What symptoms does it cause?
The common symptoms of PCOS are as follows:
- Period problems
- Acne, excessively oily skin or hairiness (hirsutism) due to excess male-type hormones
- Infertility
- Weight gain
Menstrual disturbance
PCOS often comes to light during puberty with period problems, which affects around 75% of those with the condition. Infrequent, irregular or absent periods are all common variations, many women finding their periods particularly heavy when they do arrive. The period disturbance is a sign that there is a problem with regular monthly ovulation. Many teenagers use the contraceptive pill to control their periods as irregularity or heaviness is a common complaint at this time, even in the absence of PCOS. This often leads to a delay in the diagnosis of PCOS, most not presenting until the pill is stopped and finding periods either cease or become irregular.
Androgenic symptoms
Androgens are a group of hormones, such as testosterone, found at high levels in men but present in women at much lower levels. PCOS sufferers often have higher than normal levels of androgens which most often causes excess hairiness, but some women find acne or even male-pattern hair loss a particular problem.
Infertility
Given that the period disruption with PCOS is caused by irregular or absent ovulation, it is not surprising that it is a common cause of infertility. It is not usually 100% absolute, and some women with PCOS will ovulate normally, some will ovulate less frequently (leading to a delay to pregnancy) and some will not ovulate at all, meaning that for some treatment will definitely be necessary.
Obesity
This is a double-edged sword for women with PCOS, around 40% of sufferers being overweight. Obesity itself will initiate the symptoms described above in some women who would not have otherwise have had problems if they remained of normal weight. It will worsen the symptoms for those who do have PCOS and, unfortunately, the hormone changes associated with PCOS can make weight loss more difficult.
Go to the next page: How is it diagnosed
Back to PCOS main page