Hey gals, I need your help...I am stumped!!

[TARA1178]

Hey girls, I need some input...I am completely stumped.  My cousin called me the other night asking me some questions.  It seems that she has not had a period since April 4th (give or take a day or two), she is sexually active, however not very often.  Aparently, either they start out having sex not using anything, and sometimes either they put a condom on halfway through the act, or they use the pull out method.  She has not had sex since mid April sometime, but she has not yet got her period.  I was on the phone with her when she took a pregnancy test about a week ago or so, and it was negative, and by then it should have definately been accurate since she has not had a period since the beginning of April.  She went in day before yesterday for her yearly pap, and the doctor did not test her for pregnancy as the doctor said it was unnecessary.  She has recently gained about 25 lbs, and she thinks that she hasn't started because of her recent weight gain, but I told her that yes, that can affect your flow, but I doubt 25 lbs would affect it, I would think that it would have to be much more significant than that to affect it.  I also told her that it could be due to a hormone imbalance, as this runs in my family alot....my grandma almost had a gotee for as long as I could remember, lol!!  I am stumped.  Does anyone have ANY ideas on what could be going on?  I told her that stress definately has something to do with it, but that's not necessarily why she hasn't started.  I told her that I would do some studying.  Has anyone else delt with this before?  Oh yeah, and she also told me that she is about 95% of the time regular, like to the day.  It goes like this.  If she starts on the 1st, then for a few months she will start every month on the 1st, however, every couple of months she will be late, and maybe start on the 3rd or 4th, but when this happens, for a few months after that she will start on the 3rd or 4th, and so on.  Any input?????  Thanks!!!  Lol, sorry but one more thing, I believe she is not on any birth control either........

[TARA1178]

Thanks guys again....who knows, maybe she does have PCOS, I don't even think she knows what it is  to even ask her doctor, lol...anyways, I don't think I mentioned it in my earlier posts, but she didn't gain the 25lbs in the last month, she gained it since November...her exact words were "I have gained like 25lbs since you were here", and I was in Washington visiting her in November.  I don't know if that makes a difference, but I thought I would throw that in there.  Anything else guys???

Tara

[SillyRenee]

Hi again!  The reason I suggested PCOS is more or less the recent weight gain.  I guess my situation was all intertwined.   I gained the weight out of nowhere.  I wasn't eating more and moving less.  Then my cycles were INSANE.  Finally after a trip to the ER I got into an awesome OBGYN and he diagnosed me with PCOS.  I had no visible cysts with an ultrasound but he explained that they can go as fast as they come.  I had no discomfort with sex but because of the sudden weight gain and irregular periods, he said I had it.  He put me on metformin which i took for a couple months and actually lost some weight and started becoming more regular with AF.  However,  I felt the side effects of 1500 mg a day were just too much... constant upset stomach and diarrhea.  I even asked my supervisor if we could move my computer to the bathroom. LOL  I stopped taking them and here I am having my problems again. (yay)  But absolutely, have her get her thyroid checked and if it comes back normal,  see about PCOS.  Tell her I said good luck :)

[JoyRenee]

It sounds like it could be PCOS or a thyroid condition. Packing on 25 lbs in a month is definitely a major concern! And can definitely mess a cycle up. Even putting on 10 lbs could mess with a cycle.

The cysts associated with PCOS are often very small and hardly cause discomfort, maybe just some crampiness especially when AF is due. No pain during sex with it either.

[TARA1178]

LOL, Renee, that's good stuff....I knew that when I put on here that it was my cousin that someone would think it was really me, lol that's funny....but seriously though...thanks for the input, those are great ideas.  I really doubt that she has PCOS because she does not have a history of cysts, and she doesn't complain of pain during sex or anything, so I doubt that that would be the issue....however, I am not sure if pain during sex is necessarily a symptom of PCOS, but I know that I have a horrible history of cysts, and i had pain during sex.....but then again I also just found out that I have a mild case of endometriosis, so who knows!  Anyways, the thyroid idea is atually awesome becuase now that I thnk about it, thyroid problems run like wild fire in our family.  I have already called her and told her to set up an appointment for a physical with her doctor and ask for him to check her thyroid.  I wasn't sure about the weight gain but it is definately possible because if it happened to you guys, then obviously it's possible.  Not only that but she is thick to begin with, I mean, she's definately not out of this world huge, but she has meat on her bones.  Thanks for the input guys!  DOES ANYONE HAVE ANYMORE IDEAS?  THE MORE THE BETTER GUYS, KEEP EM' COMIN!  I will check back in a while to see if ther are anymore posts....again, thanks guys!

Tara

[hbstar6881]

my cycle is exactly the way she describes hers and then i gained 27lbs and went from a 30day cycle to a 40 day cycle!  Definately could be her weight gain.

[SillyRenee]

At first glance I was like yeah right, my "cousin" then I saw it was you who posted and I was like, oh it probably is her cousin. LOL Honestly though,  I gained about 15-20 pounds and it was plenty to throw everything off.  I get a period every other month if I am lucky now.  Also, perhaps she should ask to have her thyroid tested or possibly PCOS??  I would think a pregnancy test would show up positive by now.