Weight loss and PCOS

My name is Jeni and I have PCOS.

I have my first consult this week with the gastric bypass surgeon.

It's been a month between the time I sent my paperwork in and now. Despite my best efforts, I have not lost a single pound! I'm assuming the doc will have expected me to have lost some weight...how do I lose weight when I have PCOS? All my life I have tried, tried, tried...

I've been exercising and eating better...portion control and better food choices...still I go down and back up again.

My doc, according to another poster on this board, requires patients to lose 5% of their body weight and keep it off in order to have the surgery. I'm so afraid that he's going to yell at me because I haven't lost anything yet.

Do these places help you to lose weight on your own before you have the surgery? Or do they throw you to the wolves?

Please help! ARGGHHHHH!!!!

Jen

We PCOS-ers are very sensitive to carbs. I would try either Atkins or South Beach to try to get some weight off prior to surgery. Usually the surgeon will put you on a pre-op diet for a month or so prior to surgery. This should help you lose some too.

if you realy cant lose weight you may have to resort to extreme atkins or the protien shake diet they use pre-post op I get my protien shakes at the vitamin shop, i use their brand its about 16 dollars for a giant jar of mix.  it tastes better if you add a little ice, once you get the suger monkey off your back it will taste better too, you will be surprised other things taste alot different as well. good luck and come back let us know how your doing...

Thank you for your suggestions! I will be sure to let you all know. :)

First of all good luck with your consult.  Fortunately for me I was not required to loose any weight prior to my WLS. I agree with what the other ladies have suggested.  Do a high protein low carb diet and see if that helps any.  Good luck! Kristy

I don't understand the surgeon's *****quire patients to lose weight before surgery...I'm sure they have reasons but I still don't agree with it. My doc didn't require anything except we keep our BMI's below 50. At a BMI of 42 I was fine with that. If your insurance or area require you to keep this physician...then your just going to have to do like the other posters suggested and keep focused on getting the surgery and diet your little heart out! Good luck! ~ Christal

A lot of surgeons ask their WLS patients to lose about 5% of their weight because it helps to shrink the liver. During WLS, they have to hold the liver out of the way to get to the stomach, and if a person's is too enlarged, it can complicate or even cancel the surgery. My surgeon, in particular, had one case where the person's liver was so enlarged that they had to stop the surgery, close the person up, and re-schedule once the person lost more pre-op weight. Obviously, this isn't a common occurrence, but losing just 5% of your weight really puts you in a better spot for a safe surgery. While I was able to lose my pre-op weight with no additional help -- 15 pounds, and just under the wire -- I know my doctor offers some type of prescription drug if the patient requests it. I'm not sure what it is or how it works, but maybe your doctor would offer something like that as a last resort if you requested it. Like others have suggested, I also had success years ago with a liquid diet (New Lifestyle). It sucked while I was doing it, but if you could suffer through it for a few weeks or a month, you could probably lose a decent amount of pre-op weight. Most importantly, though, DON'T GIVE UP, and try not to get too frustrated or down on yourself! Any good bariatric surgery program should be able to help you with pre-op weight loss requirements, and if they have support groups, those can provide important moral support, even though you're not post-op yet. Good luck!