How Long Has PCOS Been A "Common" Diagnosis?

Shiphrah · 03-28-2005, 06:51 PM

Wondering if anyone knows the answer to that question? It seems like such a "new" disease...but Stein and Leventhal "discovered" it in the 30s! I know I've had all the symptoms for years but the few times I ever had any tests done no doctor ever mentioned PCOS. And in just the three years or so since I first read about it in a magazine article it seems it's become more common. (Was anyone who posts here diagnosed more than 10 or 15 years ago?) I'm really curious about this!

linni · 03-28-2005, 07:34 PM

Quote:

And in just the three years or so since I first read about it in a magazine article it seems it's become more common.

Maybe you just think it's more common... YOU have it now, so you notice it in articles and such, if you/we weren't diagnosed do you think it would seem as common??

Just a thought

although it does seem as though more doctors and such are getting on the ball and therefore maybe more women are being diagnosed??

Jashobeam · 03-28-2005, 07:53 PM

I was DXed from a mag too. I dont' think it's a common DX yet cause so many doctors miss the symptoms or dissmiss us when we complain. I hope in the future more Cysters are DXed early on.

Prairie Girl · 03-28-2005, 08:24 PM

I was diagnosed in 1993 a few months after I turned fifteen, the doctor was very uncomfortable trying to explain things to me and my mom, and he really didn't offer to go in depth. He just told me that I would have to take Spiro and a form of birth control for the rest of my life or I would be shaving everyday by the time I was thirty. I felt like a freak, no other girl I knew had this, I had never even heard of it, and my doctor at the time acted disgusted, like it was something to be ashamed of...I'm sure that this condition has been around for a long time, but it is only in recent history that human beings have been able to dig right in depth to see what is wrong. I hate shaving everyday and all the other PCOS side effects we slave so hard to accommidate, but then I think, it just makes us stronger. I am lucky to have my hearing, and my eyesight, and I am lucky that I can get up out of bed every morning without any assistance. There are so many people who have it worse off than me...look at that poor girl Terry Shaivo, she was my age when she had that accident! I could complain and continually ask why me, why me...but we are all given what God thinks we are going to need for this journey, and if PCOS is part of it, well so be it. I think if we can keep our thoughts away from our personal appearance then that gives us more brain space for other things in life...maybe that was what God is trying to tell us. I don't know, sorry for ranting on, sometimes I get talking and I go on and on...I sure hope someone else sees this question and can give us a more clear answer...God bless all of you

Sillie · 03-28-2005, 09:07 PM

As a matter of fact, I was diagnosed back in 1989 after my second ovarian cyst removal surgery. DH and I were TTC so my life was put under a microscope. My doctor told me what I had, and some of the symptoms but didn't advise any form of treatment.

As time went on, I gained more and more weight, had more facial foliage than I had hair on my head, severe depression, skin tags.....you name it.

Now, I am finally getting treatment, but I think it's too late for me. Hopefully, with this site being up and full of information the young girls today don't have to wait so long for treatment.

TDoern · 03-28-2005, 09:10 PM

I think alot of the fact that we here/see so much more about it than even two years ago is that so much more is known.

When I was dx in 2000 my doctor told me that there was debate going on about whether obesity caused PCOS or vice versa. Now it's known that PCOS causes the hormonal imbalances that screw with our weight. Also recent discoveries are the link between PCOS and IR, PCOS and diabetes.

When I was first dx in 2000. I was told that skinny people couldn't get PCOS, or that that was the common idea. (My dr. who dx me said that she was keeping up to date on the research because she felt it was a much bigger problem than what people felt at the time).

SO in just four years, think like with PCOS and IR has been made. The fact that you dont have to have polycystic ovaris to have PCOS has been made. It's been realized that the symptoms scatter and it went from a little known disease that more than likely only 1-2% of the population has to the guestimated 10% of the female population having? Also, the treatment of PCOS has changed. When I was first dx it was birth control will fix it all. Now, it's understood that bcp's just cover the symptoms up, they dont fix anything.

Thats my opinion on it anyways...

dellwood · 03-29-2005, 08:06 AM

I was diagnosed in 1979 and told by my doctor it was no big deal; lose a little weight and I'd be fine! Guess what, it turned out to be quite a big deal after all--I won't bore you with a long story, but if I had known a quarter then of what I know now, I wouldn't be sitting here now with diabetes and numerous other problems!

Syberia · 03-29-2005, 06:13 PM

Hi everyone,

I was really lucky and diagnosed about 15 years ago soon after I started my menstrual cycle. I was regular for like 3 months and then it would come and go to the point that my mom became alarmed and took me to my first ob/gyn appointment. Thank goodness the doctor knew right away what the problem was, and ironically she had the same condition-pcos!! she told me that i would probably need assistance with conceiving once i became older but that Clomid would help, as she had used it and had two healthy boys. at the time, the only things she was concerned about was me having a regular cycle, so she gave me the option of provera or taking bcp. i was only 13-14 and didn't want my parents freaking out about me taking bcp at that age, so i chose the provera, which did the job of regulating my cycle. in hindsight, i'm glad that i took the provera, as i'm now learning from everyone is a much better choice than bcp. i am so grateful to my first doctor, because just about every other doctor after her was so in the dark as to what pcos was that i was having to explain it to them! it wasn't until the last 10 years or so that other doctors seemed to know more about the condition. hope that helps.

Dreaming Wolf · 03-30-2005, 12:38 AM

I do think there's more awareness than there has been in the past, partly because of women jumping up and down about it in the media.

I work as a receptionist in a medical centre and our doctors really focus on diagnosing the big killers: high cholesterol and heart disease and stroke risk, diabetes (which sort of includes PCOS) and cancer. That's just the reality of medicine these days, and any doctor that isn't testing for these basic conditions is really behind the times, in my opinion.

missalissa1575 · 03-30-2005, 03:12 AM

Quote:

Maybe you just think it's more common... YOU have it now, so you notice it in articles and such, if you/we weren't diagnosed do you think it would seem as common??

I agree to an extent with this. It is like when you buy a new car you notice all of the people driving your twin car!!

But when I was diagnosed and told that it was "common" I didn't buy it. Everything I read threw out the 5-10% numbers and that still seemed like a small section of the population to me. I was only diagnosed in December but even since then it is amazing to see just how many cysters are out there! This site is a great example BUT I would have never come to this site had I not been diagnosed with PCOS.

Just today I found out that a close friend of mine that I grew up with and still am in touch with was diagnosed with PCOS, but I never knew about it. It is almost frustrating that more cysters aren't upfront about PCOS. It is almost like it is taboo to talk about your reproductive problems. I am even guilty of that...I often talk about my "hormonal imbalance" rather than saying "Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome."

So I don't know exactly where I am going with this, but I know what you mean. If PCOS is so "common" then how come I never heard of it until I was diagnosed?!?!

StephaniePlum · 03-30-2005, 05:33 PM

Hi
I am almost 34 years old and was diagnosed at 14 and it was diagnosed on the doctors report as Stein-Leventhal Syndrome. Back then they only told me to get on bcp or Provera and that I would have a very hard time conceiving not much was known then. I do know that they took alot of blood and it took them a few months to come to a diagnosis. I do have one child without any fertility treatments, but was on bcp shortly before becoming pregnant and lost about 30 pounds before as well. He is now 12 years old. We have been trying for 10 years to have another child.
Hope this info helps.