Anyone Have PCOS?

Sounds exactly like my symptoms. I was diagnosed 10 years ago. There is a PCOS group http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3070-p-c-o-sis, that can share lots of insight.

I have been diagnosed with PCOS. You should get checked. Typically the doctor will do a blood test to check the hormones (your testosterone levels included, that's usually the acne and facial hair) and I had an internal ultrasound done my Dr. showed me the screen- it almost looks like your ovaries are swiss cheese lol, it's all the cysts.

I had a huge problem with weight initially, once I was put on metformin I was able to lose 50 lbs. Now, that medicine is not the magic fix though, I still work really hard, and I lose slower than my friends. But it allowed me to lose which is all I needed to motivate me.

I have not really heard the painful periods being a symptom, quite honestly. But this is a symptom of endometriosis (I also have). The symptoms I have is insulin resistance and I have folliculitus.

In my undergraduate degree I wrote a research paper in my senior capstone course on PCOS. Many times women who are have troubles conceiving are able to conceive after being on Metformin which I found pretty neat. Also as weight decreases. That's one of the most common treatments for trouble conceiving, though sometimes women do undergo fertility treatments and hormones to conceive. Fun tid bit too- scientists are finding that PCOS has a link to all the hormones in our foods and chemicals in plastics. They think this is why young girls are having periods younger and why the number in women with PCOS and Endometriosis are going up.

I was diagnosed about 12 years ago. My symptoms were a lot like yours...however I had no clue about PCOS until I started trying to conceive. I didn't think I had anything wrong other than irregular periods. I got them, I just never knew how many days apart they would be. And from what I was told, yes, weight can have a big impact on PCOS. Kind of a weight comes first the weight or the PCOS. Does one cause the other type thing. Good luck!

I have it and hate it. I have all the symptoms except, like you, my periods were never particularly heavier/more painful than other folks... until I hit my 30s.

BUT--keeping my weight in check helps A LOT. My periods are more regular when I eat what I'm supposed to, exercise and keep my weight down. Whenever I let things go, everything goes haywire.

Got to be 50 pounds overweight and I had been having a very hard time getting rid of it until I started going really low carb. IMO, low carb *is a necessity*. I'm only losing water weight now, but the cloudy-head feeling is gone, and science-wise it makes sense that lowering your sugar/carb intake would be beneficial if you have PCOS.

Hopefully you have better doctors than mine, who said "oh yeah, you have PCOS, just take some birth control and you'll be fine". They did not educate me about this condition at all.

I also started wearing a bra when I was 9...and got all the other lovelies, but didn't get my period till i was 16 and it was AWFUL. I really thought I was dying....I think my mom should've been more proactive about taking me to the doctor!!!! I have intolerance to some foods, and I think that PCOS is linked to so much of what's going on in my body. Hormones out of whack=a body out of whack!

I have PCOS.

Here's how my story went.

9 years old, went to the doctor, she called me fat and told me to go to a nutritionist. Yes, she used the word fat. Mind you, at 9 years old, I went up a quick 60 to 100 pounds almost instantly. This is where I would have started my periods, had I *ever* got them. I didn't.

Went to a nutritionist, no matter what I did, I couldn't get the weight off, even with following their plan exactly. PCOS has to follow a slightly different diet to actually lose weight.

12 years old, go to a different doctor because periods haven't started yet. Accepted the fact I was just fat. I was probably 150 now. For a kid, this is a lot. They found cysts on my ovaries. Lots of testing to see if I had ovarian cancer. Conclusion, just cysts.

15 years old. 180 Go to a different doctor because still *NO* periods. This doctor had a daughter who was PCOS, so right away she cringed at all the lack of diagnosing from other doctors. Found I was on PCOS, put me on Metformin right away Also put me on birth control and hormones for periods. At this point, I have incredibly bad acne, a very cloudy head (it was extremely hard to concentrate), and hair that I had to shave off on my upper lip constantly (probably around 20-30 hairs) and a few strands (5-6) on my chin. Skin tags: I had one on my left knee removed when I was in elementary school, I have two under my arm, one on my shoulder, several on my back. HORRIBLY oily skin and dandruff scalp. I'd been approached by school officials before to make sure I was showering. I showered daily. My hair and skin got oily THAT fast. It was a horrible time while my hormones were way out of wack.

Now: 27 years old.

Medication: Metformin (No BC or hormones)

Problems that still exist: Hard time losing weight without correct diet, easy time gaining weight. A yo yo isn't really necessarily anything I ever had. I could gain it by just looking at cake, I swear... but losing it, I had to almost be anorexic and work out for hours for the scale to budge at times.

Periods: Absolutely never. I have my period maybe once or twice a year, if I'm lucky. IF I'm lucky. I'm not fertile at all. I'd have to get doctor help to have kids either through an IVU or invitro.

Hair: Still oily on the scalp with dandruff (Dry shampoo is my friend now and a daily thing. Keeps my hair looking as clean as it is supposed to be all day instead of getting oily within a few hours). I still have a few hairs on my upper lip and on my chin, but only 5-10 total at any given point. My hormones are more in balance (I don't have the free roaming Testosterone anymore like I did as a teenager. I do still have elevated T.)

Skin: Still oily. I only get zits every once in a while. I wash my skin and have a huge regime to keep them away


I've been told my case of PCOS is more extreme than others. I had 27 cysts between my ovaries total at one point (most of them were extremely small, some were up to dime and even nickle sizes). Doctors have asked me before if I was ready to have the ovaries removed, but had not told me I had to yet, so I haven't. They also do cancer screenings every few years because cancer does run in my family, and they want to make sure that the cysts don't turn cancerous.

Cysts hurt like hell when they burst though, just fyi. Even the small ones. The big ones if they burst can do some real damage in your body if you don't go to the hospital.

Also: Boobsize: Small. Very small for my size body. Like half of what average should be.

I have PCOS as well and was diagnosed when I was 17,I am now 28. I had so many off the wall symptoms that I honestly thought were "normal" because I didn't know any better. I started going to my local health dept to get birth control and 90% of the problems went away but I gained almost 100 pounds in less than a year. I tried every bc possible and they all said the weight gain was from pills. I finally went to a doctor for blood work and things were off but not so bad he didn't think they needed corrected. I finally stopped having a period at 17 and went to an ob thinking I was pregnant, my test was negative but he investigated the reason for my missed periods. I had an intrauterine ultrasound and my right ovary was the size of a softball. He said he didn't know how I wasn't in extreme pain because of the cyst. He repeated my blood work and I was diagnosed with pcos. I was told I would never have children so I buried that inside and lived life without any regard as to what I was doing to my body. Later down the road at age 21 I was up to 270 pounds and miserable, I went to the doctor and wanted him to set me in the right direction, keep in mind I was not on bc being I couldn't have kids, right? Well he put me on progesterone for 14 day cycles, when I would stop the meds I would have a period. The weight started melting off and I went down to 180 pounds in 8 months. I stopped the progesterone to see if I would have natural periods again and I did for three months and then stopped. Back to the doctor I went but this time I was pregnant, that's why they stopped fast forward 6 years and I now have 3 biological boys and my two girls I had the easy way lol, my step daughters. I have children and a lot of them, but I still have problems. My weight is back to 260( I have lost 19 pounds recently) I have to wax my face every two weeks(my face not my chin or lip) I have HORRIBLE periods, not to mention facial and back acne and to top it off skin tags and discoloration. It has been a roller coaster ride and I am hoping to take control of it now. I hope and pray by losing the excess weight everything will level out and I can lead a normal life. My obgyn suggested I get the mirena IUD to control my symptoms in a more steady and long term fashion. I have had the IUD for a few months now and I love it! There is help out there it's just a matter of finding the right doctor. Good luck!

Hi, I am so glad you posted this. I was recently diagnosed with PCOS. Before last month, I don't think I've ever heard of it. I've been doing a little research and noticed that I have majority of the symptoms that comes with it. And I've had these symptoms for a long time but my doctor never thought to test for it. I go to my OBGYN next month so I guess I will know more. And I worry about everything so of course I have been freaked out ever since I found out I had it.

I was tested for PCOS when I was 17 years old because I had not started my period. Sure enough I was diagnosed with it and they said some of the signs were the hair growth on my stomach, my pear body shape, acne and chin hair. The reasoning for the painful periods were because the ovaries have cysts on them and when the menstruation starts the cysts can break causing severe pain. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does it is very painful.

I have most of the symptoms of PCOS, however have not been diagnosed yet and don't want to be until I'm done with my current struggle of weight loss. Once I'm at my goal weight or within 10 lbs of it, I will find out, even though I am pretty sure I already know what the doctor will say.