# What are your periods like with pcos?



## angel2010

My periods never came back to normal (35 day cycles when ttc Carter) after having Carter. We are planning to start ttc #2 in September. I am wondering if I may have pcos, just based on my irregular periods (cycles generally 58-65 days). Those with pcos, how do you know if you ovulated? Do you still bleed even if you didn't ovulate? Right now I am back on bc and am trying to lose weight (10lbs down already :happydance:) so that I can try to get my cycles back to normal. I won't have health insurance until after oh and I get married (8/14/12) so I can't get my periods checked out until then. Thanks for any answers you can give me.:flower:


----------



## Squarepants

Hi

I have pcos. My last few cycles have been 33 days, 58 days and 101 days.

I have just signed up for weight watchers and first meeting is today so im excited. 

I hate irregular AF but weight loss will be my first step. 

Hope this helps :)


----------



## angiepie

My PCOS isn't too severe, I don't think, coz I have mostly regular periods that last 6-8 days [sometimes a little longer]. Although I do skip a period every now and again; maybe once a year. They are very heavy to start with and I used to get really bad cramping and vomiting, diarrhoea and back pain. But now they've let up in the last year. Maybe coz I exercise more [although I haven't lost much weight]. I haven't vomited from it in ages and they're not AS heavy, although I do always need to use super pads/tampons.

I know I am OV when I get copious amounts of EWCM and sometimes a little pain. I don't think I ever skip OV, so I am lucky. Having said that I can't be entirely sure, seeing as I can't see the egg itself, but knowing that these things accompany OV, I do believe I release one every month. My cycles can sometimes get out of whack and be a couple weeks late, but they average out to be like 30 days or something 'normal'.

Like I said, I think I've gotten off lucky with PCOS, coz my test results showed heaps of cysts, but it doesn't seem to affect me too much. Others might be more helpful to you.

Good luck with TTC!


----------



## fitmommy

I have PCOS and it causes me a lot of problems. For one I do not get AF. Therefore very hard to track Ovulation. I am taking metformin and it's supposed to help. I took something to induce AF and then CD3-7 took Clomid. Now I am trying to figure out when I will ovulate. For this I am going in for u/s every few days so that they can look at the growth of the follicles...

Good luck and stay positive...


----------



## Buttercup84

Before I had DD my cycles were irregular but usually around the 35 day mark so some months I wouldn't have a period at all. DD was conceived 17/3/11 but my last period was 16/2/11 so goodness knows when I ovulated, we weren't actually TTC and were preventing hence why I know the conception date as it was the one time we were careless! I've just started my first period after having DD so not sure what my cycles are like now.


----------



## goddess25

Like angiepie I am one of the lucky ones. I was diagnosed with PCOS at 19 as I had no periods for almost a year, internal scans showed huge amounts of cysts, I was put on BC and was told that it would be highly unlikely that I would conceive without help. My cycles were hit or miss. 

However once I started getting older they got better. My cycle does arrive every month and its 27-30 days and my period lasts for about 6 days. I used to get bad symptoms but now bloated, nausea and backpain mainly.

I have been pregnant 4 times but like most PCOS women I have had 2 miscarriages and also due to PCOS I am unable to breastfeed my children. I can BF for about 12 weeks then my body is unable to meet increased demands of my children.

HOwever I do know that I ovulate although I have noticed that since my cycle returned 5 months ago after my second child I dont get EWCM although I still get the OV pains. I am planning on #3 in June so this month doing some OPKs as I am not sure if I am ovulating or not.


----------



## pandabub

I'm another lucky one as far as PCOS is concerned. Like goddess25, I missed about a year of periods when I was younger (although I suspect that also had to do with the fact that I was battling an eating disorder at the time and was severely underweight), yet with age they appear to have evened out and my cycles have regulated (with the odd late period, which I associate with high levels of stress).

It took 10 months of NTNP to conceive our daughter (which, I understand, constitutes a relatively short period as far as PCOS goes). I am concerned that it won't be as 'easy' next time round. What I do wonder is, how do you know when you ovulate? Do you ladies use the sticks? Or do you simply look for the signs (eg cervical mucus, etc)..?

I also did not know that miscarriages were an increased likelihood for those of us with PCOS...does that have to do with egg quality, or is there some other explanation...? x


----------



## Emmyxxlou

Well my period is non existant if i dont take the birth control pill or Progesterone to regulate it


----------



## angel2010

Thank you for all of your stories ladies. I am hoping I don't have it, but like I said I won't have health insurance until the end of Aug. I guess what my question is (and I feel silly for asking for some reason), if you have your period is it pretty likely to did ovulate that cycle? Can you bleed without ovulating?


----------



## Smiler82

Hey there

I have PCOS too and seem to be similar to everyone else in that I'm fairly lucky with my symptoms. Every now and again I have a 100+ day cycle but generally mine are around 40-50 days.

If you're worried about whether you're ovulating or not, I really really cannot recommend BBT charting enough! It's been a lifesaver for me. I've been doing it for 2 years now and even though having PCOS makes it tricky, it always turns out to be right. Sorry if you already know this but with BBT basically how it works is you take your temp every day with a digital BBT thermometer. Before you ovulate, oestrogen is the dominant hormone and it keeps your base body temperature fairly cool. After you ovulate, you produce progesterone and this keeps your base body temperature warm. It's a very small difference that you couldn't pick up on an ordinary thermometer, but once you pick up this temperature rise, you will know that you ovulated and then you can expect AF 12-16 days later, depending on your own luteal phase length.

The trouble with PCOS is that your body can try to ovulate a few times per cycle, but fail. And it's normal to see fertile signs when this happens, eg EWCM. Also, your body will release LH when it tries to ovulate, and ovulation ktis work by detecting LH. So it's possible to get false positives on these. Some women find it's fine, but generally if your cycles are over 40 days then ov kits aren't great :(

You can have a bleed without ovulating - this happens to me once or twice a year. If I don't ovulate then it'll be a pretty long cycle, and the bleed only happens as and when my body decides!! A true period is only ever brought on by ovulation (the drop in progesterone is what starts the bleed) however it's just easier to call it a period!

Sorry to go on so long...hope some of this is helpful!! :)

x


----------



## angel2010

Smiler82 said:


> Hey there
> 
> I have PCOS too and seem to be similar to everyone else in that I'm fairly lucky with my symptoms. Every now and again I have a 100+ day cycle but generally mine are around 40-50 days.
> 
> If you're worried about whether you're ovulating or not, I really really cannot recommend BBT charting enough! It's been a lifesaver for me. I've been doing it for 2 years now and even though having PCOS makes it tricky, it always turns out to be right. Sorry if you already know this but with BBT basically how it works is you take your temp every day with a digital BBT thermometer. Before you ovulate, oestrogen is the dominant hormone and it keeps your base body temperature fairly cool. After you ovulate, you produce progesterone and this keeps your base body temperature warm. It's a very small difference that you couldn't pick up on an ordinary thermometer, but once you pick up this temperature rise, you will know that you ovulated and then you can expect AF 12-16 days later, depending on your own luteal phase length.
> 
> The trouble with PCOS is that your body can try to ovulate a few times per cycle, but fail. And it's normal to see fertile signs when this happens, eg EWCM. Also, your body will release LH when it tries to ovulate, and ovulation ktis work by detecting LH. So it's possible to get false positives on these. Some women find it's fine, but generally if your cycles are over 40 days then ov kits aren't great :(
> 
> You can have a bleed without ovulating - this happens to me once or twice a year. If I don't ovulate then it'll be a pretty long cycle, and the bleed only happens as and when my body decides!! A true period is only ever brought on by ovulation (the drop in progesterone is what starts the bleed) however it's just easier to call it a period!
> 
> Sorry to go on so long...hope some of this is helpful!! :)
> 
> x

Thanks for the info. I did chart when ttc my first. Right now I am on bc trying to straighten my cycles out. I plan to stop taking it in July though and chart for a couple of months before ttc again. I am hoping that it is only my hormones from having Carter that had my periods so jacked up. My hair has only recently (in the last couple of months) stopped falling out like crazy and up until a couple of months ago as well I could still get a couple of drops of breast milk out. Which is completely crazy as I only pumper for 8 weeks!!!


----------

