DD with PCOS. Anything more she can do?

[Feetuptime]

DD is 21 and recently has been told she has PCOS. She had periods that were up to 50 days apart, bad acne and worst of all for her very large weight gain.

GP put her on the POP pill and suggested fasting to try and lose weight. The weight distribution is strange, she’s big all over but especially her shoulders - she looks like an American football player. She’s really distressed by this. She has huge rolls of fat on her back and quite a moon shaped face. Lots of large stretch marks.

The pill has helped her acne hugely but she cannot lose weight. She stops eating at 6pm and doesn’t eat until 12pm the following day. She’ll have soup or a sandwich for lunch and then a proper me for tea. She cannot budge a pound and she’s so disheartened.

GP would not prescribe metformin and she’s at a loss as to what to ask for next.
Shes not sure about any of the weight loss injections (not sure if she’d qualify anyway) but we wondered if there was anything else that can be done for this.

GP was pretty dismissive and hasn’t referred her to gynaecology or endocrinology - we don’t know whether to push for this. Any ideas please?

Her TSH was 4.9 I believe. She’s on cerelle pill. These have more or less stopped her period altogether.
Carbs will be the problem then as she’s a bit of a pasta / bread lover. She’s office based so doesn’t walk a great deal. Definitely sounds like there’s room for improving the weight issue. Obviously being 21 it’s something she needs to tackle herself.
Thanks for all your help.

I'm still curious as to how she was diagnosed with PCOS if the ultrasound of her ovaries was normal?

Being able to see cysts on the ovaries is only 1 symptom and PCOS can be diagnosed through a combination of other symptoms

www.nhs.uk/conditions/polycystic-ovary-syndrome-pcos/

She could follow a low GI/GL (glycemic load) eating plan. Some PCOS patients find low carb unsustainable in the longer term.

Verity is a useful website re all aspects of PCOS

@Feetuptime her TSH is actually very high for her age.

Unfortunately the NHS will probably refuse to do anything as they classify anything under 5 as "normal" (and anything under 10 as not needing treatment). At her age it really should be 2 or less (the Uk normal range includes results from much older people who will naturally have a higher TSH). I

t's frustrating but this won't be helping her weight. Keep an eye on this and if it goes above 5 help her fight to have her "sub clinical hypothyroid" treated.

I have pcos and managed it for years with low sugar diet (natural sugars from fruit fine but not cakes, sweets, biscuits etc) and I got really into yoga which helped my skin, weight and cycles get back on track. Being on the pill worked great for me as well (microgynon)

My DD was prescribed Dianette as the pill but only for 12 months and then swapped. The best thing she did was get a regular personal trainer if you she/you can afford it. She gave her a diet that was quite low carb, low sugar and high protein (and porridge with protein powder for breakfast) and gave her exercises that included weight training as well as running. DD lost a lot of weight and really toned up. She still goes to the gym regularly and runs. She is a bit more relaxed about her food but tries to stick to it 5 days a week and relaxes it more at weekends. Her symptoms are minimal now.

Absolutely agree with all of this.

I was lucky and had a sympathetic and well informed GP who prescribed me a low dose of thyroxine with a TSH of 4.8 as I was not getting pregnant. (near-instant fix by the way). Your DD should really push for the same. If no success, she could consider taking a supplement designed to help her thyroid.

And yes to low carb or low GI (ditch bread for sure).