Coping with Diagnosis and Other Health Questions

I first new something was wrong when my mom took me to a doctor that specialized in early puberty in children. I don't remember why she took me, as I started my period at a normal age. As I got older my pain with cramps kept getting worse. My family has a history of ovarian cysts, but all dealt with it with medication. Mefenamic acid really helped me for years. Recently my doctor told me to start taking borage oil from the day after ovulation to the first day of menstruation. It has helped lessen my cramps, but they're not gone. Stretching/yoga can also sometimes help the pain.

I first knew something was up with me when I started developing breasts at the age of 5 and menstruating at age 7. My hair started falling out and my facial hair started growing around 13 I think. Weight loss has always been a huge huge problem for me, that I have only recently started to have some victory with. It definitely also affected my mental health and perception of myself. If you're looking for some broad advice, I would say try finding an endocrinologist, doublely great if they specialize in PCOS. They might be able to come at it at a different angle than your OBGYN, especially if insulin resistance/diabetes is part of your weight loss difficulties. Feel free to DM if you have any specific questions. I hope you can find the help you need.

I have PCOS and wasn't diagnosed until I was 17. Any oral birth control I was put on didn't help at all. When I turned 18, I got an IUD put in. It has helped greatly with my cramps and they are virtually non-existent. If you don't want to go that route, there are devices out there that are made to help with cramps. I've gotten ovaria and it worked wonders for me. I also struggle with weight loss, but I also have a hard time sticking to a diet of workout routine.

The diagnosis made a lot of sense. I had symptoms for most of puberty but didn't know it. Birth control didn't help me. Weight loss is so hard. I have insulin resistance from the PCOS and it definitely doesn't help the weight. I had the ovarian drilling (yes, that's the technical name but it sounds worse than it is). I had pretty normal periods for many years. But I'm not having babies and don't plan to and a lot of people who get the surgery are in it to help with fertility which it apparently helps with.

I don't think it hit me as hard as my adenomyosis diagnosis at 18 (as it makes getting pregnant harder and delivery more dangerous). I was diagnosed with PCOS at 20. Obviously not ovulating regularly makes getting pregnant harder, but there are medications to induce ovulation. I was diagnosed via regular and transvaginal ultrasound, same way as my adenomyosis. I didn't have (symptomatic) PCOS at 18. They didn't find any cysts at that time. At 19 I had GI issues, causing me to need abdominal imaging twice. Both times in my paperwork a cyst was noted. I didn't think anything of it because the doctors didn't say anything. Why would they? An occasional cyst is normal. At 20, I knew something was wrong when I had gone 3 months with a period. At that point I had been off birth control for a year, so my period should have been regulated. Yeah I had been having (and still have) lower abdominal pain, but I wrote it off as my adenomyosis because it's known to be a very painful condition. The gyno found numerous cysts, my fasting blood sugar was high, and I had put on a lot of weight recently. Birth control didn't directly affect my mental health. Instead, it killed my sex drive and gave me periods that lasted for over a month. When I had a partner, it made intimate time very difficult and caused tension. I wanted to want sex, but the drive just wasn't there. I went from being borderline hypersexual to very rarely wanting anything. It was a hard adjustment and ultimately I decided birth control wasn't for me. I am down 36 lbs in 3.5 months. I have days where I mess up and eat too much, but overall weight loss has been going pretty damn well. People who use PCOS as an excuse saying its "near impossible" to lose weight simply aren't devoted to the process. Yes, dieting sucks, so make it a sustainable lifestyle. I eat whatever I want and just stay mindful of calories. Generally, I eat very healthy, but if I want something sweet I'll eat something sweet. Denying yourself just makes you prone to binging or having too many cheat days. All of this weight loss isn't even from working out. I'm losing the bulk of weight before I hit the gym because I have really bad joints. I don't want to put them through the additional stress of working out while overweight. Once I have a healthy BMI again, I'll build my strength.

Sorry about the word vomit, My OBGYN is just kinda,,, awful and I have alot of questions