I was diagnosed with PCOS a few years ago after years of using the wrong BCPs, lots of frustration, and feeling like *less* of a woman.
I initially started my period at the age of 13- I remember the day vividly because my middle school took us to Six Flags for the day…and I happened to get AF.
I saw her off and on for the next 3 years and when I was 16 I finally confessed frustration to my Mom about not being normal like my friends. So, at 16, I got to go to the ob/gyn for the first time and was put on Ortho-TriCyclin.
Big mistake. I gained 25lbs while playing 3 varsity sports in high school (soccer, indoor track, and outdoor track- as a long distance runner) and was miserable. I had horrible acne and was just in a bad place in my junior and senior years of high school when everything is supposed to be magical…Instead I was sitting in the office of a fertility specialist being told nothing was wrong and I would grow out of it.
When I went to college, I made the choice to go off of BC. I made my college’s soccer team and couldn’t afford to be carrying water weight around. I almost immediately lost the 25lbs I had been toting around, still had acne, and surprisingly got my period regularly during soccer season (thanks to all the girls around) for the next 2 years. When I decided to turn to academics and quit soccer, I decided to go on the patch. Another mistake. I felt like a wild animal, dumped my boyfriend of almost 3 years, chopped my hair off, and quit college a year later.
I’ve gotten myself together in the meantime and will graduate this spring.
Needless to say, I have since found the best ob/gyn, and as soon as she got my bloodwork back, she said it was PCOS and that I had been prescribed the wrong BCP’s in the past. I don’t have the characteristic ovarian cysts, but I had the acne, wierd hair growth, lack of ovulation/menstruation. She reccommended Yasmin, and aside from the crying spells right before my period, I love it.
I have been able to maintain my almost 5’7″ 125lb frame. It is amazing what the right diagnosis and medication can do for you. My only concern for the future would be my ability to have children. No one else in my immediate family has PCOS (some have ovarian cysts, others have endometriosis, and my grandma has male-pattern baldness) so I am sort of at a loss.
This is a great site, I have read the forums before for advice and now I am happy to be here!
Want to connect with me? My name is gator_girl83 on the SoulCysters Message Board.