dd (nearly 17) still has very irregular periods ,how common is this?

[brimfull]

last one end of august,
sometimes one month apart,sometimes 3months

she is normal weight and otherwise healthy

shouldn't she be regular now?

or does she have pcos like me?

I would have thought so. dd is only 12 and been having reg ones for the last 4 months now. Would she go to the GP or go with you, to have a chat with them?

IIRC my periods didn't become regular until I was 18 and started on the pill. Don't know about pcos...

she started her period at 13

she will go to the GP,just want to check out what's normal

I suppose irregular 23 - 45 day cycles (guessing at dates) but 3 months apart? I would try and find out more. Would NHS direct website have any info on it?

good idea
will have a look

Just found this on NHS
not very conclusive

I would mention it to your gp, mine were like that as a teenager and became slightly more regular by my early 20's and now (say 30 to 45, if you can call that regular!!) All my friends were regular within a year of starting theirs, so I knew something was wrong, although I never got a solid reason despite having infertility investigations as to why they were like that

thankks shwotz

no harm in sending her to GP I suppose

PCOS as a teen is a horrible condition. I hope she doesn't have this. If she is showing no other signs then a quick check up is all she needs.

I have a PCOS teen with all the symptoms, seeing another specialist soon.

don't see any other symptoms of pcos
so hopefully she doesn't
witches-how are they treating your dd?

yy, what rhinestone said for me!

Mine were definatly not regular at 17... about 19 I think they went more regular.

ggirl, Dianette and Vaniqua, she put on a stone in weight on the Dianette, so stopped it. Hoping the next appointment will result in some IPL on the NHS and also Metformin to help with the weight.

Can you recommend anything else we should be asking for?

Periods are meant to be regular? lol mine have never been anywhere near regular unless I am on the pill.

I no longer take the pill, the reason for that is asleep upstairs, so I have no idea when my period is due untill the day before it happens when I am so tired I can hardly get out bed.

Doc's were never able to find a reason why they are not regular.

witches-I didn't discover I had pcos until trying to get pregnant and that was yrs ago so no metformin then.

I did find that sticking to a low carb way of eating really helped and my periods actually returned when `i started this.Not an expert at all but a low carb diet is recommended for pcos to control the insulin levels.

I hope she improves,not something you need as a teen.

Mine only became regular when I went on the pill at 17, then went haywire again when I came off it when I was 28 and got pregnant a year later. They settled down after ds was born, and now at 42, have gone slightly haywire again.

ggirl

Its not beyond the realms of possibility that PCOS is the root cause of her irregular periods.

I would urge your daughter to speak to her GP re her periods and to have a blood test done to see what her hormone levels are like (a LH/FSH imbalance is commonly seen with PCOS). She needs a day 3 test done. If the GP is not helpful I would suggest asking for a referral to a gynae.

PCOS is a very individualistic disorder and affects each woman who has this very differently.

BTW many women with PCOS find low GI/GL eating plans helpful rather than low carb (which is not always sustainable in the long term); also not all women with PCOS are actually insulin resistant.

www.verity-pcos.org.uk is a helpful website.

atilla thanks ,will def take her to GP

yeh sorry I meant a low gi diet,was thinking low refined carbs

day 3 -as in 3 days after her period starts?

Mine was irregular (skipped a month every now and again, long difficult to predict cycles) right through late teens.
Only settled down when I was at University (poss as I put a little more weight on altho was never dramatically underweight). I still have long periods and can be a little irregular but the skipping months thing stopped.

I was like that, but then my periods stopped, I had a premature menapause!

A day 3 blood test is done on the 3rd day of the month (if periods are irregular this can be done according to calendar days).

This blood test should measure LH and FSH levels; if LH is higher than FSH this is one possible indicator of PCOS.

I have never had regular periods (I'm now 39)
so I expected to have trouble conceiving...I am now the proud mum of 3 children, conceived on the only 3 occasions I didn't use contraception. I have not had any PCOS symptoms, was investigated for infertility in my 20's (before trying to conceive) and told that I was not ovulating! Mind you, they did insist on testing based on a 28 day cycle.