How did you get diagnosed with PCOS??

I think I could deal with the acne and the hair if only I thought I was ovulating regularly but I don't think I am. If I had known this I would have off the pill sooner!! :(

I was diagnosed at 21. I'd had severe lower tummy pain and vomiting and ended up going to OOH. They suspected I was pregnant and perhaps having an ectopic. Went for a scan, no ectopic pregnancy thank goodness but ovaries covered in cysts. They suspect some had ruptured causing the pain.

I'd been on the pill since I was 15 for acne then later contraception so I expect that masked things like irregular cycles. I have always been spotty and a bit overweight.

I came off the pill at 30 to TTC and was pregnant in three months. Didn't go back on the pill and noticed hair on my face for the first time, luckily I'm fair and it isn't much. Perfect skin in both pregnancies for the first time ever. Second time TTC I was pregnant in two weeks and my cycles were 28-36 days in between. I am really fortunate not to have struggled with fertility. On the mini pill now and have ok skin but I am 35 now so hormones are probably changing!

Yes I was also going to say the pill may have been masking symptoms.

I have PCOS, diagnosed when I was TTC by a scan showing cysts on the ovaries. I also have acne. No other symptoms, I’m not overweight or hairy. However I do have underactive thyroid (also diagnosed while ttc) which can go hand in hand with PCOS - so do get tested for that too.

If you are over 35 they will do tests after 6 months’ ttc. Under 35 it’s a year. But this varies from area to area so ask your GP.

I think it can at times be more severe than others. When I had the scan with no cysts, I had to go back at another time in my cycle because it gave them more time to develop.

My hair also came and went, it was very severe before my first pregnancy and lessened afterwards even though my periods became less frequent.

Hmm perhaps the pill was masking your symptoms, as most pcos symptoms are caused by high levels of androgens. Some pills also contain small amount of anti androgens
How long have you been on the pill?

I have ‘lean’ pcos. Always been very slim, but very oily and acne prone skin, as well as severe hirsutism.
My cycle was slightly irregular before but having taken inositol as a supplement it’s completely improved. I never had such a long cycle as you though
I’ve never taken the pill

I was diagnosed in 2017 after going to A&E thinking I had appendicitis, turns out a few of the cysts had burst which caused pain, inflammation and free fluid in my abdomen.
I'd been to the doctors with irregular periods but as mine were just within the threshold to be classed as normal they sent me on my way!
I suffer with acne and abit of excess hair growth on my face but nothing that ever made me think PCOS.

Alot of people say you always have PCOS but I disagree, I think it can develop although not too sure whether the pill would be the cause but I suppose it's a possibility.

I had every symptom in the book, I was a classic case. Hair on face, overweight, spotty, periods either 2 months or 2 weeks apart.

I had an ultrasound scan at about 25 which confirmed the cysts. I then conceived naturally.

Trying for my second took 4 years, I again was scanned twice as the first time I had no cysts and no one could believe it. After the second scan I was given metformin which resulted in my second pregnancy.

Third, also fell naturally. So for me diagnosis was a combination of symptoms and scans.

I'm very similar to you @Grace2296. I have been off the pill since June last year and my periods are very irregular. They have been 27 to currently on day 73 so I'm not sure if this is a missed period or just a long cycle!!! I've had really bad acne on my chin and I'm defiantly hairier then when I was on the pill.
It's very stressful to try and get pregnant as I just don't feel like I know when I am supposed to be trying. I feel like I haven't been able to have a 'shot' at even getting pregnant because they are so irregular!
I have spoken to my doctor and he said to have blood taken on day 1-3 of my cycle and he can run other tests then on cycle day 21 to see if I am ovulating. He said to also then get another set done at the same time that he can test for other things. I haven't yet managed to go for the bloods for day 1-3 of my period but might just go and get the other ones done as I don't know when/if my period is going to come.

I was diagnosed eight years ago at 24. I’d had horrible periods, fainting, vomiting with pain and cycles anywhere from 16-48 days. I’d tried going to the doctor multiple times but he brushed me off and told me that was just how periods were, so I stopped going.

Then I developed costacondritis(?) and had to go to OOH, so completely unrelated! The female doctor there was examining my abdomen and noticed a line of hair, like men have, on my lower abdomen, and asked about my periods. She referred me to gynaecology and the rest, as they say, is history!