Looking for advice

Bob_UK · 01-10-2008, 04:18 PM

Dammit - I wrote a big long message but the forum said i wasn't logged in when I hit post so I will start again....

Hello all, I am new to looking into PCOS and am amazed that it is not more widely talked about. Some references claim 3-5% of women are affected and others up to 10% which means that every day when I have lunch in the shopping centre by the office 1 in 10 women that walk past could be suffering from PCOS in some degree and a lot not even know it and/or are suffering in silence.

A quick introduction as the other one got lost....I pretty adept when it comes to the human body so a few things flagged up in my brain recently which is how I ended up here. I started seeing an absolutely wonderful young lady a few months back. We have been getting on very well but back when we first started getting intimate I noticed she had some male pattern hair growth which I thought was a bit strange - she didn't notice I noticed it but I will admit it troubled me a bit at the time as it was just something I had never seen before.

Over the months other things she has told me stuck in my mind and brought me to fearing something was wrong - i just initially put the hair down to pure genetics. I am concerned for her health - she doesnt have any major symptoms and if it is PCOS it would seem to be a milder case than some of you have but a lot of the symptoms also point to a tumour of the pituitary (Cushings comes to mind), and if there is something wrong I want to make sure she gets something done sooner rather than later.

A quick overview of the symptoms:

Hair:

1. coarse black hair from pubic area up to and inside navel and then up a few inches

2. coarse black hair around nipples

3. dense/long pubic hair

4. darker hair on forearms but nothing I haven't seen on girls before (maybe they had this)

5. NO facial hair etc etc.

Periods:

her last period is the only one i have really known about and it did seem to be over very quick with little discomfort at the time - compared to previous girlfriends. I need to ask her about this somehow.

Weight:

I will admit - she is a tad heavy for her height but what concerns me most is she lost a lot of weight before I met her and further to this her mother is very large - could be hereditary.

She has been very busy looking after her family and never had much time to look after herself - she is a very selfless person - and I am not sure if she just hasn't noticed or has kind of brushed it under the carpet (the tummy hair, i noticed she shaves the nipple hair) and got on with her life. There are obviously potential health risks if she is affected and her mentioning of blood sugar mood problems is one thing that really triggered the alarm bells. But how do I bring this up? And am I being a hypochondriac (if you can be on someone else's behalf).

Thanks in advance

Roberto G

*~SugarPlums~* · 01-10-2008, 05:30 PM

I know I am not a man but thought I could maybe be of some assistance to you. It probably is pcos, although it also presents as cushings, that is very rare.

I would ask of you what your feelings for her are. Are you in a serious relationship? I don't mean to be nosey but I guess if it is serious, you may want to bring it up to her attention (assuming she does not already know).

I am unsure what to advise you to do if this is a casual relationship. I went through painstaking efforts to hide my hair growth before I was properly diagnosed so I would never get asked about it. Thank goodness for laser!

I do know that if you become serious in the future, this will affect you too. If you want a family, pcos may affect her fertility. Of course there are other things that it can affect.

I guess you have to do what feels right to you.

I hope some of the men that are occasionally on chime in.

Bob_UK · 01-10-2008, 07:22 PM

Hi,

as for seriousness - well it's not casual but it is early days - but I don't do casual and she is a great girl I can see myself having a future with. Especially a family as she would make a great mother.

I find it a bit odd she has not tried to hide it. I might go speak to a doctor about it before I talk to her.

R

Kay212 · 01-14-2008, 03:38 PM

Hi Bob,

I would say it's PCOS.
Before I was diagnosed I was convinced I had Cushings, in fact I thought I presented more symptoms of cushings than PCOS, I get awful migrains, and have un-explainable purplish marks on my body, aswell and a little more hair in unwanted places. When I approached my docter about this the tests they perform to diagnose either are the same. To confirm the diagnosis of PCOS I was sent for an ultrasound to locate the cysts on my ovaries.

Crushings is very rare, and from what I've read people with cushings experience more problems with skin bruising, and bone weakness and aches and pains. Maybe you could approach the subject by saying you've noticed something on T.V! or maybe show her this website!
good luck, I'd be chuffed if my bloke cared so much he asked for advice like you have....