Ok, I have all the symptoms of IR, and now I think I'm hypo too. I have never been diagnosed because my gyno said I was too fat, and I was put on the pill. Well hell, I've seen girls heavier than me with periods. So I'm going nuts reading all of this stuff on how you can't lose weight. I know they will never put me on meds because my lab results are always "normal." But losing weight is so difficult. I'm bulimic and even with throwing up and periods of restriction, I have trouble losing. And I gain like there's no tommorrow if I go off a diet for a couple of days.

I just want hope. I don't want to be on the BCP, but it's like I don't have any other option, or I will grow a beard! Then the weightloss bothers me the most. AM I doomed to be this way?

And one other thing? IF IR and hypo make it impossible to lose weight, than why do some people who have both get gastric bypass surgery and lose? I know, that's kind of off topic, but it made me think.

I'm both IR and hypo, and thanks to the metformin prescription I was given, I've started losing again (thankfully). It's a nice feeling.

As for you, I recommend you get to a reproductive endocrinologist ASAP. I was told I was "borderline" hypo by two other doctors and nothing was ever done. It was when I started putting together all the symptoms of PCOS that I made the appointment with him and things started falling into place.

I considered gastric bypass at one time...seriously considered it. Once I got the diagnoses to explain the difficulties I had been having, I felt a tremendous burden lift. I know how frustrated you are, I really do. Please see another doctor, preferably an RE - they really know what to look for.

Keep us posted!

Wow, a 20 pound loss! Congrats, it seems your doing well. I'm going to ask for a referral. Except I have this stupid insurance where you can only see certain doctors. My one doctor is such an ass. Excuse me. He says I am a hypochondriac and says that my problems will go away if I "stop smoking." Hello, I've been like this before I started. I don't know if he will give me a referral, he might not out of spite.

I read about Metformin. I'd like to take it for preventive measures. I heard though they only prescribe it to type II's and women trying to concieve. I never heard of Met helping hypoT though. Do you think the Met is helping your thyroid, or do you think the IR caused your thyroid problems. I can't tell where mine started. I just know in one year, I gained 55 pounds and the next 15. Figure those numbers!?! None of my friends ever gained that fast. And on top of it, I did learn to lose by anorexia, but if I try to eat normally, I gain heaps of water weight and then if I don't starve for a week to correct a binge, I gain heaps of fat. In these last past two month, I've managed to stack 20 pounds. Ah well, I don't think I'm failing myself, I think it's doctors at this point. Plus one nurse said I looked severely anemic. My doctor didn't run tests though because he just laughs at me and thinks "it all up in ur het." Do you know how anemia relates to thyroid or IR?

I'm on another med for hypothyroidism, and as far as I know met does nothing for that. As for only being prescribed for type IIs and women trying to conceive, I'm neither. All I can tell you is I lost 15 pounds my first two weeks on Atkins then stopped losing for several weeks. I was on met 3 days and was down 5 pounds - that tells me something's going right. As for anemia, I'm afraid I can't tell you anything about that.

Good luck on that referral - I have no experience with insurance companies where you need one and can only imagine how frustrating it must be for you. Sounds like your doc is a real jerk!

I never got the referral, but I think I underestimated the role of a good diet in managing these conditions. I'm not considering Met any longer because I have enough trouble remembering to take my BCP which I have been off of for three months. And I'm starting to lose weight again, and have been good about sticking to my low-carb diet, and am losing with ease which I thought I couldn't do before. However, when I'm back on insurance, I still want to see an Endo because I don't get my period when I go off the BCP despite following a low-carb diet, and I just don't think that's normal. And when I do get it, it's often sporadic, spotted and clumpy though my gyno ruled out endometriosis and other disorders, though I think I'm headed down the road for PCOS if I don't pay attention to my blood sugar. It's so terrifying really.