PCOS and sugar cravings during pregnancy

[Hannah2025]

Hi ladies! A random one from me, I’m wondering if anyone’s experienced the same.

I’m currently 7w pregnant and suffering from nausea. The ONLY thing that seems to get me through these rough moments and stop me vomiting are sour patch kids, ginger biscuits and other similar sweet treats.

Before becoming pregnant I cut out all refined sugar and carbs due to my PCOS. Unfortunately my body just isn’t craving the healthy salads and keto meals I was eating beforehand, infact it’s repulsed by the thought.

So unfortunately my diet is mostly plain crisps, toast and biscuits with some sour patch kids/grapes thrown in. I still try to limit as much as poss, but it’s proving difficult. Luckily by around 6pm the nausea eases off and I can manage a healthy dinner with protein and veg/potatoes etc.

Has anyone else with PCOS gone through this? How was your pregnancy when eating sugar and carbs? I know I am at a higher risk of gestational diabetes which is worrying me. For context, I am a healthy BMI so not struggling with being overweight etc which I am hoping will slightly work in my favour.

Any help is super appreciated. x

Hi @Hannah2025 yes, with my son! I have PCOS too but not overweight, and lack a lot of the typical physical symptoms such as hairiness etc. I’m now on my fourth pregnancy (two ended in MMC) and have never had any problems with my blood sugar. With my son I spent the first trimester living off predominantly chocolate hobnobs, tinned peaches, and custard. Tested for GD and all fine and as part of my testing for the miscarriages I also had blood sugars checked. So it may well all be fine - I was told PCOS is a bit of an umbrella term for what could be a few different problems with the same symptoms and so what is an issue for one person with PCOS often isn’t for another. I’ve found as I come out of the first trimester I can go back to normal eating again, albeit with a lot of salt cravings, so the sugar needs may well be temporary.

PCOS and very overweight. Salt and vinegar crisps were the only thing that stopped the nausea. Once I got out of the first trimester, the intense nausea stopped, and so the need to salt and vinegar crisps stopped, and my diet returned back to normal.

My blood sugars were perfect at the GTT. Baby was a little on the large side for her gestation, but not massive. I did get pre-eclampsia at the very end, but it was mild, and unlikely to be related to PCOS.

I had very little nausea with my second. Blood sugars were perfect, larger than average baby and mild pre-eclampsia.

Hi, I’ve just joined this site & im looking for answers / advice. I have PCOS but no symptoms atm. I’m week 8/9 & the extreme nausea hits 3pm-midnight, then I wake up at 3,5,6:30am 😓 it’s crushing my soul.
how do you sleep & stop that awful throat feeling I’m pulling my hair out…

I hate to break it to you ladies, but this is just pregnancy related and not necessarily pcos.
You'll see that in any of the threads for first trimester cravings or food aversions, it's beige or bad foods constantly that seem to win out.

Fingers crossed you all feel better in the 2nd trimester though as many others tend to