This tendency of doctors to just prescribe birth control pills or attribute everything to stress is definitely something I've experienced, too. It's weird because as I peruse this site, it's so obvious that there's many people out there with PCOS, and it doesn't always fit one form. I can't say I have PCOS because I've never been diagnosed with it, but it's a diagnosis of exclusion, right? And I certainly have enough symptoms of something being wrong with my hormones to get frustrated when doctors don't seem to feel there is anything worth looking into or trying to diagnose. I have obvious problems with blood sugar which started right at the same time as I started my periods (at 16)--I'd get shaky and tense before I ate and exhausted and lethargic right after...periods that have never followed a consistent cycle, mild acne that started at twenty and seems to get a little worse each year...some hair in the "wrong" places (face, nipples, upper thighs)...and a hairline that's receded quite noticeably in the last year.
Maybe I don't have PCOS--I'm certainly not overweight at 5'6" and 120 pounds--but I've discovered here that not everyone with PCOS is overweight. And when I put together all the symptoms, PCOS is a label that seems to fit me better than anything else I've read about. The thing is that I know there's something wrong with my hormones. But doctors don't seem to want to even try to figure it out...I just want them to acknowledge that something is wrong with me but they seem to think everything's always normal. The usual response to me is "You started your periods late and it takes a few years for the hormones to sort themselves out." But after 6 years of having periods things have just gotten weirder, I have mood swings and often don't feel "right"...but the only solution doctors ever offer is the pill! |