I finally have the answers to a lifetime of questions

I am a nearly 60 year old women and I have just recently realized what has been wrong with me all my life. I have PCOS, and I have never been told by a doctor that I had it. I was married at 18 and I wanted a child right from the start and I was not able to conceive. My periods were very irregular so I went to a doctor. I only got into the doorway and he informed me the reason that I could not get pregnant was that I was too fat. I tried so many times to lose weight and I would lose some, but it always came back and more. For many years I went to different doctors and they would always say it was because I was overweight. I was on clomed and birth control pills to regulate my periods, but I still could not get pregnant. I went through so many tests, but no doctor every gave me a reason other than I was too fat. I was around 230 lbs, I even had the stomach st aping operation in 1983, It did not work either. I was never able to have a child of my own but I did adopt my son in 1988. He is the pride of my life, and I can not imagine that I could love him any more than I do, but there is a part of me that feels cheated.......I had all the symptoms and I still have the excess hair growth on my chin and upper lip. I have to shave it everyday. I gave up on pulling it out and Nair burns my face.     I now am at  250 lbs and I am going to have bypass surgery soon, I have high BP, severe  arthritis in my knees and my doctor says I am pre-diabetic. I have just learned that my 27 yr. old niece also has PCOS and she is having problems getting pregnant, and I feel so much distress for her, but a lot of you have said that you do have children, so that gives me hope.

Thank you for your post of your problems that you had no clue what was the cause.  I would have hated not to know why I had so many of the same symptoms you have had.  I'm seriously considering RNY surgery, and you've given me another reason to go for it now when I'm in my 30s.  I really think it is the only solution for long term health. 

I have gone through the same fertility problems and the same responses from doctors.  I self-diagnosed when I was in my early 20s, and the first time I mentioned it to a doctor, she agreed with me as if she had told me that I had PCOS a long time ago.  Doctors still don't understand and can be very insensitive and very blaming of us like we do it on purpose.   Good luck on your journey. 

I have had issues with my cycle since I was 16.  I would go years without having my period.  I saw a magazine article about PCOS when I was 26 and I took it to my OBGYN and he told me not to believe everything I read in magazines.  He took it from me and put it in the garbage.  I didn't go back to the doctor for a year.  

I went to my regular PCP, a year later, and asked him to test me to see if I had PCOS, he did and said, you do, but I don't really know what to do for it.  He didn't have any patients with PCOS.  SO, I said I read on the internet that Glucophage is the medication to take.  He asked me to come back in 2 weeks and we'd talk.  I went back and he gave me glucophage at 500mgs and referred me to a different OBGYN.  

I went to the OBGYN and they didn't know what to do for me but he said he would research it for me.  I told him the other doctor put me on 500mgs but I saw many people online are taking over 2000mgs.  We worked on getting me worked up to 2000mgs of metformin and I was on clomid and guess what!  I got pregnant.  It was my last dose of clomid and I was at 2500mgs of metformin, but now I have my beautiful boy and he will be 6 yrs old next week.  

If I hadn't been my own advocate, I doubt that it would ever have happened.  Since my son was born I haven't been able to get past 750mgs of metformin without getting sick, I don't know why, so I haven't been able to get pregnant again.  BUT I am thankful that I was able to get pregnant with my son and I had two doctors that were open minded enough to listen to me and take my side.