PCOS, stopped taking birth control, pain in uterus...?!
Question: Diagnosed, put on Ortho-Evra, but it made me feel like crap. My hair is thinning on my head and thickening/darkening on face and body. My uterus aches sometimes, and orgasms are more painful than enjoyable. Please don't tell me to go to the doctor, I know I should. I had a very bad experience the first time I had my girl parts checked out ( I was 16 and was in the ER with an ovarian cyst, I am now 20 ) and have not let any doctor down there since. I guess I would just like someone to talk to about it, since my mom hasnt been a part of my life for quite some time now... I dont really have any women to talk to who know about PCOS....
Answers: Diagnosed, put on Ortho-Evra, but it made me feel like crap. My hair is thinning on my head and thickening/darkening on face and body. My uterus aches sometimes, and orgasms are more painful than enjoyable. Please don't tell me to go to the doctor, I know I should. I had a very bad experience the first time I had my girl parts checked out ( I was 16 and was in the ER with an ovarian cyst, I am now 20 ) and have not let any doctor down there since. I guess I would just like someone to talk to about it, since my mom hasnt been a part of my life for quite some time now... I dont really have any women to talk to who know about PCOS....
I am sorry to hear you are having such a rough time with PCOS...and even worse that you also don't feel comfortable seeing a Doctor about it.
The good news is, that there is a lot you can do by yourself to help with the symptoms. But, the best answer really is that you see a Doctor as they will be able to help you more than you ever can alone :(
PCOS symptoms are typically that your hair starts to thin and fall out and you get darker body and facial hair, like a small moustache/beard, darker hair on arms, breasts etc. So this is "normal" for PCOS, sad but true....
The pain you are having in your uterus does not sound good. It is quite common for women with PCOS to have "chronic pelvic pain", this is more pain than most women in that area, like either a dull pelvic ache, or pain during s*x etc which it sounds like you are experiencing? So, again this is a "typical" symptom of PCOS.
The problem is that you really need to see a Doc to get the pain checked out. If you've already had one Ovarian Cyst in your life it might be possible that you get another one? If it bursts or becomes large you will have to see a Doctor anyway and have an examination, so either way, you will have to! :-((
I am sad to hear that you had such a bad experience with the examination when you were 16, but you are really going to have to try and not think about that, because in your life you will HAVE to go and have another one so it's better that you try the challenge now and try to put that bad experience behind you. It really depends on the Doctor but some are so so good at the examinations, very discreet, private, quick, painless, really really good. Not all of them are bad, literally some of them make you feel so relaxed and are very kind and it's over in seconds. It's nobody's idea of a nice day out but some Doctors are just so much better with it that it will probably be much much better than you think....please please please try and see a Doctor, they will understand your fears and that you might be scared and they can help you....
There are a LOT of women with PCOS and you can find lots of support on the internet. www.soulcysters.com is a great website with a nice message board where women post up their experiences - you will find that most women suffer exactly the same problems so it's really nice to see that you are not alone with this :(
I am sorry to hear that you are not able to speak with your Mom about this :( but at least try and look on the internet for information on other sufferers, you will find it easier to talk to women with PCOS who know what you are going through.
A lot of controlling the PCOS symptoms can be done by diet too - a low carbohydrate really helps because keeping your blood sugar levels stable in turn stabilizes your hormone levels which helps your body to keep the "male" hormones in check that are creating the unwanted facial hair and hair thinning too. If you can, read up on low-carb diets and low-GI diets too as they really help women with PCOS to get their symptoms under control.
So, please please see a Doctor, if you don't want to have a physical examination first time it doesn't matter, just go for a "chat" with the Doc and explain that you are worried and nervous about an examination and if you don't want to have it done that day, don't..wait until you feel comfortable. But you will have to do it sooner or later in your life so it's best to confront it now. Don't let 1 bad experience put your health at risk...why let some bad doctor stop you seeing other doctors who could help you and improve your quality of life tremendously!
Well, I really hope that you can sort this out...read as much as you can on PCOS and inform yourself....all your symptoms are very "normal" for PCOS but it's goo d to try and understand what the disease is about. It's something you CAN get under control and live a normal life, you just need to read a lot about it yourself and make changes to your lifestyle and get some help from a good Doctor who understands you and what you are going through right now...
Hope this helps :-)