PCOS question

I went in origionally because my pediatrician (at the time I was 15) suggested I go to a gyno because my periods were irregular. I went, gyno went over the fact I had excessive body/facial hair, dark patches, was overweight on a fairly healthy diet with regular activity and ordered a blood test. I was put on birth control pills, and thats what I've been on up until ~6 months ago when I decided I was annoyed with taking the pill every day and opted for the shot. I didn't consult a doctor, I just went to a women's health clinic and requested it. BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER. The shot may be the worst thing I've ever done for my health/wellness. It doesn't even have the proper hormones in it to assist PCOS.

Thankfully I don't have the infertility problem (my son was concieved while I was on the pill..) but other than that I'm a textbook case.

I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 18. I'm 38 now. I was overweight and not having a monthly cycle. At the time I was put on birth control to regulate everything. Upon trying to start a family I was unable to get pregnant. I did go to my regular ob and it was diagnosed through exam, ultrasound and laproscopy. I was referred to an RE and did multiple IUI's to try to get pregnant. At this time they also had me on Metformin XR. I lost some weight and ended up getting pregnant on my own. I can tell you that the meds will give you stomach upset and some loose stools but all in all they will help you to get pregnant if that is your goal. IF that isn't your goal I wouldn't recommend the medicine unless for health reasons they think you should be on it. Upon losing weight my cycles came back on their own. Let me know if I can be of any further help..

Take Care
Tonya

Soulcysters.com all lower case is an excellent site for pcos questions and answers. Check them out before going to your Dr.

I have PCOS and just started my weight-loss. I was just put on Metformin about 3 weeks ago. The first week or so is rough. They say, "May cause loose stools." What they should say is, "Don't plan on leaving the house for 5 days." However, I do feel much better, and it seems to be doing the trick. I'm also on a light anti-inflammatory to help with the couple of cysts that I have going right now. Definitely talk to your doctor. The only way to diagnose is with blood work. Something about blood sugar and hormone something or other. I hope you get the answers your looking for. I know first hand how frustrating it is. I'm always here if you wanna talk to a fellow PCOS-er.

I'm looking into getting an appointment with a dr to see if I have PCOS. I'm 95% sure I have it and when I see the dr I want to be taken seriously. If you have it, how did you get diagnosed? Did you go to your gynecologist? What kind of tests should I take? What kinds of medicine were you put on? Which ones did wonders for you? Which ones sucked? Any suggestions on how to go about this, who to see, what kinds of questions to ask, etc etc etc...would be great help! Thank you!!

~Kelley

i went to a endocrinologist, they will run test, i constantly have vaginal ultrasounds, they ask alot of questions etc..

My Nurse Practitioner diagnosed me with PCOS during my annual well women visit. I told her that I suspected I had it because of 33 day average cycles, adult acne, facial hair, trying to get pregnant & not. She tested my testosterone levels and found them to be very elevated. My very high testosterone levels & other symptoms was enough to diagnosis.

I had started on Spironolactone to bind the testosterone & help with facial hair/acne issues. After a few months I stopped taking it because I had some weird side effects. However due to my weight loss & (no meds at all), my testosterone is now on the high end of normal, but normal none the less. I recently started taking Metformin to help me start ovulating & hopefully get pregnant!

I highly recommend that you look into the benefits of eating a low carb diet with PCOS. Message me if you need some resources.

W/e u do I would start out seeing an endocrinologist because with me I've had almost all of the symptoms since I was 12 when I started my period, excessive hair everywhere the symptom isnt labeled facial hair lol it hirsuitism (sp) never had a period consecutively, over weight with central obesity, and dark patches on my neck under arms and inner thighs. Too name a few my doctor told me that the dark patches were a birthmark even tho I repeatedly said I hadn't had them since I was born she said I could go on birthcontrol ( which my mom said no to) and that I was just fat if I lost weight it would even out and that some ppl are just hairy. So then back aug 2010 I was determined to figure out what was wrong with me, so I put in all the symptoms I have into webmd it spat out pcos and I was amazed to have experienced everything but male pattern baldness (and infertility because idk yet I'm 18 haven't tried) so I printed out the page a brought it with me to an appt with a nurse practitioner she thought that I might but kind of falsly assured me that I didn't, so started running tests alot of blood MRI of my brain to see if it was a pituitary prob then we didn't hear back for weeks so we called and she just quit her job a day after my last appt and no one called us! So my mom pissed as ****ing hell we decided to go to the big city and drive 2 1/2 hrs to Seattle where I see my endocrinologist who within 3mins of meeting me said there was a 95% chance I had it and that I needed to lose weight and she was going to run more tests I was upset someone told me to lose weight atthe time I didn't think I was that fat ( I was) and cried uncontrolably about the possibility of not having kids, so she ran more blood tests and I had to save my pee in a carton for a weekend she diagnosed me with pcos and put me on metformin for my insulin resistance back in December since then I've lost 42lbs ( working extremely hard don't think the Meds did it alone that's a lie) and my patches of dark skin are virtually gone a tiny tiny bit remains on my neck and my cycle is fairly normal the most normal ive ever had every 33-40 days which is awesome from never knowing when because it does come within that time frame the last 4 months. Best of luck feel free to add I'm sure any of us would be happy to be your friend and answer questions

i have always had irregular cycles....i went 6 months w/o having one and i knew i wasnt pregnant. they did an HSG, or hysterosalpingogram, to check my ovaries and i have several cysts and other symptoms (for ex: excessive hair, aka hirsutism, centralized fatness (belly or trunk area), etc.)...i was put on Metformin (generic for Glucophage) and actually lost ten lbs. but then the weight loss tapered off....all i can tell you is ask questions....make sure they know that you want to do all you can to get healthy and your health team needs to be on the same page with you....best of luck