Read if u r wondering about PCOS!

Hi,

I've just joined. My name is Teresa and I live in the Pacific. My DH and I have been trying to conceive for 3 years with no success. I was diagnosed with polycystic ovaries in December last year and immediately placed on Clomid. I am now on my 2nd cycle of Clomid. My DH has a perfect sperm count, so at least that is working in our favor.

I never realised I had PCOS because my symptoms were not obvious. My knowledge of the disorder was very limited, and this is why I never picked up on it on my own. Now that I know I have it, and have had it all my life, I wish more could be done to bring awareness to women everywhere, so that other women don't experience the awful confusion of not knowing what is wrong with you. So that is the theme of my post, to try and dispel some common myths and to help those ladies who are still wondering if they might have the condition.

First fact: PCOS affects between 9% and 15% of Australian women. The exact percentage varies between different studies. This is a huge chunk of Aussie ladies and you should take the numbers seriously - there are better than average odds that you may fall into that 9-15% bracket.

If I had known there was a reason why my periods were erratic, why I never experienced EW CM like my girlfriends, why I suddenly had to start plucking/waxing the area around my upper lip, nipples and belly button after years of having no visible hair there at all, I would have gone on top of this so much sooner and saved myself a lot of time and money. So much money! Wasted on literally dozens of doctors, therapists and specialists who never even thought to check for a disorder that affects up to 15% of the female population. A GP tried to diagnose me with depression when I was 16, which left me constantly looking over my shoulder for mental and personality disorders until I was diagnosed with PCOS. I now know that my emotional upheavals were a by-product of PCOS. I wasted ten years of my life worrying that I was a nutcase, because not a single GP I visited with my complaints thought to check for PCOS.

At one stage I read something about PCOS and that sparked a suspicion, but when I read further the information said that if I wasn't overweight, it was unlikely that I was suffering from PCOS. This is completely misleading! You do not have to be overweight to have PCOS, and you do not have to display all the symptoms. I am in the normal weight range for my height and the only weight-related problem I experience is my body's tendency to store fat on my abdomen, which is a classic sign of PCOS.

Another myth is that you must have excessive hirsutism or abnormal hair growth in parts of your body where you shouldn't. So not true! You can have only a minimal amount of hair growth (or none) and still have PCOS. I have darker hairs growing around my nipples and beneath my navel, which are not prolific like that on a man, just an annoying handful of darker hairs (like the hairs on my arms, not like pubic hair) that come through every now and then and have to be tweezed out for my own peace of mind. I never really worried about it. I put it down to my racial make-up, which is European-Polynesian - a little hairiness is common in both races. Being told that PCOS means huge amounts of excessive hair led to me ignoring yet another symptom.

Which brings me to my next point. This thickening and darkening of my normal hair follices in those areas began when I came off the Pill. My periods also became very irregular. Once again, the myths surrounding PCOS and this time the Pill led to me ignore yet another symptom. I thought my irregular periods were a result of coming off the Pill. Duh! Coming off the Pill allowed my PCOS to manifest itself, causing androgen hormones (testosterone and eostragen) to fall out of balance which then affected testorone-related functions such as pubic hair growth in the chest area, face, abdomen, bikini area and inner thighs. It also forced my ovaries to fend for themselves in the hormone stakes, and because they're polycysitc they couldn't release the right hormones at the right time, which gave me irregular cycles. So if you are on the Pill, you may still have PCOS, it's just that the hormone-controlling properties of the Pill are masking your symptoms. If you have been off the Pill for some time and are still waiting for your cycles to even out, get your doctor to check for PCOS.

My advice to you, reader, if you think you may have PCOS, is to see a fertility clinic immediately and get an ultrasound. My clinic in Brisbane charged me $135 to see the specialist and $75 for the ultrasound that confirmed my PCOS - and it took seconds to get from not knowing what the hell was going on to having a definite, confirmed condition that could be dealt with.

Don't agonize any longer - go and get checked for it. The sooner you're diagnosed, the sooner you can start dealing with it, and the sooner you can conceive a baby!

I have been trying for 3 years now - but as I had no idea I was polycystic (ie not ovulating!) for those 3 yrs, I consider myself to be on TTC #2 (with Clomid).

I hope this helps those ladies who are trawling the PCOS section wondering if they've got it - go and get checked! If you're not ovulating due to PCOS, you're wasting your energy and precious time!

Baby dust to everybody!

Teresa xox