Struggling to manage PCOS and binge eating

Get some help for your binge eating, you need to go to a psychologist because it is an eating disorder which can make you very unwell.

What may help you is metformin, it evens out your blood sugar levels and stops you feeling so hungry and helps treat the symptoms of pcos.

Ideally you need to eat a low gi diet, giving up sugar, alcohol and dairy because they effect you hormones. But if you have a problem with binging, you may be unlikely to be able to stick to a healthy diet without getting help first. Metformin may help you with sugar cravings though.

80% of weight loss is through diet and 20% is through exercise, so if you are eating more calories than you are burning, you will still put on weight. Eating sugar and drinking alcohol are the biggest contributers to weight gain with pcos though.

I put on 2 and a half stone in the space of 5 months on an ssri antidepressant called paroxetine because it raises your insulin levels. Be careful with certain medications if they affect your blood sugar levels. Always read labels of medicines and herbal tablets.

Good luck, I hope you get the help you need and don't give up hope, you can change your life around. You just need to believe in yourself.

Get a naturopath, it is expensive but your health is worth it. I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 19 after not having my period for a year. I am 21 now and feeeeel your pain. Not only with the struggle of weight loss but with s****y western doctors. I did all my own research and had to force my physicians to run tests which there response was 'why what will you get out of a diagnosis'. I am insulin resistant and when my tests came back flagged because I was in the prediabetic level they made no effort to contact me I had to set up my own appointments to which they said 'why are you here what do you want me to tell you' followed by a phone call from a psychiatrist because apparently I am delusional for caring about my health when all I was requesting was an appointment with a dietitian. I then did my own research to get on metformin emailed my doctor and took metformin for two years without ever having my blood sugar tested. Long story short western medicine should be left for acute things not chronic problems like PCOS. I have always been a thin healthy person until PCOS consumed my life but slowly over the last few years I have improved my physical and emotional health through lots of research and acceptance. I work out 5-6 days a week which I have done for three years now (weight lifting mostly) I eat low carb and follow a Mediterranean/ paleo diet with no soy, gluten, or dairy. I unfortunately have lost basically no weight but I have definitely added muscle so much of my fat has turned to muscle. I know this is the last thing you want to hear because weight might be all that matters to you right not I know it was for me until recently. I restricted my calories severely for three years eating about 800 - 1200 calories and working out twice daily. But this only made me feel more deprived and led me to binging. Now that I do not restrict my calories and focus more on staying clean and entirely away from gluten, soy, and dairy rather than low carb my cravings have almost entirely gone away and I no longer cheer myself on the longer I can stay hungry without eating. There is hope at the end of the tunnel but you will endure struggle and metal and physical challenges on the way there. Do research, listen to your body (it is NOT just calories in calories out), remember this process is slow, and find a naturopath.

A naturopath is not a medically trained doctor and there is no scientific evidence to back up what they say. So anyone could claim to be one and you could waste a lot of money and time on this. Look up naturopathy on wikipedia.

Metformin isn't for everyone and if you want to see someone who is medically qualified to deal with PCOS you should see an endocrinologist. They can give you can get a glucose tolerance test to see if you are insulin resistant, they will also tell you what foods and drinks will help and hinder you. As I mentioned before a low gi diet is what is usually recommended.

I have lost weight by giving up sugar and alcohol without even exercising. It does work, but it is hard if you have a problem with binging, which is why it is so important to get help with this.

Naturopaths are medically trained doctors they take extra courses on top of getting their MD and base all of their treatment methods on peer reviewed creditable research studies. Please do not miss inform people if you do not know what you are talking about regarding the credibility of holistic doctors.