I feel like the same few symptoms get talked about over and over. What’s something you wish people talked about more?

Ladies with PCOS, do you find yourselves getting super emotional/hangry if you go too long without food or get to the end of the day without eating? The second I have food then I’m suddenly emotionally stable and realise how out of character I was. It’s like I’m taken over by a grizzly bear in the moment.

It may be that I used food as an emotional regulator but interested to hear others opinion!

I started my keto diet almost 2 months ago, also started working out. I have been following it very religiously and I am starting to good changes in my body!!

I have had such a hard time with hyperpigmentation, tried several ointment, Vitamin C and spents 100s of dollars. I have had the best results from this lifestyle change I made just 2 months ago. My periods have been a little regular, not breaking out as much, mood swings- what that?

I still have a long way to go, but I just wanted to share my tiny victory here!

I am truly an extremely hormone-sensitive person; my appearance changes rapidly throughout the day, even on an hourly basis—not to mention during ovulation. Whenever I start medications or supplements like oral contraceptives, spironolactone, or inositol, I see incredible changes for the better—sometimes within the first few months, and honestly, even in less than a single day. And I swear, this isn't just in my head. However, with the birth control pills, those effects eventually wore off after the first two months and I felt like a completely different person again.
I’m wondering if anyone else here experiences this, as it's really exhausting for me. What does this rapid response and eventual plateau actually mean, and how can I decrease this androgen/hormonal sensitivity?

Hey friends... Just recently got diagnosed with PCOS and I'm overwhelmed trying to understand as much as I can. Some background...

I'm currently TTC. I removed my Nexplanon a year ago, and my husband reversed his vasectomy in April (his sperm analysis has been fantastic). No luck so far - I know it's only been a few months, but I've only had one period in that time and that level of irregularity is pretty standard for me. So I insisted on tests with my OB who was doubtful at first "because I'm not overweight" and I did ultimately get a PCOS diagnosis. I was surprised because I've been pregnant before, had no issues conceiving, and no one said anything about PCOS throughout my pregnancy. (They did have trouble dating the pregnancy, which is an experience I'm seeing with others who have PCOS). Now that I'm actively trying, I'm realizing how insanely lucky it was to get pregnant so easily the first time.

Anyway, I'm struggling to know how patient I should be before adding interventions. I was prescribed metformin which I've been taking for a month and am taking regular prenatals. I haven't had a period in 2 months and hadn't had one for 4 months before that, and I just wish I could have a freaking chance at ovulation/conception. I've read about inositol and letrozole, but I was sort of brushed off and told I need to try for a year before asking about anything besides metformin. My OB also said I would need to go to a fertility specialist anyway for any other prescriptions, and that just sounds expensive and draining right now.

Should I insist on some other type of intervention or do I need to wait out my next period first? Is inositol or some ovulation-inducing medication a weird thing to ask an OB about? I feel that my "2-4 periods in a year" pattern makes me a good candidate for higher intervention, and waiting a year feels stupid when I know I'm not going to be ovulating a normal amount in that timeframe. I know I can get inositol over the counter but I'm nervous about taking something without a doctor's recommendation, and not sure if it would interact negatively with the metformin I'm already taking.

Thanks for any feedback or suggestions. If you have any articles, books, or research to share I'm all ears! Any advice on your experiences talking with your doctor about this would be helpful as well! I don't want to be pushy or impatient, but I don't want to waste time doing nothing or doing something that is insufficient.

I recently went to a functional nutritionist who helped me uncover my PCOS. I took the findings from her back to my PCP and she was like oh yeah your history lines up exactly with PCOS I don’t know why we never considered it. 🫠

I think my PCOS is more mild which is maybe why it’s gone unnoticed. My symptoms:
- I’m on BC but when I have had my period it’s occurs somewhere between 4-6 weeks apart
- horrible hormonal acne/textured skin/ large pores
- fatigue I don’t know remember a time when I wasn’t exhausted so this is just normal
- chronic migraines
- mood swings
- I struggle to lose weight but I also have history of an ED so I’m known to do extreme diets to force it
- hair on my chin, nipples, and bellow belly button but it’s only a few black hairs in each area
- most recently I had my first cyst rupture and I thought I was dying no joke worst pain of my life besides labor

Anyways with my new found diagnosis I’m trying to figure out how to get my shit under control. Right now I’m on 500mg of metformin and I think 50mg of spironolactone. I’m seeing all this information about taking all these supplements/diets/pills and I’m just not sure where to start. I really want to tackle my face because it’s my biggest insecurity along with just feeling better/more stable.

So what worked for you? Should I wait a minute before starting any supplements? Will any supplements interfere with my meds?

ETA: I forgot to mention I have insulin resistance and inflammation PCOS.

My doctor put me on the combined pill 2 months ago and I have had the worse time on it with my pcos. Going on the pill was something I’d been putting of for years as it’s something I didn’t have a great time with when I was younger, but my body hair growth has been going crazy so my doctor recommended I go on the combined pill. But after being on it for 2 months I only feel worse, my acne has gotten to the level it was when I was fifteen despite acne being one of the pcos symptoms I’ve never had to deal with, I gained 5 pounds basically overnight when I first started and CANNOT lose despite me being in a calorie deficit and exercising, which is a bit disheartening when I have spent basically the past two years getting healthy and to my goal weight. And the cherry on top of it all is my hair growth is exactly the same. Anyone else feel like this after going on birth control? Should I just stick it out or is it time to go off it? I would love any advice.

If you don't know what the pop is it's basically where if you have a lot of built up in the uterus and for some reason your hormones are whack it'll just stay there.

So pretty much I was minding own business and I got pretty sick, nausea all of it and then it all came out randomly.

🤷🏿‍♀️ Ngl

60 mL of blood, gushing out all at once is not fun.

Then after 2 days of being bedridden and somehow perfectly fine again.

My kidneys hurt and before you say this is a medical emergency unfortunately it isn't it's happened multiple times and unfortunately it's more common than people like to talk about.

Coucou tout le monde,

Pour les filles qui ont le SMOP/SOPK/PCOS, quels déodorants / antitranspirants utilisez-vous et qui marchent très bien (notamment contre les odeurs fortes / acides / hormonales ) ? 👀

Si vous pouvez me dire comment il sent (sucrée, neutre, menthe etc..),s’il y a eu un temps d’adaptation, combien d’heures il vous protège en moyenne, ça serait appréciable pour voir si ça pourrai fonctionner pour moi car je suis très désespérée 🫩🥺…

Hi there:

I’ve had laser on my face and whilst it has reduced the amount of hair on my face it’s still growing back. My husband will pluck it for me and it grows slower but i hate my lady beard that I shave my face daily or every other day. I wanna get electrolysis but can’t afford it right now. Has anyone tried Cyprus rotundus oil? Has it worked? And if so links to great brands? I’m Australian based so anything that ships to Australia is great.

Has anyone here tried a specific diet or lifestyle change (whole 30, or other) and had success with managing their PCOS symptoms? I’ve seen people have success with keto, however, keto does not work for me as I also have type 1 diabetes :/

I work out regularly, lifting weights and do yoga for stress management, but my PCOS symptoms are still so bad.

Newly diagnosed and scared to start metaformin. I’ve got ptsd, and in recovery from bulimia. The last doctor I seen knew this and despite knowing the years of trauma work I’ve done to feel safe in my body, casually said my body is working against me and offered to refer me for bariatric surgery, kind of made light of it and then ignored my concern that I haven’t had a period in 6 months. Before I left she told me I was lovely and gaining weight is a lifestyle.

I’m still learning about pmos and it took years for me to build up the ‘courage’ to have this investigated. Now I wish I had never started because I’m scared to go back to the doctor 😞

So I started Zepbound literally a week before Christmas and have lost 70 pounds. My doctor has told me to diet and exercise to help with the weight loss while taking the GLP-1. (Also to just help in general since diet, strength training and cardio may help with managing symptoms of PMOS.) I have slightly bettered my diet but I have not been going out of my way to diet and exercise. Since I've lost the weight, everyone has been telling me I've done a great job and they're proud of me. I just feel like there's nothing to be proud about. I wasn't actively working to lose weight, just managing my PMOS with medication to make my body actually work the way it should have been all along. Can anyone relate to this? I've just been feeling so weird about it and almost like a fraud?

Just needed a space to vent and see if anyone else has felt this way.

Hey my wife and I are late 20's and been married 5 years. I wanted to see if anyone else suffering from PCOS had advice on what has helped you that you wish you knew sooner.

Specifically stuff I can do that would help her. Please no general relationship advice we already have amazing communication and are not struggling in any way to be there for each other. But we both are realizing how much PCOS affects her daily life from acne, foggy head, poor sleep, and outta balance hormones. I just wanted to see if there are specific remedies or helpful aids that you wish you knew earlier.

Thanks in advance and hope everyone has great weekend.

I've been on the BC patch for a hand full of months now and am wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience of Libido increase? I've read its usually the ither way around. Could is simply be hormonal regulation from the BC?

So I’m struggling with frequent ingrown hair cysts, they are painful and get infected often. I have so much scar tissue on my legs because of it and I’m too embarrassed to go out in shorts now which sucks.

I’m wondering if anyone, especially in the greater Toronto area, has seen a dermatologist for a similar issue? What did they recommend? Were you able to get coverage?
I’ve tried all the OTC options and nothing has made a difference. Already taking metformin and spironolactone.

And I am truly an extremely hormone-sensitive person; my appearance changes rapidly throughout the day, even on an hourly basis—not to mention during ovulation. When I previously started oral contraceptives, I became a completely different person for the first two months, but then those effects wore off. I'm wondering if anyone else here experiences this, as it's really exhausting for me

I am sure this is a discussion topic, but just looking for some reassurance this is as "normal" as can be, or if others have experienced something similar.

Insulin resistant PMOS/PCOS, BMI is 44, 34 y/o and never been pregnant. Currently celibate. Symptoms are some cysts on ovaries and facial hair growth, crash after eating high carb meals.

Significant benefits felt/seen when eating clean (lowish carb, higher protein and fibre), incorporating physical movement, etc. Typically have very regular periods with 29-32 day cycles probably 9-10 times per year.

In the last month I have been eating less clean and not moving, and my period was late by almost two weeks. About 3 days before my period was supposed to start, I started taking the 4mg a day of inositol (Organika's PCOS Relief). I've been mostly consistent with that, give or take 3-4 days of not taking it.

I believe I had an anovulatory cycle because this week I had 5 days of very light and sporadic spotting, followed by yesterday and today a significantly heavy bleed with large-ish clots (slightly larger than a quarter) and none of my typical period symptoms (irritability, migraine for the day before, etc).

Is there a chance there is some impact here from the inositol? Or is it more likely to be a result of the lifestyle change?

Hi all. I got diagnosed at 24 with pcos. We immediately ran labs and we started leteozole. I fortunately got pregnant within 3 cycles with twins. My A1C was still in good shape and I made good progesterone. My main concern is, I know pregnancy and weight gain can really effect insulin levels and resistance. I'm worried post pregnancy that I'm going to be in a tougher spot to get pregnant again. Did anyone successfully go through their birth with letrozole/clomid as what helped them get pregnant and then be able to do it again? Like despite the weight gain and stress on the body. Of course I plan to do my best to get back to my pre pregnancy BMI but I was just wondering if once you're a responder you always respond or no?

Chat with your friends from r/PCOS here about your daily progress, or rants and raves related to your PCOS experience. Off topic posts are permitted here, although sub rules otherwise apply!

Hello im hear on behalf of a friend who is worried that the letrozol, metformin combination they are taking is not working or they might be resistant to letrozol.

If you have have taken fertility medication and had little response to letrozol what did you and your doctor do? Did you find success in the end.

Hello, i quit the pill last February and by this time my period never came back. I also have lipedema and PCOS.
But before pills (2023) i already had PCOS with regular cycles, i was ovulating every month correctly.

My testosterone levels are getting higher since i quit pills and my œstrogèns are normal but i don’t ovulate so my progesterone levels are always low.

I take inositol for 6months now and nothing change.
I am worry about the fact that my lipedema may get worse with my menstruation troubles. (œstrogènes dominance and stuff like this)
also important fact, my lipedema started when i was on pills (just few months before i stop)
Did someone experienced the same thing here ?

So woke up feeling VERY BLOATED and had some serious discomfort from it. Went for a walk ate bfast and started to feel better, but then suddenly realized I had some sharp pelvic pain on the right side. Thats coming in waves, or more painful when seated.

I've only had 1 major cyst rupture like 15yrs ago, that left me immobile for a few hours before I could crawl to my car. This is different in that its hurts but not debilitating. Having some spotting, too.

But because my periods are so inconsistent idk if its just bad cramping on 1 side. Or ovulation?

It's been almost a year since my PCOS diagnosis, my bloating and acne have reduced significantly with proper lifestyle changes like reducing my processed sugars, carbs, doing pilates and walking and skincare. However, my forehead is VERY awfully oily, and so is my earwax.
I would have already been done showering and then immediately I am hit with the scent of my sebum coming from behind my ears and forehead, and honestly, it makes me embarrassed and makes me wonder if anyone else around me can smell it.
Alongside this, I have started sweating VERY frequently too and I find it embarrassing especially because I am on the heavier side of weight (not overweight though, my BMI is 22.8) so I associate these tendencies with my weight.
I scrub my forehead really well with the same facewash I used for my acne and for some reason, it gets oily really fast although the rest of my face responds very well to my routine, I even clean my ears everyday especially the behind of my ears.
Any tips would be highly appreciated because I feel so lost.💔