(no subject)

[ex-vintage686.livejournal.com]

I had a very unsuccessful trip to the gyno this morning, and I just had a couple of things that I wanted to ask, to see if maybe I could get some perspective on it? Everything is under the cut, because I'm not sure how long it will be, and I hate to mess up anyone's f-list you know.



I've had my period since I was...about twelve I guess. I'm seventeen right now. I've never been regular to my knowledge. Before, I was too young to pay attention to when it comes other than "JESUS I NEED PADS NOW MOM!!" and since I've been aware that you should keep track, I've not been regular enough to remember. (like, I have set up a cycles page, but had a difficult time remembering exact dates, and then abandoned for awhile. It's a mess, I know I should keep track, I just find it difficult. Aie.)

Anyway, so color me captain irregular. I know my own warning signs, so I'll see it coming a few days in advance, but I can't tell you whether it was 28 days or 35 days or even 60 days since my last one. I'm usually once a month, occasionally I still skip during high stress times of the year (if period week were to match up with finals week, for example.)

Now, I bleed actually for somewhere between 9-10 days I would suppose. Longer than most women's cycles, and after that there's generally a good amount of spotting for the next week or so. It doesn't concern me, because a) it's not enough to warrant much attention and b) it doesn't hurt and c) it's pretty average for me, I'm used to essentially having long periods.

But I did see an advanced practice nurse this morning, and that was hell, but I thought perhaps being on some BC would help regulate me. For the record, I'm a virgin, who doesn't use tampons, and generally, shall we say I prefer other methods of personal stimulation. So, nurse attempts to get speculum inside me and fails. it physically hurts. It's not just pressure or discomfort. It hurts. Otherwise, I did ask her about these things, and got the shrug off. "That happens." was in essence, her marvelous conclusion.

Given all that, here's what I have.

1) Are my periods sounding totally weird to others or is it pretty much normal settling in as a teenager? They don't concern me especially, and I'm not trying to get pregnant, become sexually active or otherwise regulate them for any reason except "I would like to know what kind of cycle to expect."

2) What can be done to keep a speculum from hurting? The nurse basically said "put things in there." (which I found so helpful on her part.) I've tried tampons, but I'm too tense or too tight or too dry to manage them.

3) I am moderately overweight. Oh fine. I am obese. I am told this can pose problems for one's menstruation. I am working at losing weight. (and for the record, I am active. I just came out of 5 years of martial arts training, while I have been less active for a few months, I've just joined a gym and have a personal trainer.) I know PCOS is something to think about, could it be a problem at seventeen? What other problems does being overweight pose as far as my period is concerned?

I thank you for any help you can give. :D

Comments

[jaipur.livejournal.com]

The first time I had an ob/gyn checkup, at 16 or so, I was also a virgin and it hurt like blazes--as I recall they failed as well. I couldn't use tampons comfortably until after my hymen broke. I just let the ob/gyn checkups go 'til I was sexually active.

I think asking for a pediatric speculum is a great idea--they must have something they can use on little kids when it's needed.

Irregular periods are common. Some women know to the minute when they are getting their period, some can't remember when they last had their period (like me--my hubby keeps better track of it than I do). I went through a year or more of keeping religious track of my waking temperature (I was not trying to get pregnant, I was trying to NOT be surprised every time my period showed up) and I found a couple of things: My average cycle time was 29 days, but I could go as short as 19 days or as long as 56-60 days; and that over the course of a year my period actually became more regular--it was like the act of checking up on it reminded my body to stay on track, and I settled into a reliable 29 day cycle. :) I stopped after a few years 'cause we moved house and in the disruption I lost the habit of it, and now I'm as irregular as ever. But it was interesting to do.

The 9-10 days of bleeding I can't comment on--I've varied from 3-8 days but never that long. But that's not to say it's weird. Did you ask the nurse who was so horrible with the speculum about it?

And did they give you the BC or not? :)

[ex-vintage686.livejournal.com]

I mentioned my longer periods, but she was not very helpful. It really was just "it happens" from her. I wasn't satisfied with that answer. I mean, like I said it is not to say that I am concerned, but if there is a problem with having longer periods she needs to tell me what it might be.

They did give me birth control, a few months' worth on the prescription. It cannot hurt to try it, I suppose.

[shmi85.livejournal.com]

Your periods aren't sounding too weird to me. I've found, in general, there are a lot of women who like to say 'What? You're not having a 28 (or whatever they think is normal, once a month, blah) cycle?? There must be something wrong!' Which can be true, but I also think that if a woman is fairly educated about her body, she'll be able to tell if something is wrong, and there are some women who just have longer than "normal" cycles and are perfectly healthy. I, on the other hand, am an example of a menstral cycle gone horribly wrong =P I started when I was 9, and had it fairly regularly every month or two months until christmas of 7th grade. When I stopped. And I didn't have another period until sophomore year of high school. Between sophomore year and my first year of college, I probably had about five periods, one memorable time senior year when I had a period in February and then another one in March. My most recent natural period was October of 2003. I went on birth control in May of 2004 and was also diagnoised with PCOS at the same time, which explains some things =P

I never had much of a problem with the speculum, so I can't give a ton of advice. You may have been really tense because the nurse was being a jerk, especially if this was your first time at the gyno. Relaxing completely is a lot more important than sticking lots of things inside you, I think, and relaxing completely is really hard when you're half naked and there's someone you met 10 minutes ago sticking her fingers inside you.

Somehow, if you just came out of 5 years of martial arts training, I doubt that you're clinically obese. But maybe. Either way, I doubt you're anything more than kind of chubby. Usually (and take it from someone who's.. erm.. really big.. =P) problems with being overweight and your period don't start appearing until you're seriously overweight, 100 or 150lbs past your recommended weight. And even then, problems don't always occur. There's usually a lot more problems with your period when you're underweight than overweight. And yes, PCOS can be a problem at 17. I was diagnoised when I was 18.

[ex-vintage686.livejournal.com]

I am in fact, clinically obese. I just try to lead an active life, not that I in the slightest blame my parentage, but my mother is short and overweight, my father tall and obese, and I have been told that this particular combination can just predispose someone to be overweight. Despite normal upbringing and constant activity until just...this year, I am six feet tall and about 340 pounds.

On the chance that I do have PCOS, will the prescription for birth control still help regulate my period? The more I've looked into the possibility, honesty the more I think I demonstrate the symptoms. (skin tags, overweight, irregular periods lasting longer than "normal", carrying weight around the midsection.)I know that losing weight isn't a "fix-all" for anything, especially since I've spent the better part of my life overweight/obese and every doctor ever has commented on it, but if I exercise regularly and diet and manage to drop some weight, will this prevent future cysts from forming? I know there is little to be done about ones I might have already, and that it isn't just your ovaries but the endocrine system as whole, but can I control it with this method? I have heard things to effect of "lose weight, problem goes away." which may or may not be true in the slightest.

[shmi85.livejournal.com]

Then I take back what I said about your weight :)

Yes, birth control will still help regulate your period. Doctors tend to put PCOS patients on birth control because not having a period every three or four months puts you at a greater risk of developing uterine cancer. If you have PCOS, there's actually nothing wrong with your uterus -- it's all about your ovaries, and basically your uterus is sitting around waiting for the hormone released from the ovaries that signals it to shed the lining to appear, but it rarely or never does.

The symptoms you specifically mentioned make it sound like you're more at risk for diabetes than PCOS. Of course, diabetes and insulin resistance can be signs of PCOS also, but you might want to consider these other symptoms and see if they're applicable:

Chronic pelvic pain
Hypertension (high blood pressure)
Hirsutism (excess hair) — Excess hair growth such as on the face, chest, abdomen, thumbs, or toes.
Alopecia (male-pattern baldness or thinning hair)
Acne/Oily Skin/Seborrhea (Seborrhea is dandruff)
Acanthosis nigricans (dark patches of skin, tan to dark brown/black — Most commonly on the back of the neck)

There are also quite a few other things that you'd never know you had unless you went in for lab testing and ultrasounds, such as lipid abnormalities, insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, diabetes, enlarged ovaries, cystic ovaries, infertility, hyperandrogenism (which is high levels of masculine hormones, specifically testosterone, androstenedione, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate), and infrequent or absent ovulation.

As silly as it sounds, hairiness is a big deal with PCOS. There's this scale that I forget the name of that they judge the severity of your PCOS with (from mild to moderate to severe) and the very first item is your rating using this hair growth measure (that I also forget the medical name of). Being hairier can indicate deeper problems, especially hormonal issues with androgens (male hormones) and clue the doctor in to test you for those problems.

And for some women, losing a lot of weight makes the problem disappear completely. There are some (not a ton, but some) women who are not overweight and have PCOS, and losing weight doesn't really make much of a difference to them. A lot of the symptoms I mentioned above, like all the diabetes related things, and hypertension are really just symptoms of being overweight, and PCOS makes it very difficult to lose weight and sinfully easy to put weight on. It's kind of curious that despite leading an very active lifestyle, you're still obsese, genetics aside. You might want to investigate your diet. There's a couple books published about PCOS diets that you can find on Amazon. Sadly, the best diet for PCOS women tends to be the low-carb diets that are such a fad right now =P

In general, losing weight is always a good thing with PCOS. For some women, all the symptoms will disappear with weight loss. For other women, losing weight will help with some symptoms, but not others, and for yet other women, losing weight won't help very much at all. It all depends on the person. It's worth a shot for you anyway, and if it doesn't help in the next year or two, you can always get a referral to a good endocrinologist and go in for some professional help :)

Anyway, I hope this was helpful and I just wasn't repeating stuff you already know :) the pcosupport community on livejournal is alright, the pcos_journal one is better, it's full of news and articles about PCOS and related things.

[shmi85.livejournal.com]

Oops, I forgot to specifically address something you asked. I'm not entirely sure whether or not losing weight will stop future cysts from forming. PCOS is a fairly new syndrome, and you can still find some general practitioners who don't believe it exists. To some extent, a lot of the treatments or medications you'd get from an endo would be experimental hit-or-miss type of things. When one thing doesn't work, they go on to try another.

Cysts are mainly a concern (aside from helping to diagnois) if you're concerned about your fertility. Myself, I couldn't care less, so I'm just trying to lose some weight and haven't bothered going to an endo myself. If you really want to have children in the future, I'd recommend that you go to an endocrinologist soon. It's better and easier to try and deal with PCOS early in your life, and you have a better chance of preserving your fertility if you start treating it early.

The other thing is that it's generally considered something you're stuck with for life. Some women do manage to completely return to normal levels of hormones and remain fertile and everything, mainly by losing a lot of weight and through their diet. But generally doctors consider it a chronic condition.

[ex-vintage686.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much for all of this information. I find it incredibly helpful. And very relieving to know some of these things. I have none of the excessive hair that you mentioned, I did not realize it was so important to diagnosis. Nor do I care much personally for my fertility. My visit to the gynecologist was purely to regulate my period, I personally, am not at all concerned about my future ability to bear children. Perhaps in a few years when it become more pertinent, but truthfully I've never had plans to have children of my own. It is very comforting to know that the large part of the difficulty with PCOS is fertility.

I am trying to keep an eye on my weight, and signals for diabetes. My grandmother had type II, and I am therefore concerned about it. I will certainly look into some of the pcos friendly recipes, as I assume that they would be beneficial to any person attempting to lose weight. (I have heard that low carb is generally beneficial for both PCOS and diabetes sufferers. I do intend to check with my doctor, though. :D)

This information has been very helpful, I'm personally a worrier, so indications of abnormalities tend to send me into some frustration and anxiousness. I thank you for relieving it. :D

[cleaned.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, my periods were irregular in my teens (before I started taking bc at 19) as well, sometimes skipping 6 months in a row. They always last about 7 to 9 days.

I've never visited the gyno so far, so I wouldn't know what'll happen when the speculum is used on me. I can imagine being very nervous about it though, so it'll probably be very difficult to relax. The first couple of times I tried tampons (I was still a virgin) I couldn't get them in either and I couldn't understand why people loved them so much. But after 5 or 6 times it finally worked :) It just took a lot of patience, relaxation and pesistance.

[skeptictank.livejournal.com]

1. I can relate to the gyno thing a bit. I didn't have such a hard time, but they used the tiny speculum and my doc is THE BEST so she actually talked me through some meditative breathing techniques and touched each muscle in my pelvic region that needed to relax in order to get everything to go smoothly and had me focus all my thoughts on relaxing them one at a time.

2. A bit of wisdom: When I was younger I TRIED and TRIED and TRIED to use tampons, and I could not get the freakin things in. And the couple times I did, I'd cough or sneeze or move funny and my muscles would just launch the thing from my body. I didn't start using them until I was sexually active... not that you should wait that long, but for me, I became comfortable with my body only with the help of my boyfriend, and so the two sort of went hand in hand. My point, I guess, is that you need to be "at peace" with the whole process and physics of it before it's actually going to work.

I think it's the same thing with contacts and swallowing pills. If you unconciously tell your head that there's something foreign that's about to invade your body, your head is going to send your body into defense mode and the contact will never go in and the pill will never go down.

As I said about the speculum ordeal, even now I have to take a deep breath and give my mind and body a heads-up each time I insert or remove a tampon. Just a quick, "ok vagina, here we go," and everything seems to go much easier.

3. I'm almost 20 and have been getting my period for (2 weeks shy of) 6 years. The ONLY thing regular about my period is that I'll bleed like a stuck pig for about 4-6 days, it'll totally stop for 1-2 days, and then I'll continue bleeding and eventually spotting for another 3-5 days. That doesn't make it right or normal, but it doesn't mean anything BAD. You aren't weird or sick or broken. I should mention that I'm 5'7 and 102 lbs, so I can assure you that it isn't an issue of weight. I'm pretty sure that the only time weight really affects your cycle is if you're suddenly and rapidly losing/gaining weight.

The birth control should steady things for you and (this is the important part) IF you take it as directed for several months (as in 4-7). If the spotting issue persists beyond that you should talk to your doctor...preferably a different one...yours doesn't seem too helpful.

4. Good on you for taking control of your weight. My dearest friend from school was VERY overweight the day I met her in 2nd grade and struggled with her weight until our senior year of high school when she finally decided to REALLY start taking control. Of course, it was a genetic medical issue, so she'd been on hoards of meds for it her whole life, but once she started training at the gym and focusing more seriously on it, EVERYONE noticed the change. Two and a half years later her body looks half of what it did in high school, and her self-confidence has made her into twice the person she appeared to be back then.

I hope you find the same strengh inside of you that she did. Good luck, and keep us updated!