I wish women knew about PCOS

Author Anonymous

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (not to be confused with ovarian cysts) is a condition 1 in 10 women suffer from. Often it goes undiagnosed for years.

I just wish that women knew about PCOS at early stages so they could get help with treatment.

I wasn’t diagnosed until I spent a year and a half trying to get pregnant. That was over 20 years ago. There were no treatments back then. If you were over a size 16, you would not be able to have meds to help conceive.

These days, there are a lot more options available to help with symptoms. If fertility medicines are not effective, a simple surgical procedure called laparoscopic ovarian drilling (LOD) may be recommended.

It was too late for me to have these treatments because I am now 53 and too old to think about having children. The frustrating thing is if over a size 16 the meds back then for fertility were unlikely to help. But PCOS can cause weight gain that is very difficult to lose.

PCOS causes insulin resistance. 40% of the women that have it will be diabetic, yet we hardly ever hear about the condition.

Some of the symptoms are heavy or scant periods, weight gain that is difficult to lose, hair loss, excess hair on body or face, oily skin, acne, and difficulty getting pregnant.

If you read this, share it with your friends, they may just live with symptoms, thinking that is just the way they are and not recognise they have an illness.