with trying to catch.

i am going to have mid cycle progesterone done , will wait until I ovulate though as going at CD21 would be pointless.

Also having a endometrial scan on CD14 to see thickness of my lining. I need to check that is ok as I may not have ovulated by then.

does anyone mind sharing there day 3 bloods.

LH 1.7
FSH 5.2
oestradiol <88 - Dr said she doesn’t worry about this as it changes so much in the cycle but still within normal range.
SHBG - 37
testosterone - 1.4

xxx

Hi OP. Just wondering where you have read that inositol can be harmful to people without PCOS?
As far as I'm aware, your body makes it anyway, so supplements are just extra. Also there have been trials on pregnant women to measure whether it has a protective effect against gestational diabetes - this in itself is very unusual as they never test anything at all on pregnant women, so at the time of the trial they must have been confident it was utterly completely safe.
But, things move on, so if it's now suspected of being risky I'd be really interested to read about it. Do you have a link?

So I did a deep dive a while back (as was about to order some!) and I can’t remember exactly what I’d read then, just that I felt the research suggested unless I had pcos then jt could do more harm than good. I’ll have to do a proper google but from a quick one, this says about it lowering androgens and the affect on eggs (Link). Elsewhere seems to say it’s fine if no pcos but may not be helpful. Now I’m questioning myself and wondering if I should try it?!

Ah that’s interesting, I’m happy to share my bloods too.

day 3 except for the day 21 progesterone:

Oestrodial - 102.00 pmol/L then 138 then 109
Testosterone- 2.10 nmol/L then 1.39
Procactin - 125 mIU/L
Progesterone (day 3) - 1 nmol/L
Progesterone (day 21 - although may not be the right day so don’t wholly trust) - 28.5 then 25.8 nmol/L
LH - 3.10 IU/L then 7.1
FSH - 5 IU/L then 5.7
TSH - 1.5 mIU/L then 1.86
SHGB - 32 nm/mol
DHEA - 5.6 Umol/ml

(some I’ve tested more than once, through hertility as well as GP). Shows how much they can vary and it’s worth repeating.

Hertilty give the normal follicular oestrogen range as 114 - 332. Interestingly GP said all fine but they seem to have different normal ranges?

It does lower androgens

Dya know your free androgen number

Interesting point about the androgens, but the link you've provided doesn't actually reference a study proving that inositol does lower androgens in non PCOS women. They just say 'inositol WILL lower androgens', which is saying what it will theoretically do rather than what it's been proven to do, and takes no account of other systems within the body.

My admittedly very unqualified understanding of inositol is that it increases the cellular response to insulin, and if cells are more responsive to insulin then your body does not need to produce so much of it. Higher insulin causes testosterone levels to rise, so in theory if there's less insulin then testosterone levels will decrease, but I can't see why they would decrease below the optimal normal level? Your body needs a certain amount of insulin and additional inositol is not going to cause it to stop producing enough insulin to run properly, so presumably once insulin is at an ideal level any additional inositol will cease to have an effect or be expelled by the body, and insulin will not decrease below ideal normal levels. Therefore testosterone will not decrease below ideal normal levels either.

However, if there are medical conditions which mean the body benefits from higher than normal testosterone perhaps inositol might have a negative effect?

I'm not an expert! Just very interested in this area!