Advice on PCOS? Pre-trying paranoia or justified concerns?

[McBee27]

Hello everyone, this is my first post on here, so a bit nervous! Apologies in advance if I mess up any terminology!

To give a bit of background, my DH and I have decided to start trying for a baby, and I'm due to come off the pill soon.

For some reason, ever since we made the decision to start trying, I've got it into my head that I am bound to have something wrong with me. My reasons for this are two fold.

The first is that when I was in high school, I was tested for PCOS. I had all the usual symptoms - facial hair/hair round the nipples, acne etc. I don't remember having particularly irregular periods, although I did start them young (9). Anyway, I was sent for an ultrasound and they didn't find any cysts, so that was that. However, I've recently read that not all cysts show up on ultrasound, so now I'm paranoid that it was never properly investigated! This isn't helped by the fact that some of the symptoms are still hanging around - I still get the extra hair, some spots and oily skin.I'm not sure about my periods, but I'm really scared I'm going to get a nasty shock when I come off the pill.

My second reason is more emotional, and I'm pretty sure I'm being daft about it!

7 years ago I had a termination. At the time I was very young and in a terrible relationship, so it was absolutely the right decision for me, and I've never regretted it. But I've always had this nagging voice in my head since then that says 'you will be punished for this; when you want to have a baby, something will happen to ensure you can't' So, now the time has come that I REALLY want a baby, these feelings haver increased ten fold, and combined with the stuff about PCOS, my anxiety is through the roof.

So I guess what I'm after is practical advice, and a kick up the emotional bum!

Is it worth going to the doc already to get checked over for PCOS, even though I'm not off the pill yet, and we're not actively trying yet? I got pregnant before - could this even have happened if I had PCOS? Or am I just freakin out for no reason?!! :-$

I know how you feel, I'm in the same boat. Been off pill since early Jan but my age and a teenage mc is convincing me I won't be able to conceive.

It's probably paranoia and we haven't been trying long so I have to tell myself not to worry.

I bet in 12 months all this will be a distant memory. Good luck.

The Pill is likely to mask any PCOS symptoms, so I would say it is not worth getting checked out in advance. I was diagnosed with PCOS as a teen. I had similar symptoms to you, but never got on with the Pill.

At recent scans my ovaries have been described and "multicystic" or one normal and one polycycstic (which one varied!) and on my most recent scans they were surprised when I mentioned PCOS and could see no signs of it. I've been having acupuncture and trying (not always succeeding) to eat a low GI diet, which helps enormously with PCOS.

The key thing with PCOS is whether you have it to the extent that it stops you ovulating, or means you do it rarely and irregularly, which just makes it more difficult to dtd when the egg is there to put you in with a chance. I have a friend with PCOS who got pg first month with her first and second month with her second. If I still have it, it doesn't stop me ovulating and our problems are elsewhere. Basically you won't know until you try.

I would recommend coming off the Pill asap and giving your body a chance to get its cycle back. Eat healthily (low GI) and take folic acid (nothing to do with PCOS but you should be doing it anyway) and see what happens. If you get a regular cycle back, there is a good chance (but not certainty) that you are ovulating and should be able to get PG. If there is a problem, you should know that "egg problems" are pretty much the easiest fertility problem to solve. They can force an egg out with drugs and then you stand as much chance as anyone else.

Re: your termination, I think your feelings are normal, but actually it is a good sign. You got pregnant without effort once. Hopefully you will again.

Kirsty - thanks for replying, and I'm sorry to hear you're having a rotten time. Sending luck back your way too!

Euro, thank you, your reply is very reassuring! My plan was to give myself at least three months to get everything 'back to normal' once I'm off the pill, and keep a diary of my periods/cycle - something I've never done before, which is why I find it so difficult to remember what things were like pre-pill!

I realise I'm maybe pre-empting things a bit much by wanting to get checked out soon ( I'll be of the pill in the next two weeks), but it's been playing on my mind so much lately. I feel like I would rather just know now, before starting to try, rather than face the pain of finding out after months of trying. I think that's where all this stems from. Think I just need to take a few deep breaths and calm down!

That plan seems sensible. Bear in mind most people ov 12-16 days before their next period, not a set number of days from the start of the last one, so it is really helpful to get to know your cycle.

If the PCOS does prove to be a problem, take a look at the Verity PCOS website - there are lots of supportive ladies over there.

Folic acid is recommended 3 months before you start trying, so you should probably start on that pretty soon.