marinewife12

Sophie:

I was just unofficially diagnosed a few days ago, (I have to wait for an untrasound) but I can share what I have learned in this short amount of time.

It sounds like you might have PCOS. It's difficult to tell just by reading symptoms of course. I am only showing a few of the symptoms myself, and my doctor is still thinking it is PCOS. I don't have any abnormal hair growth, nor hair loss. What HAS happend is this: I have gained quite a bit of weight over the past 3 years, but I am an avid exerciser. I also have extremely high cholesterol. I'm 23, and have a pretty decent diet (we absolutely do not eat red meat). I stopped taking bcp in June of 2006 (wanting to start conceiving at the end of the year) and I have since had 3 periods total. I'm on the third one...and it's lasted FIVE WEEKS. That was the last straw, and I went to a brand new dr. who has helped me.

All of these things were individually explained by previous doctors as anything besides PCOS. "Oh, you've put on weight since high school because your workout routine has changed. You need to work out harder/more. Your cholesterol is very high, but that's genetic. Your periods are very irregular, but you haven't been off the pill for a year yet, so that's still pretty normal. Come back in a year. Oh, you're young. You don't need to worry about fertility yet. Everything will even out eventually."

Turns out, a lot of it is connected to PCOS. I have an ultrasound for the second week of May, and that will be the deciding factor. But as my dr. has said, "If I were a betting man, I'd diagnose PCOS right now."

For the meantime, he has given me Progesterone to stop my period (thank you Lord) and Iron (because of the blood loss). He has asked me to start charting.

My advice is this: start charting NOW. That way, when you get an appointment to see a doctor, you can show him/her, and you're ahead of the game. They will want to know if you are ovulating and how things are going. If you are unsure of how to chart, then you should look up on the internet.

If you do not want to get pregnant right now, then a good way to control some of the symptoms is birth control pills. If you are looking into getting pregnant, then they have other medications you can take. Some women have absolutely no problem getting pregnant, even without meds. Some need the medication and then can conceive. And others still may require some more drastic measures. My advice is to talk to your Dr. about your timeline. Example: I don't want to get pregnant now, but I'd like to be pregnant by the time I am 27. What should I do?

By all means, your first step is to chart. If you are not charting...again, look it up on the web. Search "fertility charting" or "BBT charting". And while you are doing that, make an appointment to see a Dr. And for sure, NEVER let a Dr. tell you there's "nothing wrong." If you feel out of whack, then you probably are. You know your body better than anyone else.

I hope this has helped. I am still new to this myself. But feel free to ask away, and I can do the best to answer questions. And I'm sure anyone else on here will be more than happy to answer any questions as well!

Kate