Recently found out I have PCOS

I am 28 and will be 29 this year and I just found out I have PCOS. I believe I have had it since puberty began. I have gone to different OBGYNs over the years and when they asked about my periods I always said I wasn't regular. The ones I went to in the past told me it was stress which made since to me because my life has been full of it. I probably would have went to my last one again had he not moved out of town due to a failed liability cap vote on incompentent doctors. So when looking for a new one covered by my insurence I chose a PAC practitioning nurse. When she asked about my periods, I gave the same answer I had given before and what do you know..... she said I immedaietly needed to be checked for PCOS. After major blood work she determined I had PCOS. It upsets me that I had the symptoms all these years (12 years) and I have just now been diagnosed. I am reaching that better start thinking about having a baby age if I want one and now I found I might not be able to have one. I think about why I was I so careful not to have a baby all these years and I compare myself to my younger brother who has already had a couple. It can be unnerving if I let it be. I know I would be a good parent! I am determined to have a child one day but that will happen when the time is right. Let's go back to PCOS.

When I first was diagnosed with PCOS about a month ago I quickly jumped on the internet(got my results on the phone) and started doing research. "leading cause to infertility" "no cure" tears later and after not finding too much information in my first search I became depressed. It's funny my first search seemed to pop up many websites which looked like the websites just cut and pasted the same information. It wasn't too helpful other than me making jokes to myself about my reproductive system being in fashion"strand of pearls" (ovarian cysts). Then I ranted on myspace trying to bring awareness, and then I watched youtube videos.  The youtube videos where helpful at that time because I felt that I was not alone. It was nice to share in the emotional rollarcoaster with others. One of the things I realized is that most of the women on there with PCOS were overweight. I have some vanity pounds to lose but then who doesn't. I think I am pretty fortunate in that regard. Then I looked on wikipedia and it stated that PCOS is often not diagnosed so I am lucky in that regard as well. Let's talk about the symptoms that I do have.

I think when I was about 14 I got my rear curves, at the time I attributed it to the neighborhood children not wanting to play kickball as much. When I was 15 I got my period. I would also like to note that I also got hair on my nipples well aereole the skin around the nipple and actually just one black one. One that has continued to grow since, despite my plucking..others have come and gone but that one remains to come back pluck after pluck. I also had a little bit of a happy trail(also black hair) and I had a slight mustache but that was blonde like the rest of the hair on my face which was only noticable in certain light. I didn't really hed that too much attention. I also had pimples on and off which I attributed to being a teenager but I still break out. I am almost 30 and I still break out.. I attributed that to my poor diet and lack of not being a skin nazi. I have looked into numerous products over the year for hair removal systems and acne products(face and the rest of the body) with not much success. One of my other symptoms was sometimes a slight pain during intercourse. I attributed that to different guys equipment or sexual positions that just didn't work for me. I broke up with so many guys because I thought we just didn't fit together...it wasn't perfect. My other symptom was an irregular period. My period would come around the same time for a few months and then I would skip one here or there. It would be on different starting days there really wasn't too much consistency but it had been that way since my period began and when I told that first OBGYN she eased my concerns. THANKS ALOT!  Those are really the only symptoms I have figured out so far.
I also found out that I am insulin resistent which seems to be common with many women with PCOS. They say they don't know exactely what causes PCOS. They think it's a combination of things. I have a combination of those things. I had a poor diet. I didn't grow out of the junk food phase as I aged and had been quite proud of that, silly me. "vegetables...yuk give me steak and potatoes...whats that? pizza and ice cream? where do I sign up? " Of course that has changed now. On my Mom's side two of my Great, Great aunts never had children not by choice. I remember one of them used to pride herself in never having broken bones in her old age...she told me she had a glass of milk every morning of her life which I find is interesting because according to some schools of thought on PCOS dairy aggravates ovarian cysts. On my Dads side my grandmother told me she had a couple of miscarriages in between the 5 children she did have which I wouldn't neccessarily think would be related to PCOS except that her daughter had a very difficult time conceiving and was only able to have one child despite her dreams for a big family. So poor diet and DNA bam PCOS.
I think its important to note that I have never taken birth control pills. I chose not to because I knew that I could not remember to take them everyday, they did not prevent STDs, they cost money, and they had side effects. So I chose not to. I am changing my diet and I am looking for a doctor who has vaginal ultrasound equipment. Once I see a pictures of what is going on down there I can see how my diet is effecting my PCOS. According to some, some foods effect your hormones and that is really what leads to PCOS.....a hormonal imbalance. It might not be enough though for me because I have a crooked back which I read leads to a hormonal imbalance as well. We shall see!
The best sources of information about PCOS/women problems I have found came from the library. "It's my ovaries, Stupid" "The Estrogen Alternative" and "Managing PCOS"( I think that was the title) All written pretty recently despite the fact that PCOS was discoved in the 30's. These books really helped me to understand what was going on in my body as well as has helped me to understand potential factors which has lead me to have PCOS or at least contribute to it's aggravation. Also, "The New Glucose Revolution" which is helping me to understand my Insulin Resistence. It's funny I picked up the book because one of the other books had talked about Glycymic Index and by the time I finished one of the other books it had recommended getting it. Some of the books kind of contradict each other on some information so do not take everything that you read at face value. I say get mulitiple sources of information and form your own deductions. With my insulin resistence awareness I can look back on life an explain so many things, like the sluggishness days.....so much misinterpretation..wondering if I was depressed but not really feeling like I needed the title. Most source say that between 4-10% of the population have PCOS but I think that number is much, much higher because it took me over 12 years to get a diagnoses and birth control pills can mask the symptoms. Then you have things like Insulin resistence which can lead to diabetes for many PCOS women. So time will tell as the number of people effected by all three of these things increases.
So many missed opportunities, with career, love, family, health and just life in general. The good news is that now I know I will be educating people with the info I have found until I am blue in the face and I will have more and greater opportunites to appreciate in the future. Good luck to all you women out there suffering from PCOS and remember to stay positive and good things will happen to you!