What Are the Symptoms of PCOS?

It is September which means that it is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Awareness Month!  I am hoping to bring more awareness to this syndrome and help educate you along the way.  I am not a doctor or a nutritionist.  I am a woman who was diagnosed early in life and has been learning about my diagnosis ever since.  If you have specific questions, you can, of course, ask them, and I will do my best to answer.  However, I would encourage you to take them to your doctor as well.

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Unfortunately, there are a lot of symptoms that are associated with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.  Each woman is different and may experience some of them, but not all of them.  Some women have varying degrees of the symptoms.  It really all depends on the woman's body and her hormone levels.  My symptoms may be completely different from your symptoms.

It is important to understand that I am sharing this information to educate.  If you are dealing with some unexplained symptoms and you feel like they may add up to PCOS, I would encourage you to continue researching yourself.  Educate yourself and be an advocate for your health.  Go to your doctor with the information.  Be prepared for pushback. But ultimately, you know your body best.

Symptoms of PCOS may include:

• weight gain or obesity, typically carrying it around the tummy area
• irregular or non-existent periods
• multiple cysts on the ovaries
• high testosterone levels (androgens)
• hirsutism (excessive hair growth) on the face, chest, stomach, back, thumbs, or toes
• male pattern baldness/thinning hair
• acne/oily skin/dandruff
• painful periods/pelvic pain
• infertility
• patches of thickened and dark brown/black skin on the neck, arms, breasts, or thighs
• skin tags
• sleep apnea

For me personally, I have nine, sometimes ten symptoms listed above.  Any of these can be present for someone who has PCOS but they may not have all of them.  Some of these affect the physical appearance, while some may require further testing to confirm.  They can come at different times in life, and they may come and go.  Luckily, most of them can be treated, and I'll be sharing more on that later.

The symptoms that are most common are:

1. high levels of male hormones (androgens).
2. an irregular or no menstrual cycle.
3. may or may not have many small cysts on the ovaries.

Tomorrow, I'll be sharing more on how to get a diagnosis of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.  I hope you'll stay tuned.

If you know someone who could benefit from reading this blog, by all means, share it!  After all, sharing is caring and greatly appreciated!