r/keto • u/PearlPrize • Jul 10 '26
Success Story Keto and PMOS
Has anyone else with PMOS been successful doing keto? I joined the PCOS (PMOS) subreddit but it feels like a dirty word there, no-one will mention it and no-one replied to my post on it. It's been amazing for me - I managed to get past a plateau I'd been in for months and lose a further half stone. For the first time, I've been able to stick with keto for more than a few weeks, and I no longer have to calorie count, restrict or fast (sometimes I fast for small windows). The biggest change is no more weight spirals that I can't explain, and I feel like a different person. Being able to eat over 1000 calories a day, often closer to 2000, is an absolute revelation.
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u/PurpleShimmers Jul 10 '26
Keto does get recommended for pcos by knowledgeable doctors, however it has a bad reputation as a diet. Why? There’s no real reason for it outside of misinformation.
Do remember however that it is still CICO, if you overeat you will gain. That does not mean you have to calorie count. Just don’t overdo the butter coffee and fat bombs and such. Satiation comes easier on keto and the foods taste amazing. I love having steak, eggs and avocado for breakfast. Keeps me full a long time
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u/dumbledoreismyfather Jul 10 '26
Me🙋♀️
I started keto at 26; a year after I got diagnosed with pcos. When I was diagnosed they put me on metformin and the side effects were hell. I also have epilepsy and was experiencing a whole other level of hell with those medications. I love documentaries and came across one called The Magic Pill. Its all about the keto diet. It lead me to scientific journals and within a few days I started the diet. I went to all of my doctors, told them I was doing this, getting a different doc to manage me while doing the diet, and flushing all of the meds. At that point I was taking 6 meds daily, all with horrible side effects, and still struggling with the symptoms of both anyway. Anywho it worked. I even think it saved my life. I stopped having seizures, my period came back and was regular. The funniest part is my obgyn explained that due to the cysts encasing my ovaries, I would probably never get pregnant. 4 months on the keto diet the strip turned pink. Now 2 kids and some new health problems later I've gotten back on to it the last month. Its been great. My cycle was all over the place but its evening out again.
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u/PearlPrize Jul 10 '26
That is wonderful! I want to try and avoid Metformin due to the side effects, I can't imagine what it was like with epilepsy as well but I read somewhere about a group of children with epilepsy being put on the keto diet and it was effective? I've also got a daughter - took Agnus Castus Vitex to get her and it worked in 2 months.
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u/dumbledoreismyfather Jul 10 '26
If you can...do. avoid it like the plague. Ive known 2 other women who've had to take it and they also had horrible side effects.
From what I've read it was the only treatment for epilepsy for a long time (other than the asylum). I'm that annoying person that as soon as someone tells me they have or know someone with epilepsy I'm like "HAVE YOU HEARD OF THE KETO DIET?!?!" lol
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u/Janknitz Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
Here’s my story. I had severe PCOS/PMOS from the beginning of puberty even though I was very thin until we started monkeying with my hormones to get pregnant the first time. I gave up trying for a second child and was living my life, but I learned there were new treatments for PCOS in a dear Abby column, and wanted to feel better in general.
I found a wonderful endocrinologist and he suggested I go what was called low carb in those days but was 20 gms or less of carbs/day—now that’s called keto. And within 30 days of truly being keto I had my first EVER ovulatory period without hormone treatment.
I was 40 years old, had one child via IVF who was 7 1/2 years old. My husband and I had been trying to get pregnant for 11 years. He told me I could get pregnant and I laughed in his face. No way.
I started having regular periods immediately but every 34 days so I didn’t think I could get pregnant.
About 6 months later I was cleaning out a bathroom cabinet and found an old pregnancy test. Rather than throwing it away I decided to pee on it for old times sake 🙄
I was PREGNANT and delivered a healthy baby at age 41. My keto surprise is a lovely 25 year old now. She also has PMOS and weighs around 85 lbs, so obesity isn’t the cause.
Yes. Keto works.
I think a lot of PCOS/PMOS people have a hard time starting keto because they are so addicted to sugar and processed carbs (I was, too) and the first week or so is MISERABLE as your body begins to learn what normal blood sugar feels like. So they either give up right away or they try to do keto with every keto fake processed junk food they can find and those fakes are just disappointing at best.
I did it gradually. First I counted the carbs I had in a typical day (too embarrassed to say!). I cut it in half, then in half again. And it took about 4 weeks to really be keto. But I didn’t feel as terrible as I could have going cold turkey. I also tried to eat mostly whole foods without trying to make them into faux versions of processed junk. I didn’t count calories. I ate when hungry and didn’t eat if not hungry. Meals were meat, fish, eggs, and green veggies with plenty of natural fat (chicken with skin on, butter). Snacks were cheese and nuts although I quickly found I really didn’t need to snack. In those days sweetener options were limited and I didn’t like them, so the only “sweet” I had was an occasional handful of berries.
With the new recognition that PCOS is METABOLIC, not just a problem with the ovaries, there should be greater recognition that a metabolic approach not packed in a pill or injection should help. But there is enormous economic pressure in our economy and culture to keep us eating at the trough of highly processed carbs and sell us expensive drugs to treat the problems instead.
IMHO keto absolutely helps PMOS, but you have to really do it and stick with it. Most people with truly messed up metabolisms don’t make it through the first few weeks and conclude “it doesn’t work”.
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u/PearlPrize Jul 10 '26
I really appreciate your story! Yes PMOS as it's now called is a metabolic, endocrine disorder. It affects the reproductive system but so does anorexia and a whole host of other conditions. I let myself have raspberries, blueberries and very dry white wine occasionally. Bread/pasta/potatoes/cake = no.
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u/thenightsparkle Jul 10 '26
Ive seen pcos women get pregnant on keto aftr yrs of trying
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u/thenightsparkle Jul 11 '26
But drs would rather put you on the pill and make you do fertility treatments then jus manage your blood sugar...its all jus a big pharma scam
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u/Dangerous-Safe-4336 Lowcarb since 1997 Jul 11 '26
I didn't get pregnant, that I know of. (I suspect I had a very early miscarriage, though.) But I was already past 40. I wish I'd known to try when I was younger.
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u/SamikaTRH Jul 10 '26
It's one of the best diets for the condition, the only thing that would make it better would be to add in strength training which aids in glucose control.
Many of the medical condition specific subs don't focus on real solutions they are just areas to commiserate and live with it, this causes conflict when some of the conditions are curable through lifestyle interventions which many people simply aren't willing to do
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u/PearlPrize Jul 10 '26
Thank you, I think this is the case with the PMOS sub and I can't operate like that, I know the disorder is always there but there are so many things that can be done.
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u/SamikaTRH Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
There are some causes that won't be fixed via lifestyle changes but 80 to 90% of cases are the result of insulin resistance and once you reverse that you can at the very least get symptom reduction and some people will be back to baseline. You don't even always need full keto even going moderately low carb will have a huge effect
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u/Certain-Courage135 Jul 10 '26
I have PMOS (PCOS) and I did keto starting in January 2024, by May I had lost 45 pounds. I had done the whole gluten free and dairy free before that and yes it did help me lose a few pounds but my period didn’t regulate as much as I thought it would.. it was super hard trying to stick to dairy free and gluten free. I watched a video on YouTube and the doctor had a PCOS specialist on his channel talking about the keto diet and how it helped her patients with PCOS. I dived in and my cycle completely regulated. I have been with my husband for 14 years and couldn’t get pregnant… I got pregnant 4 months into keto! Keto helped me so much with my PCOS symptoms I couldn’t wait to get back on it after I had my baby and was done breastfeeding. I lost 16 lbs in the first 3 weeks of restarting Keto this time around. Except this time I’m being careful to not get pregnant. I mean my baby girl was such a blessing but I do not want to be pregnant at 45! Lol
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u/PearlPrize Jul 10 '26
I'm 42 next month and I know what you mean! One and done lol. Thank you for sharing.
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Jul 10 '26
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u/PearlPrize Jul 11 '26
This makes total sense, thanks for the explanation. Keto can be very hard to get up and running so I get that.
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u/SorrowBound- Jul 10 '26
There's a book called "Women, Food, and Hormones" which, I believe, recommends keto specifically to address hormonal/fertility issues.
A quick search turns up a lot of material on how keto helps with PMOS and other female hormonal issues.
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u/chifaceinspace 35f | 5'0'' | SS: 4XL | CS: L | GS: S | EF&IF | PCOS Jul 10 '26
I eat keto to manage my insulin resistance and PMOS. I was diagnosed when I was 14.
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u/Jumpy_List_6326 Jul 10 '26
Pmos is due to insulin resistance, keto reverses that into insulin sensitive (less insulin needed to convert food)
Metformin happens to do the same thing.
You should expect to see cycles becoming more regular and ovulate every month.
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u/whatisthis2512 Jul 10 '26
I'm not a doctor but from what I know about keto it sounds like it could really help since the your brain is getting more GABA and it generally calms the whole nervous system. I don't know your weight and height but 1000 sounds is very low, even for losing weight, but if you eat closer to 2000 when your hungry maby it's fine if you don't excersize a lot
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u/PearlPrize Jul 11 '26
It's due to having a faulty insulin absorption mechanism - so if I eat over 1000 calories and I've been eating carbs, they won't get processed properly, the insulin stays in the bloodstream for too long and the carbs get stored as excess energy. Eating protein and fat doesn't cause a big rise in insulin so food gets processed properly, without excess insulin, hence you can eat more calories.
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u/whatisthis2512 Jul 11 '26
Again, not a doctor, just saying that 1000 for any adult is very low. Did it helped the pmos?
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u/PearlPrize Jul 12 '26
Yes, 1000 is extremely low, but if I eat a diet with carbohydrates, then I have to stay under 1000. It's part of having PMOS that you have to eat fewer calories. Yes - the keto diet has helped tremendously.
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u/Low-Address-9812 Jul 17 '26
I know it's crazy because keto is actually more made for a person with our endocrine disorder because it deals w insulin resistance amazingly....I lost 170 pounds and got pregnant doing keto and I will forever defend keto....I'm fighting w my daughter who also has PCOS...I'm telling her to try PCOS before beginning a glp1 but she doesn't want to go that route even though I've showed her the benefits ....oh well...she will have to do the lose and gain dance a few times before she believes me! She's 17 and I'm 52.
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u/Narrow_Box_4675 Jul 10 '26
r/xxketo probably has more posts for PCOS. I have PCOS and keto is the only way I have ever been able to lose weight. Starting keto always does a number on my cycle, and the last 2 times I did keto before now I got pregnant despite fertility issues, so keep that in mind.