PCOS

[TravellingPants]

Absolutely, low intensity is your friend (walking, swimming, slow weighted workouts, strength work like yoga or pilates). One of the main things a body with PCOS is dealing with is an imbalance in cortisol, which is the stress hormone. High intensity exercise elevates that further and keeps us in fight or flight, and your natural biological response to that is to hold on to large stores because you might need them to do one of those two things.

I once did a full month of doing a Youtube HIIT workout every morning alongside calorie counting and didn’t shift a single pound. Replaced it with walking and ate exactly the same way and lost half a stone in the next two weeks! It’s wild the way what works for a typical hormonal set up is the worst enemy of a PCOS body.

 

[Curly]

I was told by a hormonal coach to stay away from
High intensity workouts and any weighted workouts should only be 30 minutes long

 

[Donald23]

I was told by a hormonal coach to stay away from
High intensity workouts and any weighted workouts should only be 30 minutes long

Oh I’ve never heard the time thing! That’s interesting and I’ll be taking that on board for my workouts going forward
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Wow I never knew this! Thanks for the tip

It’s not something the doctors seem to say. Everyone bangs on about food and losing weight but nothing about the best ways to do it

 

[Blond3g1rl]

Oh I’ve never heard the time thing! That’s interesting and I’ll be taking that on board for my workouts going forward
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It’s not something the doctors seem to say. Everyone bangs on about food and losing weight but nothing about the best ways to do it

GPs know very little about PCOS

 

[Curly]

Oh I’ve never heard the time thing! That’s interesting and I’ll be taking that on board for my workouts going forward
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It’s not something the doctors seem to say. Everyone bangs on about food and losing weight but nothing about the best ways to do it

I didn’t know the time thing until she said, apparently she said after 30 minutes your body then produces too much cortisol and then will
store large.
She also said to cut as much gluten, sugar and dairy from diet and focus on protein and fats. This has been the only way I have managed to lose weight and feel healthier. It’s a total overhaul but I can see how certain foods were really bad for me.
I’ll also make sure I have one cup of spearmint tea a day

 

[Elsie1988]

GPs know very little about PCOS

They are only GP and not specialist so not expected to know about single con, however, some GPs do know more than others. You can request to see a different GP if you feel you need another opinion or help

 

[Blond3g1rl]

They are only GP and not specialist so not expected to know about single con, however, some GPs do know more than others. You can request to see a different GP if you feel you need another opinion or help

I was diagnosed nearly 20 years ago. I’ve seen countless GPs, all they say is lose weight. I was on metformin, then one GP took me off it due to apparently no evidence of it helping with women with PCOS, now every GP I see refuses to put me on it again.
Under the NHS PCOS is treated as a fertility issue. I do not want children. Therefore no help is provided.
I have had to educate myself.

 

[RandomAlpaca22]

I was diagnosed nearly 20 years ago. I’ve seen countless GPs, all they say is lose weight. I was on metformin, then one GP took me off it due to apparently no evidence of it helping with women with PCOS, now every GP I see refuses to put me on it again.
Under the NHS PCOS is treated as a fertility issue. I do not want children. Therefore no help is provided.
I have had to educate myself.

This is currently my issue too. I have been borderlined PCOS since the age of 11 but the GP decided at 15 the best thing for me was to be put onto the pill, causing the cysts to not show on any further scans.

I'm now almost 27, and have just had a trans-vaginal scan that has confirmed my ovaries are absolutely ridden with cysts. All my GP has offered is for me to go back on the pill (I don't care nor wish to go back on it).

I'm bleeping sick of this NHS and their lack of care and support for women with PCOS/endo etc. We're pushed to the bottom of the barrel, only given a look in if we inform them we are TTC. I don't want kids right now. but I would sure as hell like to not to be having cycle issues for 2 weeks every damn month

 

[boomska]

So I’m a little confused!!
Backstory- I did a blood test at home to test my hormones as think I suffer with PCOS. So I went private through work to see if I could get diagnosed but I also went through my local GP to get my thyroid tested. It came back normal
Got a scan of my ovaries done through the private GP and they’re totally fine too. I had my meeting with the private doctor and he said everything’s pointing to PCOS even though my ovaries are fine so I need to contact my local GP to go onto the pill.

Soooo I don’t know whether to go to my local GP (who has voiced they don’t want external input) and get a full blood work done or go straight to talk about the pill (currently not on anything!)

 

[Donald23]

So I’m a little confused!!
Backstory- I did a blood test at home to test my hormones as think I suffer with PCOS. So I went private through work to see if I could get diagnosed but I also went through my local GP to get my thyroid tested. It came back normal
Got a scan of my ovaries done through the private GP and they’re totally fine too. I had my meeting with the private doctor and he said everything’s pointing to PCOS even though my ovaries are fine so I need to contact my local GP to go onto the pill.

Soooo I don’t know whether to go to my local GP (who has voiced they don’t want external input) and get a full blood work done or go straight to talk about the pill (currently not on anything!)

To be diagnosed you need two of the three “criteria”. I’ll attach an image at the bottom. Normal scans don’t mean no Pcos but it would mean that your blood tests have shown something that correlates to your symptoms.
Did they repeat your at home blood tests? At home blood tests are done off small samples and can be very unreliable. If the private gp hasn’t redone them, I’d request for a full set of hormone and regular blood work up to be done.
If your bloods and ovaries are fine, I’d be getting your own gp to try dig a bit further into other causes. You don’t want to start on a pill that could prolong your suffering in the long run. It sort of sounds like the private gps done the scan and wants to fob you off back to the nhs, if your work is paying for it I’d use it to your full advantage to get a definitive diagnosis

 

[knivesnflowers]

So I’m a little confused!!
Backstory- I did a blood test at home to test my hormones as think I suffer with PCOS. So I went private through work to see if I could get diagnosed but I also went through my local GP to get my thyroid tested. It came back normal
Got a scan of my ovaries done through the private GP and they’re totally fine too. I had my meeting with the private doctor and he said everything’s pointing to PCOS even though my ovaries are fine so I need to contact my local GP to go onto the pill.

Soooo I don’t know whether to go to my local GP (who has voiced they don’t want external input) and get a full blood work done or go straight to talk about the pill (currently not on anything!)

i'm the same, clear scans but meet two of the diagnostic criteria through blood tests. pcos is the hormonal imbalance that causes symptoms, pco is the presence of actual cysts but cysts are sometimes a feature of / caused by pcos associated hormones too - honestly it's quite confusing!

 

[Thank(space)you]

I've just been diagnosed with PCOS which was a shock as I was convinced I was going through early menopause

 

[whyhellothere83]

I've just been diagnosed with PCOS which was a shock as I was convinced I was going through early menopause

I also thought I was going through early menopause when I was diagnosed!

 

[ThisIsMyDragName]

6ish months after I asked for a referral, I’ve got an appointment through for my scan to have a look at my ovaries. It’s in just under a month’s time. I had been prepared to get the scan privately but other stuff going on in my life meant I’ve not got round to booking it, so that’s saved me a few pennies. I’m still a bit grumpy that the referral was delayed for a few weeks because the GP couldn’t be bothered to put down any of the symptoms, etc that I described to him as the reason for referral, so it was initially rejected and I guess a bit lost in the system for a few weeks at the surgery, but I also get that a 6 month wait in the NHS is pretty good going, all things considered!

 

[LittleRoots]

Not sure if anyone’s experienced it or not, I went to get bloods done as suspected I have pcos (chickened out so many times) my results came back with high thyroid levels, so am going to get another blood test for more tests, absolutely terrified! From what I’ve read online thyroid issues can be hormone related anyone have anything similar? Don’t know what to expect

 

[ThisIsMyDragName]

Had my ultrasound scan today. My GP couldn’t have messed the referral up more to be honest. He told them daft things in my referral that weren’t true about not having periods. I never told him I wasn’t having periods, I told him there was no regularity to my cycle. He was dismissive of my blood test results but when I told the radiographer that I had positive blood results indicating PCOS through a private blood test and a bunch of symptoms she pointed out that was all I actually needed for a PCOS diagnosis. Which I did know, but I was at the mercy of a daft male GP. Anyway, there are signs of PCOS in my scan, which is validating I suppose! Don’t think it’s the worst case of PCOS she had ever seen but it’s there. I’ve got a couple of weeks wait till the results go to the GP then I’ll see if they’re prepared to do anything to help treat it.

 

[pecan]

Had my ultrasound scan today. My GP couldn’t have messed the referral up more to be honest. He told them daft things in my referral that weren’t true about not having periods. I never told him I wasn’t having periods, I told him there was no regularity to my cycle. He was dismissive of my blood test results but when I told the radiographer that I had positive blood results indicating PCOS through a private blood test and a bunch of symptoms she pointed out that was all I actually needed for a PCOS diagnosis. Which I did know, but I was at the mercy of a daft male GP. Anyway, there are signs of PCOS in my scan, which is validating I suppose! Don’t think it’s the worst case of PCOS she had ever seen but it’s there. I’ve got a couple of weeks wait till the results go to the GP then I’ll see if they’re prepared to do anything to help treat it.

I’m pleased for you that you have that validation despite the silly GP. Hope you are feeling okay after the diagnosis, it can be tough to get your head around even if you fully expected it. I hope you have better luck with receiving treatment than I did. I was asked if I wanted to try for a baby and when I said no it was basically take the pill or nothing, despite the various symptoms we all have to live with!

 

[Carefree]

Yes, the fact the PCOS is only an issue if I wanted kids immediately after diagnosis was a bit of kick in the teeth. I spent so long trying to avoid teenage pregnancy and it turns out it wouldn't have happened anyway. Rude.

 

[ThisIsMyDragName]

I’m pleased for you that you have that validation despite the silly GP. Hope you are feeling okay after the diagnosis, it can be tough to get your head around even if you fully expected it. I hope you have better luck with receiving treatment than I did. I was asked if I wanted to try for a baby and when I said no it was basically take the pill or nothing, despite the various symptoms we all have to live with!

we were TTC quite actively (haha! Sort of pun intended I suppose!) last year, and although I didn’t expect it to be instant, I got very wrapped up in the whole TTC thing very quickly so I just decided age is not on my side so I’d pay for the blood test. I’ve kind of always know I had the syndrome at least, because I’ve always had the symptoms and they got a lot worse when I had my hormonal coil removed.

Now, we’re not trying but not preventing basically. I do want to get pregnant if I can, but I just switched jobs and I have no entitlement to anything at the moment (and some ground work to do to enhance the parental leave entitlements as well to be honest!), but equally we would manage if I fell pregnant now. I don’t really know what to say to the GP. I don’t want to jump straight to a treatment that all but guarantees ovulation, but I would like some support to manage the symptoms like my horrible skin, excess body hair, etc. but I don’t want to go back onto any kind of contraception. I need to lose weight but that’s not an easy one for me, but I know that some weight loss would help my symptoms. I also suffer with anxiety, which might be linked to my high testosterone. Tried coming off SSRIs but my mental health went fully into the bin so I am on the lowest possible dose and it’s holding me really well 99% of the time, but I would be curious to know if getting my hormone levels right might give me the ability to come off them again.

It’s tit that you can only unlock a half decent treatment if you’re trying for a baby though. Another example of ‘if this happened to men instead of women, it would not be like this’. I feel like a right bra-burner but honestly it’s hard to convince me otherwise!
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Yes, the fact the PCOS is only an issue if I wanted kids immediately after diagnosis was a bit of kick in the teeth. I spent so long trying to avoid teenage pregnancy and it turns out it wouldn't have happened anyway. Rude.

OMG THIS. All of that sex ed at school that said if I even touched a boy I’d get pregnant with quintuplets in a millisecond or something and here I am, at the wrong end of my 30s realising that’s bull. If only women could be properly educated about their bodies early. Of course there has to be a safe sex element to sex education but it’s only in the last year, one of the last of my 30s, that I feel I even vaguely know what my body has been doing for almost three bleeping decades since my periods started. That’s absolutely outrageous.

 

[pecan]

It’s tit that you can only unlock a half decent treatment if you’re trying for a baby though. Another example of ‘if this happened to men instead of women, it would not be like this’. I feel like a right bra-burner but honestly it’s hard to convince me otherwise!

No I totally agree with you and I think most people in this thread would too! It’s always the same with women’s healthcare. I’m sorry you’ve had a rough time of it with your mental health, I empathise and it’s definitely important to prioritise that. Regarding losing weight, it can help but won’t necessarily lead to big improvements. I am well within my ‘healthy’ weight range but I still have excessive body hair, hair loss from my head, terrible skin, irregular cycle, all the fun stuff. Obviously everyone has their own journey, sometimes things improve and other times they don’t. Again women’s weight is something else that every GP will use as a reason for things. Of course I advocate for being the healthiest version of yourself but don’t let anyone shame you into losing weight. Do it because it’s what you want for yourself. I really wish you all the best in receiving treatment that suits you and on your TTC journey when you feel it’s the right time again.