PCOS

I was diagnosed with that recently too. I've been bleeding non stop for 4 months now and they can't get it to stop. They thought it was the PCOS at first but now they don't know. I'm waiting to see a gynae, they put me through as an urgent case, got an appointment for february! How ridiculous, Im expected to bleed to death for the next 3 months!!!

Hi, got diagnosed in 2010. My brother's a final year med student and told me no matter what specialist I go to, I'm going to hear the same three words from everyone:

Diet & exercise.

I had dark hair under my chin that mum used to always point out to me, and have always been chubby, especially around the middle. Have a very sweet tooth and despite exercising and being a sporty kid I was always bigger than others my age. Mum asked me one day if I was getting regular periods and I said no, I only started getting them around 16/17 and they were like 6 months apart, and were completely irregular for about 3 years. My friend told me it was probably PCOS, and (I went the endocrinologist route) and she told me diet and exercise. She did a general history, a few exams (nothing too invasive!), weighed me, asked about alcohol consumption (in front of my mother, mortified!), and a few other things. She did blood tests to rule out another couple of things and then gave me the diagnosis. I also had low iron levels and cholesterol levels starting to creep up.


I dieted and exercised and she said a 5% weight loss would bring results, so I needed to lose about 4-5kgs (8-10lbs) and as soon as I did, I got my period. And I got another 3 weeks later. And they've been regular ever since. I kept up iron levels and exercise and if I ever gain weight they go to about a 5 week cycle, and if it comes down again they return to 4 weeks.

She told me I could try Metformin which controls the insulin resistance (I'll explain later on), and can encourage weight loss, but I said I'd try naturally and come back in 6 months but it's been okay and I haven't been back since!

Insulin is the hormone that controls your blood sugar, basically it mops up any excess blood sugar. If you are insulin resistant basically your "mops" aren't working, you don't have enough mops or they're not getting rid of all the sugar, and the excess blood sugar is part of the problem. So cutting down on sugar really helps, there are a few symptoms similar to those of diabetes and Metformin controls some of those. I personally suffer from fatigue after eating (sounds crazy I know), but literally like yawn constantly after lunch and occasionally have to nap if I can. Exercise increases your muscle tone and when your muscle:fat ratio favours muscle, your insulin resistance is controlled. Also, as this ratio improves, your metabolism speeds up generally so work continues to be done outside the gym.... Exercise exercise exercise. It works.

As for the excess body hair, I think electrolysis is something she recommended, but hormonally there isn't a lot can be done for that. She has recommended I don't take the Pill. It can control a few symptoms as obviously our oestrogen/progesterone and testosterone levels are all muddled up and it can help with those, but it only masks the problem and won't solve any long term issues, once you come off the pill you're back to square one. For some people a side effect is weight gain which would be counter effective as weight loss will help control some symptoms.

Acne is another typical symptom, but one which I don't suffer from.

Maybe none of these apply to you, but my tips for general management (as there is no "cure") are exercise and reducing your sugar intake. Treat yourself like a diabetic, and exerciiiiiiiiise!!!!!! You are at risk of heart disease just because you have PCOS, so things like cholesterol, sugar, excess fat are all doubly dangerous for us. Maybe you're already on the pill and can ignore what I've said, but my endocrinologist was great, she asked me which problems I wanted to tackle and then prioritised those. I wanted periods to return to normal as I didn't want to be told at 20 I can't conceive, so we tackled the weight and now everything runs fairly smoothly. The hair is getting worse though so I'm going to go back to her (once I can afford it) and see what Metformin or any other help might be available can do for me.

I really dunno if this was any help for you but that's my story!!!

pwurple wrote: »

Of course you can have babies. Plenty of people with PCOS have babies.

And some people can't and have been told by their docs that they can't. Maybe she has been trying for years and has been told by her doctor that it is not likely to happen.

What is the opposite of having 6-8 a year?


I'm not a doctor, you're not a doctor, my endocrinologist said 6-8 a year are necessary and there are health risks associated with less than that, your doctor said something else but the lining of your womb is 2.5 years old, and in non-pcos patients is not usually more than 35 days old. To me that's just not okay, what has your doctor said?

Ahh this is more complicated than I'd thought! Hadn't realised you weren't ovulating, sorry. Is that part of the PCOS or a separate problem? I really dunno what to do next, it's about €200 for me to go back, and I'm worried I'll just be told "ya. keep going!" and that I'll have to fork out for electrolysis too. Are you doing laser or anything? What advice had your doc for you?

There's very little info out there so it's great hearing other people's experiences! (And ignore any questions if they're too personal!)

pwurple wrote: »

Seeing as she does not even have a diagnosis for PCOS yet, that is extremely unlikely. No need for this woman to assume the very worst right off the bat. I have PCOS myself, and a lovely daughter.

Thankfully you have your daughter. I have 2 friends with PCOS, both with kids. Another friend with it, who never conceived.

I know when I was first diagnosed, before we even had a full diagnoses, I was told I most likely wouldn't have kids. This was at 18 years old and before seeing any expert. Thankfully I don't want kids anyway, but it is not beyond all likelihood that in speaking to her doctor, she was advised she may not have kids, and came on here for a bit of sympathy. So apologies if I read something into your post that wasn't here, but it seemed very dismissive.

IzzyWizzy wrote: »

I was semi-diagnosed with this but when I went to a specialist, she seemed determined for me not to have it, even though my tests were abnormal. She pretty much shooed me out of the room saying I was grand and not offering any sort of help or treatment.

A lot of people seem to think being overweight causes the other symptoms. I keep hearing the diet and exercise thing, but I'm already a size 8-10 and exercise every day. I still have excess hair and bad acne so I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. The acne is definitely hormonal, so creams are very little help. I have to wax or thread my face every week but it seems the doctors aren't interested because I'm not overweight!

I can totally understand that. Like I said my main concern was regulating menstruation so I wouldn't be told in my early 20s I can't conceive, so losing the weight helped with that. Thankfully I didn't have acne, but my main problem now is the hair. It's getting worse, no matter what I do, and it's not just on my chin now. So I'm going to go for electrolysis or something and try and treat it permanently that way, but need to look in to that. Are you on the pill??

What's clomid for?

.

I'm beginning to think I may have PCOS. I've already made an appointment at the docs for Friday, but I just wanted to list down my symptoms and see what you think.

I stopped taking the BCP at the end of December 2012 (after being on them since I was 15) because of optical migraines which are a contra-indication to the BCP, since then the below has happened -

First 4 cycles were fairly regular, longer than when on the pill but regular none the less. However my last period was in April and I've not had a hint of one since.

I've gained weight rapidly, mostly around my stomach and bra line(<<hate that!). I'm not obese, but I have tipped over into overweight.

I have spells of dizzyness, nausea and fatigue/brain fog.

I'm getting a lot of spots on my face and particularly around my hair line.

I'm getting pimples on my scalp, the hair on my crown is thinning a little and I've got LOADS of excess sebum on my scalp. But also my hair seems to be growing quicker too, which is odd. Like the overall length is growing quick, but the top seems to be thinning.

Neither my partner nor I want children so I'm not concerned about infertility issues. My main concern is the weight gain and the hair thinning. I'm a long hair enthusiast and have been growing for a while now (I'm almost at hip length) it would make me very upset to lose my hair!

marialouise wrote: »

That's strange that you'd get headaches after being on the pill for 10+ years, so that combined with your PCOS-like symptoms might mean Cushings disease.... You'll see in my previous posts there's no definitive test for PCOS so the two other things I was tested for were Cushings and Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia. These came back negative so by elimination I was diagnosed with with PCOS, but following your own blood tests the diagnosis might be different. It's just a simple blood test to test for it (you take a tablet the night before) and will separate the issues for you.

Yeah my migraines are an odd one alright. They have left me with some fairly major, permanent, visual disturbances. I've actually had an MRI just the other week and all was clear.

Hopefully I'll get some answers on Friday. I'm a bit fed up of having things wrong with me and nobody knowing the cause or how to treat it!

Well I went to the docs. At the minute he just thinks its hormonal from coming off the pill, even though I've been off for 7 months now.
I'm having a blood test tomorrow just to check for any abnormalities.

It was the first time I've seen this doctor and I wasn't thrilled with him to be honest. I found it odd that at no point during the appointment did he ask if I could be pregnant. Surely that would be pretty standard when someone says they are no longer on the BCP and have missed periods?! He didn't even mention it!

Anyway, I'm glad were doing the blood test

Well my bloods came back normal. I would imagine all I can do now is go back to the doctors again in a few months if nothing has changed.

I haven't been feeling quite as nauseous and dizzy the last week or so, so thats something