A type of helpful birth control for PCOS

by Maria
(Boca Raton, FL)

Hi everyone,

My name is Maria, and I'm about to turn 25 this month. I got my first period when I was 12, and had to wait around 6 months before the second one. My period was always irregular in my earlier teens.

When I turned 16, I started having really bad acne. This affected my self-esteem to no end.

At age 17 I went to the doctor because I hadn't had a period in about 6 months. After an ultrasound, the doctor simply said I had a little something on my ovary and prescribed birth control pills.

I was not overweight to begin with, I am 5'4", and was about 115 lbs at that time.

Getting on the first pill I tried caused my period to last almost an entire month. The doctor then prescribed a higher dose birth control pill. That seemed to stabilize things. I was getting regular periods and my acne cleared up. Oddly thought, I lost a significant amount of weight and became underweight (103lbs) even though I ate the same amounts and types of food.

After about a year on that particular pill, I decided to get off the pill as I became financially independent and could not afford it.

After about 2 years off the pill, I had reached the highest weight in my life so far. I had gained more than 25 lbs, and was 142 lbs. I stopped getting my period again and the acne returned, this time I went to a different doctor after having done a lot of research and thinking I might have PCOS.

The doctor heard my thoughts, and ordered an ultrasound. This confirmed the presence of poly cystic ovaries, at which point I was officially diagnosed. He prescribed the birth control pill as well. After 4 months on that particular pill, I had another ultrasound, which revealed no changes of any kind. The doctor then wanted me to try a different kind of birth control - Nuvaring. He thought it might affect my body differently because of the way the hormones are delivered.

The weight I had gained started melting off immediately, with no changes in anything I did. My skin cleared up again also. After 4 months on Nuvaring, another ultrasound showed that my cysts were gone and my ovaries were perfectly healthy looking. I've been on Nuvaring for more than 2 years now.

I am back at my healthy weight - 115 lbs. I still experience some of the psychological symptoms (anxiety, depression), usually when I'm afraid of my symptoms coming back. I think that's normal.

I'm definitely scared of what might happen if I have to stop using Nuvaring for any reason or if my significant other and I ever decide to have kids (at this point we're both undecided but leaning towards no).

Reading all these inspiring stories of women having success in losing weight and having kids gives me hope that everything will be okay in the future.