Hello,

I have PCOS and we have been TTC for about 18 months with no joy. We are about to be referred to the fertility clinic but I've been reading that a low-GI diet can work wonders as it controls your insulin and blood sugar levels, which PCOS can screw up.

The only things is that I'm not overweight (in fact I am apparently underweight, although only just) so I don't really want to lose weight.

Is anyone else in the same boat, or can anyone give any advice? I really want to try and help myself as well as having to rely on Clomid (or whatever the fertility people give me) and a low GI diet really seems to have a positive effect on the symptoms of PCOS.

Thanks

Vee
x

Hi there,
maybe I can join you?
I have PCOS and am also slim, but cane easily put on a few pounds in a day or 2 if Im not careful! I find weight drops off me if I dont eat too many carbs and snacks.

Still, I guess low gi could help my acne and maybe help in pregnancy and preventing a miscarriage.

I am on metformin to regulate periods and also plan to continue this once I get my !

So what do you generally eat in a day?

I get really bad sugar rushes and love chocolate - hence the name! and live off of diet coke when the cravings get bad!

Maybe we could try low gi together?

Hi,

Yay, let's be low-GI Janes together!

I don't really eat very well - most of the time I just eat a baguette from the deli across the road from work for lunch, and just a sandwich or odds and sods in the evening as I can't be bothered to prepare anything decent.

DH is a primary school teacher so gets fed a proper meal during the day, which means he only eats a sandwich at night - otherwise it might be easier to do dinner if it was for two of us...

I've just got back from Sainsbury's and spent a ton on loads of super healthy low GI stuff - I got a list off the net of what to eat and what to avoid which was quite helpful, and I thought I'd get one of the PCOS/Low-GI diet books that I've seen people raving about so that I can get some ideas for meals. Just need to be organised enough to get stuff ready the night before so I can take it in to lunch for work!

How long have you been on the metformin for, and what tests did they do before they put you on it? I've read that thinner people didn't get put on metformin though - is that wrong, or do they only judge it on a case by case basis?

Can't wait to get to the fertility clinic so I can get going and find out what they will do...

Thanks for responding to my email - it will be great to try the natural approach with someone as we can encourage each other and compare results!

Vee xx

Hi girls,

Saw your posts and thought I'd join you. I was diagnosed with PCOS in December 2009 - came off the pill in June 1009 and no AF since. I'm fairly slim too (BMI about 20) and would say I have a healthy diet but was definitely eating too much sugar. Been reading up on low GI diet so trying to stick to that.

I was prescribed metformin by my GP last month and have been taking it for nearly 4 weeks now with very little side effects. Still no AF though so pretty sure I'm not ovulating.

I have an appointment at a fertility clinic in 3 weeks but don't know what they'll do - maybe clomid but suppose they'll do more blood tests too.

Would be really interested to hear how you are both getting on. Are you being referred to a specialist?

Hiya, Im on 100mg a day and ovulated almost straight away, I didnt have any tests before going on it oddly! Although before that I had bloods and scans to diagnose PCOS but the bloods didnt show anything but had cycsts on the ovaries.

In between the tests and metformin I had DS by clomid 50mg on the 2nd round!

I have been better at low gi in the first half of my cycle and seemed to ovulate 4 days earlier, but not sure if that is due to the hormones after my miscarriage.
Seems to have gone to pot in the 2ww though as today I have had burger and chips and almost a whole easter egg and another burger for tea lol!! Im usually very good and have wholegrain toast for breakie, a snack of fruit, then a cooked meal with eaither sweet potato, new potaotes or wholegrain pasta/rice, then again a fruit snack (or dark chocolate) and then a wholegrain sarnie or similar for tea. If Im feeling really naughty Ill have diabetic ice cream from tesco with some fruit and melted dark chocolate on top!

Im going back to the specialist on Wed. where I expect they will do an internal scan and prescribe clomid to help ovulate at a good point in the cycle, or they will say continue Metformin or up it, and when pregnant they will monitor me and keep on metformin.
Dont think they will do much else apart from the above.

Do either of you suffer from acne? I seem to still get them alot just after ovulating, although it can be anytime of the month too, so that makes me think I need to be a lot stricter with the low gi, or up the met dose.

Hi I've PCOS, been TTC for over 5 years. Went through 6 cycles of Clomid in 2009 unsuccessfully and then turned to alternative methods such as the low GI diet and taking herbal remedies (Agnus Castus). I conceived on my second cycle with these changes but unfortunately had a MC at around 10 weeks in early Dec 09.

So I'm on the rollercoaster again TTC, fingers crossed it won't take as long next time. I'm convinced the diet etc helped things. Although I've always been a healthy eater the changes helped cut out some foods which although healthy are not good for PCOS sufferers. In addition to low GI foods I also avoid dairy products and numerous other sugary foods. It's a kinda low GI / diabetic type diet to help regulate insulin levels affected with PCOS.

My cycles have went from 32-100 days to circa 28-34 days cycle so it must help! But on the negative I do wonder if conceiving last year was just a fluke not long after finishing Clomid, that's my thoughts on my low days

I've always been thin and although I did notice I lost a few pounds initially I now eat as much 'green' food as I want which keeps the weight on (green foods being green in terms of a traffic light system and the amount of sugar they have, not just lettuce lol).

And no it's not boring, it's really just healthy eating and I have to say I feel so much better as well following this lifestyle, less bloated, more energy etc. And for once in my life my skin looks great :-). And of course you can still indulge in 'red' foods as treats.

Fingers crossed for us all, be interesting to hear how other people are trying to manage PCOS.

Hey girls I don't have pcos but I do follow a low-GI diet. If you eat the right amount of cals you wont lose weight, I've been able to maintain my weight on a low-GI diet.

It's just about replacing certain foods or substitute them for a low - GI kind. Its really a great eating lifestyle.

Hiya, can you give an example of what you would eat in a day?
Im struggling to find low gi options that I like and end up eating the same all the time!

Hi a typical day for me would be something like:

Breakfast - peaches or mandarine oranges, small glass 100% fruit juice, and museli/high fibre cereal (watch sugar content of cereal).
Breaks - anything from nectarines, nuts, food bars with 12-15g protein, grapes, blueberries, blackberries, veg etc. I find I need a huge stock to keep me going for the week though.
Lunch - normally either a salad with loads of ham, tuna, other fish or chicken (all not of the processed variety, the tuna is tinned in veg oil). Or a sandwich on wholemeal bread or wholegrain high-fibre bread. A good tip I got as well was to only eat half the bread in a sandwich! Again load up on the fillings to fill that belly :-) Low fat mayo if you need that.
Dinner/Tea - pretty much whatever the DH is having although I do NOT eat potatoes of any kind as they are a curse for PCOS sufferers. I would take a double portion of veg instead. Substitute white rice/short grain for basmati, wild brown or long grain rice. Pasta - thicker pastas are better, durhum (sp) wheat made - penne, fettuccine, spaghetti, vermicelli, linguine etc although I do tend to stick to wholewheat/brown pasta. Make sure the pasta and rice portion is only a 1/4 of your plate.
Evening snack - decaff tea with ryvita dunks (fruit ones are yummy) or occasionaly a couple of buscuits for a treat. I also have a habit of ccooking additional veg at tea time and would snack on that throughout the evening as well.

I use Soya milk, non-dairy butter (either soya or veg oil), decaff tea and coffee.

Any pre-made things e.g. pasta sauces, other meat sauces etc are all or the low-fat / light variety. I definately cook more from scratch but with time this is mainly limited to the weekends.

I found a great book in my library which gives a no nonsense guide for GI foods using the traffic light system, between this and basic guidelines for diabetics I think I'm kinda getting there. I carry a print out of the good and bad foods so if Im out and about I can quickly look something up if Im not sure about it

I have never felt better but yet am also trying to remain realistic in not pinning all my hopes on this. To me it isnt a diet it's a way of lifestyle now and it's like any skill, once you learn what's good and bad you hardly even think about it anymore when you're ordering food, getting your groceries etc. I'm lucky I've always enjoyed healthy eating and so does the hubby so perhaps that's made it easier for me.

Oh and I do slip up!! Normally once every couple of weeks, but this is allowed as long as your treats are surrounded by continued healthy eating. Chocolate is my downfall lol, but I try to stick to dark chocolate.

There is a website somewhere which gives a comprehensive list of red-amber-green foods, if you've come across it it gives a great variety of things in each section that you can enjoy all the time, some of the time or for treats.

Hope that is of some help?

xo

Girls - I'm v. impressed with your ability to stick to healthy eating - I really struggle!

If I could eat raw veg then I think I'd be on the raw carrots constantly, but they make my lips swell up and my mouth all itchy so I can't. I'm fine when they are cooked, although I get a bit wheezy when boiling carrots/potatoes so maybe I'm allergic to the raw starch in them?

I've just been away for a few days with DH and we had pub meals/takeaway every day, so I think this week I need to make a proper effort to get some healthy stuff in to eat. My additional problem is that I have IBS so need to be careful not to have too much fibre otherwise it sends my tummy crazy!

Mt first appointment at the fertility clinic is on 2nd March - the letter doesn't say if they will do any tests on that day - do you know if they do, or if the first appointment is just about talking to you? Not sure if I need to take anything to show what my cycle has been like in the last year etc...

Really glad to have some mates on here to discuss things with - I hate not knowing what the future will bring so its nice to be able to bounce things off other people xxx