LADIES!!! I am so excited to find this thread because I feel like I've found some women in the same boat as me!
I went off the pill a year ago at the age of 29. I too, wanted to get my body off of it so me and my husband could start ttc.
Well my first period didnt come for 51 days, but I thought that was normal because my body was just getting used to being off the pill. But I did kind of drive myself crazy wondering if I was pregnant that whole time and took 5 different pregnancy tests, so I decided to chart my next cycle (fertilityfriend.com is a good website for charting if you're interested).
My next cycle was ANOTHER 51 days. Strange! But because of charting I could tell that I ovulated on Day 40. I went to my doctor to ask if this was normal and he assured me I probably just had post-pill ammenorrhea, meaning my body is just taking its time to get the pill out of its system. I DID ask about PCOS but he assured me I could not POSSIBLY have it, as I didnt have any of the outward symptoms. I am a healthy weight (BMI 23 or 24) have no facial hair, no thinning hair, etc.
So I went along my merry way. My next cycle was 40 days - WOO HOO they were getting shorter!!! (We werent REALLY trying to get pregnant until after this cycle so we missed our timing completely.)
THEN my NEXT cycle went on and on... I didnt ovulate until cd58! BUT we somehow got pregnant!! CRAZY!!!! Sadly, at 11 weeks along an ultrasound revealed that the baby had no heartbeat and was measuring only 7 weeks.
Truly devastating. I had to have a d&C on Jan. 22, 2009.
My only hope after that was that maybe my body would regulate after being pregnant and I would begin having normal cycles. But..... no such luck.
I charted and charted this past cycle and my temps were just all over the place and I never ovulated. When it got to 70+ days I made an appt with a DIFFERENT doctor, an OB, maybe someone who would take me seriously since my regular doctor was convinced I was FINE. Well this OB ran blood tests but he still didnt quite know what it was I had. But the blood tests showed my LH:FSH ratio was 2:1, which is enough to diagnose me with PCOS, apparently. BUT we did a fasting glucose, fasting insulin, and androgen tests as well, and my levels on ALL of those were normal!
I HAVE been breaking out a lot more since the pregnancy and miscarriage however. I had acne as a teen but always thought it was normal teen acne. When it came back after I went off the pill I just thought that was the way my skin worked, I have a bit of hormonal acne, I didnt think it would be related to PCOS. But now I am finding out that maybe it is.
SO now I am 30 and have been off the pill for one year and have JUST found out I have PCOS. Craziness. My OB prescribed me progesterone and all I got after completing it was a day and a half of spotting. I made another appt to see him but couldnt get an appt until May 14th.
I too am an active exerciser, I teach a Sculpt class twice a week, I am training to run a 10K, I hit the gym regularly. I eat fairly well but am going to try to be even BETTER, by avoiding processed carbs as much as possible. I have my first acupuncture appt tomorrow, and I am trying Vitex.
SO I am hoping I can get this under control on my own and bring back my O's! And preferably a more normal length cycle.
All the OB really mentioned to me was that he could put me on Clomid when I wanted to. And I may go that route but part of me really wants to see if I can bring it under control naturally. I dont like medication, and I too am just trying to figure out why I have this!??
I had normal cycles before I went on the pill too?! There is very much a "Why Me" feeling around this diagnosis, isnt there? It's like, what did we do wrong? Is it something we ate? Something we drank? What caused this???
Anyway, I rambled on, but lovely to "meet" all of you, and let's keep eachother posted as we go through this together.