Yuor PCOS Stories Give Me Hope. Thank You All!

I am 33 years old, unmarried.

I was diagnosed with PCOS. I am not overweight, neither I have any hairy problem (thank god!).

I was very, very depressed for 1 week as I had risk of so many diseases.

All your stories gave me hope and a smile on my face.

I'm so happy.

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Editor's comments: PCOS is a complex disorder with a lot of variation of symptoms among women. Doctor's don't always agree 100% on what polycystic ovary syndrome is.

So receiving a "diagnosis" is not death sentence. It's a doctor's description of a group of signs and symptoms that you have, and which may differ substantially from another woman who receives the same diagnosis.

So maybe you have PCOS or maybe you don't.

There is some confusion among women as to the distinction between "polycystic ovaries" and "polycystic ovary syndrome".

In each menstrual cycle, follicles grow on the ovaries. Eggs develop within those follicles, one of which will reach maturity faster than the others and be released into the fallopian tubes. This is "ovulation". The remaining follicles will degenerate.

In the case of polycystic ovaries, however, the ovaries are larger than normal, and there are a series of undeveloped follicles that appear in clumps, somewhat like a bunch of grapes. Polycystic ovaries are not especially troublesome and may not even affect your fertility.

However, when the cysts cause a hormonal imbalance, a pattern of symptoms may develop. This pattern of symptoms is called a syndrome. These symptoms are the difference between suffering from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and from polycystic ovaries.

So you can have polycystic ovaries without having PCOS.

However, nearly all women with PCOS will have polycystic ovaries.

Polycystic ovary syndrome is the name given to a metabolic condition in which a woman will have polycystic ovaries, along with a certain pattern of other symptoms that reflect imbalances in reproductive and other hormones.