Symptoms of PCOS

Some people don't understand PCOS and what it can cause. It doesn't just affect your ovaries, but your whole body. About 56% of women with PCOS are overweight or obese. Not everyone but it is very common. And those of us that are overweight have an EXTREMELY difficult time just to lose a pound. We can't completely blame the PCOS, but it is definitely a factor.


The symptoms of PCOS can vary from woman to woman. Some of the symptoms of PCOS include:

• Infertility (not able to get pregnant) because of not ovulating. In fact, PCOS is the most common cause of female infertility.
• Infrequent, absent, and/or irregular menstrual periods
• Hirsutism (HER-suh-tiz-um) — increased hair growth on the face, chest, stomach, back, thumbs, or toes
• Cysts on the ovaries
• Acne, oily skin, or dandruff
• Weight gain or obesity, usually with extra weight around the waist
• Male-pattern baldness or thinning hair
• Patches of skin on the neck, arms, breasts, or thighs that are thick and dark brown or black
• Skin tags — excess flaps of skin in the armpits or neck area
• Pelvic pain
• Anxiety or depression
• Sleep apnea — when breathing stops for short periods of time while asleep

Of the above I have the following:

•  Infertility due to anovulation
• Absent or infrequent periods
• Hirsutism of everywhere listed but back and thumbs
• Cysts on ovaries
• Acne, oily skin, and dandruff
• Weight gain/obesity
• Hair has DEFINITELY thinned since high school
• Occasional skin tags
• And maybe some anxiety

As you can see, I don't have all of the symptoms and others may not have the same ones I do. But PCOS is definitely a contributor to all of these. AND just because you have the symptoms doesn't mean you have PCOS. If you think you do you need to get checked by a physician.

Introducing Sheila!

We have added a new blogger to our group. Again, we are still taking more writers, just email me at sivywright@gmail.com with you email information.

Here is a little background that Sheila wrote for you guys:::

I am 23 years old (I know, still kind of young) and my husband and I have been married since August of 2008. My husband is 25. I went off birth control and have been TTC since October of 08. I technically haven't been diagnosed with infertility yet out of fear of going to the doctor (I realize now that was a very stupid mistake and I have my first appointment the 17th). I have very irregular periods and many female problems. My family history doesn't help, my mom had cancer and died when I was 15 years old. The cancer was very rare, but it is said it can be hereditary. Almost every woman on my moms side has or has had endometriosis,  suffered through miscarriage and has had a hard time conceiving. Both my sister and my mother have lost full term babies (my niece due to my sister having von willibrand disease and other complications, and my moms baby (my sister) having spinobefida. My aunt (my mom's sister) tried for many years before she got pregnant with
 my cousin and my grandma was said to be a twin but the twin didn't make it. My grandma on my dads side tried to get pregnant with my dad for nearly 15 years and finally had my dad when she was 34. My mother in law has thyroid complications and I carry a lot of the same symptoms. I also researched and have a lot of symptoms of PCOS. So needless to say, I will not be surprised by anything the doctors may find. Although I can't bring forth a lot of answers to people right now due to not knowing myself, I will always be there to support anybody through anything they may be struggling with. Thank you for letting me be a part of the group with open arms =)

Ashley's Update

Well, things are going well with our pregnancy!  We are 14 weeks now and we had our first perinatology appointment yesterday, and the perinatologist said we are having twin BOYS!  I never tell patients before 16 weeks just to make sure the genitals are completely done forming but he was confident both penis's were too large to be clitoris....so we'll make sure in a couple more weeks ...but we are THRILLED!!!!

Other than that, I've started a belly since 10 weeks but now its much more prominant, I feel I'm doing and looking really well for twins.  We are excited to share our boy news with our families this weekend and we are going to do some scouting for cribs, carseats, highchairs, etc. tomorrow!!

I think of you all, all the time, I'm sorry I haven't been on here as much as I'd like, summer is just always so hectic and I don't always get on the computer very much.

Mrs Red's results?

Not yet... We aren't quite ready to talk about it. I just wanted to update that I'm feeling ok but my hubby and I just aren't at that point yet where we want to share the results. Thank you everyone for the well wishes and continued prayer :-) I will tell you all exactly what the results were at some point but right now we just want to process it privately.

Thanks

It's that day again...

Totally should have bought this tshirt for today.... Jus sayin

We gotta hang in there gals, our day will come....

Your Path is Not Mine

As a woman with PCOS that struggles with infertility and *most* of the symptoms of PCOS, it is hard to remember that my life is special and unique than those around me.

Yes, there are things I want in life, a lot of which I want RIGHT NOW. But I have to constantly remind myself that this is my journey. I can't compare it to others' because their journeys are different. Would I have preferred to be fortunate and get pregnant when we first started? Yes and no. I want a baby but if we had gotten pregnant when we first started almost 4 years ago, we wouldn't have accomplished or acquired what we have. Or we would've had to work even harder for it.

Do I like my path? Not always. Sometimes I wish certain mile-markers would just hurry up and get here. Perhaps I have certain achievements that I am not aware of that need to be finished first. Who knows.

I can tell you that the Hubs & I just shared our 6 year anniversary (not bad for getting married at 19 & 20!), we have a great house, I went back to college and am hoping to be accepted to the Fall nursing program, we have two working vehicles, a family that loves us and supports us, and are generally pretty happy.

I am thankful for that. I know that one day I will have my bundle of joy. Will it be when you do? No. Our paths will be different. You will have your own struggles and achievements. But I wish the best for you and hope that you know what you want out of life other than a baby. Maybe you have certain goals to reach first.

Best of luck!

Happy Birthday, Mrs Red!!

Yesterday was Steph's birthday!

In the infertility world, birthday's can be VERY hard. It is another reminder of what we have been through in the past year.

But I want everyone to ENJOY their birthdays. Yes, we are older. We may not have achieved what we wanted. BUT WE CAN STILL HAVE FUN.

It is another reminder to ENJOY what we have been given and a reminder to appreciate every day that we have. We tend to wrap ourselves up in this infertility world... Why not let us have one day to appreciate US?

Steph, I hope you had a GREAT birthday. I hope you enjoyed every minute of it and that you did things you wouldn't be able to with kids. I hope you still have hopes and dreams for this coming year and I hope you achieve them. Have a great year!!

~Shannon

Question #27

27. If you had known that you would have trouble conceiving, what would you have done differently in life? If you already knew, did that knowledge affect your other life choices?

Shannon:

I would have hoped to catch this sooner before it progressed as far as it has. Granted, I found out at 21, so it wasn't very late in the process. I do wish that I had stayed in college and gotten that out of the way. By now I would have a great paying job and be able to afford the treatments. Not waiting for more treatments after schooling is half way through :/

Mrs Red:

I probably would have been a lot more careful with credit debt, stayed off of birth control (I think it made it worse), and gone to an RE right away.


Ashley:
I would have tried much harder to get pregnant in the first three months after coming off birth control pills, and I would have went to a RE right away instead of wasting a whole year with my GYN doing metformin for 9 months (which didn't help me at all) and clomid for 3 (didn't work). I think if I would have known before I got married it could have changed things for the worse - I often feel guilty I'm putting my husband through this. So I'm glad we found out after we were married.

"Surprise!..."

When you are struggling with fertility, there are a few things that you dread hearing. And the list is long.

However, I'm going to talk about pregnancy announcements from other people.

I've had a few in this journey (I don't know many people having kids yet). Some expected, some not.

We will start with September 2009.
I was at work at my data entry/callcenter job. You aren't supposed to have your phone but I also have mine tucked into a drawer where I can barely see it incase of an emergency. I get a text from my husband's ex-stepsister. It reads the following: "We're pregnant after only a month of trying!" That sent me to the bathroom to cry a bit. I congratulated her.... She eventually told me it was a mass text and she was trying to shove it in her family's faces. We saw them a couple times throughout the pregnancy and they stayed over a night or two. A week after their son was born, we went to see him. He was cute. I didn't cry. Hubs couldn't hold him. Said it was too hard on him. It took him MONTHS to hold him. As in FOUR months.

Fast forward to August 2010.
I went to dinner with a friend because I was expecting a pregnancy announcement from the SIL. During the meal I got an email from a cousin with an "It's a Girl!" announcement... SUPRISE! That hit but since I rarely saw them it wasn't drastic. I was just surprised that I knew I would get a pregnancy announcement, even though it wasn't from the one I was expecting.

September 2010-Infertile Couple's Luck!
A couple that we knew that had been struggling to get pregnant for the last 2 years was pregnant!!! Yay!!! Their announcement didn't bother me. They had struggled. I felt so happy that what they had waited for for SOOO long was finally happening!

October 2010.
It was evening time and I was on the treadmill while hubs was at work. This was before I would go with him any time I had open and help. I had 45 minutes down, 15 left... And I got a text. "We're pregnant! Finally". Yes... Finally... because trying for 1-2 months is FOREVER to wait. Hubs called to make sure I was ok. I was still calm and on the treadmill. Ended up going 15 minutes longer than my goal... Then went in the guest/future nursery and cried. Then I felt stupid crying for myself and pulled it together. When Hubs came home I tried to act normal but he sees right through that and he just held me while I cried. We both took the next day off and made a step towards going to the RE that was recommended to us. Over the next 6 months we hung out and I got to watch her belly grow and tried to be friend's and go walking with her and to the mall. I remember crying at Christmas over the dinner prayer because I saw her husband holding her with his hands on her belly and I felt like a complete and utter failure. That is a story for another time. As is the following in April 2010 when Max was born at 28 weeks (she was in hospital for 6 weeks) and passed the following morning from an infection.


November 2011-Birthday Announcement
I had been very observant since about August. I had figured that with the 6 month standard wait period that the SIL would be trying again. And our A/C had gone out in August and I saw a used pregnancy box in their garage when they let us stay the night. Early/middle of November she mentioned that they were only having sex when she was ovulating. Then they went on vacation. Thanksgiving I noticed that her husband said, quietly, "already got that brain" when she forgot something. I was the only one nearby. Her birthday dinner was that weekend and I noticed that she had a glass of wine but barely drank half in a two hour period. NOT like her at all. They decided to play "telephone" to make the announcement that she was pregnant again. Having expected it, I was happy for them. The week after New Year's 2012 she had a miscarriage.

There is a word of advice to either give friend's or to keep in mind: If you need to make a pregnancy announcement, try to keep in mind those that have struggled and break it to them nicely and privately. Even if by text. Sometimes wording can make ALL the difference. As can a heads up. That way you can get the appropriate happy reaction!

~Shannon

Question #21

21.What is your favorite infertility-related quote? It doesn’t have to be explicitly related to infertility, but one that means something to your personal journey.

Shannon:
"Dreams are not something to wait for, they are something to work for."
"It rains hardest on those who deserve the sun."
"Everything will be okay in the end; if it's not ok, it's not the end."
"It's hard to wait around for something you know might never happen; but it's even harder to give up when you know it's everything you want."
"I'm not telling you it's going to be easy, I'm telling you it's going to be worth it."


Mrs Red:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6, 7 NIV)

Question #20

20.Have you ever bonded with someone IRL (In Real Life) over infertility, even just for a few minutes? It could be a family member, friend, neighbor, or even the clerk at the grocery store who noticed your OPK and vitamin purchase. Tell the story.

Shannon:
Mine was actually recently. In November I went to donate blood (I try to do this regularly). Normally I have no problem and go in right away. The tech was new to the location and we were talking and it ended up being that my iron was too low. She asked if I was on my period and I informed her that I don't get my period and she high-fived me and said it's awesome! And I went, "well..." and told her my story. At one point she cried with me. She also closed the door, hugged me, and prayed for me. I won't lie, that was kinda awkward, especially because I was in a comfortable position for that long of a period. But it was still touching. She gave me her number and told me to call her any day, any time.

Mrs Red:
At my last real job there was a lady who got moved right next to me and she had pictures of twins on her desk. She had just come back from maternity leave and she started talking to me one day. She was asking me how long i'd been married, which is almost always followed by do u have kids. But she didn't ask that right away. She moved on to other questions. After a few days sitting by her I told her that her sons were gorgeous. And she told me they were her miracle babies. She said her and her husband tried for 13 years and that her sister ended up being her surrogate. I was floored. This lady seemed to have everything in life and was the happiest faith filled person I had ever met and she struggled with fertility. Eventually I opened up to her And told her our struggles and at the time we had been trying for 2 1/2 years. She offered me tons of comfort and compassion. She told me what rE she used and suggested I start with one sooner rather than later. She also agreed that a support group and an Re that treats the whole mind and body is best for what i was going through. I didn't go at the time only because my insurance wouldn't cover it and I didn't think I would need an RE. She was a very sweet lady and I loved hearing her talk about her sons. She was a friend that God sent me for a season. We lost touch but I thank God I met her.

He Supports Me :)

Husband and myself with our matching PCOS bracelets (I'm the lighter person). They say ”I am stronger than PCOS”.
You can buy them at Aerabella's (see link under Recommended Links tab at top)