Premature Ovarian Failure?
Okay, I’m 19 so this sounds ridiculous. I had my first period at 12, pretty heavy for a first period too, soaked through everything my first day and had bad cramps from the start. I never really charted everything until late 2007. Since then I noticed a pattern. My periods were getting farther and farther apart. I thought this was a little weird. Then I was hospitalized with an ovarian cyst and infection over there. My doctor was concerned about my lengthening cycles and wanted me to come see him two weeks after I was discharged (lots of antibiotics later…) Well, the day I was supposed to see him I had my last period so I cancelled the appointment. I tried to make another but I was spotting, and again, and again. Finally I got my appointment. I got another ultrasound on the ovaries and was given the all clear. He told me I had PCOS and took some blood to test my hormones. A week and a half later he called with the results and told me I had low progesterone, common in PCOS. He started me on metformin since I’d like to TTC in the next year and wanted to make sure I was ovulating. At this point my cycles were 48 days long, up from around 32 the year before. I started taking Metformin and I don’t like it. It makes me dizzy and gassy. Also I am currently in the range of cycle day 81.
I’ve been looking up stuff recently and have found I have symptoms of both PCOS and premature ovarian failure. Irregular (or no) periods, hot flashes/night sweats, cysts, insomnia (when not on metformin, metformin makes me incredibly tired all the time), occasionally sore breasts, moodiness, irritability, ect.
I DON’T have some of the big trademarks of facial hair, weight gain (or trouble losing weight, actually it falls off like nothing when I skip meals), and hair loss that are part of PCOS.
The thing I don’t really get is the hot flashes. I don’t see that listed anywhere in PCOS, only in POF. Someone help me…
PCOS is very hard to diagnose. It has a varying range of symptoms that are different for each person. Usually if you end up having irregular periods and are prone to cysts on your ovaries plus have a small degree of difficulty controlling your insulin level, you would be given the diagnosis of PCOS.
It sounds like you do have endometriosis from you describing the heavy painful flow. Enodmetriosis can cause POF if it is located on your ovaries. It would be unusual for POF to occur at 19 though. The best diagnosis for POF is to have an AMH (anti-mullerian hormone test) this actually measures a hormone released by your non-mature eggs. It starts off at its highest when we are at puberty and starts slowly declining as we age and our eggs die off. I wouldn’t allow them to do a Clomid Challenge Test. This can mark you as having a high FSH and make it very difficult to ever get treatment for any infertility problems you may have. They may automatically tell you that you have POF if your day 3 FSH is 10 or above. (must be on cycle day 3). More and more doctors are starting to use the AMH test instead of the FSH now. The FSH can vary and isn’t a direct measure. POF doesn’t usually cause irregular cycles, but they can lengthen. I have POF and mine actually were very regular always at 24 & 28 days alternating months.
You can get hot flashes in both PCOS and late stage POF. Hot flashes are caused by a low estrogen and/or progesterone. Basically you wouldn’t have those in POF until you started completely missing periods, basically having reached meno-pause. Due to your age the diagnosis of PCOS definitely more likely. Most likely you also have endometriosis which is best controlled by birth control pills. I have endometriosis that did cause my POF. I was diagnosed at 32. Still don’t get hot flashes. (I’m almost 37 now). I still have periods, I’m just low on egg volume. POF basically means that the ovaries are prematurely low on egg volume for some reason, but low could still mean 10,000 (instead of another similiarly aged woman that would have about 500,000 or so-this is not a true number, just me giving examples), which means you’ll continue to ovulate and have cycles until they run out. The symptoms you looked at are for menopause which would be the last stages of POF when you have completely run out of eggs. Again this is unlikely at your age.
So bottom line is, if you are questioning ask for the AMH test.
Inquire about endometriosis. Birth control is best for control while you aren’t yet trying to conceive.
Hope this helped some.
It is possible to have PCOS and not have any symptoms other than irregular periods. Perhaps the hot flashes are caused by something else – that isn’t POF either. I don’t know enough about PCOS to say whether hot flashes could be a symptom. But, I have been worrying lately if I might be perimenopausal, and the first thing my doctor asked me was about hot flashes. Before I saw my doctor, I found a home menopause test at the supermarket – beside the pregnancy tests and condoms. You could try taking one of those. But, I would go back to your doctor and ask for your symptoms to be further investigated, so you know for sure what is causing them, and you can get appropriate treatment.
Even if it is POF, there are still options for you to have your own child – particularly if you find out soon enough.
Hello from Russia!
Can I quote a post in your blog with the link to you?
Yes.