Mom of 11 year old

spirit0727 · 06-28-2006, 07:01 PM

Hi girls,
I am the mother of an 11 year old and I have PCOS. I was hoping that someone could help me with their experience. My daughter's hair seems to be parting, on the top back of her scalp, and I am so afraid that she might be dealing with hairloss. I have an appointment scheduled with her pediatrician early next month. I would so appreciate any feedback. I am so worried about her. She has developed an oily scalp and dandruff. Have any of you been diagnosed with PCOS at this early age? Thanks for your help.

-Ann · 06-29-2006, 01:51 AM

Hi Spirit, I am 13 and I was diagnosed with PCOS two months ago. I haven't dealed with the hair loss but if you have any questions or anything there are a lot of women on here that will help! Including me!

-Ann

luvlife · 06-29-2006, 04:42 AM

Hi spirit!

I am 20 and was just Dx this month...but I’ve had almost EVERY symptom since age 11...some even started at 10! I say its worth the check and just make sure you pedi is open minded about PCOS...i know mine through my teen years was NO help! There was a thread somewhere on SC the other day about a cysters 3 year old, and worrying about pcos. I think that because you have gone through it and know enough about it, you will be able to keep a good eye on her and help her or help her get help when she needs it. I think that applies to all the cysters here…this generation(s) will be much more educated to help out those that follow us.

In my family there are 3 generations of women with PCOS....well none of them were ever Dx....but im almost POSITIVE 3 of the 4 women have it, (im not sure how people can miss it…most of them not only have blood work issues they also had problems TTC)

My advice is just to talk to her as much as possible about PCOS and what to watch for. That way she can know whats going on with her own body. Also I’m not sure if you are on any type of diet, but in my family because of the weight issue, I remember being on a diet since 4th grade...and i hated it! It made me binge more because I knew my friends wernt dieting so I wanted to sneak and eat everything they were eating!…. So if you can avoid it, don’t call eating a diet....just have a healthy life style...that way she wont consider herself ‘dieting’....just a healthy eater. <<<I’m sure that’s easier said then done but I would like to think that’s how I will handle PCOS when and IF I have a daughter one day! Best of luck to you and her!

searching4answers · 06-30-2006, 01:33 PM

I also have an 11 year old daughter. When I talked to my doctor, she told me that hormones in a girl this young are so unpredictable that the tests don't really tell much yet. She told me to just watch for now.

I will be interested in hearing what your pediatrician says. Please let us know.

-Kay

spirit0727 · 07-11-2006, 08:09 PM

Luvlife,
Thank you for your reply. You mentioned that you experienced almost every symptom of PCOS by age eleven. Would you mind telling me if you had already had menstrual cycles. If this is too personal, I understand. I took my daughter to the pediatricion yesterday and he referred her to a pediatric endo. He said that she was still about a year of two away from full blown puberty by looking at her body's developement. I'm trying to figure out if you can show symptoms of PCOS without having started your period. Any help you could give me would really be appreciated. Did you suffer from hair loss early on or at all? I am so worried about her. Thank you.

luvlife · 07-12-2006, 08:42 AM

I know this is a teen area so i want to warn for any on lookers....TMI topics

Spirit: Sure id love to share! Um….well I did have my fist period at age 11 and I know at that time I had or was getting very dark leg and arm hair. I also had skin tags under my neck groin and underarm area. But because all the doctors and education videos I saw in school and at my normal doctor visits stressed the fact that for the 1st year or so periods wouldn’t be on a normal cycle I didn’t even think twice about that I had a period one month and then not again for a few months. During that time I also had the dark skin patches…I know there is a name for them but I can think of it…..i had those patches in my underarms and groin area as well. I had the beginning stages of acne…which I also dismissed due to the puberty age. I didn’t have high cholesterol but I had a VERY unstable cholesterol. I was/am overweight. Not as much then but I was definitely on the high weight side. I had dandruff off and on…till this day. >>>this is a symptom listed by some sites/doctors>>>>I had several fainting spells. I would faint about 2 times a year. From age 11 to about 14….They told me it was blood pressure related…because my blood pressure was not stable either. And to top it all off I have always had sleep issues! Most of that all stated when I was 11 or 10 and I’ve learned ways to hide/control it. Some symptoms have gotten worse like the dark hair. They only symptom that I can think of that I don’t have is the hair loss/thinning. But I did meet a girl who had a cyst removed at age 12 who did have hair loss at a young age…im not sure if it was exactly 12 but it was near the time that she had her cyst removed.

Did the endo or the regular pedi say she was a year or so away from looking at here?…in any case I think is great that you were referred to a pedi endo even if he/she was the one that said she is a bit away from full blown puberty just to be in contact with an endo puts your daughter on a good path. Im no doctor of course but I would assume that you can definitely have symptoms of PCOS before you have your actual period….well heck in my case I hardly ever had a period so ….who knows maybe pcos can delay the first period….My “first period” was just a couple drops (brownish) on my panties…but then what my mom considered my “first period” was a full blown HEAVY period…I didn’t understand or know different then…but now I look back and that was like HEAVY! Lol sorry if that’s to much info! …. I do know that I had some symptoms before my period but I not really sure if that was just puberty or pcos at it best! So I hope some of that essay I just wrote will help you a bit. Best of luck to you and “searching4answers’ and both your daughter. I would love to help in any way I can so feel free to ask any questions you have

spirit0727 · 07-12-2006, 05:22 PM

Luvlife,
Thanks so much for your reply. The pedi did say she was about a year away from fullblown puberty by looking at her breast development and pubic area. She has really bad dandruff and a part that has traveled down her head and there is some thinning in that area. I am so heartbroken for her, as I has also experienced hairloss within the last several months. PCOS can be very unkind, but when it affects young ones, it is so devastating. I am praying that she doesn't have it, but my intuition says differently. Thanks so much for your help. I will keep you and searching4answers posted. Thanks again.

annarebekah · 07-15-2006, 06:10 AM

Hi! I thought I would share as well...don't know if it will be much help though. I am almost 20 now but my problems started out when I was about 12. No one else in my family has PCOS or anything close to it so it was pretty dismissed by all. Most of my doctors didn't do anything about it because they just said I was young and not developed yet...I finally got diagnosed at 18 after going 2 years without a period and seeing an endo. My hairloss started at 18 as well adn I now have a very thin area at the back of my head. It gets thinner every day and I am in the process right now of trying to fix it. I definitely had symptoms before my period started as well--well actually I never really had one...they would come one month and not come again for 6 months to a year. It is definitely hard when you are young and going through this and PCOS has definitely not gotten any kinder to me! I will be praying for you guys though and I hope you get the answers you are looking for!

cysterof2miracles · 07-15-2006, 07:33 AM

Hi
I just wanted to post a reply that will hopefully be helpful.
I started having periods at 11 and was pretty fully developed by then. I didn't start missing periods until a few years later but I think I had certain things like insulin resistance from early on.
Learn all you can about this and be determined. Had I pushed for them to find out more I would not have full blown PCOS symptoms and I would not have been infertile. Thank God, for me it was easy and only required Met to have my babies but I went through several years of pain thinking I would never have children.
PCOS symptoms are lessened and kept at bay with early good nutrition and exercise. That is the best thing you can do for her right now until you know more. Read all you can, highlight and take articles to the doc. You have to be proactive in her treatment since there are so many doctors that are not knowledgeable about PCOS. After the severe effects of PCOS hit the self esteem of a young girl can be damaged so much. I have already discussed w/our doctor about watching my daughter (she is 3) closely and testing early on. She hasn't tested yet b/c she said at this age she would only promote healthy eating and exercise so there wasn't a need to put her through it yet.
There was a thread where a mommy said her daughter (a baby) had had a scan and they saw cysts (another scan showed them again several months later) so it is possible to have it earlier than we thought.
Good Luck and I hope your daughter gets help early on to stave off what I and many women have been through. You are a good mommy for taking the initiative to learn more and get her tested.

spirit0727 · 07-17-2006, 09:29 PM

Thank you all for your replies and your support. I was able to get my daughter into a pediatric endocronologist next week. I am so worried about her. I have PCOS and it has been really hard to deal with all of my adult life. I've prayed so much that she be spared of this, so when I noticed that her hair began to part in the back( that's how my hair loss began) I was filled with grief. I know how this disease can devastate your life and I want so much more for her. I realize that early intervention is critical, so I'm so glad that we have an appointment next week. Thanks again for all the input. I'll keep you posted.

Spirit

Phoenix Rising ^^^ · 07-21-2006, 05:17 PM

Spirit,
I just want to say Thank You for doing everything you can to spare your daughter from what most of us here have been through. I wish my Mom had paid attention to my symptoms. Maybe my self esteem could have been spared and I would have known before AGE 39 that I had PCOS.

A little about me, (I'll try to keep this short) I had my first period at age 11. But, the year or so leading up to it I did have a lot of dark thick hair growth on my arms and legs and lower back. I remember shaving my legs at age10 I also developed acne around the same time. I didn't have another period for about 90 days. This went on for about the next 2 years. I was also craving carbs like mad. My Mom had no interest in having those mother/daughter talks with me, so I got most of my info from really outdated books and pamphlets in the school library. Around this time I developed a serious case of shyness, and depression started to sink in. At 13, I started to get facial hair I'd had very fine hair on my upper lip for years but, so did most of the women in my family. It was never really thick though. But, now I had sideburns (they were thick). By the time I was in high school they were lower (below my ear) and I had some hair on my neck right under my chin and on my chin. My periods were even less frequent. My mother totally ignored my symptoms. All she ever said about my hair growth was when we about to go out somewhere was "you are going to shave that before we go aren't you." When I tried to talk to her about them she shunned me. I also had a lot of abdominal pain. I didn't have hair loss, but my hair (on my head) seemed to grow very slowly and my hair was extremely dry.

By my 20's, I had even more hair and the patches of hair were beginning to connect. That's when I starting shaving. By then I was having periods maybe twice a year. I should also add that I was stedily gaining weight and was now at age 20 about 175 lbs.

My PCOS wasn't diagnosed until age 39 after my 2nd baby. My OB mentioned it very casually as if I already knew about it. I had suspected it and been to several Drs. each one just told me I needed to lose weight. A couple of them ran some blood work but never gave me a dx of PCOS. The only treatment I got was BCPs.

I agree with the other posters, you are doing the right thing by seeing a ped. endo. I would certainly suggest having your daughter watch her carbs and exercise. Please keep the line of communication with your daughter open, do whatever you can to help her to be comfortable talking to you.

You are such a great Mom!!! I wish I'd had one like you.

spirit0727 · 07-24-2006, 02:19 PM

Thank you so much for your kind words. My beautiful daughter is my life and breath. We have her appointment on Wed and I have fears about what we are going to find out. I realize that knowledge is power, but I so want her to be free of this awful affliction. I want to protect her, and I feel that I can't. Thanks again.

Spirit

guineapig · 08-13-2006, 06:54 AM

If she is producing some of the boob, hair, etc of women, she may be producing estrogen (more than young kids do)--which can cause hairloss (see sig), acne, etc. Estrogen is supposed to be our friend, but with PCOS it just seems to wreak havoc--and estrogen can convert to testosterone (vice versa) which may be causing part of the problem too. Also, the dandruff itself may be worsening hair issues--has a dermatologist tried to treat her dandruff? I've found that the Selsum Blue & Head/Shoulders doesn't do crap for me, nor does "tar" shampoos or salycilic acid stuff...really only Nizoral or Thymuskin (shampoo only) helps. Nizoral can be bought at Walmart in 1% form or prescription higher %

I'd keep her, basically, on the IR diet, or at least healthy carbs & stuff. Limit junk. I ate a lot of junk in my teen years, and developed PCOS in my twenties...never know if they're related or not.

ihatepcos · 08-14-2006, 03:03 PM

i was 12 when i found out i had pcos, which was when i started my period... i started with cystic acne, which opened up everything. i didnt know it ran in my family until my mom told me she had it, when my dermatologist thought i may have it. i didnt go to a endocrinologist until i was 16, ill be 17 in a few weeks.. get her help as soon as things start to show up.. or when her period starts. i just had my first cyst, and when that burst, omg it hurt so bad. get her to an endocrinologist as soon as you can. dont let her deal with this alone, please be there for her. my mother unfortunately doesnt think its a big deal, but i worry about my future. i'm probably going to start Metformin in a few weeks, so hopefully things will be help. my periods however, have always been regular... except at first when i first started having them. now they're every 35 days... get her help and be there for her! thats all i can really say... don't let it go too long, and when you start seeing things, talk to her.. let her be aware of it. good luck!!

LLWinston44 · 08-19-2006, 05:02 PM

My daughter is 13 and newly diagnosed. She has not yet had a period at all. When she was 7, we took her to a pediatric endocrinologist because she had developed lots of pubic and underarm hair. As well she seemed to be getting breast buds, and I was concerned about precocious puberty.
They ran a million tests and said she was not prepubertal and that she would start her period by the time she was 9 or 10. I took my daughter to the doctor a couple weeks ago becuase I thought she may have Cushings because she had been trying to lose weight by counting Weight Watchers points. Instead of losing, she was gaining!! The doctor found the previous reports and immediatly thought it was a hormone related issue. He then ran the bloodwork as well as (on Monday) a U/S. The bloodwork confirmed what he thought about PCOS. The u/s will show if she's got the cysts yet or not I guess.

Good luck with your daughter. Keep going with tests until YOU are certain that they've come back and everything is okay.