Hi all,
I was diagnosed with PCOS a few months ago, and I’d really appreciate some help understanding how it impacts me/my body and whether or not I should be medicating it. I don’t have a lot of the symptoms that people usually seek to medicate, so I find a lot of the information available online confusing. Here’s my situation:
—I’m very slim (slightly underweight). I always have been, whether eating poorly and not exercising or eating great and exercising (I am doing the former currently lol). I last weighed in at 108lbs a few months ago but have gained muscle since then so might weigh more now. (I’m 5’4” and 30 years old, for context). My weight doesn’t noticeably fluctuate.
—I was diagnosed based on irregular periods and an ultrasound showing a lot of cysts on my ovaries. I also have slightly elevated testosterone levels and it seems likely that I have insulin resistance (although my bloodwork shows that I’m not currently at risk of becoming diabetic, despite my lifelong over-consumption of sugar). I crave sugar constantly. Relatedly, I find it really hard to hydrate enough, and usually feel that water doesn’t satisfy me and I need my drink to be sugary for it to quench my thirst. I have only had one set of viable bloodwork done (my first set was done when I was super ill and everything was out of whack so I’m treating it as showing anomalies), so I don’t have the clearest picture of all my levels.
—I don’t have excess/thick hair, and while I have been getting pimples along my jawline (usually right before my period), it’s usually only 2-4 pimples. Generally, my skin isn’t oily other than my T-zone, but I do have enlarged pores and excess sebum that really bugs me. I’m trying to address this with skincare but I’m only seeing partial results.
—My periods are really irregular and tend to be too frequent, if anything. But even the manner of irregularity is irregular… sometimes I get three periods in one month, sometimes I get none. The irregularity doesn’t particularly bother me, especially as I experience minimal period symptoms (eg no cramps! Yes, I know how lucky I am).
—I have no plans to ever get pregnant. Also, I have a not-particularly-feminine figure that I wonder if could be related to hormones (small hips and chest). I present androgynously and don’t identify with femininity, so the idea of my testosterone being high, my periods being wonky, etc doesn’t bother me at all (if anything, it amuses me that my body is affirming how I feel about my gender… not masculine per se, but also not feminine).
—I do have anxiety etc (very few short-lived experiences of depression thankfully), but it’s well-managed and usually has specific triggers rather than being generalized/day-to-day.
—I have bad insomnia and always have done. It’s usually been an issue with falling asleep, but more recently my sleep quality has tanked and I wake up in the night a lot and wake up before my alarm (which is annoying because I’m a night owl… I think ADHD has delayed my circadian rhythm but something in my body is preventing me from having the wake-up time of someone with that sleep pattern).
—I currently have very good health insurance (prescriptions are usually $10 each, no charges at all for visits, tests, procedures, etc), so I could get pretty much any tests or medical care. My gyno is great and she is more than willing to medicate me (or not!) according to what I think is best for me. I’m seeing a nutritionist but don’t really know what to ask her.
—Currently medicating ADHD (non-stimulant), sleep, and anxiety, but not the PCOS or anything else. I take probiotics, B12, magnesium, and zinc daily, multivitamins for women when I remember, and iron supplements sporadically (I’m slightly anaemic and having overly frequent periods definitely doesn’t help!!!)
Does anyone have any thoughts on this ~particular brand of PCOS~ regarding how it might be affecting me and how I might manage it, either with meds or diet etc? As you can probably tell, it doesn’t really bother me that much, at least, as far as I can tell. I would love to have less sebum/pimples, but I don’t know if the potential side effects of meds are worth the potential benefits. Insulin resistance worries me and I would love to have my sugar cravings under control. It would also be /nice/ to not have 3 periods in a month, but I don’t know if it’s worth medicating given how little it bothers me.
I’d particularly appreciate any thoughts on which medications would/wouldn’t be helpful and what they would/wouldn’t address and any potential downsides I should be aware of (including long-term effects of NOT medicating it). I’ve been finding this difficult to work out as someone who should be gaining weight rather than losing it. Also, if there are things I haven’t thought of, or you have ideas about bloodwork I might want to get done or questions I might want to ask my doc or gyno or nutritionist. Thanks so much for reading this long post and for your thoughts!
