Hi I'm nearly 23.
I was on Depo Prevera injection from Nov 2004- Jan 2006. My periods had never exactly been regular right from when they started at 12. Depo prevera didn't do much to them at first except that they became a little lighter. It wasn't until about July 2005 that my periods stopped.
In August 2005 i tried a weight loss drug Reductil as i was almost 16 stone and had very quickly put the weight on a few years before. I was 10 stone and had shot up to 15 stone in 5 months. At first Reductil was ok, but on my regular blood pressure checks, my readings were getting higher. i had to be taken off them because my blood pressure got too high but after 2 weeks of no taking them it was still too high, in fact had not changed at all.
I was given extremely low dose beta blockers to try to relive my anxiety at the time (stress from college and i'd just met my mother-in-law after almost a year of marriage!), in the hope that it would come down. It still didn't. My doctor tested my urine and full blood works and i even had an ECG. None of them showed up anything, they were all normal.
Off-handedly while seeing another doctor about other weight loss medications, she looked at my notes and asked if i had PCOS. I said i didn't know what it was. After a little discussion she decided to refer me for an ultrasound scan. I had one in December 2005, and i had multiple cysts on ovaries and they were enlarged. The notes said to investigate further as the patient is on Depo Prevera as apparently it can make the ovaries like that of a PCOS sufferer. It goes away after the injection has stopped and the body's back to normal.
Following this i decided to stop Depo Prevera and had my last injection in Jan 2006. I had no bleeding until April 2006. I didn't stop bleeding for 5 weeks extremely heavily. I was prescribed Norathistazone? to stop it. Only 10 days worth. It stopped. no problems. However, after this my periods did not return. I had no bleeding again whatsoever until last week of August 2006. Nobody seemed particularly worried by this. Just told me to eat healthily and exercise as normal. I was told i should have bled within 24 hours of stopping the tablets. I had a pregnancy test done just in case, but it was negative.
From August 2006 i had monthlyish periods with quite a lot of variation. I returned to the doctor, restarted Reductil and was told that after October 2006, so long as the weight loss was going ok, and my health was still good, i could have my ovaries re-scanned to see if they had changed. reductil was fine, no side effects at all and perfect blood pressure.
Well i had my scan on 24th April this year finally, and my left ovary is too large with several cysts. Despite losing 2 stone with the help of Reductil (i now weigh 13st 10lbs) my conditon has not improved. The small amounts of facial hair i was paranoid about before are darker and have spread. My belly button has a strip of very thick dark hair above and below it, and my abdomen and chest have finer dark hairs on them. I have had a piercing dull ache on left side of my pelvis, every month for 6 months now when i am in the middle of my cycle.
I have had 15 day cycles and as long as 36 day cycles. I am so disappointed because the doctors and nurses told me they were sure losing weight would improve everything. If anything it's coincided with worsening of my condition, so that i am inclined to feel that it has made it worse. Now hearing the results of the scan i am not sure what path will be suggested next. i am desperate to start a family but everybody just tells me i'm too young and don't worry there's plenty of time. Clearly there's not. I'm about to finish the first year of my degree and am torn between giving up and still having this years student debt and trying to return to it later so i can try for a baby; or carrying on and finishing the degree and starting to try afterwards so i am in no extra debt by having to return to uni and perhaps