Possible PCOS???

[Ilithyia]

Hi,

I am not sure where to start....

I first got my periods when i was 10 years old. They had always been pretty heavy and painful.

For the past 5 years i have noticed several changes in my body. These changes became noticable after i had a m/c in 2001 and worsened after a termination in 2003. These changes included extreme weight gain (went from 54kg to 86kg), painful periods, break-through bleeding, increase in body hair, period like pains constantly and inability to lose weight.

Last year i saw several dr's, went for numerous u/s (which only turned up an abrasion on my uterus) and was finally referred to a gyn at the public hospital. I had to wait 4 months for an appointment just to see the dr. From the information i provided them with they suspected it to be PCOS. They also decided they wanted to perform a hystercoscopy and laparoscopy to have a look at the abrasion that was found on the u/s. They could not set a date for the op but said it could be up to six months wait. I was put on strict order NOT TO FALL PREGNANT!! Well, they must've jinxed me cause 2 weeks before they called to say they had a date for the op's i found out i was pregnant!!

So everything was set aside and i had a reasonably healthy pregnancy. But almost immediately after i had Briley the symptoms came back. I had lost 10kg from m/s and gained it back within 5 weeks. I am now 88kg. So i have again been referred to the hospital but my appointment to see the gyn is not until the 5 Feb 07 :eek:

I have been visting this forum for a while now and from what i have seen some of the girls here post i believe that i do have PCOS. Especially the sticky about women with PCOS and Type 2 diebetes. It has shoned a light on a lot of things that i have been going through for a long time.

So, my question to all you current sufferers of PCOS is.....Do my symptoms relate???

Your adive and comments would be muchly appreciated.

Thank-you.

[RhiChiChi]

Hi Sara,

You have symptons of PCOS, however I would definately get the specialists diagnosis.

I too thought I had PCOS after having a vaginal u/s. The non-practising gyno who did the u/s 'suspected' PCOS & I was then referred by my GP to a Gyno/Obs for their opinion. In the meantime I have fallen pg, so I changed my appt to an Obs appt. Whilst I was there I spoke about the 'suspected' PCOS and the Gyno/Obs said that most people who have the syndrome DO NOT get AF. I get AF, albeit on a longer cycle. So he thought that the diagnosis was incorrect. He can't do anymore investigating cos I'm pg.

I would wait for the Obs to properly diagnose you, it could be something else or just a coincidence.

Good luck with it all

[Ilithyia]

Hi Jools,

Yeah that what i am planning on doing. I will wait until i see the gyn before i jump to any conclusions. I mean its not like they can really do anything for you once they have diagnosed. The only reason i really want to know if i have it or not is because i want to be aware if it is going to affect my fertility and if it is the cause of my weight gain.

These are my main worries.

Thanks for your advice.

[shellshell]

Whilst I was there I spoke about the 'suspected' PCOS and the Gyno/Obs said that most people who have the syndrome DO NOT get AF.

Rubbish! I used to get AF every month (a longer cycle) and I have PCOS.

Also, just because you get AF doesn't mean you are O'ing regularly - I wasn't - only once or twice a year.

Sara - They (and you) can do things about your PCOS - even before you get a diagnosis, you can be exercising on a daily basis and eating a low GI diet - if you have PCOS, it will help it, and if you don't have PCOS, it will still be healthy for you and you will still benefit from it health-wise.

Doctors can also run a GTT (glucose tolerance test) on you which may show that you have insulin resistance - they can do this even while they are pregnant. So I think they can still correctly diagnose you when you are pregnant, although it may be harder depending on what kind of PCOS you may have.

[mako]

Hi Sara,
I too have pcos. I don't have all of the symptoms.My main symptoms were slight weight gain, irregular af,difficulty falling pregnant. I do get af approx every 35 days or so, just don't O every month.I only found out that I have pcos because I went to see a specialist after my 2 m/cs. My dr did blood tests which showed that I have mild pcos. I am currently taking clomid and exercising regularly even though I haven't lost any weight as yet.
Good luck with your appointment and I hope you get the answers you are looking for.
By the way Briley is gorgeous

[shellshell]

Hey Mako,

Sorry to hear about your m/cs. to you.

Are you on Metformin? You mention you have slight weight gain, and that you exercise regularly without losing weight... which may indicate an insulin prob, which may mean you should be on Metformin. Metformin increases the effectiveness of Clomid as well, so you may find it works better after starting it.

[Ilithyia]

Mako - Yeah i eat pretty healthy and although i don't go out of my way to exercise i do a lot of walking around our farm (we have 5 acres!) and in general. When i lost all the weight during my pg i thought it would stay off but it did'nt. Even though i was eating healthy and the way i did during my pg there was nothing i could do to keep it off.

To check you insulin levels, is that the same test that do while you are pg?? Cause when i did them tests the levels were fine.

I did go for blood tests to check the levels of my hormones last year and my testosterone levels were a little elivated. Not sure wether that has anything to do with it.

Thanks heaps for your advice girls. I wish i could go today and have somebody tell me what is going on. The waiting is the hardest part.

[shellshell]

Sara,

Yes, elevated testosterone levels have something to do with it. It is a common feature of insulin resistant PCOS. But you can still have IR PCOS without it - since there is more than one kind of androgen (male hormone) that is overproduced in a woman w/ PCOS, and a testosterone test just checks for one kind. My testosterone levels are normal, but my other androgens (which have never been tested in me) are surely not (because I have a mo' unless I bleach it!!).

Also, when you get a GTT done when you are pregnant, they may not test insulin response - they may only test glucose response. They need to test both insulin and glucose response to test for IR.

But from what you are saying, it sounds like you may have a problem w/ insulin. Pregnancy and b/feeding can actually make the hormones of a PCOS woman behave more like normal women, but once that is over, they go back to being whacky and as a result most women find it hard to loose weight, and put it on very quickly.

Have you checked out www.posaa.asn.au? You might find some useful info on there that might help explain things better to you.

All the best!

[mako]

Hi

Shellshell I am only taking clomid as my b/t didn't show any signs of insulin resistance. So who knows what else could be going on with my body . I go back to specialist on the 20th so may need to ask her to test again.

Sara I think the test is different to the one they do during pregnancy but I am not 100% sure.

[Ilithyia]

ShellShell,

Yeah i have been on too that website. I went and registered though yesterday and am going to speak to some of the girls in the forms there. Thanks heaps for you help.

Mako - Yeah i think they are. From what shellshell explained they seem to be. Thanks.