Thin Cysters -- what are your symptoms?

Charisse · 02-10-2003, 11:50 AM

I'm a thin cyster (5'5 and 125lbs), and was just curious as to what other thin cyster's PCOS symptoms were. For me, my periods come every 3-5 months, but I have no other PCOS-related symptoms. Last Friday, I went to a new internist for a yearly physical, who looked at me and (without any testing) swore that I was not PCOS. So, I'm just curious what everyone else is experiencing.

Look forward to hearing back!

Monica
Dx 1993 (based upon high LH level)
Married
Two Daughters (2.5 years and 1 years old) w/out "assistance"
Not TTC, just trying to stay healthy

KT1979 · 02-10-2003, 05:45 PM

I have very few symptoms. I have a little excess hair on my body and my upper lip, and I am anovulatory. No other symptoms. This syndrome varies so much from one woman to the next that I'd don't think a doctor could possibly know just by looking at you if you have PCOS.

AmandaC · 02-10-2003, 06:57 PM

My periods are infrequent (about every 12 months) but when they come they can have spotting for weeks (5 was the record) with heavier in the middle. I have never had regular cycles. I'm a bit spotty sometimes. I'm fairly hairy. It was mild when i was about 20 but i'm pretty shaggy now legs, chin, neck, cheeks, upper lip, up my tummy and round my nipples. I've got the classic string of white pearls on my ovaries and LH:FSH ratio of 2:1 also elevated testosterone. I get dizzy spells if I am late with meals or miss a meal. I think thats about it.

What an attractive picture that all paints - obviously if it wasn't for pcos I would have been a super model! lol.

Amanda

Statlady · 02-10-2003, 07:01 PM

My symptoms:

anovulation (no AF without Provera)
odd hair growth on face/neck/abdomen/etc.
mild/moderate acne (on and off)
difficulty losing weight (took 10 months to lose 13 lbs; 132-119 lbs; 5'2")
depression
dizzy/weak if I don't eat every 2-3 hours
low energy--difficulty waking up
IBS
asthma

I don't know if all of these are related to PCOS, but I have seen other cysters mention them.

Corny · 02-12-2003, 09:27 AM

My symptoms are periods every 3 -6 months.
Mild acne on face.
Slightly dark hair on upper lip.
Difficulty losing weight. I am 156lbs, 5'10", so okay for my height, but would like to lose 7lbs - mission impossible!

My symptoms have got drastically worse since having my 2 daughters. Even my hair on head has changed from dark blonde to a rich brown! How mental is that? Could have been worse, could have gone grey!

Jayne.x

BritCyster · 02-13-2003, 07:04 AM

I have always been thin but I reckon have had PCOS since I was a teen. AF was erratic when I first started but everyone said that was normal. Thing is, it never got regular - AF every 6 weeks to 9 months! I always put this down to stress or being too thin.

However, I read a couple of articles about celebrities with PCOS (Victoria Beckham, ex Spice Girl; Jools Oliver, wife of Naked Chef Jamie Oliver) and I suddenly put two and two together and got PCOS!

GP didn't believe me but as I am a doctor (radiologist) it wasn't too hard to persuade her to do the tests and hey presto - 'textbook' polycystic ovaries on u/s, LH 3x FSH and testosterone 1.5x normal. However, my redeeming feature is normal Sex Hormone Binding Globulin which apparantly protects me partly from testosterone and is why I don't have bad acne etc.

However, I now realise there is a reason for xs hair (nipples, abdomen, upper lip). I am just lucky I am so fair that it isn't too obvious. Other than that only other symptoms are anovulation and need to eat about every 2 hours or I feel funny (once had to excuse myself from a tutorial to go and eat - very embarrassing).

Hope this helps!

LOL

BritCyster

charliegirl · 02-13-2003, 07:53 AM

-I am a thin cyster like all of you (1,68 m and 54 kilos), but still have a bloated belly ( sometimes I look 4 months pregnant).
-I get a natural period only a few times a year.
- Hairs on upperlip and even a few on my chin. I wax it.
- Acne sometimes
- Hairloss: this is my worst problem and causes me a lot of grief. In a few years I went from having 'Julia Roberts hair' to well, not Kojak but something rather sad.
- Moodwings/tiredness

Candace · 02-13-2003, 11:23 AM

I have never had a weight problem until two years ago. I have however always watched very closely what I eat. My symptoms before Glucophage XR included:

extreme fatigue especially upon waking
heart racing in the night then slowing
apnea sometimes
difficult time losing weight even with exercise
fatigue upon eating even bread!
(I felt fine until I ate)
excess hair lip, upper thighs, back of my arms etc...
That wonderful bloated tummy

With Glucophage XR I am now at a normal weight for my body and happy again. I have more energy than I have had in years!

Candace
Age 36
2 children ages 8 and 7
Married 16 years
Yasmin BCP 18 months
GLucophage xR 2000 mgs 2 years
Chromium 200 mcg
Symptoms under control
128 lbs

Frost253 · 02-13-2003, 09:36 PM

Hi Candace-

I just read your reply, and I was encouraged that you have lost weight on Glucophage XR.
I have many of the same symtoms as you did, and was diagnosed only just a month ago with PCOS. My endro put me on Glucophage XR as well, and I've been taking it for 3 weeks now, slowly working up to 2000 mg. I am 5'2" and weigh about 138 lbs right now. Its driving me crazy because I've always been about 120 lbs.
I was wondering how long it took for you to lose the weight on the meds and if you had to use a special low carb diet or anything with it.

Let me know if you have any advice...

Thanks

sedgie · 02-14-2003, 05:03 PM

Hi all,

I'm 21, korean-american and diagnosed with PCOS.

My symptoms are:

Acne - moderate acne, very oily face, oily scalp.

Hair - very thick terminal hair all over my legs, around my belly, and profuse pubic hair, somewhat less coarse hair around nipples, forearms, knees, thighs, abdomen and chest, fine upper lip hair.

Anovulation - very irregular, unpredictable mentrual cycles.

Insulin-resistance - it's hard to tell, but i do have carb/sugar cravings. i'll have to keep better track.

Stretch marks - which very suddenly appeared on my inner thighs in my early teens, although i was always "thin" it seemed my skin wasn't growing at the same pace as the rest of me or something.

These symptoms have been with me since I entered my teens, but until college I thought I was just unfortunately "different". I didn't know I had a medical condition until i typed in some of my oddities in an internet search engine and discovered they were all symptoms of the same disorder.

I've been taking Ortho-tri-cyclen which has regulated my periods and definitely reduced my once-constant acne breakouts. And i've scheduled laser hair removal for my lower legs (both legs, $480 for 7-8 sessions). I may also start on spironolactone.

Do voice pitch (low), breast size (small), and frequency of sexual urges (relatively frequent) have anything to do with the excess androgen effects of PCOS? I've noticed that BCP makes me feel more or less asexual.

Candace · 02-17-2003, 12:14 PM

I wanted to reply. It only took about two months to see subtle changes in my body. One....being that the water retention was going away. I had very severe water retention and didn't really realize it until I started the Glucophage XR. I lost 20 lbs in the first 2-3 months cutting out sugars but not carbs. (Refined sugars cokes, etc.) I am now back to my pre-pregnancy weight and am feeling great. (I weighted as much as 147 before taking this drug!) A weight I definitely didn't think was normal nor did I think I should have to live with! My eating habits or exercise habits had not changed. I have never eaten that much food.

Blessings!

Candace
Age 36
2 children 8 and 7
Married 16 years
Glucophage XR 2000 mgs 2 years
Chromium GTF 200 mcg
Yasmin BCP
Diagnosed with PCOS at age 21 (110 lbs) no symptoms except annovulation and difficult getting pregnant
Rediagnosed at age 34 symptoms like crazy 147 lbs and gaining!
Now----128 lbs weight is stable and feeling fantastic after two years on Glucophage and BCP

*DesertRose* · 02-17-2003, 01:34 PM

I don't have any PCOS symptoms except for irregular ovulation and therefore irregular periods ... I also have the typical string of pearls .... that's it!

patoukers · 02-19-2003, 04:17 PM

When diagnosed as a teenager, I had excess hairgrowth on face, which was the first indication. I also had some acne, and weighed a bit more than I should've. I did not have any ovarian cysts, and still don't. Testosterone was high. I had regular periods as a teenager. The BCP's kept everythibg failr;y well-controlled.

When I came off BCP's after 10+ years, my testosterone was very high, all other hormones were normal. Acne is a problem, and excess hairgrowth returned, and I began to gain weight. The glucophage has kept these things better controlled. I began having irregular periods and am annovulotory. But I've never had the classic ovarian cysts.

Artsy · 02-20-2003, 01:53 AM

Hi gals,
I'm new to this PCOS thing, but my symptoms include many things. First AF comes almost every two weeks regularly and lasts for about 7-10 days at a time. Not very heavy, just long and aggravating! I do have a lot of excess hair, never thought about it that much thou until doc said something about it. Hair on chin, upper lip, new hair on shoulders, on chest, stomach, and bc hair as well

I also have the acne, mostly during AF and have oily skin during the day. But when I wash my face, it gets very dry. Oily scalp too. Also, noticed I've been losing a lot more hair lately (from scalp only). I do have weird reactions when I eat that I read could possibly be hypoglycemic reactions from to many carbs. An not currently taking any meds. because we are still in the dx phase. I only weigh about 135 and am 5'3", not over weight, but not super skinny either. Anybody have symptoms like this?

Frost253 · 02-20-2003, 11:02 AM

Hi Candace-

I just had another question for you since our situations are so similar...hope you dont mind.

Right now I am off of the pill (was on Ortho for like 4 years). My endro wanted me to go off of it while he was trying to dx so that he could see what my periods were like while off the pill. Anyway...they were really abnormal and that among everything else helped make the dx, and thats when he put me on Glucophage XR. I asked if I could go back on the pill and he said to wait for 6 weeks and at my next appt with him, if the XR has been going okay that I could go back on the pill...
I noticed you were on Yasmin, and I've heard good things about that as far as helping with acne...what do you think about it? Has it helped you?

Thanks for all of your help...

I'm keeping my fingers crossed about the weight loss...so far its been 4 weeks and I haven't lost a pound