Anyone with PCOS worrying about diet during pregnancy?

[Katnissx]

Just as the title says really.

I've been doing Tim Ferris's slow carb diet (you eat no white carbs or sugar or dairy etc for 6 days and get one cheat day where you can eat what you like) for the last few months and I really think it helped me to get pregnant.

However now I am pregnant I'm finding the diet hard to follow as I just really want to eat carbs and cheese all the time 🤦‍♀️ but I'm worried as I likely have an insulin sensitivity (hence PCOS) that if I eat badly I could end up with gestational diabetes. And I also don't want to have loads of blood sugar spikes which could negatively impact my baby 😔

Am I overthinking it? What types of diets are other pregnant PCOS ladies following? Is there a more balanced diet I can follow where I can have some carbs but not upset my blood sugar?

Oh and I'm about 5+2 I think 😊

I have PCOS, went ultra low carb to loose weight and conceive, alongside metformin. It worked - Yey!!
Morning sickness kicked in and from weeks 6-12 I ate nothing except sugary cereal, white bread with jam, and haribo. I lost 6lbs despite not being sick often.
Trimester two I ate the world, mostly carbs. Feel rubbish energy wise but not sick. Out far less weight on than the suggested lb a week. By 28 weeks I'm around 10lb above my starting weight.
I've now given up weighing but am trying to eat healthier as worried about GD too. BUT those first 12 weeks I just did what I could to survive, there was no choice of food, it was whatever would go in and stay in.
Don't over think it x

@Katnissx I was on metformin before I conceived and for the first 14 weeks whilst I still had morning sickness all I could eat was ginger biscuits and my main evening meals. After that I ate whatever I fancied but just made sure I was exercising (walking 1 mile 4 times a day) and I actually lost weight this amazed me as my PCOS made it impossible to lose even an ounce. At my last MW appointment I had put on 7lb and my little bundle of joy came out at 8lb 7 how does that work. I was also worried about GD but luckily it never appeared. I think what I am getting at is don't be too hard/strict on yourself. Eat healthy, exercise in moderation and enjoy your growing bump x

This is really interesting, as I've been having the same dilemma as you OP - though I'm now much further along. It's so annoying that after all this work to get pregnant we still have to think about diet!

I followed Kym Campbell's diet pre-pregnancy - low carb and sugar etc, but doesn't sound as strict as yours. I pretty much kept it up til Week 12, then have been eating much more carby stuff since then, as my appetite returned with a vengeance!

Am now 21 weeks exactly so will see in a few weeks now if I've managed to avoid the dreaded GD - it's reassuring to hear the stories above though. It sounds like just listening to your body and getting plenty of nutrients in, any way you can, is the best option.

Also on a personal note, interesting to hear other posters say they didn't put on much weight. I've still only gained a couple of kilos max and was starting to get concerned, but wondering now if this is a PCOS issue?

Best of luck OP. X

@Chichz I was terrified about the amount of weight I was going to out on I had an idea that I was going to put on a couple of stone at least. With regards to the PCOS I don't know if this is related but since I've had her I've found the weight has gone without me even thinking about it. I am now 2 1/2 stone lighter then when I had her and just over 2 stone lighter than my pre-pregnancy weight. I think the pregnancy has done something to my hormones but I'm not complaining x

@Preggers86 I've definitely heard people say that their symptoms can pretty much disappear after pregnancy! That or the other way around . Personally I've never been overweight but have had all the other symptoms.

@Wanderer1 That's so funny that your baby weighed more than you had put on!! Pregnancy is weird. X

I have PCOS and didn’t really realise there was a specific diet I needed to follow, so I just ate what I fancied (which included a lot of biscuits and chocolate) as well as making sure I got in enough fruit etc. And now I’ve been diagnosed with GD at 30 weeks. I can’t say for sure the 2 are related tbh because sometimes these things just happen to people even with no factors that make them more likely to get it, but at least you know earlier on that I did to balance your meals a bit better etc because now I’m on w strict no sugar diet for 10 weeks!

I have PCOS and was on Metformin as well as being on a low carb diet to help with weight loss. Finally got pregnant on Clomid

I tried sticking to the diet, but I craved carbs. I didn't go crazy, but at the same time I didn't limit myself. After all was said and done, I gained about 14kg (over 2st) in pregnancy. I had to have the GTT due to risk factors (BMI, family history), but passed. I was on course to have a large baby, but no GD at any point. I work at the hospital, so checked blood sugars occasionally.

As with @Preggers86, post-baby, the weight has been gradually dropping off, and 7 months down the line, I'm 8kg (over 1st) lighter than pre-pregnancy. Hopefully it won't come back once breastfeeding stops.

@Catlover10 It's crazy what the doctors don't tell you, despite you obviously having a diagnosis.

Anyone who knows anything about diets for PCOS has done it through their own research and recommendations!

Hope you're ok - you might get used to the no-sugar diet .

I have PCOS and was put in metformin, we conceived within 3 months!

The first few weeks I was fine, then I had a mix of sickness and heartburn and bread was the only thing that stopped my heartburn, I'm now 24 weeks, I'm eating as and when I want, including carbs and sugars, however I'm worried about GD as with PCOS you're at high risk of developing it. I don't actually have my GD test for another 3 weeks but we'll live in hope!

At 24 weeks I've put on 2.9kg which is 6lbs but baby is happily kicking around every day.

Wow thank you so much for all the helpful replies, I can't believe how many of us are in the same boat! Glad to hear that I can probably get away with having some carbs etc during pregnancy. For now I've decided to try and follow the diet for 5 days and have 2 cheat days to see if that helps me with my cravings more (one cheat day midweek and one at the weekend). But will have to see how long that lasts 🙈

Just for a bit of background too, with my first pregnancy I didn't know I had PCOS and ended up eating lots of carbs and fatty things after having food aversion and not wanting much else. I think I put on about 15kg during pregnancy, but I didn't develop GD. However my PCOS symptoms were much worse once my periods returned when I stopped breastfeeding and I struggled with secondary infertility. I also struggled to loose my baby weight and managed to get about 10kg off doing the slow carb diet but nothing else would shift it 😔 interesting to hear other stories though, maybe after this pregnancy I'll get lucky and my symptoms will resolve 🙊🙈

Just thought I'd update- nausea and food aversions kicked in around 6 weeks and the slow carb diet has been completely out the window since then, can't stand the thought of pulses and beans 🤢 even vegetables are a bit iffy at the moment.. oh dear 🤦‍♀️
So just eating what I can stomach and hope to be able to eat more sensibly when I feel better again, will just have to hope for the best in terms of GD x