Forum home Getting pregnant Long term TTC & infertility

Do i have PCOS?

Hey ladies!

have been doing exactly what i know i should not do....but could not help myself....and have been looking on the internet. I have now convinced myself that i have PCOS!!! :roll:

I don't have any 'typical' symptoms but for the last 3 months I have not ovulated (according to the POAS things) and I am having an outbreak of spots....previously had ok skin but the last few months I have been getting large 'boil' type spots on my face which hurt like hell and don't squeeze (sorry to be gross!!) I feel like a teenager all over again (but without the 'you could get pregnant really easily lecture' grrr)

My periods have been every 5 weeks give or take a few days since coming off pill 12 months ago but they are very light and recently not even needed to use tampax (again, sorry to be gross!) imageops:

Am I being overly paranoid in looking for reasons why not preg yet or does this sound like it could be PCOS....just wondering whether any of you have experience of this?!?

I had bloods done today to check for ov and get results next Tues but am sooooo impatient!!!

Thanks for any advice/help you can give me.

Sam xx

Replies

  • HI Sam,

    I know a little about this because of what has been happening to me over the last couple of weeks.

    Just in case you haven't read my posts: I went for blood test results (day 21 and day 5) expecting everything to be fine - I know I'm oving as I'm regular has progesterone symptoms such as really sore boobs etc etc. Anyhoo imagine my shock when GP told me she thought I might have PCOs - i've even been to a conference on the bloody thing many moons ago with work and i was flabbergasted as I don't have any symptoms. Anyhoo after speaking to my Zita West lady turns out my bloods aren't that bad, don't indicate PCOS at all but she said its good I'm having a scan just in case. Anyhoo as you can imagine I've found out quite a lot about it in the intervening weeks!!

    Symptoms are mainly: acne, excess hair, irregular periods, and a difficulty to lose weight.

    Most suffers tend to be overweight.

    But apparently you can have it and have no symptoms and regular periods. The only way to tell for sure is to look at your LH and FSH leves on day 3 or 5 of your cycle they should be pretty much the same. But in people with PCOS the LH levels tend to be three times that of the FSH hormones. They will follow up on this with an ultrasound scan to look at your ovaries.

    So there is really no way of knowing until you get your day 5 bloods done.

    However... like me you were taking the pill and the lady I have been seeing at the Zita West clinic says that this really does interfer with people more than they know. In fact apparently in Germany they won't do any fertillity investigations at all until you've been off it for two years! Apparently it makes the progesterone receptors in your brain insensitive to progesterone and they have to get back to normal. She thinks I have only ovulated for three of the last 13 months since stopping it because I have only then had bad pms symptoms like sore boobs which suggest high progesterone. She also says OPKs aren't alwasy right as an LH rise says your body is trying to ovulate not that it definitely has.

    Sorry for such a long post. I guess what I'm trying to say is wait for your bloods and don't worry if your body is taking a while to sort itself out.

    Even if the worst comes to the worst and you have - they can sort it so easily with clomid and the like and you can do a huge amount with diet and lifestyle.

    HTH sorry to ramble!

    Rach
  • Thanks Rach, that is really helpful!! image

    Just wondering, how did you get your GP to do 3 and 5 day bloods?

    I seem to be struggling to get my GP to take me at all seriously at the moment and they have only reluctantly agreed to do my bloods 7 days before a/f to check for progesterone due because I cried in the surgery (oh, how embarrassing was that, it don't do crying in public usually!!!!)

    Interesting re the boob thing - I have had sore boobs around ov but also only had that a few times not every month and certainly not the last few months.

    I am convinced something not right because of the lack of 'proper' a/f (who would have thought a year ago I would be complaining of a light period!!) but they just won't listen...grrrrr.....

    Good luck with all your tests and scans.

    Sam
    x




  • Hey Muppet,

    Our first gp was rubbish so we moved to another in our practise and she just told me she would be ordering tests at two different times day 21 (ie 7 days before your af) and day 5 (although some do day three instead).

    Why don't you say to her that you're worried you may nave PCOS because of your infrequent periods and could she refer you for a day 5 blood test to check you hormone levels. Say a friend has had the same (not totally lying). If she's really rubbish can you see someone else in the same practise? You're allowed a second opinion. The other thing my gp made me do was take an OPK because my cycles vary up to 6 days so I would get my day 21 exactly a week after I ov as the progesterone surge is only short.

    HTH

    Rach x
  • Bless you Rach, that's great

    thanks for all your advice, am off to GP next week for results of ov blood tests so depending on results i shall mention earlier bloods as you have suggested.

    Sam
Sign In or Register to comment.