Re: I need some advice...
From: Belle (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Fri, 22 Feb 2002 22:29:50 -0600 (CST)
It certainly sounds like PCOS.
Two things: 1) Visit http://www.pcosupport.org . Read everything you
can.
2) Read this board, do searches on your symptoms and find out what has
worked for others.
Good luck,
At Fri, 22 Feb 2002, Marie wrote:
>
>Before I go to my doctor Wednesday, I was hoping someone out there could
>give me some advice about PCOS. Here's my bio :)
>I have always had strange periods - sometimes regular, sometimes 50 or
>more days apart, and sometimes only 5 days off inbetween cycles. Doctors
>have always just put me on birth control pills to try and regulate them
>with mixed results. I've also always had the "shakes" if I don't keep a
>steady amount of food intake and I "spot" sugar in my urine from time to
>time. The doctors told my mom that I was not diabetic, possibly
>hypoglycemic.
>Right around my 21st birthday (I'm 24 now), I started rapidly gaining
>weight with no real lifestyle change. I'm talking 60 pounds in about 9
>to 12 months and mostly centered around my middle. People at my work
>thought I was pregnant. I also started noticing that the light hair on
>my upper lip started getting a little darker and then hair started
>growing on my chin. I was worried about the weight so I went to my
>doctor after about a year of this to see what was going on. She did
>blood tests and then looked me up and down and told me that I needed to
>stop eating fast food and get off the couch and get some excersize. I
>was crushed! I wasn't eating fast food at all (trying to eat healthy as
>a matter of fact) and was taking water aerobics to try and lose weight.
>She wouldn't listen to any of that. I got a call later that week and
>she told me my cholesterol was almost 300 and my triglyserides were too
>high. No specific numbers and I didn't know to really ask.
>Two years ago, I ran out of birth control pills and decided to stay off
>of them for awhile. My boyfriend and I have been together for several
>years and we noticed that no matter how many "accidents" we had, I never
>got pregnant. During the summer after a week of using my mom's
>progesterone creme, I ended up pregnant. I miscarried at 7 weeks. The
>doctor put me on bc pills for three months but I started bleeding
>through them and my health insurance expired so I stopped taking them
>again. This was 1 1/2 years ago. Since then, the hair thing has gotten
>out of hand. I have dark coarse hair all down my neck, on my lip, on my
>chin, and on the sides of my face. Also on the stomach. I can't lose
>weight to save my life. I was getting desperate so I took a manual
>labor job last summer and hardly ate a thing and lost 20 pounds. As
>soon as I left that job in September, I gained all 20 back in a month. I
>have tried the Atkins Diet (I gained weight!!) and a variety of other
>things and I work out at a gym several times a week. I have a friend
>who's mother is a nutritionist in an endocrynologist's office and they
>all seem to think I have PCOS. I have had migranes since the year
>before I started my period (13 yrs old), thinning hair, irregular
>heartbeat, and all sorts of other weird things. I recently found out
>that my biological father and his family all have Diabetes II and he's
>had several small strokes. My mother's family is also prone to stroke
>and heart attacks, although none of them have high cholesterol. I'm
>concerned that my current issues might make my risk of these things
>worse.
>My main concern is that I'll be laughed out of the doctor's office again
>being told that I'm fat because of fast food and lack of excersize. Does
>this sound familiar enough to ask that I be tested for PCOS? I took that
>quiz I saw someone refer other too and I came out in the range that says
>most women with PCOS are in.
>
>I apologize for the length of this, but I wanted to give enough info for
>someone to maybe give me advice. Thanks in advance! This has been quite
>depressing and I'm eager to try and get whatever is wrong with me
>resolved! I have had almost no self esteem for these last three years
>when I used to be outgoing and friendly.
>
>--
>Marie
>
--
Hope this helps,
Belle
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