Re: anorexic individuals with pcos
From: janpotter (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Mon, 27 May 2002 12:52:05 -0500 (CDT)
One thing that confuses me is whether pcos symptoms are mostly due to
weight or too much carbs and sugars. For example, if you are thin and
are able to maintain your body weight, but eat many carbs and sweets,
can your symptoms get worse?
hypoglycemia is when the blood sugar is too low in the body right? What
other obvious symptoms come with insulin resistence.
if pcos is based on insulin resistence, how come other women who have
diabetes don't have problems with hair, acne...etc...?
Thanks for the info
Jan
At Sun, 26 May 2002, Sally wrote:
>
>Hi,
>
>The PCOS symptoms may get worse with excess carbohydrate consumption,
>also there may be other symptoms like hypoglycaemia, fatigue, etc.
>related to excess insulin. Probably best that you niece eats a balanced
>diet (based on low glycaemic index, high fibre carbohydrates, proteins,
>with some healthy fats.
>
>Someone who is anorexic may also find it very hard to eat large amounts
>of high carb foods.
>
>I am no expert, but I would think your niece should eat relatively
>energy dense foods, nuts, normal fat dairy, meats, cheeses, along with
>veges and fruits, and some grain products so that she can get enough
>calories without necessarily having to eat large amounts of food.
>
>I think managing the anorexia which can be immediately life threatening
>would be more important than worrying about the PCOS at this stage -
>though the fear of gaining weight from the PCOS could also be helping to
>drive the anorexic behaviours. However, anorexia is about body image,
>and so a worsening of PCOS symptoms may make her feel worse. But in
>severe anorexia, the sex hormones switch off (amenohorrea - sp) - so I
>don't know what affect this would have - perhaps there wouldn't be
>excess androgens....., anorexia could cause periods to diappear. Sorry
>not much good answer here.
>
>My little sister has PCOS. She is not anorexic, but she is very skinny
>(probably also 15+ pounds below her ideal weight) and can't gain weight
>no matter what she eats - though she says she does feel better eating a
>higher healthy fat, lower carbohydrate diet.
>
>At Sun, 26 May 2002, janpotter wrote:
>>
>>Hello,
>>
>>My niece is anorexic and has been diagnosed with pcos a couple of years
>>ago. She need to gain at least 15+ pounds to get to her ideal weight.
>>My question is if she eats a lot of carbs in order to gain weight, will
>>her pcos symptoms like body hair and acne and irregular periods get
>>worse?
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