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The wonderful world of PCOS HumonComics.com

The wonderful world of PCOS


I wish this guy was just a strawman to prove a point, but unfortunately he's not. I've had this conversation over and over with the same damn people.

Having PCOS is probably one of the most frustrating parts of my life because people, male and female, doesn't understand that being overweight is part of the illness, and being overweight is such a stigmatized thing in our society that everybody think they know what's wrong with me and feel a need to tell me how to fix it. And to make it worse, PCOS is a bit different from person to person, so some PCOS patients might not be overweight but suffer from oily, spotted or miscolord skin for example, so if someone knows another person with PCOS they might say "The other person I know isn't overweight, so..."


Humon
4th December 2015
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8 years ago #9430209        
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You see, this is where you set Niels on him.

8 years ago #9430941        
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It's really irresponsible of you to spread misinformation about PCOS, metformin, and medical science. You should really educate yourself more on your disorder as well.

PCOS does not cause your body to immediately put sugar into fat reserves (and chicken doesn't contain carbohydrates and is uneffected by metabolic disorders like PCOS). PCOS causes insulin resistance which does the EXACT OPPOSITE of what you claim. Insulin resistant individuals have cells that do not properly respond to blood glucose, and cannot metabolize them. This glucose then builds up in the blood stream, it does not get stored as fat, or metabolized by the body. Eventually your serum glucose levels will go down due to the slow action of insulin in your body, or due to exceeding a threshold of about 200mg/dl causing your body to release sugars in your urine as an emergency way to bring blood glucose levels down.

People with PCOS will often experience periods of rapid unexplained weight loss as a result.

Metformin does not help your body regulate sugar or turn it into energy.

Metformin helps keep your blood glucose levels lower by impairing hepatic pathways of glucose production, primarily gluconeogenesis. See, when your cells cry out "Please give us glucose!" your pancreas responds by releasing insulin. When insulin levels are high but the cells still are calling for glucose, your liver says "Well shit, we don't have enough glucose!" and begins raising your blood glucose through gluconeogenesis where it turns fat into glucose.

In normal people gluconeogenesis helps them avoid hypoglycemia. In people with metabolic disorder (like PCOS) it causes your blood glucose to spike to unhealthy levels. Metformin inhibits gluconeogenesis, and tells your liver "Nah brah, we cool", preventing it from raising blood sugar in response to higher insulin levels.

Metformin thus actively prevents your body from turning fat into glucose, and gives your body time to try and bring down it's glucose levels.

The primary recommendation for people with PCOS is weight loss. The less fat you have the less your liver can spike your blood glucose, and the less insulin resistant you will be. You need to focus on losing weight and eating low carb to help regulate your blood glucose. Being overweight while having PCOS is very unhealthy and can lead to permanent complications, such as vision loss, neuropathy, and circulation problems.

In the short term it's causing damage to your pancreas which over time will further impair your body's glucose response pathways.

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Oath

30 O
8 years ago #9435285        
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Instead of directly pointing out that people with PCOS tend to have slower metabolic rate and still feel hungry even after they consumed enough nutrients, JoeBo chose to put it this way, "people with PCOS gain weight primarily BECAUSE THEY ARE INACTIVE AND EAT TOO MUCH". Well, encouraging PCOS patients to do more exercise and eat a healthy diet is one thing, patient-blaming is another. Humon's info may not be 100% correct, but JoeBo's information is also not direct evidence. Period.

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8 years ago #9432172        
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AAAAAAUGH! Thank you! This was really cathartic to read, actually. I also have it and I hate it. I can often feel my ovaries aching, I am constantly fighting hair in weird places, and I had to have surgery in my early 20's to stop my uterus from trying to kill me. I need birth control to control the symptoms, but I have other more serious conditions that don't make that wise for me to take. PCOS is a miserable enough experience all on it's own without the stupid comments from outsiders.

My weird silver lining is that I am so dark blonde I'm nearly a brunette, and I'm growing bright red chin hairs. PCOS is turning me into a freaking Viking.

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HyleTx

35 M
8 years ago #9431559        
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Wow, never heard of it before now or at least not a term for it. I hope that if I start asking anyone about their medications (which is unlikely unless I know them pretty well) I don't immediately just jump to conclusions like that guy.

8 years ago #9431469        
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<sigh> i have a transgender friend who's gone through similar bullshit. Can relate how you feel. Sorry to hear it's so frustrating.

8 years ago #9431094        
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I'm in more or less the same situation (I don't take birth control) and it is SO FRUSTRATING explain to people that, yes, metformin is used to treat diabetes, but it is ALSO used to treat PCOS. Most times I get a blank face when they hear PCOS, to which I calmly and rationally (not at all) explain what it is. Funnily enough, I get more women who have no idea what it is than men, or simply I get more women not quite believing what I'm telling them. So I then graphically explain to them EXACTLY what PCOS entails, and watch their faces turn green with glee. I love you're comics about PCOS, and actually point people towards them because they are the most useful way of explaining this problem to people whose IQ's just simply haven't mastered the connection. Thank you, and I eagerly await more (or indeed, anything that you write. It's gold either way.)

8 years ago #9430489        
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Having any "invisible illness" is such a pain in the ass. My fiance has hypothyroidism and I have Narcolepsy, both of which relate to weight gain... and people just can't seem to wrap their brains around the fact that this isn't laziness.

8 years ago #9430463        
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Yep. My mom and my sister had both PCOS and both suffered with facial hirsutism and painful periods. So, in my teens, after my first very painful periods, I was driven to my gynaecologist by my mom. She wanted to get me tested for PCOS. I got the diagnosis. Therefore, I was put on the pill. First thing my mom tells me getting out of the hospital: "Never EVER mention this to anyone, specially at school, or everyone is going to thing that you're easy. Think about your reputation. You don't want people to think that about you". Funny fact, in many women the pill causes a substantial drop in the libido. I was one of them. I was pretty sure I was straight, I was capable of lukewarm interest, but I didn't find men attractive enough... until I dropped the pill when that particular one was banned because of secondary effects. After fifteen years taking it non-stop. Suddenly, all the right urges where there. So... yes, I find so hilarious that people think "birth pill" = "sexually liberated woman", because I only began to be sexually active when I stopped taking it.

8 years ago #9430440        
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They put me on Metformin but I'm not glucose sensitive and it caused me to gain 50 pounds in six months. It literally made all my problems worse. :/ I wish there was an alternative medication besides just birth control.

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