I recently found out i have PCOS..

Hi there my name is Jacinta, I live in Canberra in Australia. I was recently diagnosed with Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome. Even though i had been having problems since i was 17 (im now almost 21). i didn't know much about it before i found out i had it but i did know that it can cause infertility. So when the blood tests came back that I had it i was completely shattered, i cried for days and days. What made me more upset is that they could have diagnosed it 3 years ago when all my problems started, i gained close to 15kgs in 3 weeks, my doctor at the time put it down to a sudden growth spurt. I went from being 65kgs to now 100kgs. How that can be normal I don't know, I also found out I am insulin resistant so I have been put on metformin to lower my levels. I started to worry when I hadn't fallen pregnant yet, I'll be completely honest and say that we never use protection, we have been really careless and I haven't fallen pregnant so i went and saw my doctor. They asked about my cycles and I haven't had a regular period cycle since i was 17 so they ran some blood tests and sure enough i have PCOS, they did an ultrasound to see the extent of it, my doctor said you can have PCOS and not have the cysts, i got my results yesterday and i have the cysts, my right ovary has a few but my left has lots. I have been put on Yasmin to stop the cysts forming. I am not coping with it all, many of my friends are either pregnant or have kids and I know that I am young and Im not saying that i want to be pregnant because they are, no one i know has this condition its always something that a friend of a friend has. I just want to be able to do the deed and fall pregnant.

I'm sorry if my post is all over the place, talking about it makes me really emotional still coming to terms with it all i guess. I would really love to talk with ladies who are going through the same thing and any advice is muchly appreciated :D

Hi there - firstly I am sorry to hear that you have been diagnosed with PCOS. I too have the condition and I know that you will find lots of support on here. I am a lot older than you (37) and no-one diagnosed me with PCOS until I was 35 - even though I have obviously had the condition all my adult life! I know it is easier said than done, but try not to get ahead of yourself too much. There are many different treatments that can help with your fertility depending on what problems your PCOS causes (as all cases are different). In my particular case I fell pregnant with IVF and now have a beautiful 3 month old baby girl. But there are lots of PCOS women who fall pregnant without help or with clomid/ovulation induction so it does not necessarily mean that you would need IVF.

Let me know if you have any questions that I can help you with. It is natural to feel emotional about this.

Janie xxx

Hi Janie.

Thanks for your reply. I'm still getting my head around everything, i'm on a 3 month trial of metformin and yasmin. Hopefully my body takes to the both of them if not my doctor will suggest further treatment. I keep thinking why is this happening to me? i do everything right i don't do drugs i dont smoke and i don't drink very often. Do you have any problems with weight? What symptoms do you have/had when you got diagnosed?

Jacinta.

im so sorry you are feeling down. I too have PCOS. The weight gain sucks but hay, the way i look at it, is its managable. Its not like we have cancer, its just a hill in our road so to speak. I went on clomid to fall pregnant after 2 years TTC. I fell pregnant on the first cycle, so it can be done!!

Thanks mumma mia for your reply. I'm doing alot better now, i can go a whole day without bursting into tears. PCOS was always something that a friend of a friend had, i never thought i would have it myself. And the fact my insulin levels are really high and that if i hadnt of found out it could have turned into diabetes it was like being smacked in the face. But i am glad that there are other women out there who are like me, and i am glad that its not always doom and gloom and i will be a mother one day.

well now u know sweety, why u havent been falling pregnant. Do you fully understand what PCOS is? If not, u may want to visit the website. Ill head off and find it for u.

Hang in there ok. Most of us who have PCOS are going through some pretty crappy side effects of having it too. The acne is what drives me nuts and the weight gain. Or not to mention excess hair in places hair should not even grow. lol.

ill be back with some good websites.

some good sides are : www dot posaa dot asn dot au (dot meaning . )

and

www dot managingpcos dot org dot au


I forgot to add before, i also lost 12 kilos before falling pregnant. Most PCOS sufferers find weight loss increasing their risk dramatically for falling pregnant. N it did for me.

i was diagnosed with PCOS when i was 25 under similar circs to you - irregular "cycle" (if you could call it that) since i'd had my first AF at around 17. hormones all up the creek, heaps of cysts etc

i started metformin and had surgery to make my ovaries more responsive to the drugs. i found the met helped me with the weight gain (halted it - didnt make me lose any though). i used clomid and, unfortunately it didn't work

it took us 3.5 years or a bit over to finally fall pregnant with our beautiful 5 week old DD - but it did happen - we just needed help. as much as PCOS sucks, as mummamia said, it IS something you can work around. it's not fun having to have help, but if the alternative is no child, you just do what you have to....

good luck with the treatment - if you and your partner are wanting to have a child soon, don't let the GP keep you on the pill too long - it helps to regulate cycles when you're not trying, but is pointless if you are...

Thank you mumma mia your really sweet! When i was being tested for it (they also tested me for endometerosis) i researched both of them so i know a little bit. I've been talking to my doctor as well. I don't have many of the symptoms i dont have acne only the normal pimples, as for the hair i have lots of hair on my belly which is gross ill resemble my partner soon! and the weight gain sucks!

Briggsy's girl. My GP is certain the metformin will help me lose weight, he wrote down what i weigh now and in 3 months he will weigh me again. I was told that to fall pregnant i will need to lose weigh which is not a problem for me i will do anything. Although we dont want to TTC until my partner gets a promotion that way he will earn enough to support the 3 of us. My doctor just wants me on the pill until my cycles run regularly. Congrats on your little girl. That's what im worried about that it will take years to fall pregnant. But i guess its something i will have to come to terms with.

hun please don't hold your breath with the Met helping you lose weight - it's definitely not a done deal - the met only controls the insulin levels - for some, it's a welcome side effect but can come at a price (constant crampy upset tum etc).

you really need to make lifestyle changes - the BIGGEST one that i can suggest is changing your diet to low GI food - it makes all the difference. pre-pg i had some of the worst insulin resistance/sugar results the GP had ever seen (peak normal, insulin so high i was on the brink of hospitalisation for low sugars after 2 hour test) - due to changing to a low GI diet, and being really strict on this once pg, i've lost 20kg since before i feel pg. i automatically eat low GI now.

i'm not sure of your lifestyle - but make sure you make the food changes and up the exercise. weight loss doesn't guarantee you'll fall pg more easily, but for some PCOS sufferers even losing 5-10kg can be enough to help them resume a "normal" cycle and fall pregnant naturally


ETA - don't putundue pressure on yourself to have a weight reduction - getting yourself heallthy is more important than the number. if you fixate on the number, you'remore likely to go about making yourself lose weight in unsustainable ways (yo-yo dieting) - it has to be an overall change that you can sustain....

That's what my doctor has asked me to do. Along with my partner he's been really strict on me. I recently lost my job but when i get a new job my partner wants me to join a gym and go atleast 3 times a week and he will go for walks with me.

I haven't told many people about it, i have only told my 2 best friends, my mum and my sister.

My partner wants to tell his family even though they hate me, we had a huge argument he doesn't understand that telling them isn't going to help me in any way i don't want their pity.

But one thing i'll be happy about is a regular period (well im hoping so). The last 3 i have had were awful i bled for 21 days with the first then 16 with the second and the most recent was really heavy and i had the worst cramping. I also hope the pill will help with my mood swings i have been such a cranky pants i constantly have a go at everyone. Has anyone else been experiencing that?

be wary of the pill helping mood swings hun - i've been on it once, for a month, as part of ivf treatment - and i was THE biggest HAG! hope that doesn't happen to you

can sympathise on the long AF's - my worst (well the worst i could recall) was just after DH and I got together - it last for over 5 weeks - would almost stop and then start again. post pg bleeding is easier to deal with!

Oh, i hope that doesn't happen to me! i havent been on the pill before i was always too scared too but since i have PCOS i have to go on it to manage it. I'm pretty sure my partner would leave me LOL i have been absolutely awful to be around, the littlest thing makes me go on a huge rant.

I haven't started the pill yet i have to wait until the 8th thats when im due, thats if i get it if not my doctor wants me to take it then anyway.

I forgot to mention that a 18 months ago i had a ruptured cyst as well as appendicitis. While taking my appendix out they cleaned up the area. I was supposed to be all healed after 6 weeks but i still had rotten pains. I went to my doctor and they did an ultrasound to see what was wrong they thought maybe another cyst had burst but it wasn't my ovaries were healthy nothing on them but i had fluid in my pouch of douglas (that made no sense to me but stopped me worrying) so when they did an ultrasound last week i was surprised to see so many cysts had formed in 18 months.. its actually scary. The lady who did it did my first and she was shocked.

may i ask why are u on the pill if you are trying to fall pregnant?

yeah seeing them cysts on the screen is scary, my last scan i had for them (before Mia) i had 18 on one side and 12 on the other.

I'm not wanting to fall pregnant just yet.. my doctor wants to wait until my insulin levels are down, or back to normal. And he also wants my cycles to be normal. So this time next year i want to be pregnant, so when im healthy and have lost atleast 10kgs.

I was diagnosed in 2004 with PCOS we were ttc our first child. It was soooo hard for me to come to terms with. My other half was ready to go, and I was still coming to terms with the diagnosis. In the end I went on clomid to conceive both our daughters. With Gemma we fell preggers 2nd cycle on clomid, Jasmine was first cycle.

And yep I have all the classic traits of it, including weight, especially around my middle. BUT I have in the last 4 weeks lost approx 8kg! Its hard work, but it is acheiveable!

Oh and the most telling signs that I had it when I was officially diagnosed was the blood test results and ultrasound. I was riddled with cysts and my hormone levels were horrible. I have elevated testosterone and really really low progetorone levels. And my period is non existent and I don't ovulate.

I wish you all the luck in the world hun......................I hope you have a bub of your own to hold soon...........xxx

*twinkle* thanks for your reply. My partner really wants kids but he had left it up to me to decide when to start having babies.

We have been together 5 years so its not as if we are jumping into the deep end (although some of my friends think we are) it upsets me that the only thing stopping us is me and this condition.

My mum had trouble conceiving so i knew that i could also have problems but i didnt think i would have PCOS. I'm trying not to let myself get down about it but its not something you easily come to terms with, im happy now that i know why i have so much weight on me.

When i got the blood tests done they did a hormone test and they were normal which i find odd because i am so all over the place.

And thank you so much your really sweet i hope i have a bub soon too. And congrats on your 2 girls!

Hi Jacinta,

Great to see you have got heaps more information from people. My symptoms were secondary amanorah (sp?) - which is loss of periods. My cycles are so irregular it is impossible to predict when I will have a period - often it is 6 months or longer between cycles. I had an ultrasound done when I was finally diagnosed and I had 30 cysts on the right ovary and 30 on the left! So heaps of cysts! I also had a problem with my levels of FSH and LH - both hormones that help with the formation and release of an egg. Apparently the levels were the wrong way around if that makes sense - the one that was meant to be higher was lower. I also had some bone loss due to all of the years of no periods - that is also part of the reason that doctors put you on the pill if you are not currently trying to get pregnant - regular periods help slow down bone loss. In regards to weight gain, acne, insulin resitance and hair growth - I had none of those symptoms. So as you can see we all have the same syndrome, but with so many different symptoms.

GL with your journey.

Janie xxx