I’ve never had blood tests for PCOS. Didn’t even know this was a thing.I found out 10 years ago when I was 18/19. I can’t remember what triggered my doctor to send me for tests but it was probably my cystic acne. I’ve received no help over those 10 years, it’s really crap. I was told by a doctor last year when I phoned up about something else that I need to have my blood tests done and I was like “sorry blood tests for what?” and she told me with PCOS you’re supposed to have your bloods done every year. First I’d heard of itAnd I still don’t get called to get them done.
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I’m wondering if I have PCOS, does this sound like it…?:
irregular periods, as a young teen they lasted two weeks at a time and I had to wear giant incontinence pads, it was like this until I was 17 then fell to ten days, they’re still irregular now but in a weird way - e.g. I now know after religiously tracking my cycle for a year that my period comes every 40 days or so and tends to last ten days - except I always w/o fail miss one or two and then have a really heavy two week long period, or very light spotting, or I will finish for two weeks and then have light spotting again. So I can never say ‘oh yes I’ll go swimming, because I don’t know if I will bleed or have a ‘normal’ period.
Hairy, everywhere hair could be I have it
toes, belly (happy trail), boobs, upper lip and chin - dark and wiry- looks like pubes, so embarrassing.
Weight gain, I have always been big anyway but every time I lose weight I seem to stall at a certain weight and find it really hard to lose any more, this is despite me eating a good diet, even when I was calorie counting I stopped once I hit 10st and still have a big belly.
GP doesn’t seem to care and doesn’t want to put me on the pill due to other health issues. I was put on menamphic acid for six months (no idea if ive spelled that right) it helped after three months or so but made my periods really odd. It’s as if, every time I miss a period, my body is on catch up mode and I then get a really heavy period and spotting in between.
A lot of the women in my family have it, my nan, sister, cousins…
irregular periods, as a young teen they lasted two weeks at a time and I had to wear giant incontinence pads, it was like this until I was 17 then fell to ten days, they’re still irregular now but in a weird way - e.g. I now know after religiously tracking my cycle for a year that my period comes every 40 days or so and tends to last ten days - except I always w/o fail miss one or two and then have a really heavy two week long period, or very light spotting, or I will finish for two weeks and then have light spotting again. So I can never say ‘oh yes I’ll go swimming, because I don’t know if I will bleed or have a ‘normal’ period.
Hairy, everywhere hair could be I have it
toes, belly (happy trail), boobs, upper lip and chin - dark and wiry- looks like pubes, so embarrassing. Weight gain, I have always been big anyway but every time I lose weight I seem to stall at a certain weight and find it really hard to lose any more, this is despite me eating a good diet, even when I was calorie counting I stopped once I hit 10st and still have a big belly.
GP doesn’t seem to care and doesn’t want to put me on the pill due to other health issues. I was put on menamphic acid for six months (no idea if ive spelled that right) it helped after three months or so but made my periods really odd. It’s as if, every time I miss a period, my body is on catch up mode and I then get a really heavy period and spotting in between.
A lot of the women in my family have it, my nan, sister, cousins…
I get my bloods done yearly, sometimes more often, I think they test thyroid, cholesterol and a couple of hormones not sure what they’re called. I really think it depends what doctor you get. The first time I went I had a doctor who wasn’t interested at all, the second time a doctor who is really interested and helpful so I always request her now. I am ttc though so not sure if that’s maybe why I have more
Definitely sounds very likely that you have it! Obviously I can’t diagnose but you’ve got all the classic symptoms. Could you see another doctor and ask to be sent for tests?I’m wondering if I have PCOS, does this sound like it…?:
irregular periods, as a young teen they lasted two weeks at a time and I had to wear giant incontinence pads, it was like this until I was 17 then fell to ten days, they’re still irregular now but in a weird way - e.g. I now know after religiously tracking my cycle for a year that my period comes every 40 days or so and tends to last ten days - except I always w/o fail miss one or two and then have a really heavy two week long period, or very light spotting, or I will finish for two weeks and then have light spotting again. So I can never say ‘oh yes I’ll go swimming, because I don’t know if I will bleed or have a ‘normal’ period.
Hairy, everywhere hair could be I have it
Weight gain, I have always been big anyway but every time I lose weight I seem to stall at a certain weight and find it really hard to lose any more, this is despite me eating a good diet, even when I was calorie counting I stopped once I hit 10st and still have a big belly.
GP doesn’t seem to care and doesn’t want to put me on the pill due to other health issues. I was put on menamphic acid for six months (no idea if ive spelled that right) it helped after three months or so but made my periods really odd. It’s as if, every time I miss a period, my body is on catch up mode and I then get a really heavy period and spotting in between.
A lot of the women in my family have it, my nan, sister, cousins…
yeah PCOS does affect sleep, it makes you fatigued but then also unable to get a good nights sleep.
some people also have sleep apnoea, which is also common with pcos. Never ending I tell you....
But yeah some doctors only see it as a fertility thing which is so bad because it affects so many other things!
Does anyone have any advice for hair loss? My hair is starting to feel a little thin around the scalp. I'm researching vitamins and hair wraps to sleep in and silk pillow cases, but so much different advice and options of them all it's hard to know where to start!
I don't suffer with hairloss but I have heard brewer's yeast is good for prevention. I do take sea kelp and gave done for over a year and my hair is in great condition
Have you tried the other pill? (Can’t remember it’s name now!)Anyone else suffer with continuous bleeding/spotting? I’m on the combined pill to try and control my periods and since I’ve had my pill free week I haven’t stopped spottingreally gets me down
I’ve tried the mini pill too if that’s what you’re referring to, bled constantly on that too!
I went through a particularly bad time with hair loss. I was losing chunks of my hair every hair wash. The only thing I found that helped was cutting it really, really short and I’m now regrowing it. It could be pure coincidence or the fact there was less weight which allowed my scalp a bit of recovery. My friend swears by Philip Kingsley but I’ve also heard nioxin that a second to none and really does help. I’m so sorry it’s happening to you as o know it’s hugely traumatic. Additionally I lost 1.5 stone which I think also added to it.
Sorry to jump on this thread and de-rail slightly but I think it might be the best place to ask this question! I recently went for a scan and internal as my GP thought I had PCOS (haven’t had a period in a year, struggling to lose weight ) however the doctor who did the scan and internal confirmed it isn’t PCOS and that everything looks as it should. Given that most the people on this thread have had similar problems to me - does anyone know what it could be? I’m waiting to be seen by my GP and then no doubt gynae but god knows how long that will be and google isn’t really giving much away - it all points to PCOS. Obviously appreciate that none of you are doctors and no one woman is the same but it is making me anxious to have no clue what the issue is!
Have you had blood tests? I’m not 100% sure but I think to have PCOS you just have to have 2/3 of the criteria so if you haven’t got cysts it doesn’t mean you don’t have it. (I might be wrong)
Yes I was going to ask this and you are right - there’s a 2 out of 3 criteria for PCOS that generally you would have to meet. Normally you would have blood tests too because blood tests can help with seeing if there is a hormonal imbalance which is what PCOS is. I have PCOS and I am the insulin resistant type (i think theres 3? types) but I don’t have many cysts I believe - I see a Endocrine every 6 months at the moment to help me with the symptoms of pcos. If you haven’t had any blood tests then I would push for them to do some and also get them to check your thyroid too as *i think* your thyroid can impact your periods and weight gain/loss depending on whether it’s under active or over active so worth looking at that too
Hope you get the answers you need @glitter tits - try not to be too anxious, periods can stop/become irregular for tiny tiny things. Even if it is PCOS, there is support available in different forms xxxThanks you both for replyingYes I was going to ask this and you are right - there’s a 2 out of 3 criteria for PCOS that generally you would have to meet. Normally you would have blood tests too because blood tests can help with seeing if there is a hormonal imbalance which is what PCOS is. I have PCOS and I am the insulin resistant type (i think theres 3? types) but I don’t have many cysts I believe - I see a Endocrine every 6 months at the moment to help me with the symptoms of pcos. If you haven’t had any blood tests then I would push for them to do some and also get them to check your thyroid too as *i think* your thyroid can impact your periods and weight gain/loss depending on whether it’s under active or over active so worth looking at that too
yep I had blood tests a couple of months ago and they didn’t show anything (I think they were looking for both PCOS and thyroid issues), but my GP thought that the scan would most likely confirm PCOS as she couldn’t think why else they would have stopped for so long (I came off my pill a year ago so they know that’s why they’ve stopped so suddenly but GP says that I should definitely have had regulated periods over the last 6 months). I guess I’ll have to wait until I see the gynae for any potential answers but I just know that’s going to be a while due to backlogs
Correct me if I’m wrong but I swear sometimes periods can take anything upto a year to come back to normal? Especially if you’ve been on the pill a long time.Thanks you both for replying
yep I had blood tests a couple of months ago and they didn’t show anything (I think they were looking for both PCOS and thyroid issues), but my GP thought that the scan would most likely confirm PCOS as she couldn’t think why else they would have stopped for so long (I came off my pill a year ago so they know that’s why they’ve stopped so suddenly but GP says that I should definitely have had regulated periods over the last 6 months). I guess I’ll have to wait until I see the gynae for any potential answers but I just know that’s going to be a while due to backlogs
Do you have any of the other symptoms of PCOS that maybe you could push with them? Like excessive hair etc?
That’s what I thought which is why I left it so long to see the GP, but no, apparently they say 6 months is the maximum it should take for periods to get back to being semi-normal.
I am struggling to lose weight (I’m a good 3 stone over what I should be) but I don’t know if that just because I am getting older (30) and struggle to stick to any sort of diet. I suppose I have a bit more hair than I used to but certainly not excessive by any means!