Sorry to be dominating the board at the moment but I have just read the articles on this in the Studies section and I am reeling.

I was diagnosed with PCOS about 5 years ago and had five years of fertility treatment, had gestational diabetes, some lipid type indicators and this year have developed diabetes right on cue.

I am spitting, over the five years of medical treatment with consultants in both fertility and diabetes, I was never told about any of these related issues (link to diabetes etc) or that there were treatments (including low carbing) that could improve these factors and lower the likelihood of diabetes, cancer and infertility.

So now that I have diabetes and realise that I may have avoided it if I'd had this information,(I've gained a further 65lbs in that time) I'm shocked and very angry.

Anyway what I'm saying is that PCOS is not uncommon amongst woman 30+ who are overweight.

So if you think you could have it, (I didnt have many obvious signs - infertility is the most obvious) or know that you do, please read the articles. You may not have been told by your doctor what you need to know. You could potentially save yourself from some serious health problems and/or infertility.

And thanks once again to whoever set up this site, I would never have known otherwise.

Nicola

hello there, what articles are you referring to? I was diagnosed with Polycystic ovaries back in 1992.. also with endometriosis, a fibroid tumor... we finally had a baby in 1998... I would love to read the articles you are referring to... I am on Aygesting for treatment of my endometriosis but I have also heard it helps the pcos.... thanks..

Go to the red icons at the top of the page and select "Studies" and it is listed as a topic in there. Would I be right in thinking that you too were told it was just one of those hormonal things that can make it hard to conceive???

well not really, I was told it was because I was overweight that I couldnt conceive, and my abdominal pains were an irritable bowel according to my MALE doctor who put me through TONS of bowel testing and they all came out normal and he said that the tests wouldnt show it and I still had an irritable bowel.. well when my CYSTS started rupturing he didnt have an explanation for THAT one , anyway they finally found what was wrong but NOONE ever told me that there was a treatment for PCOS... they treated my Endometriosis but not the pcos... I will check out the articles... thanks alot...

I am angry about doctors and PCOS. I just basically diagnosed myself by resources on the internet...and had to demand that my doctor send me to a specialist. I found the site www.soulcysters.com, and was shocked to find out that I had almost all of the symptoms.

I knew after looking at the symptoms that I have had this for almost 7 years. When I was 18, I exhibited all of the symptoms, hair grown, irregular and missing periods, excessive weight on the abdoman/problems taking it off, 'unexplained high levels of testosterone', high blood pressure and sugar, and abdominal pains that were 'all in my head' because all of the bowel, stomach, and intestine tests done were normal. The dumb male doctor immediately put me on the pill, which fixed most of the symptoms, but not the problem, which he never diagnosed.

Now I am fighting to see a specialist who can tell me for sure if I have it because my current doctor says I'm on the cure. I nearly blew a gasket when she told me there wasn't much I could do. The treatment I was on (aka the pill) was the best. She basically told me she thought I had a 90% chance of having PCOS, but since it was under control, I could do nothing.

I have since started low carbing, and ditched the pill. So far, I feel great, and have lost 15 lbs in about three weeks. I might note, that eating high carb/low fat and exercising with a personal trainer for 7 months, I lost 3 pounds. Insulin resistance? You think? It kinda sucks, tho I won't go to see my specialist until November.

Sorry to yak on and on, but I wanted other people to know how angry I am with a health system that treated the symptoms rather than the problem and have basically had to fight for every treatment. I was just told by doctors I was overweight and that was the basis of my problem.

Ditto

I got the 'its because you're overweight story' but the good news is that you know about it now and through low carbing can ensure you never go on to develop diabetes and if you can lose weight, have a reasonable chance of conceiving (if you want to) as well.

Nicola

What articles are you talking about??Could you please let me know I would be interested in reading them. I am so confused about the pcos right now. Thank you.

Dear Butterfli,
I would just like to put my 3 cents in as I have found quite equally that is just not male Doctors but also female- after my 10years of searching- that fail to recognise the symtoms of PCOS. Lets get as informed as we can. I truly think that the internet has helped me help my Doctor. I have the time to search......maybe she / he does not. i do feel better printing off pages and going in armed with questiiond though.
Hope you are well
Lucy

I know what you mean. It is very frustrating. I self-diagnosed at about age 20 and it took me the last 13 years (I just turned 33) and 120lbs later to find a doctor who gave a $h*t. At least we do have access to information now and the whole PCOS things is s-l-o-w-l-y coming out of the closet but I could just about spit nails when I realize I spent the last 20 yrs eating low-fat, high carb and gaining steadily because that's what I thought I was "supposed" to be doing. We are not alone!!

Hi. i just joined up and have read some of your messages. my doctor didn't do any bloodwork as i am 50 (and i just brought this up to him about two weeks ago) so not at the having babies stage of my life but he feels that i have probably had pcos for the past 30 years. How long ago was pcos acknowledged as a potential health problem for women? did they know about it 30 years ago? i had trouble getting pregnant, have the facial hair, had triple bypass surgery at age 41, a partial hysterectomy at 38 due to hyperplasia and now lucky me i have diabetes. i also have the body flags and also discoloration on my face kind of like a light colored birth mark. i read somewhere that that is a sign too. i wanted to ask another question. anyone here with pcos that as a younger person started with water retension? (sp?) i started with that at 16 and wonder if it was a sign? anyway, i am really angry that something so stupid has cause such a problem for me and i am glad i found you guys. i am not alone in my misery.
thanks for any answers and knowledge you have on this...
diane

Hi Diane. I think I can assume that I started with water retention. Some water retention around TOM is normal, but all of the sudden I was retaining water everywhere. I'd take my socks off at night and it would take 1/2 hour for the "dent" to disappear.

I had a lot of other symptoms at the same time, but that one was certainly noticable.

It really makes me angry and sad that so many women are undiagnosed for so long. I really hope it improves, because my generation was raised on so much sugar and carbage. I see so many young women my age with obvious symptoms, and I bet their doctors are just telling them "you need to lose weight."

I know a lot of doctors are missing this. do you know when this was a known problem? identified as a real problem? i had never heard of it till about 6 weeks ago on my diabetes list. and i am furious that such a small thing, not unimportant but fixable thing, could wreak such havoc in my life. on one hand i feel vindicated, lol, cause i know people thought well, lose weight, and 41 is very young for heart disease. i had a 7 year old at home when i had by pass surgery. i was scared to death i wouldn't be here to raise her. my brother just now at 49 had to have angioplasty and he has never been heavy. it is in our history so with that, the pcos, and my lifestyle, i see where this has happened but i am not a happy person over it. thanks for your post.
diane

im new to this forum but wanted to say that im encouraged by reading these things that others are going through... im 22 and ive had symptoms of PCOS since i was 17 and AN since i was 16... my menstrual cycle is still messed up more than ever and my dark patches arent going away. ive started a low carb lifestyle (not any particular diet like atkins or south beach) where im just watching my carb (and fat) intake.

there have been some advances or discoveries ive found so i'll be posting them in the respective forums

I'm am very angry also. I was 19 when I had my first tubal pregnancy. I also had water retention and then at around the age of 23 (I weighed about 130 lbs.) I gained about 50 pounds within a few months. I always had very bad cramps with my period. All the doctors told me was to loose weight and the pain was 'in my head'. When I went to them about not being able to get pregnant and my periods being very late and all the bloating etc. they wanted to give me birth control pills, which I refused.

Now I am 47, have gone through fertility treatments and invitro and didn't get pregnant. And I have diabetes and high blood pressure, hair on my chin and the dark patches of skin on my neck and skin tags everywhere. (Did you know that many overweight people have skin tags. It just comes from being overweight? - according to my doctors.) I wish I knew then what I know now. I tried lots of diets and exercise and kept gaining weight. I am the one who started investigating and found this site and told my doctor what I have. She is only concentrating on the diabetes and high blood pressure. But at least she gave me Metformin because of the insulin resistance. If I had all the money that I spent on all this I could go on a very nice, long, vacation. You would think that fertility specialists would know about these things.

I had no symptoms of PCOS before my pregnancy. My weight was at 57 kgs.

I put on through the pregnacy reaching 82 kgs at delivery.

My doctor at the time never mentioned Pcos . As the symptoms kept appearing I would go to her and the standard reply was lose the weight. Over 8 years my period kept spacing out till I finally went close to a year without a period.

At this point I was worried enough to change doctors. The first thing she said was Pcos (even before the tests).
What I can't understand is why my earlier Dr. could not diagnose Pcos when I am a classic example. Morbidly obese, hair on my chin , losing hair, No periods. ... What more would she need to make an initial diagnosis Aaaargh!!!!!!

Thanks for posting though. Its nice to Know Im not the only one who got no diagnosis at all