Got diagnosed with PCOS about 8 years ago after YEARS of telling doctors that there was something wrong with my periods. Been diagnosed etc etc and largely left to it, however as I’m getting older my symptoms are getting worse and I want to be able to manage them a bit better but the doctors only advice is ‘go on the pill/ bc and lose weight’

I have several musculoskeletal health conditions which mean my mobility can be very restricted with constant fatigue and nausea to boot and I’ve been on a fairly hefty cocktail of medicines since I was a kid and I just don’t want to add anymore into the mix!

Has anyone had any luck with campaigning to their doctors about not going on BC for PCOS and any other degree of treatment there may be?? I just feel so exhausted being told I’m fat all the time which I KNOW and am trying reeeeeaaaaallly hard to be neutral about and it just feels like shit when the experts are so unwilling/ unable to help?? Thank you!

I was just able to loose 15 pounds and I am aiming to loose 20 lbs or 25 more. It took me a year to loose 15 naturally with exercise and diet. My co worker is using ozempic. Should I give it a try or do you think it will make the pcos worse? Am I loosing time by loosing weight slower ? If I use ozempic am I loosing my butt and boobs? How much should I loose to get rid of my pcos forever ? Has anyone tried naturally loosing weight and ozempic ?

I’m currently taking metformin and inositol for insulin resistance, it’s been about 5-6 months. I’ve asked my doctor for solutions for my excessive facial hair but she said we should just wait to see if the medications will reduce its growth.

It’s not getting any better and I’m so tired of my facial hair. Should I go to maybe a dermatologist or something? I need solutions.

I (26F) take one scoop of inositol daily before breakfast and it has helped but lately I feel like it hasn’t as much. Maybe the effects are wearing off. My period has become more regularized and it did help with my mental health but honestly I feel like my hormones are wacky again and I’m constantly tired and anxious. I was bad then good and now and again. I did loose like 5-7 lbs while on inositol so that’s another plus but I am curious about trying a GLP-1.

I’ve been on metformin before and spirolactone but stopped. Spiralactone was kinda cool bc I do feel like it made me more feminine.

What are your thoughts and experiences on a GLP-1? Did it improve ur life? Erase PCOS? Let me know because I’m seriously considering. Yeah the weight loss will be cool (my weight is good, I’m fit and I go to the gym). It took me forever to lose weight and I know the GLP1 will make me shred fat much faster without even trying now. I heard many felt improved energy levels too amongst many things like eliminating their insulin resistance and reducing testosterone levels. My doctor actually had prescribed me a GLP1 years ago before it was popular.

🌸 PCOD Girls Community — Let’s Talk About Everything

I’m a girl with PCOD myself, and I’ve been thinking about creating a community where girls with PCOD can come together and talk openly about the things we actually go through.

Whether it’s facial hair, weight changes, hair fall, periods, skin problems, body changes, emotional struggles, things doctors have told us, treatments we’ve tried, or even home remedies that worked or didn’t work for us, we can discuss it all without feeling judged.

This isn’t about pretending we have all the answers. It’s about sharing our experiences, learning from each other, supporting one another, and realizing that we’re not alone in this.

We can also have voice calls or Zoom meetings where we can actually talk, share our experiences, ask questions, and get to know each other. 💗

If you have PCOD and you’d like to be part of this community, comment your name or simply say “I’m in”, and we’ll start building a big group of girls who can support each other. 🌷

Let’s create a space where we can talk about the things we sometimes feel too embarrassed or uncomfortable to talk about anywhere else. 🫶

I’m debating starting multivitamins. My diet has been significantly better lately but a part of me is wondering if I’d be better if I was taking multivitamins. I don’t really like taking supplements or vitamins or anything but I will suck it up if anyone has tried it and seen significant results.

My main issue is I don’t want to become dependent on the vitamins.

hey everyone, i'm looking to add / improve my gym routine, i go for full body over the week, but i'm also very shy and stick the machines, not really up for the free weights yet unfortunately, even though i've been going to the gym since december 2025

with this routine i lost 20+ kg, but im at a standstill now, and feel like i'm just working the same muscles but not loosing any more fat / gaining any more muscle, any improvements that i should make or things you think are good / bad, i'd love your input!

if there's anything that's helped you budge that stubborn stomach fat i would love your advice!! it's so hard even with good dieting

Trying to find help for my daughter. "Diagnosed" PCOS years ago because of cystic acne and high testosterone. Was put on b/c and Spironolactone. Acne cleared and helped with gender dysphoria. Over the last several years she's been diagnosed with POTS. Only advised to take salt. Her hair is thinning. She feels chronically ill all the time. Can't lose weight so she's now on Zepbound. My frustration is not finding a dr who can help! Our Endocrinologist isn't familiar. I wonder if the Spironolactone is making her pots worse or if she even has pots! But if we stop it, her hair will fall out worse. Then the gyno was going to switch her to a b/c that doesn't have progesterone but then I worry about the gender dysphoria. We have no guidance and every dr gaslights us and we end up where we started. We are in S Jersey but she's up in College near Trento/Princeton so maybe we'd have better luck up there. She was really depressed last night and I just feel like I'm failing her. I can't find a dr that will listen and help. She is now 18 at least so we don't need to see a pediatric dr. Idk if this post even makes sense. I haven't slept. I'm just feeling quite helpless right now.

I just got metformin but I haven’t start taking it yet. The thing is I really like to party… and I made a quick google searches and a lot told me that I basically can’t drink on it? My doctor dint mention anything only that “don’t take it if your sick”

is it safe?

Can i just not take it that day and be fine?

Do any or you know how it works with alcohol?

I’ve suspected I had adhd for a while, as long as I can remember… I’ve shown symptoms since childhood. I only showed pcos symptoms later in life, when I got to my mid to late teens. So idk, I felt like my psych was being a bit.. dismissive? by implying that i don’t have “real” adhd and only adhd-like symptoms that are being caused by pcos. The results of the assessment have a strong indication that I do have adhd, so he still prescribed me meds, but I honestly feel a bit uneasy with what he implied.

It’s like as soon as i said I have pcos, his entire tone changed, and he started talking about how as soon as I fix my diet, my adhd symptoms will disappear. He went off a tangent to give me advice (which I already know) about cutting carbs, prioritizing protein/veggies, etc. It felt like all the struggles I felt my entire life with adhd was being invalidated. I mean, being unmedicated quite literally ruined my life. I don’t understand how I can’t possibly have both pcos and adhd. But obviously, he’s the doctor, and I’m not, so it’s probably not my place to question it. I don’t want to sound like that one person who pretends they know more than actual professionals.

Sorry, I know this isn’t the adhd sub but I’d rather hear from people who have pcos lol… what do you guys think? it seems there is a lot of correlation with adhd and pcos, and I know a lot of you guys have both. Is what my psych said really true? Did “reversing” pcos make your adhd symptoms disappear?

So my doctor is recommending Zepbound in combination with Metformin because she believes we can reverse my insulin resistance. Can I hear the pro's and cons? Please tell me about your experience. I'm scared and feeling like a failure.

My wife’s menstrual cycles range from 38 to 60 days. Her thyroid and prolactin levels are normal, she’s at a healthy weight, and she exercises three times a week, yet her cycles are still irregular.

I can imagine how difficult it must be to struggle with weight due to PCOS, and I so sorry for that. However, in all the PCOS subreddits we’ve looked through, most of the posts seem to be from people struggling with their weight or having difficulty losing it.

We rarely come across people with PCOS whose main issue is irregular periods or not getting their period at all. Is anyone else here dealing with PCOS where the primary symptom is an irregular or absent menstrual cycle rather than weight-related issues? What did you do to improve your menstrual cycle?

im 20F and i’ve been diagnosed with PCOS a couple of months ago. i take meds and go to check-ups so everything so far is stabilised. my real concern is that i’ve seen that PCOS usually affects fertility and even in some cases causes infertility which is my biggest fear because my one dream in the world is to become a mother. how did it affect you? i kind of need reassurance lol

The Core Issue

PCOS (recently renamed polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, or PMOS) is tied to gut bacteria imbalance, and doctors have been throwing probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics (a combo of both) at it for years with mixed and often conflicting results.

The Finding

Researchers pooled 14 randomized controlled trials covering 755 women with PCOS and, for the first time, split out which of the three interventions actually worked. When taken alone, prebiotic fiber (like inulin, the kind of fiber that feeds good gut bacteria without adding new bacteria) dropped total testosterone by an average of 31 ng/mL and cut hirsutism scores (excess hair growth) by over 2 points. Probiotics and synbiotics, tested the same way, showed no significant hormone benefit at all.

Why it Matters

If you have PCOS and have been taking a probiotic hoping it would help your hormones specifically, this suggests it might not be doing much on that front, even if it helps digestion generally. Plain fiber supplements may be the more promising lever.

Limitations of Study

Only 2 of the 14 trials tested prebiotics by themselves, so this headline result rests on a small slice of the total data. Nearly every outcome also showed high statistical variation between studies, and all 14 trials came from just two countries, Iran and Poland, with every participant already overweight or obese going in.

Conflicting Interests

None reported. The researchers stated no funding and no conflicts of interest.

Interesting Statistics

- 14 randomized controlled trials, 755 women total, run between 2015 and 2025

- Prebiotics alone: testosterone down 31 ng/mL, hirsutism score down 2.02 points, SHBG (a protein that mops up excess testosterone) up 11.43 nmol/L

- All three interventions combined: fasting insulin down 2.07 μIU/mL, triglycerides down 12.22 mg/dL, HDL ("good") cholesterol up 2.13 mg/dL

- Baseline BMI was 24 or higher in every single trial included

TL;DR

Plain prebiotic fiber, not probiotics or combo synbiotics, showed the clearest hormone benefit for PCOS in a pooled analysis of 14 trials, but it is based on only 2 prebiotic-only studies so far.

I got this from u/Electronic-Lie-4547 and I thought it would be helpful to a lot of us here.

https://biomesci.com/prebiotics-outperform-probiotics-pcos-pmos/

how do you actually keep track of what is happening?

If one cycle is 35 days, the next is 60, and another period disappears for months, a normal period app can feel almost useless. Do you track dates only, symptoms, spotting, discharge, mood, pain, or anything else?

I’m curious whether anyone has found a simple way to look back and understand their own pattern instead of constantly wondering when the next period is going to show up.

CW: fertility, pregnancy, loss, postpartum, pet death

Got diagnosed with PCOS in 2021 after wanting to conceive but not having a period for a year to even start tracking my cycle. Was also diagnosed with sleep apnoea and high blood pressure and got on Metformin, BP meds, supplements for vit d and iron deficiency, and started CPAP therapy. I had some improvement in my symptoms but a couple of years later I was diagnosed with MAFLD after an unsuccessful four rounds of ovulation induction. I changed my diet and ramped up my strength training and lost 13 kg before plateauing, at which time I went on a low dose of GLP-1 and lost another 8 kg. My MAFLD reversed in that time, my blood pressure meds were working properly, my sleep apnoea numbers were almost nonexistent, the inflammation in my hands disappeared. After a year on the GLP-1 I accidentally became pregnant (I was actually tapering off my dose to start IVF), but it was a chemical pregnancy we lost at 5 weeks. My OB said that a lot of his patients had luck conceiving after a loss because of the hormonal state they were in at that time, so I stopped my incompatible meds and tried again. We were lucky enough to be able to see that pregnancy through and my son is now 10 weeks old.

Pregnancy was a magical time for me. My health was perfect, probably because of the placenta taking over my hormone regulation. I was off all meds except Metformin and that wasn’t even clinically needed, I just stayed on it in the hopes I wouldn’t develop gestational diabetes, which I didn’t, luckily. I only gained the expected amount of weight, my baby was perfectly average in size, I had a vaginal birth that needed forceps and an episiotomy but recovery was quick and relatively painless. I’m breastfeeding, which I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do with PMOS, and I’ve lost the weight I gained.

Unfortunately, postpartum life has been hard. My dog was diagnosed with a malignant tumour the day before I went into labour and quickly declined, passing away in three weeks. My husband got shingles from the grief and stress pretty much the day after I gave birth, so he wasn’t able to be as hands on with the baby as we were planning for six weeks. We have no friends or family nearby, so we dealt with it all alone, and on top of that, I had to go no contact with my mentally ill mother in late pregnancy and she started harassing me a few weeks into PP, so I finally blocked her. I don’t know if it’s the stress or if it was always going to happen this way but my symptoms are coming back with a vengeance. My blood pressure was 150/110 the first time I went to the doctor PP and I can’t be on my normal meds while breastfeeding, so I’m on two less effective ones, one of which is making my feet swell, my skin turn red, and my head spin when I get up too quickly. My doctor just called me today to tell me my liver enzymes are elevated again, so my MAFLD might be back. My weight is the same as when I’d reversed it, I’m getting back into exercise, and my diet is pretty good, I’m just eating a higher volume because I’m breastfeeding, so it seems like it’s not just a matter of weight or macro intake. I’m so upset, it seems like I’m going to have to stop breastfeeding earlier than I wanted to so I can go back to the medication regimen that worked for me.

Most of the time I’m pretty accepting of the hand I was dealt. I know it’s not fair and it isn’t my fault that I have PMOS so it would be easy to give into the temptation to wallow in that, but I’m pretty good at just keeping my head down and tackling what problems are in my control. But now I’m so angry and sad and I just really need to vent and get this out: why can’t I just do all the right things for my health and, you know, be healthy?

18 F

Ok so i have been noticing extremely hairfall since past year (i can literally see my hairline receed), and i got diagnosed with pcos a month back and i am currently on birth control. Will it make it worse? Will it help me?

Please if someone knows ...help me

I don't wanna go on minoxodil but the stress everytimee i brush my hair is killing me.

I’m so sick of not knowing. My next doctors appointment is in a month, and I’m only 16. My periods are so bad, heat packs don’t help and ibuprofen does little to nothing. I can go for months without one. My hips hurt like hell, I snap at everyone including my little brother over the smallest things. I’m just so sick of being told it’s nothing, or I might have this and that without any action actually being taken. I just want to know what’s wrong with me. My mom blames my hip pain on my walking pattern, my mood swings are just me being dramatic, and the horrible cramps on “just a normal part of life”. She insists they’ll get better but they’ve only gotten worse. I hate it. What do I even do at this point. I have to take pain killers almost every day before my sports practice just to get through it because my hips hurt so bad. Help.

I am currently 23 & my husband and I have been TTC for 6 months now. Today I got my PCOS diagnosis after getting labs back, and to be honest I truly never thought I had it. The only thing I ever thought I knew about PCOS was the stereotypical talk that in order to have it you must have cysts on your ovaries and lots of thick course body hair. I have also had girls my age tell me PCOS is way worse than endo and I should be lucky I don’t have it. Ultimately making me feel invalidated in my struggles.
I still don’t know much about what PCOS is or how this changes things for me. I heard it’s now called PMOS?
Doctor wants to start me on Metformin (which I know nothing about) in hopes my body will try and regulate/ovulate so we can get pregnant. I feel really lonely & confused. Angry, sad, unsure of myself, and scared for the future. I have had my endometriosis diagnosis since I was 13 and it has taken a long time to understand it, and feel at peace with it.

If anyone has any good education, or who is in a similar situation I would love to connect and hear your story!

How has metformin helped you? How has your body changed since being on it? Has anyone had success with getting pregnant on it?

Long time PCOS-er here. I've tried a bunch of things over the years but cannot get control of my bloating, specifically in my stomach and my face.

Does anyone have anything that they swear by that helps significantly? Like even if it's short term solutions that I can take or do daily (especially if I have a beach trip coming up).

THANKS!!

Hello! I was diagnosed with PCOS in June after fighting for years, and today I was given a prescription for Metformin starting with 500mg in the morning and 500mg at night.

Of course with this comes lifestyle changes, which is fine, I’m just struggling to find resources for how to plan meals/know what I can eat easily and how to apply this to my life. I have an eating disorder and I’m neurodivergent, so leaving my comfortable foods full of refined sugar and carbs feels very scary. Add to this that I have deformities in my feet, and asthma, which makes exercise very difficult. I have custom orthotics on the way and take my inhaler, but I’m stuck with changing just eating till the orthotics come and my pain is less severe.

Does anyone have some resources on healthy eating and how to apply it in a practical way?

I have PMOS and HS, both since my teenage years. Back then, I was a healthier weight and tried so many treatments for HS.

Thankfully, although my weight increased dramatically due to bout of bad mental health my HS has been really great the last year, and I have managed to get my periods back from every 200 days, to a cycle between 28 & 35 days for the last 6 months. This was mainly due to having to reduce my stress as it was causing me to be extremely ill.

Since getting back on track I decided to talk to my GP about weightloss, I know GLP1s are an option and for personal reasons I don't want to go down that route right now, but she suggested a new pill (can't remember the name) or metformin which I had been on before.

I started the metformin about 3/4 weeks ago, and since then my HS has significantly worsened. I have flares in areas that I hadn't experienced in years.

Now when I think back, I am almost sure that all my bad experiences with HS were around when I had tried metformin.

I otherwise have found metformin decent, not incredible, but certainly not bad and had no GI issues.

Has anyone else with PCOS experienced this?

I'm going on a multi day trip and hoping to avoid sugar crashes as well as stay energized enough to hike for the full day. I know people say to "carb up" before the trip but I've learned that PCOS means we don't use the carbs as efficiently. Just wondering if anybody had something that worked for them in terms of what you ate before and during a trip.

Hi guys--

I'm 26F and I was officially diagnosed with PCOS/PMOS over a year ago; my biggest struggles with it have been depression, weight gain, lack of cycles, unhealthy cravings, and thin hair at the top of my head. I've been taking Optify via pills since my diagnosis, and have recently been off them because my cycle has disappeared and I'm trying to figure out if I need to try something else out.

If anyone has found solution(s) that work long-term, I'd love to hear them. Currently feeling very alone and stuck with it )-: