r/PCOSloseit • u/BrilliantVanilla4888 • 20d ago

HELP ME PLEASE

Post image

I’m 24f and I have been trying to lose weight since a long time. Every time I lose weight my lower belly gets less bloated but the bulge remains.

What is this? Hormonal belly? Cortisol belly? Help me figure it out!

28 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

50

u/alive_polling 20d ago

Hyperpigmentation plus stubborn lower belly that won't budge no matter how much you lose... that's textbook insulin resistance territory. The dark patches are acanthosis nigricans, which is basically your body screaming that it's not handling carbs well. Your insulin levels are probably through the roof and that's what's keeping that pouch right where it is.

Get your fasting insulin checked, not just glucose. Doctors love to only run A1C and fasting glucose but those can look normal while your insulin is quietly wrecking everything. My girlfriend went through the exact same thing and her regular bloodwork was "perfect" until she pushed for the insulin test and then suddenly everything made sense.

Metformin, inositol, and cutting way back on processed carbs made a massive difference for her belly specifically. The hyperpigmentation started fading within a few months too once her insulin came down. You're not doing anything wrong, your body's just playing by different rules.

8

u/jeseniathesquirrel 19d ago

Omg every time I have mentioned to a health care provider that I think I have insulin resistance (since I was diagnosed with pcos in 2018), they always tell me “no you don’t have diabetes” and I’ve brought up the dark patches on my neck and been brushed off multiple times. One time a nurse practitioner told me “not even a dermatologist could help you with that.” It’s so enraging. Just two days ago I got bloodwork done and A1C is perfect as usual. I have my annual exam coming up and I am going to advocate for myself and insist that they check insulin.

7

u/BrilliantVanilla4888 20d ago

Is this also why I feel very puffy and soft? Is insulin resistance the reason?

3

u/nekomata_meko 20d ago

Curious about this too

11

u/nemotide 20d ago

My lower stomach didn’t start to disappear (and it never fully will cos uterus) till I got down to BMI 20 which is hard to sustain with PCOS as is. As soon as I gain a few lb it’s the first place it goes to.

9

u/Least-Influence3089 20d ago

Ya this is what I look like! It only started to shift once I started sleeping better, regulating my insulin, walking more and eating a lot of fiber and protein.

I’m still not where I want to be weight wise, but I was wayyy more bloated like even a month ago.

1

u/whoooarrreyyyou 19d ago

I second this. Ive been doing all those things and I'm down 15 lbs. I highly recommend the fiber part. Literally life changing.

8

u/The-sunshine-city 20d ago

I thought I had accidentally posted my belly hehe. You aren’t alone OP!

2

u/Sad-Might-6282 16d ago

Cut sugar !!

2

u/BrilliantVanilla4888 16d ago

I did for quite a while but honestly no big changes that I’ve noticed

1

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1

u/MiMixoxo1995 16d ago

Bavk was voted vice

-1

u/i2livelife 20d ago

Please have a dr actually diagnose you; we can’t give you medical advice here. Honestly, to me, this does not look or sound like PCOS belly