I am very quickly learning that things that I believed were normal (because my mum was the same) are, in fact, not. Should have known really, considering my mum's lousy history of repeated miscarriage, etc
I don't know her full history (don't really like to ask) but she had repeated miscarriages - unknown cause, don't think these things were investigated much in the mid to late 80s - until my brother was born when I was ten. I've been worried for a long time that I might have to suffer like she did.
I went to my GP a few weeks ago after reading in a magazine that acne + oily skin + facial hair + male pattern body hair should really be checked out. Although I am reasonably slim and I have regular periods, she was happy to send me for blood tests and an ultrasound. I was gutted when the bloods came back indicating PCOS (raised testosterone - no surprises, considering my symptoms) but I won't know for sure until I hear the results of the ultrasound, which I had yesterday.
However, after reading a couple of threads on here I'm also starting to worry about other hormonal issues, in addition to the raised testosterone. My blood results came back with levels of FSH, LH, progesterone, etc but I don't know what is normal for that particular point in my cycle (other than the normal range quoted on the lab report), so I can't really interpret them. They were all at the low end of the normal range, according to the report.
My main concern is an already fairly short cycles (usually 25-27 days) are preceded by 3-4 days of spotting. I had no idea this wasn't normal! And before the spotting begins, my breasts are very tender and increase in size - I considered this a bonus because I'm not very well endowed These two symptoms seem to point to low progesterone as well.
I will mention this, and my mum's history, when I speak to my GP about the ultrasound, but can anyone tell me their experiences / give me some advice in the meantime? Like I said, I'm not TTC (I wish I was, but my boyfriend of nearly 8 years is dragging his heels re. marriage, so babies aren't on the radar AT ALL for him ) but I'm starting to get very, very worried about my prospects when I am, and whether I need to consider starting earlier.