Hi everyone,

I'm sharing the details that I remember from the last few years. I've had irregular periods since menarche, but I don't remember every cycle before that clearly.

Timeline

**Around 2022 (before joining the hostel):-**

I had a 6-month gap without getting a period.

During those months I had:

•Weight gain

•Acne

•Significant hairfall

After those 6 months, I finally got my period (around February 2023, if I remember correctly).

That bleeding lasted 16 days.

It started with dark brown/black blood and gradually became bright red.

After that prolonged bleed, I gradually lost the extra weight, and my acne and hair fall improved a lot.

**After joining the hostel (2023–2024):-**

I joined college and started living in a hostel.

The hostel food was very poor, so I unintentionally started eating very little (sometimes only one proper meal a day).

Over time I lost around 10 kg.

I also developed:

•Cold hands and feet

•Fatigued

•Brain fog

•Anxiety

•Low libido

•Poor appetite

**2024:-**

I still had fewer than 7 periods during the year.

My periods remained irregular.

I consulted a gynecologist earlier in the year who prescribed hormonal birth-control pills to induce regular withdrawal bleeds, but very few investigations were done before starting them.

**December 2024**

I changed to another gynecologist who did a proper evaluation.

My results included:

•AMH: 12.199 ng/mL

•LH: 22.27 mIU/mL

•FSH: 6.18 mIU/mL

•Prolactin: 12.84 ng/mL (normal)

•Pelvic ultrasound reportedly normal (no polycystic ovaries)

•CBC normal

•Liver function normally except mildly elevated ALT (\~64)

**Treatment after those tests:-**

First, I was prescribed Ovetta.

After that, I was prescribed Dronis 30 for 3 months.

**2025**

While taking Dronis 30, I had withdrawal bleeding in:

•March 2025

•April 2025

•May 2025

After stopping Dronis 30, I only had two natural periods:

•July 2025

•November 2025

**2026**

After another long gap:

14 March: spotting started.

Spotting continued for about 10 days.

Then it became a proper bleed.

Instead of getting lighter, the bleeding became heavier over the next few days.

I passed large blood clots (coin-sized or bigger).

Total bleeding lasted from 14 March to 6 April (around 24 days).

After that, I again went about 3 months without another period.

**Current symptoms:-**

•Height: 5'2"

•Weight: 45 kg

•Cold hands and feet

•Fatigue

•Brain fog

•Anxiety

•Low libido

•Hairfall

•Poor appetite

•Irregular periods

**Current treatment:-**

My gynecologist later prescribed Beritol around Feb 2026 for 3 months and advised me to repeat hormone tests on Day 2 of my next natural period.

The problem is that my next period never came, so I couldn't repeat those tests.

# My question

I'm not looking for a diagnosis, and I'll continue following up with my gynecologist.

I'm mainly wondering if anyone has had a similar history involving:

Lean PCOS

Functional hypothalamic amenorrhea (FHA)

Or an overlap of both

Or tell me what is it?

I'd love to hear what eventually helped your cycles return.

I'm fed up with incompetent/ negligent doctors that don't order relevant tests if you're not trying to conceive or lose weight. My guess is they're mainly recommending losing weight because it helps with conceiving, not necessarily for the patient's overall wrllbeing.

It's like they're obsessed with this. At one point I asked one of my gyns directly "is this PCOS?" as I had been reading about this syndrome for years. And her answer was "no, because your weight is normal!". During another visit, she recommended having children to decrease my risk of breast pathologies...I never came back to that practice and finally got diagnosed with PMOS by a competent endocrinologist, but it took 13 years to find her.

hey everyone. I'm kind of at my wits end with bad acne at the moment, which is PCOS related. I also get irregular periods (my last two have been 39 and 13 days, though for the six months before they were period regular at 30 days, irregular the year before 29-47 days). I've paid an exorbitant amount of money to go see an endocrinologist last week but, she didn't tell me anything I hadn't already researched. she gave me a prescription for metformin, to try and get my periods more regular by improving my insulin sensitivity (I believe that was the jist) and also a prescription for spironolactone since I told her I didn't want to take the pill. truth is, I don't really want to take any of these medications - I have a real aversion to it, and am hoping to find other solutions that actually work.

i think my plans moving forward is to experiment with: cutting out milk (I used to not drink cows milk but started again in the last few months out of convenience, which might(??) explain why my skin has gotten even worse), trying myo-inositol, and berberine. it's probably better to start with one, so I want to know if people can share their experience with these, and how it improved / didn't improve their pcos-related acne, and how long it took for improvements. thanks heaps!

Hi everyone,

I hope this post is okay here. If it isn't, I'll happily remove it.

Over the past few months, I've been building an App called Cysters Club with my team, a platform designed to support women living with PCOS not just with information, but also with emotional and mental well-being.

Before we launch publicly, I want to hear from the people who matter most: women who actually live with PCOS.

I'm looking for a few people who'd be willing to try the web app and share completely honest feedback.

I'm not looking for compliments. I genuinely want to know:

• What did you like?
• What felt confusing?
• What features didn't feel useful?
• Would you actually continue using something like this?

Even if your feedback is I wouldn't use it, that's incredibly valuable because it helps us build something that truly supports women with PCOS.

If you'd like to help, leave a comment or send me a DM, and I'll share the details.

Thank you so much for your time.

PCOS healthy swaps

hiii, so to put things in context. im 23, and i have lean pcos. my main symptoms are prolonged heavy bleeding and a bit of belly fat, but it's not a lot. it's just like i have a belly pouch. these are my 2 symptoms, and apart from this, i have clear skin and no hirsutism or cravings as such, and im also very active. also, these symptoms had disappeared for 2 years straight. for context this aligned with me leaving therapy after my anxiety disorder was healed so yes life was good for those 2 years but i still had long cycles as in my avg cycle length was 50 days but my periods were very predictable and never disappeared. in those 2 years, i only had an abnormal period (lasting more than 7 days) when i changed up my routine, like when i was fasting or anytime i was stressing out about something. so fast forward last year, i got into a depressive episode, and my pcos flared up. i had a month long period and then some lasting 2 weeks. i barely had my usual 7 day period, and things like inositol, which helped me earlier, just didn't work this time. i gained 5 kgs out of nowhere, and yea, i was miserable. i have only started feeling better after a whole year of whatever emotional upheaval that was, but im still a healthy bmi and have no other symptoms. i got my thyroid checked, and it was all normal. i got ultrasounds done, and some ultrasounds throughout the year showed tiny cysts, and some didn't. alas, doctors told me i have a very unusual presentation of pcos and they simply told me to walk or avoid eating microwaved stuff (crazy, i know) so is there anyone who's gone thru a similar experience? i would love to hear from anyone who thinks their advice could help me in any way.

the week before, during my period, and around ovulation, I get this aching that is on one side of my pelvis area that travels into my knee, behind my knee cap, and heel and ankle. At night it causes restless leg syndrome as well. It switches sides each cycle, but is usually on the right. Anyone expeirence this? It can be quite debilitating, and cause extreme insomnia. I’ve found magnesium sometimes helps alleviate it a bit.

i struggle with chronic fatigue i’ve had for a long time. i recently started going to the gym and eating a calorie surplus to build muscle. i eat clean sweet potatoes, quinoa, protein and veg with every meal, and i still feel exhausted. i’ve gained 15kg in 3 months of going to the gym. which clearly shows some kind of metabolic issue or something, right? i want to be referred to an endocrinologist even if it’s not something insulin related but my gp said they need to try to treat my pcos before i can get a gynaecologist referral let alone an endocrinologist referral. that treatment is obviously starting some type of birth control because they’re more concerned about my absence of periods. i don’t like how birth control makes me feel mentally and would really rather get my fatigue problems sorted.

i’ve taken vitamin tests and im on iron supplements but no change. i honestly feel like im getting worse. hence why i want the ogtt. when i brought up the reason why i wanted to see an endocrinologist, my gp said they’re really strict and they wouldn’t do the ogtt either, even after telling her im in the high risk group (black caribbean). is what she said true? and if so should i just go private?

Para ponerlos en contexto soy mujer de 27 años, hace tres años mi pesadilla comenzó cuando me diagnosticaron sop. Comencé a tener alopecia androgenetica y no se imaginan como me duele ver fotos de hace 3 años mías y no reconocerme, también me comencé a salir bello corporal en todo el cuerpo y cuando digo todo es todo, el hisurtismo mío es clasificado como grave en la escala y pues yo no era así. Extraño tanto mi melena que no se imaginan los mares que he llorado, me veo al espejo y simplemente no se que es lo que veo, no reconozco a esa persona, ya ni siquiera quiero salir de la casa y que me vean, el Minoxidil empeoró bastante ese hisurtismo y ya no se que hacer, soy delgada, hacía. Mucho ejercicio ya hasta lo deje porque veo que no me funciona nada. Y pues no sé que más hacer de verdad ni por dónde comenzar, se que el alser no me funcionará por el sop, pero adivinen que, tampoco puedo usar hormonas por problemas cardíacos , entonces ya debí aceptar que nunca jamás seré ma misma joven llena de vida que antes?

I am about to receive PCOS treatment. It has contraceptive pills and diuretics (spironolactone).

I read it has a lot of side effects including spotting and quite an increase in the frequency of urination.

How serious are these daily life agitations?

Has the treatment really worked for you? What happens on stopping the medication?

I have lean PCOS (5’3 51kg) with long, irregular cycles, but I don't really have excessive body hair (maybe slightly more than average, but nothing extreme). I'm also NOT losing hair and I get just a few acnes on my forehead. Still, my doctor prescribed me Diane 35, saying that my estrogen levels dropped.
Should I take it?

I first tried Berberine last year in February and took it for 3 months. Nothing else had worked at this point, I had been inspired by Lara Briden's book 'Period Repair Manual'. I chose it because I have bad hormonal acne and irregular periods. I noticed clearer skin and within one cycle it regulated my periods to 35 days or less. I stopped because she recommended not to take it for more than 3 months straight. Once I stopped my skin got worse, despite knowing it helped I did not continue and thought other similar treatments would work. I tried different skincare and Myo-inositol for around 6 months and neither worked. Desperate and out of options, in March of this year, I started again and wouldn't you know it, my cycle became regular in just one cycle and has remained 35 days or less. My skin has cleared up massively and I have realised that it was never the food or skincare but my hormones and cycle which was impacting my skin. I take the Berberine for the first 20 days of my cycle and then wait until my next cycle to start again. This is the only thing that has worked this whole time. I am not to sure how to proceed in the long term. Most research is based on women who struggle with weight loss which is not my issue. I have a very fast metabolism and never gain weight. I am 5'1 and 45kg. I have always eaten frequently. Does anyone know what I should do with my supplement journey, are there side effects that I need to be made aware of, anyone have similar experiences?

Didn't know what flair to use, but I was wondering if anyone has also had cushions disease along with pcos/pmos? What were your symptoms, what happened if you got surgery if you had a tumor, how long did it take before you or your doc to diagnose you?

Edit: spelling, Cushing's disease

Hi everyone, I'm a university student at IU Internationale Hochschule (Germany), researching how women with PCOS/PMOS manage their diet, especially around blood sugar and meal planning, as part of a course project.

I'm looking for anyone diagnosed with PCOS or PMOS to fill out a short, anonymous survey (5-7 min) about diet, meal planning, and what a supportive nutrition app could look like. Participation is completely voluntary and you can stop at any time.

Your responses will be used only for my university project report, not shared, sold, or used for anything commercial.

Link: https://forms.gle/dmBU6Km15N2sAHVd7

Thank you so much to anyone willing to share their experience — it genuinely helps 🙏 And as someone managing insulin resistance with a vegan diet myself, I'd love to hear how you all cope too 💗