Question for anyone with PCOS

[mad4mybaby]

Just wanted to know if you can have PCOS and not have all the symptoms? I have some symptoms of it, am going for internal scan next month, just wondering my chances of having it!

Yes - in my case I had spots and irregular AF but not hirsute nor overweight. And the blood tests had also indicated it before the scan confirmed.

thanks emsmum, would anything come up on a blood test done for anything else if i DID have it do you think or would i have had to have a blood test specificaly for pcos?

Hi there. I have suspected PCOS, going for 2nd blood test next month. I have had some spots and gained loads of weight without any change in diet or lifestyle.

Yes it's very possible. As it is a syndrome with lots of different symptoms you can have some and not others.

I've never had a blood test for PCOS but I have polycystic ovaries (as identified by a scan), have always had irregular periods, but no problems with acne, nor weight, or body hair really (although this seems to be getting worse of late, but I think it's age).

I always thought my irregular periods were down to PCOS but not long ago I had my thyroid medication upped and now I have a normal cycle.

I think sometimes these things are intertwined.

Have you had blood tests for other things?

As far as I know ( in my case ) I was having bloodtests done to check fertility.

So they checked thyroid function /Hormone levels and blood count.

I was told that my progesterone was low and testosterone was high which is classic symptoms of PCOS.

I had blood taken on day 21 of my cycle.

I am due to have another testosterone test to confirm on day 1-5 of cycle.

So this is usually how they tell from blood tests. It is the high testosterone that rings bells it seems.

I'm afraid its so long ago that I can't remember what the tests were now. But if you have PCOS sympoms the doctors ought to run whatever-they-are as a matter of routine. Thyroid is the one I do remember being done alongside the others because that was the one that was not a problem.

yes diagnosed when I was 28
I have pcos,no hirsutism or spots but overweight and was very irregular.

I had laparoscopy years ago to check ovaries,also showed up on blood test.

I am 45 now and started having regular periods at about 39.Have been regular since having ds 5 yrs ago....strange .

ggirl...

I was encouraged by your message.

I hope that as soon as I am on medication I will be able to start trying for my 2nd baby....DH is getting really anxious.

How long after taking medication do people with pcos succesfully get pregnant? How long does the medication take to kick in ?

it all depends what sort of medication you're talking about.

If you mean clomid to induce ovulation then it can be on the first cycle... in my case the second attempt. Its not really a case of 'the medication kicking in'.

If you mean something to actually 'treat' the PCOS - I'm not sure there really is anything as such. In my case the symptoms (ie acne) is managed by an appropriate contraceptive pill (marvelon) but obviously thats not used when you're TTC!

dungungirl-

I took tabs for 18mos until I got pregnant with dd 16 yrs ago.Think the treatment is much better now.

I tried again after dd but gave up on any treatment after a few yrs because the next stgae of treatment offered to me was perganol,famed for so many multiple births at the time , which I was not keen on.

My next pregnancy was 10 yrs later and was natural as I had started to ovulate again for some reason.I think it may have been triggered by low carb dieting actually.

I think I've read somewhere that ovulation kicks in again around 40yrs ,which is what happened to me.
So ds was a lovely shock!

ggirl - was it metformin? thats about the only thing I can remember hearing about.

Low carb/low GI diets do help some people with PCOS - no harm in starting low GI even before diagnosis or treatment as thats healthy anyway.

no metformin wasn't around yet as a treatment for pcos then.

Actually am a bit miffed about that as probably wouldn't have such a huge age gap if I had that.

Agree about low gi/carb I follow it now as am naturally a carb addict I think if I am not careful.

i was given clomiphen/clomid ,then next option was perganol which hyperstimulated the ovaried so much a lot of people had to have foetal reduction.

wow...all these different names of drugs are making my head spin!

Good to hear everyone's experiences though...seems like there might be a long road ahead!

some consultants use metformin, some don't - it can help with weight control when combined with sensible diet and excercise, but has no effect by itself. Similarly, it doesn't affect ovulation, but if you've managed to lose a bit of weight (even as little as half a stone) with or without metformin, then ovulation can be triggered. Metformin isn't licensed for PCOS (and is unlikely ever to be) so it is usually prescribed by a consultant, but some GPs are happy to continue the prescription after that. Unfortunately it's not a wonder drug .
And yes, you can have all sorts of combinations fo symptoms, whcih is why it can be very difficult to get diagnosed (or even recognised by rubbish GPs ).

I have PCOS: some spots, normal weight, no body hair problems, don't ovulate at all.

I LOVE Metformin. Thanks to Metformin I am now again 15 weeks pregnant (2nd child). I got pregnant with my first child after 4 weeks on Metformin. This year again pregnant after 1 month on Metformin, but I miscarried after a few weeks. Than got pregnant again the 3rd cycle. Without Metformin I have no cycle and no chance to get pregnant.

Will use it agin for child #3.

Was wondering...

Those who have had weight gain with pcos, does medication pretty much help with losing? I mean I am already on a mini diet anyway and have already lost a little weight.

Was just wondering whether starting medication should help me push it along?

Also is a short luteal phase also common for women with PCOS?

THanks

Can't answer questions in the last post but I have PCO and have acne, irregular (or non-existent) periods, some excess hair and am a little overweight, but that could just be me, not the PCO.

I've been given 3 cycles (2 at 50mg and 1 at 100mg) of clomifene which didn't do anything for my ovaries so I'm now on Metformin and I have 150mg dose of clomifene to take when the time comes.

I have PCOS, regular periods (sometimes v heavy), fairly thick eyebrows which need plucking every week or so but that's about it on symptoms. Was told 'you need IVF to conceive' and guess what, I have a daughter (13 months) and am pregnant, both natural conceptions.

I had a lap and dye test to show my tubes were clear but all blood tests indicated I wasn't ovulating. Apparently the range of normal is shockingly wide though and some women can ovulate with really low hormone levels which your average GP will think mean 'no ovulation'. I was told I hadn't ovulated one month, then when I had a hysteroscopy they saw a corpus luteum (egg sac) two days later

If you are trying to conceive Zita West's guide to getting pregnant was invaluable to me (we used acupuncture on it's recommendation and got pregnant immediately - I mean the same day). Good luck.

DungunGirl - by medication I'm presuming you mean metformin (as clomid is for ovulation)? Sadly a big study done a few years back showed that metformin by itself had no effect on weight loos - what it did do was make it easier to lose weight when following the "sensible diet and moderate excercise" route. The other weight loss medications are not for PCOS per se, and have mixed results I believe - Orlistat onyl really works if you currently have a high fat diet and need to reduce the fat content for example, Reductil is another one which only works if you currently do what it works against (can't remember offhand what that is).

also, metformin at the same time as clomid can make the clomid more effective.

Thanks for all the advice.

I think my GP was going to perscribed me Clomid. She didn't mention anything else.

Is it normal for them to perscribe Clomid first rather than anything else?

Its all I was prescribed when I was TTC. Its quite important though to get a handle on when in the cycle you may be ovulating... I've forgotten what the blood test is they do... you may find an ovulation testing kit useful but AFAIK you have to buy that yourself.

Had my 2nd bloodtest today...to check Testosterone.

Now I just have to wait to hear next week if I will be put on clomid or not....ohhhhhh i hate waiting.