moderately irregular periods improving?

animatorswearbras

I was diagnosed by my doctor after an ultrasound at the beginning of the year and my periods were usually over 5 weeks apart (I know not terribly out of whack compared to some sufferers) last month my period was only 35 days (5 weeks) which is getting into the normal range and today only 25 days later (although I was spotting yesterday) I've come on again (although very light so maybe a false alarm will see by the end of the day/tomorrow).

Is this a positive development? I'm getting close to the middle of the healthy BMI scale and I've lost alot of inches round my belly which was 35" and is now 30". I'm not taking any medication as my doctor advised that I could try losing weight first since I was only just overweight by a few pounds.

Sorry if this is a daft question. x

KnitOrMiss

Any time we start to get on that normal cycle, it's cause for notice. I was very oddly lucky in that a huge amount of tangential consistent hormone exposure regulated my cycles back out...

It sounds like banishing those few extra pounds really helped you ditch that extra stored estrogen or something. I would definitely keep tracking and see how it goes. Unless you're looking for fertility improvements, there are other symptoms I'd probably focus on more, and if you are looking for improved fertility, there are things like temperature taking and such that will give you a better picture...

But overall, return of a standard cycle is generally a good thing...although, honestly, if at 35 days was consistent without hormonal issues, that wasn't necessarily "bad" either, to my understanding. Some people naturally have different cycle lengths.

Best of luck... And CONGRATS on the weight/inches lost! That's awesome.

animatorswearbras

Thankyou! I guess the symptom I'd most like to see the back of is my acne (and accompanying skin tags) the only medication that cleared it up (for the most part) was the combined pill which I was on with very few breaks for 15 years and came off 18 months ago (due to age and migraines). It was exploring my acne causes and it's resistance to antibiotics/roaccutane why I got tested for PCOS since I had a couple of other symptoms, weight gain concentrated on the belly the odd hair on my breasts, fine damaged hair and crap nails, skin tags, (also may be related but previously diagnosed with IBS and anxiety/depression). I do think my acne has got slightly less cystic though recently.

I'll be 35 in a fortnight and fertility is something I've been thinking about, me and my husband although would maybe like kids in the future were never in any real rush but I feel the diagnosis paired with my age is a bit of ticking clock.

KnitOrMiss

Skin tags are more due to blood sugar imbalances and insulin levels being out of sorts. A low carb dietary plan or using Metformin/Glucophage **can sometimes help** with this, though it's not without risks. Doc's don't like to tell you that this is one of the things that can cause it, because there are a few other causes, but sincerely, about 90% of skin tags are related to blood sugar regulation issues (in my experience and research, though ironically, no one seems to fully understand the mechanism of it...)...

Cystic acne can be caused or worsened by low thyroid function, which sadly is often a co-morbid condition of PCOS. TSH alone is not enough to verify thyroid function, and low thyroid function can cause or worsen infertility problems, and increases risks of miscarriage. To verify this, you would need to do a TSH with a Total and Free T4, Free and Reverse T3, and antibodies tests (TPO and TGA, at a minimum). There are many vitamin deficiencies that go along with this, but this is the major snapshot. Personally, my belief is that if your TSH isn't between 0.5-1.5 and you aren't 100% without symptoms, there is something going on behind the scenes.

And just yesterday, I read an article from Hypothyroid Mom about how she miscarried before halfway through (12 weeks, I think), because her undiagnosed low thyroid function prior to getting pregnant again (was baby #2) sputtered and died out at the extra hormone needed. Apparently, for the first trimester, and sometimes partway through the second trimester, the mother is completely responsible for the baby's thyroid hormone production, conversion, etc., so the need on the mother is far greater. And if low functioning to start with, this can cause major problems across the board. I'm 41, and well out of my childbearing phase (my only DD is almost 17!), so this was not a personal concern to me, but still on my mind, as my thyroid went full on hypo AFTER my DD was born, BUT it took over a decade, before it showed at all in my TSH numbers (TSH is generated by the pituitary, and not driven by the thyroid itself, so it can take a long while before anything shows here)... Explained SOOOO much.

I'm sure the other ladies here can tell you more about fertility and such, but I'd make sure you have a full hormone panel done, too. As @stacicali just discovered, ironically, as you get older, with PCOS (and she has "skinny PCOS," too, fyi), your fertility can actually increase as you age. I'd probably make sure you get on FOLATE (not folic acid) just in case and for future planning. I think 800 mg a day is the recommended? But getting your hormones level will be key to this, and thyroid, while not a sex hormone, is an endocrine hormone, so they are all related (insulin, too!)...

The acne could be aggravated, too, by food sensitivities like gluten, soy, dairy, etc., though it isn't always. Good luck on finding some answers and making progress down the life path thing.