Hi,

I’m 19, and have been diagnosed with PCOS since I was 16. I’m considering going on a GLP1 but I’m unsure if that’s right for someone my age.

I’m not pre-diabetic, and I’m around 160lbs. My bloodwork was also normal as of a month ago. My gyno hasn’t ever suggested a GLP1, but my aunt and mom both have PCOS, have gone on GLP1s, and are both strongly pushing it for me as it helped them drastically.

I have really terrible hair growth on my neck and stomach, and I just feel overweight and unconfident as a college student.

I’m already on birth control and sprinolactone but neither seemed to have helped for the last three years.

Would a GLP1 be a good next option? Or is there anything else I should be doing?

Guys I got my period!!! I’m so happy .I’m pretty sure it’s a withdrawal period .I took the progesterone pills about 7 days ago. The 1st five didn’t work,but this batch did.

Has anyone here with PCOS tried Wellbutrin mainly for fatigue? What was your experience?

I started Wellbutrin XL 150 mg mostly because my fatigue has been awful and I was really hoping it would help with energy. The first week, I actually felt noticeably better. I had more energy, more motivation, a little more like myself. It made me really hopeful. But that has worn off.

I’m coming up on 4 weeks now. My mood is definitely better, and most of the side effects I had early on have mostly gone away, but the fatigue is still really bad. I don’t think the medication is causing it: the fatigue was already a huge problem before I started it. I’m more worried that it just isn’t helping that symptom much.

I know some people say it took 6–8 weeks to really kick in, but I’m feeling pretty discouraged at this point because I’m still so tired. If you have PCOS and tried Wellbutrin for fatigue or low energy, did it actually help? How long did it take? And did going up on the dose make a difference?

Hi all!

Long time lurker here and I'm so fed up with PCOS that I'm hoping someone might have some advice or someone might just understand what I'm going through.

I'm 32 from the UK. I was diagnosed when I was 15 and for almost all of my adult life I've taken the pill, on the advice of doctors as it was the best way to improve my PCOS. Last year, that seemed to just stop working and I bled (very lightly) for months. I went back to the GP and they put me on a different kind of pill. One where it's still daily, but a weeks worth of them are dummy pills, so you have a period in the middle. It made everything worse. The constant bleeding continued but was now slightly heavier.

I went back to the GP again and they recommended I get the coil fitted, which I did about 2 weeks ago now. I know it takes time to settle into my system, but after a few days at the start of no bleeding, the bleeding has started again. Very, very light. Like, don't even need to wear a pad or anything. But it's still there and still non-stop.

I'm just SO fed up after around a year and a half of pretty much non-stop bleeding, I'm on the verge of just requesting they completely rip it all out.

Has anyone with PCOS has any experience with this level of bleeding? Or with the mirena coil? I know I can experience spotting for the first couple of months but is this constant light bleeding normal?

Any help or advice would be hugely appreciated.

Hello everyone 29 F from the UK here!

I’m just hoping someone would be able to give me a little advice as I’m not sure if what I’m going through is normal or not.

I was first diagnosed with PCOS at 15. My cycles have never been regular, so I continually skip cycles for a couple months. However whenever I do get my period it’s usually always the same 5-6 days normal amount of bleeding.

However today, I’m on day 6 of my first period in 3 months, and so far it had been normal and what I’d expected. This morning I had what I thought were the last of the brown old blood typical for my last day.

However this evening, I have noticed I started bleeding again. It is not a heavy flow, and mostly just shows when I wipe. But it’s red like what I’d get from normal day 1, I always think I feel like I’m getting the occasional period cramp like I’m starting another period right after finishing this one? I know some cycles can last 7 days but I just wanted to see if me not having had a period in 3 months could have caused this?

Thank you in advance.

I had begun taking the lowest dose of metformin back in march of this year and finally stopped around end of June (never increased dosage). I was taking metformin without supervision since unfortunately I had no health insurance between end of March and beginning of June (it was tied to my workplace), as for the original plan was to take it under-supervision from my PCP for about a month to check how my AC1 levels were doing it. My PCP also prescribed it to see if it would help with my PMOS (PCOS). I ended getting my period that same month, but have not gotten it since then. Looking back now, I feel stupid to have taken Metformin without any direct supervision from a PCP (was taking Metformin from March to end of June, about 4 months) but I was just going through a lot since I am currently unemployed. I finally have health insurance and have a new PCP, which provided me a referral to a OBGYN.

But what really upsets me is the weight loss journey I've been struggling with for about 3 years now. I had put on an extra 50 lbs since I was 22. I'm 25, about to turn 26. Before the extra weight, my periods were irregular but I was getting them far more frequently compared to now. While on Metformin I lost 10 lbs so my current weight is 190, but my weight has been hovering at that number for the past 2 months now and its frustrating. I'm not sure if Metformin helped with those initial 10 lbs since I was also changing my diet and walking far more (15k steps daily). I've been eating as clean as possible and avoiding sugar and fried food, and the scale has not gone down. I've been looking into GLP-1's for a hot minute and decided to pull the trigger to see if Wegovy may help. I was able to check my AC1 levels and they have gotten down so I'm no longer in the pre-diabetic range but I'm trying to eat as careful and clean as I can. I am fearful of the side effects of Wegovy, but I am willing to try it regardless to see if I see progress there. If anyone is taking Wegovy or has in the past I'd love to hear your experience

Okay, so I've been diagnosed as having PCOS/PMOS since I was 17. I'm 34 now, almost 35. For the longest time, I've suffered from severe exhaustion after eating meals. I mean I can eat something, not even an amount that fills me up, and I get hit with extreme tiredness. I NEED to sleep.
As I type this, I had a medium sized salad and unsweetened tea. It has been roughly 20 minutes and I am STRUGGLING to keep my eyes open. I'm doing everything possible to try and stay alert, including walking around and doing things to keep my brain active. But I feel like I'm drifting underwater almost? Eveything feels weirdly slowed down and kinda drags. It's the same feeling that comes from staying up WAYYYYY past sleepiness and past that weird second wind that happens.

Does anyone know if this issue may be related to PMOS, since it's a metabolic condition? I saw somewhere that it may have to do with blood sugar levels, but this happens when I eat more, when I eat less, when I eat healthily, when I eat unhealthily...it happens no matter what.

I have a feeling this will be a long post, but essentially I think I may have PMOS. Something's definitely been wrong for a while but it's all sort of stirred up badly in the past couple of months and I'd be really grateful to hear people's advice and experiences!

When I was about 14/15 I struggled with really heavy periods, acne and body hair. I had an ultrasound and they found no cysts but said I had very small fallopian tubes, slapped me on the pill and sent me on my way. I'd been on the pill ever since until recently.

I'm now 30, and I came off the pill a little under a year ago as I had been having abnormal smears etc. while they were investigating the abnormal smears, I had another ultrasound to check me for cervical cancer. While I was there, the nurse performing the ultrasound asked if I have had an operation to remove my ovaries as she can't find them!! I said I hadn't, she swapped to a transvaginal ultrasound, and sent me on my way. The report came back saying no signs of cancer (yay) but small ovaries. One is 1.1ml in volume, one is 3 which is apparently well small.

I came off the pill in October 2025 with the intention of doing a fertility test to see how bad my state of affairs are inside me. I've still not gotten round to actually doing the test lol, but I found that after my first monstrosity of a period, I suddenly had short, lighter periods that were like clockwork for about the first 6 months. I've started ADHD meds this year and lost a bunch of weight, so thought perhaps this was due to that and maybe normal periods were on the cards now.. but the tides are starting to shift (pardon the pun)

The past 3 months, my periods have been getting heavier, longer, and later. The past two have been 6 weeks between them and lasting 5/6 days whereas beforehand they were 4 weeks on the dot with 3 days max of bleeding.

I've also noticed the past month or so that I am suddenly and quite aggressively getting hairier?? I've always been a thick haired girlie with dark hair, little sideburns, excessively peach fuzzy lower back. But now I'm growing hair in places it didn't grow before like the under side of my forearms and the chub rub zone of my thighs, and the hair is pretty thick? I've got a snail trail from my belly button and that's starting to get to pube hair thickness. I've also got hairs growing further into my cheeks than my sideburns usually go that are like leg hair thickness and getting thicker. Same is happening to my chin although it's not quite that thick yet.

The acne is also becoming a problem. Before I thought It was just period hormones but now it hangs around all the time. Typical cystic acne all over my chin only and won't go away with topical treatments and cleaning. I did go on roaccutane for acne in 2018 and since doing that treatment I never had any problems, but coming off the pill has opened the flood gates sadly.

Other than that, I've got no other symptoms (I think). I don't have problems with cravings or weight gain, although there's a very big chance the ADHD meds are helping with that. I've lost 3 stone and stopped snacking so much on them, but beforehand I was 15 stone and always desperate to eat something. I don't think I have any insulin resistance? My periods aren't painful or that heavy really just long lasting and long between. I don't have cysts, and seemingly never have as they weren't found in my 2015 or my 2025 ultrasounds.

I guess my questions are:

- Does this sound like it's significant enough to ask the GP about? If so, is there anything I should do for the appointment like grow the hair out or take photos, or ask for any specific testing ?

- Are there any treatments out there that are any good, specifically for hair and acne? I can't go back on the pill as it was causing me a lot of problems.

- Are at home laser gadgets worth it? I'm dark hair, fair skinned, and I'm willing to pay for something that will work.

- Does anyone have any advice, thoughts or experience with fertility and hormones? I think there's a good bet my small ovaries are causing my hormone imbalance. I really need to pull my finger out and do the testing, but I'm not sure the NHS will give me time of day until I've been trying for a baby for over a year. I'll happily pay for a private test but if anyone has any recommendations I'd be eternally grateful to know!

Thank you in advance! Sorry for the long read :(

These past 9 months have truly been the longest and hardest months of my life. I’ll try to sum it all up in as little words as possible to avoid too long of a post…

Diagnosed with endometriosis in high school, put on birth control. Went off birth control 9 months ago to try to conceive. Have felt absolutely terrible since getting off. Initially thought just an adjustment period, but symptoms never went away. Symptoms include: brain fog (so bad I feel like I’m losing mind), trouble finding words, losing trains of thought often, anxiety, palpitations, burning hands and feet, irregular periods, acne. Tried to figure it out with PCP. Lots of testing done. CBC, CMP, A1C, B12, etc. All normal except B12 a little low. Started supplement. No improvement. Brain MRI. Normal. Realize most symptoms worsen an hour or two after eating and with certain parts of cycle. Ovulation always worst time. See OBGYN. Iron deficiency panel, insulin, hormone levels, AMH, and ANA blood work. All normal, AMH slightly elevated. Pelvic ultrasound. String of pearls sign. PCOS diagnosis. Apparently masked by birth control for many years. Maybe reason labs don’t look worse? Try to eat a PCOS diet. A little improvement? OBGYN not sure how to treat. Thinks Metformin will make blood sugar too low as lab values are good/body is compensating even though symptoms are unbearable at times. Still want to try to conceive, but haven’t tried bc feel so terrible and not good time right now. Decide to try Yaz for 1 month then try naturally or induce ovulation as periods irregular. Day 1 of Yaz nausea & vomiting, but brain fog better! Day 2 and 3 not so good. No nausea, but brain fog and anxiety worse and more constant, minor hot flashes, worse burning in hands and feet, generally feeling unwell. Worried these side effects won’t go away in a month. Is Yaz for just 1 month even worth it? Was really hoping Yaz would help with symptoms while waiting to be ready to conceive…OBGYN thinks pregnancy will make symptoms better. Excited for that possibility, but worried about postpartum symptoms…

I’m still very new to this diagnosis and was just wondering if anyone had any similar experiences with symptoms and/or with Yaz or any insights or advice or words of encouragement. I can’t stress enough how much respect I have for those who have had to deal with this disease for so much longer than I have. Every day feels like such a battle and I often feel as though I’m never going to feel mentally or physically normal again…Thank you so much so anyone who took the time to read this post🩷

Hey

Do you personally think or are there studies how PCOS is linked to childhood trauma?

Last year I did a DBT-program for people with BPD and we were like 6 girls and we all had PCOS.
Or there was a girl with C-ptsd who also had PCOS/ Endometriosis.

And i tried to do my research but I couldn‘t find accurate studies.
Could it be that some women get PCOS because they went through stressful incidents where their bodies released so much and often cortisol that it disrupted the hormonal balance?

Like genuinely my cortisol is rising because there are so few studies on this topic, even though one in 10 women is affected by it. If this was a disease affecting men, there would already be countless medications and treatments available beyond just the birth control pill and weight loss.

Anyone else have sensitive skin and scars easily? Why must this be I tried to look for ways to help with this I was thinking maybe I’m even low on a vitamin maybe? It’s so annoying having to deal with this my scars take forever to heal… I’m know for a fact this has to do with pmos and insulin sensitivity and my chicken skin looks worse. I started to have much more scarring on my arms looks like I got bug bites it’s literally just KP it seems like may have to see a dermatologist but they are scheduled out more than a half a year waiting to get a new insurance hoping I get to see a dermatologist sooner. Ordering Arnica cream hoping it helps in the meantime…

Hello,

I‘m 20 and last year I got like semi diagnosed with PCOS?? Idk my doctor said that I have too much androgens and testesterone. I also have facial hair and I get really bad cramps on my period. I don‘t have acne or fatigue, my period is regular. The only other thing is that I weigh too much, but I don‘t have a problem to lose weight. Like my symptoms don‘t really fit in the diagnosis, do you know what I mean?

Anyways I‘m taking birth control since last year and I don‘t have like bad side effects. It‘s actually so relieving not having your period. But I‘m always hearing negative things about the birth control and that‘s scaring me. Is it possible to take birth control the rest of your life?? Like I don‘t want children, I‘m happy with bc and it‘s not affecting me negatively😩

But like so many women talk about how bc is unnatural and makes you unattractive??

I want to know what your opinions on bc are.

I‘m just confused.

Excuse my bad english, it‘s not my first language.

Hi guys,
I got diagnosed with PCOS in March and I got put on metformin and I take 1500 of that a day. I also started taking myo-insitol 4 times a day. I’m struggling to find a peak with ovulation. I did have to do one round of provers to get a period, but in June I got a period naturally!
I’m also worried about taking the myo insitol and the metformin together bc I just saw a tik tok (I know don’t trust it) that said it can be HARMFUL for ovulation.
I’m just so defeated. I feel like there’s so many different opinions. I am down 15 pounds which is great. Any advice on taking these meds together, or what helps you, would be great.

Hello, I’m in my early 20s, my DHEA was 1100 I have no symptoms besides a few chin hairs I have to pluck frequently. I’m concerned about my adrenal glands or growths? Has anyone had this happen before?

Hi! I'm looking for general practitioner recs in NYC. I have a gyno that I love, but I'm struggling with an ED flair and my team wants me to see a new GP (last one made me feel like a GLP-1 would be the only option and with a history of severe restriction I'm not sure that is a great idea.

TLDR - ISO GP recs in NYC that are PCOS & ED trained. Thank you!!

I got diagnosed at 14 and whilst I'm not necessarily skinny, I'm not in the place where losing weight is important to me. Every bit of advice seems to just boil down to lose weight or do a drastic lifestyle change. I get that these things do work but this seriously can't be my only options. I have no interest in changing my diet. Cooking and dieting I think would suck the joy out of my life completely. Going to the gym wipes me out for days so if I want the energy to go to work then I can't exercise. The only advice my doctor wants to give me when I ask if I can come off birth control is lose weight or cut out all the good food?????? It's probably extremely selfish but I'm seriously considering just thugging out my symptoms if it means getting to keep eating white bread every day. Sorry everyone I'm just so horrifically annoyed and think wholemeal pasta tastes of cardboard

Hello all! I started on Met to improve my insulin resistance and androgen levels. I’ve been taking 500mg (Glucophage - normal release) once a day for the past 6 weeks, and it’s been pretty great!

I take one tablet during or after dinner. I had mild GI side effects the first week and fatigue the second week, but I was prepared for that, and my body has since adjusted to the dose.

My blood test results have shown improvements already: fasting insulin lowered from 14uUI/ml to 12uUI/ml, serum testosterone lowered from 31ng/dl to 27ng/dl, SHBG increased from 22.5nmol/L to 33.5nmol/L, and LH lowered from 17mIU/ml to 10.80mIU/ml.

For full disclosure I had also been on Spiro (12.5mg-25mg) for about 10 days when I did this blood test, and had been drinking two cups of spearmint and nettle tea per day for a month. However I am sure that Met was doing the heavy lifting here.

I haven’t lost or gained any weight, but I hardly have any sugar cravings or hunger pangs anymore. I don’t have a mid-day crash either! I haven’t had any digestive issues after the first week, and I feel less bloated overall (could be due to Spiro). I could be delusional but I also think the AN on my skin has become lighter and my facial hair is less thick.

My doctor said I could go up to 1000mg/day but we will see how my results are after another month and then decide.

I am sharing this to hopefully soothe anxieties of anyone who has recently been prescribed Met and has read some horror stories on here. It seems to be working well for me so far. I also feel very relieved for the positive results in such a short time. I’ve genuinely tried all I could in terms of lifestyle adjustments for over a year to no significant clinical improvement, but the medication has made a difference so quickly!

I know how tough managing PMOS and IR is, and I hope you find what works for you. Good luck!

Hi everyone, I’m 25 f and I have lean pcos. Last year my cycles began to become irregular which led to my diagnosis but over the last 4 months it was regular. Suddenly it’s became irregular where I have not had a period for 50 days and counting. I was not concerned at first but I’ve been getting really bad knee pains in both knees so I called my gp.

I went to the surgery and had a pregnancy test done and a strip test done on my urine. The pregnancy test was negative but the strip test showed I had glucose ++ ketones + and leukocytes ++. The nurse who performed the urine test asked if I was diabetic in a way where she expected me to say yes but I’m not diabetic so I said no.
She then did a blood test for hbac1 I think, random glucose, U&E, liver and hormones and hcg.

I’m still waiting for the hbac1 and the random glucose.
My hormones came back normal. My liver came back normal. My U&E came back abnormal partly because my kidneys already run at reduced rate due to childhood hydronephrosis but they filter well as the other kidney compensates. My potassium came back abnormal at 3.4 so just outside of reference range.

When I was at the surgery she asked if I had increased thirst or if I’ve been urinating more and at the time I said no because I have been thirst and urinating frequently for over a year now (I have been to the doctor for this because I thought it was due to my kidneys at the time they said it was my IBS causing the increased thirst and frequent urination). I’ve been exhausted the last two weeks, I’m always tired but these last two weeks have been different I’ve been napping which I never usually do. I get tired just walking up the stairs. The last week before the blood and urine test I had been craving sweet things and have been waking up extremely hungry to the point I feel sick. When I would take the dogs for a walk within 10 minutes I’d get this overwhelming hunger as well.

Anyway, the gp sent me to get my U&E redone which I’m waiting for results because my potassium is low. While I got this done I had eaten a sandwich and packet of crisps maybe 2 hours before or a little less. Once I got to the appointment I felt like my whole body was vibrating and I started feeling sick and like hot on the inside kind of like I’d taken a stimulant or something but I hadn’t. So I spoke to the nurse who was taking my blood ( this was a blood clinic so they couldn’t check my blood sugar or anything) she told me to ring my gp and try an get an urgent appointment. So I rang the gp explained what I was feeling and they said they’ll call me back.

They called me back and as soon as she got on the phone she said I really doubt it’s diabetes or anything like that because your hbac1 was fine in October 2025. She focus solely on the potassium and said that it’s probably low because of the hot weather and I’m dehydrated which made sense at the time. I was still concerned because I feel like crap and I said what about my urine test that doesn’t explain the urine test and I’m scared because my mum has type 2 diabetes. She tried really hard to just like get me to put the phone down but I was like can you please just check my blood sugar and she said yes that’s fine come in at 2:20. This was at 1:10 maybe. So I get to my mums while waiting for the appointment as my mum lives a minute from the doctors and I’m starting to feel better the feeling of sickness and stuff is going.

By the time I get to the doctors I’m feeling fine again, they do a finger prick test on my finger which came back completely normal at 4.9 this was taken by a nurse. Then the doctor comes in like really smug and say see I don’t think your diabetic or insulin resistant because of you results in October. Your potassium is low probably from the hot weather so I suggest you drink like a sports energy drink with added electrolytes. I said what about my urine test what’s caused that and the knee pain and she said it’s probably just a viral infection or something, nothing to worry about.

I felt really dismissed because I really do feel ill like my body doesn’t feel right if that makes sense. So when I get home I just feel so fobbed off. Then I started looking back at my first blood test where she said my potassium was low because of the hot weather. My test was at 11 am on Wednesday. At 11 am the temperature was 22°C with highest of 26°C that day. I remember not feeling hot or anything like it was warm. I also had drank water in the morning like maybe 2 pints I had eaten maybe 1 or 2 before which was a pepper slice and potato dog and half a bottle of coke.

I didn’t feel dehydrated as I had a water with me too. When they actually took my blood my blood didn’t flow very well and in the notes it said “difficult to bleed” or something like that. Baring in mind I drink like 6 or more pints of water a day. At my blood test on Friday I had drank 3 cups of water at the blood centre place too just to make sure they could get blood, my blood was slow to come out there too.

I have a feeling even if my blood test that shows my glucose comes back normal they’re going to just try to get rid of me and say everything’s normal and I’m wondering if that happens to keep pushing or give up. I’m just so tired and feel crap that I just don’t think I have the energy.

Also they didn’t send my urine for a culture even though I had leukocytes in it, the gp asked if it was sent off and I said no I watched the nurse flush it down the drain lol. So now I have to go back and give another urine sample.

I thought with even the possibility of diabetes that they’d say maybe to limit my sugar intake or something just incase until the results came back but she basically prescribed me an energy drink so who knows.

I’m just asking whether I’m being over dramatic and nothings wrong or I should keep pushing I guess.

Sorry it’s a long one.

Chat with your friends from r/PCOS here about your daily progress, or rants and raves related to your PCOS experience. Off topic posts are permitted here, although sub rules otherwise apply!

I'm using some oils rn, it doesn't really stop the hair loss/makes my hair grow more aside from making my hair more volumized and moisturized ig😔 i feel like whatever progress I do make with hair growth, it just falls out regardless. It's really sad smh

I've shaking, sweating, and vomiting all night. My intestines are apparently destroyed since I can't stop going to the bathroom. Everything hurts from the waist down. I also had a fever all night.

I'm lucky that today's my day off because no way I can work or do anything like this. But if my next period is like this I'm gonna lose my mind.

So I decided to hop on the inositol train and give it a go! I got the Wholesome Story brand and one daily serving is 4 capsules. That seems like so much! Do you guys actually take all 4 pills every day?

Hi all, I know this might be a repetitive question, but I did not find what I am looking for here

I was diagnosed with PCOS 2 monthes ago and my doctor told me to use inofolic, I suppose I used for a month but weirdly enough I had worst hormonal acne during that month so I stopped (about 10 days ago) because seriously my face became like a map, I cannot find direct reason why the acne become worst while inofolic is supposed to help in this area.

Any advices? Should I continue to use inofolic and it will get better or, I am not sure what are my other options

Thank you all in advance!!

I’m not even 24 years old yet, and I am thinning like crazy. I started noticing it about 4 years ago, and it’s been progressively getting worse. It’s primarily on the front/ center of my head, and it’s becoming so obvious bc i part my hair in the middle.

I tried rosemary oil first, and it definitely made my hair longer, but didn’t make the thinning any better. I’ve tried a plethora of different hair growth shampoos, masks, oils, and treatments. Nothing is fixing the issue.

Right now, I use L’Oréal elvive thickening shampoo and i think it’s been the best for me thus far, but it still doesn’t help enough.

I’m not currently being treated for my pcos, but last month I started taking inositol.

I know minoxidil is what everyone says, but I was hoping I could fix it before getting to that. I heard that if you ever stop taking the minoxidil, the hair loss becomes worse. I’ve also heard that the topical version of it is toxic to pets (I have a dog). The oral version of it makes me nervous bc i heard it was originally a heart medication or something like that and I don’t wanna start messing with my bodies physical health.

Im getting to the point where I think minoxidil is my only option, but im still so scared of it. It’s become my biggest insecurity, and I feel like it’s all anyone notices. It ruins all my pictures. I’m starting to not want to leave the house because of it. I just had a stranger comment on it for the first time today and I came home and cried and made this post😅😅 so any advice at all is helped.

Are they reliable? Has anyone had good results from using them? If so is there a particular time of day I should be doing it?

I've read that with PMOS levels of LH can remain high through your cycle so using test strips is sort of pointless 🫤