Polycystic Ovaries

[JAS1504]

Hi all! So I am new to MN.. I am 35+3 weeks pregnant which was a lovely surprise considering I was about to undergo treatment for my polycystic ovaries.. (I have / had around 15 cysts which were causing hormone problems and queries about how easy I would be able to conceive in the future.) Although slightly earlier in life than I expected (I am 23 years old) my partner and I are very happy I was able to conceive!

I just wanted to ask if anyone else has suffered from polycystic ovaries and if it cleared up after pregnancy? I have heard that pregnancy can cure it. It has always been the bain of my life what with extra body hair, being overweight (although I do not look overweight, when I step on the scales I can't understand how I am much heavier than I look) I have always had an extremely active lifestyle, training dressage horses 6 days a week and working out 3 evenings a week. Admittedly my diet is not strict but I wouldn't say I over-eat. Another symptom is my very irregular periods and problems with most pills/ forms of contraception.

Basically, I would love to know if the symptoms have been reported to improve after birth as it is something that has always got me down!!

Any of you experienced positive changes after birth or heard of anyone who has?!

T.I.A :)
Jess

[Jade1212]

I have PCOS and it took us 3 and a half years to conceive (apart from 1 CP) and I've piled on loads of weight! so while I don't know about pregnancy curing it (this is the first time I've head that) I really hope you're right because we're at 5w+4 now and a bang PLUS cured PCOS sounds too good to be true! That'd be amazing

[ijustwannadance]

I was fine for about 18 months after DD was born then it seemed to come back worse.

[JAS1504]

Hi Jade

Huge congrats on the pregnancy.. do you mean you have piled on the weight during pregnancy so far or just generally from having polycystic ovaries?

I hope it is true too but when I went to the gynecologist (it was booked before I fell pregnant) and I told him the news, he turned me away and said that he didnt need to see me until after as pregnancy is one way to cure it altogether! (But maybe not for everyone so I was just intrigued hence the post :) )

[Jade1212]

Hi Jas, I mean I've piled weight on since first getting the symptoms that were later diagnosed as part of PCOS, not in the pregnancy.

[JAS1504]

Yes, same here.. it was only confirmed that I had cysts middle of last year, but since starting my periods at age 16, they have been very irregular (3 times a year when not on the pill!) Then the fact I had such an active lifestyle but found it so hard to lose weight made me think something was up!! Here is to hoping we don't suffer with it after the birth!!

[JAS1504]

ijustwannadance... not what we wanted to hear!! haha I take it you suffered with similar symptoms?

[KP86]

The only thing that has changed for me is my cycle has regulated - a fairly normal five weeks now, whereas before it was a mess.

Still overweight and gain easily and hairy as hell (and getting worse IMO).

[ILoveMyMonkey]

Sorry to say my pcos has got worse since DS1 now 3 and a half and I've not been able to get pregnant a second time whereas we conceived him naturally, albeit after 2 years of trying.

[ijustwannadance]

I started putting weight on in late 20's when I had been very slim before that. Constant pelvic pain, shooting pains down legs and the being hairier than a monkey.
Been scanned a few times. Bigges cyst way 10cm but I found out I was pregnant te week I was due to go to gynae appointment to sort it. Was gone by 12 week scan.
Was great for a while but now seems worse. When I ovulate now I Iook about 6 months pregnant and put weight on very easily.
Once baby arrives try not to snack on loads of sugary crap. Although that is easier said than done when the exhaustion kicks in

[TestingTestingWonTooFree]

Baby 18m, hasn't made much difference to me, arguably getting periods a bit more regularly.

[babynumber3eek]

I was diagnosed AFTER having two children, although clearly had it before them. I couldn't conceive a 3rd child until after I'd had ovarian drilling BUT am now pg with no4, despite losing one ovary and fallopian tube to a huge cluster of cysts (think pumpkin sized!). I think I conceived dds 1 and 2 as I was very slim, but ds and then dc4 I wasn't - the drilling obviously did the job!

[LadyFarnborough]

Hello. I was diagnosed with PCOS about 15 yrs ago or so. Very irregular periods, bad skin etc. I was also hugely overweight. Over the past couple of years I have lost 3.5 stone. I can off the pill last year and had some blood tests to check for ovulation and hormones levels for pcos (I'm late 30s so don't have time to spare!) and they came back clear so looks like the weight loss sorted things out. My periods are (were!) still irregular but have just found out I'm pregnant.

[BettyBi0]

Sorry to say but mine was much worse after DD1. It seemed ok at first while I was breastfeeding but once I'd had my first period post baby, symptoms (especially spots and hair) were worst they have ever been

[TestingTestingWonTooFree]

Congratulations LadyFarnborough!

[Primaryteach87]

Hi,
Yes, after 4 years of ttc and 15 years of getting progressively worse...after pregnancy I was healthier than I'd been since puberty and concurred second baby very very quickly!

I don't know if it's a 'cure' as such but certainly a massive improvement and hormones are much more in check.

[JAS1504]

Primaryteach87 you are the first to have positive feedback on this subject haha I am starting to think the gynecologist was talking rubbish about it being a 'cure'... I think maybe the best thing to do is be extra strict on diet as that seems to be the main cause? I guess time will tell and everybody is different

[marymartin]

Hi everyone,
This is my first post on a forum, so bear with me on the back story!

I came off the pill August 2015 and had five AFs on the same day each month. Since my last AF in January when we properly began TTC, I have had no AF at all. Naturally to begin with I got excited and thought I was pregnant but all the HPTs came back as BFN. After discussion with my GP who said that they usually start looking into it when you haven't had AF for six months, my husband and I decided to have a private scan. This revealed that I have Polycystic Ovaries. I went back to my GP with that information who said that she would refer me for an appointment to see a specialist. I have a gynaecology appointment on 19th May. My GP did say that since I am not overweight and I don't have acne it's unlikely I have PCOS but the fact I have missed two (it'll be three next week) AFs, it shows I ovulate irregularly and that my AFs are clearly irregular. Since January though my skin has been more oily with spots (I very very rarely got spots in the past) and so has my hair, I have to wash it every day as the second day it now gets oily, it never got greasy at all before!

Has anyone had experience of 1) the gynaecology appointment and what happened and 2) similar experience to mine - perhaps not PCOS but only PO. I am hoping that they will prescribe me with Clomid/Clomiphene to start ovulation again as it's really getting me down and we are in limbo with TTC. I am almost 31.

Any help would be much appreciated!
Thank you very much.

[pooky82]

Hi marymartin

I have PO too (doc said not PCOS). It took an age for me to be diagnosed but my doc finally prescribed clomid and we got pregnant on second cycle of taking it (2.5 years after coming odd the pill) - currently 28+5. I know it doesn't work for everyone but hearing clomid success stories helped me loads!

Good luck x

[PinkParsnips]

My DD is 2.5 and it took 18mth to conceive. I know I still have PCOS as I've been scanned a couple of times for ruptured ovarian cysts (not related to PCOS) and it's been mentioned, however I conceived this time first month of trying which was a huge shock!! I do think that was partly down to all the research I did last time and understanding my cycle more and how PCOS affects it etc.

[marymartin]

Hi Pooky82,

Thank you for sharing, that is really helpful. I'm hoping the gynaecologist prescribes Clomid then and hoping we are a success story too! Need AF to begin though as it's been so long now so hopefully that can be restarted somehow. Congratulations on your pg, it's nice to hear from someone who had a good experience. Did you have a referral appointment or was it all through your GP?

[pooky82]

I got the clomid through my GP but I think that's fairly unusual - my GP was useless and wouldn't refer me so we basically forced him to prescribe clomid - which he very seriously warned me "you could get pregnant"....erm yes that's the idea and why I've been in your surgery on a very regular basis for over 2 years!!

[LittleLionMansMummy]

Tried to conceive no.1 for over 2 years. He's 5yo now. Came off pill in Dec and currently 9 weeks pregnant! Still can't believe it happened so quickly as we'd geared ourselves up for the long haul. I too have heard that pregnany can 're-set' fertility. Went for an early internal scan and was told there were a few cysts on my ovaries, so maybe we were just lucky this time?

In terms of symptoms I'm the same as you. Just had my booking appointment with the midwife and she said I didn't look 'classically' pcos and that my weight looks absolutely fine and healthy, yet my bmi is in the 'overweight' range. Even at my most active when I was running 5k, 5 nights a week, and eating 1500 calories per day, healthy eating, my bmi was still 26-27 yet I don't look overweight.

Periods since coming off the pill in Dec were regular, 28 days - a far cry from the 35 + days I had while ttc ds1.

[marymartin]

Thanks Littlelionmansmummy, that's really good news that you are pregnant with number 2 so fast! Did you ever take clomid? Did you have a gyn appointment?

[LittleLionMansMummy]

I didn't take Clomid, but was referred to hospital where they did internal scan to confirm suspicions. I was told to try losing weight and exercise etc which I did for bloody ages with no success ttc. Ended up trying agnus castus and fell pregnant almost immediately - both times.

[marymartin]

That's interesting, I've been taking Agnus Castus for over a month now, to no avail. I'm not having AFs though, they stopped in January! Glad it works for some people though! Will see what the Gyn said next month.