How many years have you had a period?

[pyxichick]

I used to think I didn't want to mess with my hormones, so I never took birth control pills. I just suffered with awful cramps, yucky IBS (in addition to my regular digestive issues) and crabby crabby moods. Somehow I never seemed to plan ahead properly when I had my period and always found myself out somewhere with friends or family having to say "uh, could we stop somewhere so I can get a tampon?" And it always overflowed because I bled so much.

Then my gastroenterologist suggested that I definitely not get pregnant because of the medication I was on. No problem, I don't want to have kids anyway. This, combined with my chronic anemia convinced me to finally go on the pill.

So at the age of 31, I went in to get a prescription and my (female) doctor says to me "you've never been on the pill before? How have you managed to not get pregnant?"

HUH?

Anyway, Seasonale is a girl's best friend. I don't miss the flow. I no longer care that it's "not natural" because the benefits make my life so much better.

[chickwhorips]

Anyway, Seasonale is a girl's best friend. I don't miss the flow. I no longer care that it's "not natural" because the benefits make my life so much better.

you said it sister! that's why i love it!!!!

[Tuckervill]

Ah but the catch 22 to PCOS is that it makes it difficult to lose and maintain weight loss so you have to fight harder to lose the weight to try to make the PCOS better to make it easier to lose the weight, etc, etc... not an excuse but PCOS isn't as simple as losing weight.

Yeah, I didn't mean to imply that it was easy. Just that weight is a factor. I want to get my weight off before menopause because of the same vicious cycle.

Karen

[light_sabe_r]

While We're on the subject. (thread hijack) Has anyone had endometriosis??

I started VERY late compared to the rest of you. I was almost 15!!! Been coming like clockwork eversince. 1 entire week of bleed through every month until I was 19. That's when I found out I've got full blown endometriosis.

There were days before I saw my gyno that I'd crumple to the floor in pain, couldn't go to work, vomitting and other nasty stuff. I've been on the pill since then and have been purposely SKIPPING periods to avoid these "attacks" (which were pretty mild to begin with, but Doctor saw a pattern emerging) Usually only softens the blow a bit...

I know I'm young, But I'm looking forward to either getting pregnant and having nine months of relief or getting a freaking hysterectomy!!!

[margo49]

Pregnancy *does* give the raging hormones something to organise themselves around.
Infuriating to realise as a feminist of course but can't argue with my own personal experience.

[HipGnosis6]

Overweight causes too much estrogen to be stored in your body, so if you're overweight and having problems with your periods, (polycystic ovaries, for instance), getting rid of lots of weight will help.

Ah but the catch 22 to PCOS is that it makes it difficult to lose and maintain weight loss so you have to fight harder to lose the weight to try to make the PCOS better to make it easier to lose the weight, etc, etc... not an excuse but PCOS isn't as simple as losing weight.

Yeah, I didn't mean to imply that it was easy. Just that weight is a factor.

Weight isn't a factor in PCOS. You can be slender and still have it. Unexplained weight gain and difficulty losing weight is a symptom but not a cause of the disease. Saying so is ignorant, but don't take it personally - a lot of health care providers are deeply misinformed about PCO.

Mary is right when she says that PCOS makes it harder to lose weight - it can be downright impossible. On the reccomendation that i do exactly that, I had to find a combination of excercise and diet that would actually cause weight loss. In doing so, I wound up exercising at a level that created a calorie burn in excess of what I was eating daily - not even considering calories used for day to day functioning. I lost my alreay irregular menstual cycle to overtraining and was technically anorexic - and STILL was only losing half a pound a week.

Once doctors stopped trying to diagnose me as being too fat and started considering the actual hormonal issue at hand, the treatment changed (I was prescribed a pretty sturdy dose of Metformin and spironolactone, an antiandrogen that was supposed to help with the hirstutism and hair loss) and lo and behold, my periods became regular. This was made possible not by my OBGYN; in fact, the people at planned parenthood literally refused to talk to me about it. My regular doctor referred me to see an endocrinologist and she was utterly shocked that my previous doctor had had nothing more to say about it than "Lose some weight, you're too fat."

As for the thread topic.... I started my period when I was 12. I still have it at 31 but it's irregular again after I had to drop the treatment for PCOS when my health insurance ended.

[Tuckervill]

Weight isn't a factor in PCOS. You can be slender and still have it. Unexplained weight gain and difficulty losing weight is a symptom but not a cause of the disease. Saying so is ignorant, but don't take it personally - a lot of health care providers are deeply misinformed about PCO.

I don't take it personally. When my friend was diagnosed with it I read up on the topic, and I recall reading that obesity was a factor in PCOS. Therefore, I don't think I was speaking out of ignorance. If you say otherwise, so be it. I don't even talk to that friend much anymore!

I'm glad you found something that worked.

Karen